1973 José Ramírez "1a 10-String" No. 6532 CD/CSAR

Year	1973
Top	Cedar
Back & Sides	CSA Rosewood
Scale Length	664 mm
Nut width	84 mm
Finish	Lacquer
Country	Spain
Luthier	José Ramírez III

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View from the headstock of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

Detailed close-up of the rosette of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The back and sides of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The fingerboard and frets of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The heel, back binding and purfling of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The bridge, tie-block and saddle of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The front of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The side of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The back of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The rosette of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The headstock of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

The label of a 1973 Jose Ramirez "1a 10-String" classical guitar made of cedar and CSA rosewood

Description

This 1973 José Ramírez "1a 10-String" No. 6532 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides – a ten-string concert guitar from the Ramírez workshop in Madrid.

The 10-String Guitar

The José Ramírez III workshop, where this guitar was made, supplied countless professionals over more than fifty years: Andrés Segovia and Sabicas, Christopher Parkening and Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour and even Sting. Popularized over the years by a host of great players including Narciso Yepes, Vincenzo Macaluso and Göran Söllscher, the 10-string guitar has proven to be a versatile instrument, particularly for performing repertoire that does not quite "fit" on the range of a normal six-string guitar. Baroque lute music – most popularly Bach and Weiss – requires most six-string players to transpose bass notes up or down an octave in places that break the original musical flow intended by the composer. The 10-string guitar resolves many such inconveniences, and it also makes it possible to perform arrangements of larger pieces originally written for the piano or larger ensembles, like chamber music or orchestral works.

Sound and Condition

This guitar has that essential warm, mysterious and moody quality that made Ramírez famous in the great recordings made not just by the 10-string players but also by Segovia and Parkening from this time. Signed by José Ramírez III, the label gives the number 6532 and the year 1973. Condition is excellent for its age – apart from a small (almost invisible) well-repaired crack in the back, it has only the slightest amount of playing wear, with only a few minor dings and scratches. Overall, an excellent example of a fine 10-string Ramírez for either collector or concert player.

There is much more about the workshop on our blog – The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, the family members from Amalia Ramírez back to José I, and some fact-checking on myths and facts about this legendary workshop.

Background

The José Ramírez Workshop of Madrid

Founded in Madrid in 1882 by José Ramírez I, the Ramírez workshop has produced guitars for more than a century and through five generations of the family. José Ramírez III (1922–1995) took over as maestro in 1957 and developed the Ramírez concert guitar we know today – large in body, with a long string length and a cedar or spruce top, with great power, sustain, sweetness and balance across the entire register. He popularized western red cedar as a soundboard wood, and from the 1960s Andrés Segovia played José Ramírez guitars to the end of his days.

Ramírez Craftsmen and the Next Generations

From the 1960s to the 1990s the workshop trained many of the most talented guitarreros of the day, among them Paulino Bernabé and Manuel Contreras. In 1995 the shop moved from Calle Concepción Jerónima 2 to Calle de la Paz 8, and since the death of José Ramírez IV in June 2000 the business has been directed by his sister, Amalia Ramírez, who inspects every guitar during and after construction.

Ramírez Models, Labels and Builders' Stamps

For decades the workshop sold its guitars by class rather than by model name. The "1a" (first class) was the standard concert guitar; the "2a" (second class) was built the same way, and the shop explained its lower price tag by materials that might have minor aesthetic blemishes, or by its having been built by an apprentice rather than a foreman. Flamenco guitars add an "F" – "1aF" and "2aF". Until 1967 the labels carried only the year; from 1967 they were signed by José Ramírez III and gave the guitar's number and class, and from 1973 the 2a had a grey label of its own, with a red border and "R" numbers. Until 1971, many Ramírez guitars were stamped inside with the initials of the craftsman who built them – AM for Antonio Martínez, MT for Mariano Tezanos, PB for Paulino Bernabé and many more (see our list of Ramírez workshop luthiers). Later decades brought new models: the "Centenario", which roughly marked the workshop's hundredth anniversary; the "Da Cámara"; the shorter-scale C86 of 1986; and, under José Ramírez IV, the "Tradicional" and the "Especial".