1973 José Ramírez "1a" No. 6501 CD/CSAR

This 1973 José Ramírez "1a" No. 6501 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides from Madrid – a particularly powerful guitar, played by Álvaro Miranda and Pietro Ruscigno in the videos above.

A Classic 1973 José Ramírez

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. This was still a big, exciting era for the workshop, often called its golden era: the Ramírez concert guitar had conquered the world's stages, and the top players kept coming to Concepción Jerónima in droves.

Sound and Playability

The guitar is especially easy to play, thanks to a replaced (thicker) fingerboard that brings the action down much lower than otherwise, providing a very comfortable set-up. The tone is thick and yet clear, with the essential warmth and the mysterious, moody quality that made these guitars famous in the great Segovia and Parkening recordings of the period. It features lush and dramatic CSA rosewood for the back and sides – quite a treat for the eyes.

The Label and Condition

The label is signed by José Ramírez III, numbered 6501 and dated 1973. Apart from a few well-repaired cracks (three in the back, one in the upper bout of the top) it is in great shape, with only some wear in the finish. But it plays wonderfully and has that classic, iconic sound known by several generations of performing guitarists. This also happens to be a particularly powerful guitar, even by Ramírez standards.

To learn more, read The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar; meet the family members from Amalia Ramírez back to José I; and for some interesting fact-checking, see our article on myths and facts about this legendary workshop.

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".