1973 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1149 CD/CSAR

This 1973 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1149 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides from Madrid, with no cracks or repairs.

The "2a": Pretty Much Identical to the "1a"

Segovia, Sabicas, Christopher Parkening, Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour, Sting – the list of professionals who have played instruments from the José Ramírez III workshop over the past half century is practically endless. Ramírez "2a" guitars are pretty much identical to the standard "1a" model in all ways. The shop claimed back in the day that their lower price tag was due either to materials that may have minor aesthetic blemishes – small knots, or the darker areas of resin concentration in the grain that in Spain are called "cocas" – or to their having been built by an apprentice rather than a foreman. Yet after many decades of discussion, many players and aficionados have concluded that a great 2a can be identical to a great 1a.

Sound

This one has first-class tone and workmanship, offering a sound on par with the very best of the Ramírez workshop. It plays very easily, with a lovely neck and easy action – not always the case with guitars of this period, given the way many of them were set up. The sound is the classic one: thick yet clear, full of that warm, mysterious and moody quality for which Ramírez became famous.

Condition and Label

The label is the grey 2a label with a red border, introduced in 1973 – signed by José Ramírez III, dated 1973 and numbered R1149 in the separate "R" series of the 2a guitars. It also carries the small green sticker of the American distributor, Antigua Casa Sherry-Brener ("Modelo Segovia – Hecho a Mano"). It features beautiful materials and is in great condition for its age – no cracks or repairs, just some very mild wear showing previous signs of use. An excellent example of a fine Ramírez for the active concert player or recording artist.

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".