1973 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1181 CD/CSAR (ex Jorge Morel)

This 1973 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1181 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides, originally owned by the great Jorge Morel.

About the "2a" Model

Countless professionals have performed on instruments from the famous José Ramírez III workshop over the past half century and more – think of Sting and Segovia, Sabicas and Chet Atkins, or Lee Ritenour and Christopher Parkening. The "2a" models are pretty much identical to the standard "1a" in every way. Back in the day, the Ramírez shop claimed the lower price tag came either from materials with minor aesthetic blemishes – small knots, for instance, or what in Spain are called "cocas" (darker areas of resin concentration in the grain) – or from the guitar having been built by an apprentice rather than a foreman. After many decades of discussion, though, many players and aficionados have concluded that a great 2a can be identical to a great 1a.

The Classic Ramírez Sound

Its tone and workmanship are first-class – the sound is on par with the best the Ramírez workshop has to offer. This guitar in particular has an astonishingly beautiful set of CSA rosewood for the back and sides. Its tone is thick yet clear – warm, mysterious and moody, the essential quality that made Ramírez famous.

Condition

Its label is the 2a type of the 1970s, grey with a red border, numbered R1181 (2a guitars had their own "R" numbers) and dated 1973, with José Ramírez III's signature. It also carries the small green sticker of the American distributor, Antigua Casa Sherry-Brener ("Modelo Segovia – Hecho a Mano"). It is in great condition for its age, with one spliced crack in the top (reinforced internally with a wooden patch), one small repair to the back (invisible from the outside) and one repair to the top beside the fingerboard; the soundboard was also refinished. Otherwise, this is an excellent example of a fine Ramírez for the active concert player or recording artist.

Ex Jorge Morel

This guitar was originally owned by the great Jorge Morel, and a bill of sale from 1979, signed by Morel, is included with the guitar.

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.

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".