1976 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1730 CD/IN

This 1976 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1730 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides, fitted with sound ports and donated to the GSI Foundation.

About the "2a" Model

Over more than half a century the famous Ramírez workshop of José III built guitars for countless professionals – everyone from Segovia to Sting, Sabicas to Chet Atkins and Christopher Parkening to Lee Ritenour. In all ways a "2a" is pretty much identical to the standard "1a". The Ramírez shop's explanation for the lower price tag, back in the day, was that it either used materials that might have minor aesthetic blemishes, such as small knots or "cocas" (as the Spanish call darker areas of resin concentration in the grain), or had been built by an apprentice and not a foreman. Many decades of discussion later, however, many players and aficionados agree that a great 2a can be identical to a great 1a.

Sound Ports, Sound and Condition

This guitar has some well-repaired cracks, including one the length of the back, as well as one in the top. It has also been fitted with sound ports (similar to Robert Ruck's) in the ribs, either side of the neck. All repairs are perfectly stable, and the guitar plays and sounds great, exactly like a classic Ramírez from this period should – that famous tone, thick yet clear, with the essential warm, mysterious and moody quality. An excellent player's guitar, this one also has a narrower nut than the usual one, which many players find more comfortable. Simply put, easy to play and great sounding.

The Label

On the red-bordered grey label of the 2a – new in 1973 – are the year 1976, the number R1730 from the 2a's own "R" series and the signature of José Ramírez III. It also carries the small green sticker of the American distributor, Antigua Casa Sherry-Brener ("Modelo Segovia – Hecho a Mano").

GSI Foundation

This guitar was donated to our non-profit charitable organization, the GSI Foundation. Guitar sales through the GSI Foundation raise money to directly benefit music education in public schools.

For the story of the workshop, read The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar and The José Ramírez Dynasty; for some interesting fact-checking, see José Ramírez: myths and facts.

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".