1977 José Ramírez "1a" No. 11097 CD/CSAR

This 1977 José Ramírez "1a" No. 11097 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides with huge power, even by Ramírez standards – donated to the GSI Foundation.

A 1977 Ramírez Concert Guitar

This guitar was built in the famous José Ramírez III workshop, which for over half a century has produced instruments performed on by countless professionals – from Sting to Segovia, Chet Atkins to Sabicas and Lee Ritenour to Christopher Parkening. The 1970s carried on what many call the golden era of the workshop – an exciting time, with the Ramírez name at the height of its fame and the elite players of the world beating a path to its door.

Playability and Sound

You hear it straight away – a thick yet clear tone with that essential warm, moody and mysterious quality that made Ramírez famous.

Condition

Signed by José Ramírez III, the label gives the number 11097 and the year 1977. Condition is excellent – other than a recent fret job by German Vázquez Rubio, it has no damage or repairs. It has huge power – the volume on this particular guitar is impressive even by the standards of Ramírez or Rodríguez from this period. The perfect guitar for the concert artist looking for that Ramírez sound and power.

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 more information on Ramírez, be sure to read The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, or for information on the Ramírez family members, from Amalia Ramírez back to José I, and for some interesting 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".