2004 José Ramírez "Centenario" No. 164 CD/CSAR

This 2004 José Ramírez "Centenario" No. 164 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides, with a French-polished top; Manuel Espinás plays Ginastera's Sonata, Op. 47 on it in the video above.

The Ramírez Workshop in 2004

Segovia, Sabicas, Christopher Parkening, Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour, Sting – the list of professionals who have played instruments from the José Ramírez workshop over more than half a century is practically endless. It belongs to the first years of the Amalia Ramírez era – she has directed the workshop since her brother José Ramírez IV died in 2000, and she inspects every guitar during and after construction.

The "Centenario": A Hundred Years of Ramírez

"Centenario" means 100 years, and here it marks the hundredth anniversary of guitar making in the Ramírez family. The guitar is made from the workshop's finest materials, collected over many, many years – the tops are the 1st pick of the 1st-class soundboards, and the same goes for the rosewood back and sides. The photos show the extra detailing of the model – the sculpted heel cap, the boxwood inlay in the headstock, the tapered ebony strip down the back of the neck that ends in a "rosewood bouquet" on the back of the headstock, and the intricate wood inlays of the rosette and purfling. The tuners are by Rodgers. Its dimensions and proportions are those of the other 1a models, according to the workshop – but in our experience the Centenario is the best guitar Ramírez makes, bar none.

Tone, Playability and Label

This one combines great power with real beauty of sound, and the lovely neck and easy action make it wonderfully easy to play. Thick yet clear, the tone has the warm, moody character that made the Ramírez name famous. It has one hairline crack in the soundboard, expertly repaired by Yuris Zeltins; condition is otherwise perfect, as are playability and sound. A hardshell case was included. No. 164 is written on the label, which is dated 2004 and signed by Amalia Ramírez.

Curious about the family? Our blog has The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, the whole line from Amalia Ramírez back to José I, and a little fact-checking on the 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.

The Workshop Under Amalia Ramírez

Under Amalia Ramírez the workshop has kept the classic concert guitar at the heart of its range – the "1a" (first class) in the "Tradicional" design, its model code written by hand on the label: C650 for a cedar top with Indian rosewood, "-A" for a spruce (abeto) top, "-P" for CSA rosewood (palosanto) and "-AP" for both, with F656 and F656-A for the cedar and spruce flamencos. Around it she has built a wider family of models: the "Centenario" and "Elite", made with the workshop's most precious woods; the reissued "SP" and "2a"; the "Auditorio", "Antigua" and "Guitarra del Tiempo"; anniversary series such as the "125 Años" and "130 Años"; replicas of historic guitars, from the 1912 Manuel Ramírez played by Segovia to the 1913 "Guitarra de Tablao" of José Ramírez I; and the studio lines NE, R and FL. The concert guitars carry the Calle de la Paz 8 label, signed by Amalia Ramírez with her star signature and numbered with a letter-and-number code (Centenario and Elite have numbers of their own), while the studio guitars have an orange "Guitarras de Estudio" label, "Diseñada, Revisada y Certificada por Ramírez", with the red "Calidad Ramírez" stamp.