2005 José Ramírez "1aF 656-A" No. Y5-106 SP/CY

This 2005 José Ramírez "1aF 656-A" No. Y5-106 is a flamenco guitar with a spruce top and cypress back and sides, French polished; Kai Narezo plays a taranta in the video above.

Built in the Calle de la Paz Workshop

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. This is a guitar of the early Amalia Ramírez years, made in the Calle de la Paz workshop that she has directed since 2000.

The Top Ramírez Flamenco

Top of the Ramírez flamenco range, the 1aF works on the concert stage and in the traditional setting with dancers and percussionists. The sound is authentically Spanish, with a lot of bite, and the guitar is very lively, with excellent volume and playability – a favorite of ours for the serious flamenco guitarist. Its label code, F656-A, marks the spruce-top (abeto) flamenco with the 656mm scale.

Playability and Condition

It is finished in French polish, with a 53mm nut. This wonderful example is in excellent condition, although there is a well-repaired crack running along the side, perfectly stable and smooth to the touch. On the label: Amalia Ramírez's star signature, the year 2005 and No. Y5-106, and the model code "F656-A" is written by hand beside the class.

To learn more about the family and its workshop, read The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, our history of the family from Amalia Ramírez back to José I, and 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.