2007 José Ramírez "Elite" No. 185 CD/CSAR

This 2007 José Ramírez "Elite" No. 185 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides, finished in French polish.

A 2007 José Ramírez from Madrid

Countless professionals have performed on instruments from the famous José Ramírez workshop over the past half century and more – think of Sting and Segovia, Sabicas and Chet Atkins, or Lee Ritenour and Christopher Parkening. 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 "Elite": Precious Materials

Ramírez builds only a few Elites, and they rarely circulate on the open market. In its specs the Elite is very much a 1a Tradicional – what makes it special are the workshop's most precious materials from previous generations and the exquisite workmanship. It is the choice of the player or collector who wants nothing less than the best of the best.

Playability and Condition

It is finished in French polish. On the label: Amalia Ramírez's star signature, the year 2007 and No. 185, and the model code "650 TR" is written by hand beside the class.

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.