2008 José Ramírez "1NE" CD/IN

This 2008 José Ramírez "1NE" is a classical guitar with a cedar top and laminated Indian rosewood back and sides – from the first year of the NE studio line created by Amalia Ramírez; Tara Rose Davison plays Mozart in the video above.

The Ramírez Workshop in 2008

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. Since 2000 the workshop has been in the hands of Amalia Ramírez, the fifth generation of the family, and this guitar was made in the first decade of her direction.

The NE Line

Designed with a template, decoration, tone, quality of sound and materials that are synonymous with the Ramírez name, the NE line is the new and improved "E" line, designed by José Ramírez III in 1986. Amalia Ramírez created the NE line in 2008 by updating the patterns of the E line's rosettes, purflings and tie blocks, while staying true to her father's original designs in the basic construction. The 1NE has a solid red cedar top, laminated Indian rosewood back and sides and an ebony fingerboard.

Sound and Label

The NE guitars are slightly lighter in weight, but they still sing with the same beautiful, rich tones that are characteristic of José Ramírez guitars. The orange "Guitarras de Estudio" label is marked "1N-E" and dated 2008, with the "Calidad Ramírez" stamp.

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.

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.