2010 José Ramírez "1a C650-P" No. X0-020 CD/CSAR

This 2010 José Ramírez "1a C650-P" No. X0-020 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides, in mint condition apart from one small ding behind the bridge.

Made Under Amalia Ramírez

For more than fifty years, guitars from the José Ramírez workshop have been in the hands of countless professionals, from Segovia to Sting, from Sabicas to Chet Atkins and from Christopher Parkening to Lee Ritenour. Amalia Ramírez, who took over from her brother José IV in 2000, inspects every guitar from the workshop during and after construction; this one comes from her second decade in charge.

The Ramírez "1a" Model

The "1a" designation stands for "primera" – first, or highest, quality – and the model represents the top level of the workshop in workmanship, detail and choice of wood. With the Tradicional the workshop went back to basics – the classic design of José Ramírez III with a standard 650mm string length, a first-class concert guitar that anyone can play easily. For attention to detail, quality of construction and sound, we rate this instrument very highly. The "P" of the code stands for palosanto – CSA rosewood – and this set of rosewood is particularly striking.

Playability, Sound and Condition

Its voice is the immediately identifiable, classic sound that only comes from a great Ramírez concert guitar. It plays easily, with a comfortable neck and a low, easy action. After the photos were taken, a small ding behind the bridge occurred while the strings were being changed; otherwise the guitar is in mint condition. Signed by Amalia Ramírez, the label gives the year 2010 and the number X0-020.

More reading on our blog: The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, The José Ramírez Dynasty (from Amalia back to José I) and some interesting fact-checking in 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.