2011 José Ramírez "1a C650-A" No. X1-018 SP/IN

This 2011 José Ramírez "1a C650-A" No. X1-018 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, with the new rosette and purfling of the period.

From the José Ramírez Workshop, Directed by Amalia Ramírez

It comes from the famous José Ramírez workshop – today directed by Amalia Ramírez – whose instruments have been played by countless professionals over more than half a century, from Segovia and Sabicas to Sting, Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour and Christopher Parkening. 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": Primera Quality

We were very happy to say these were among the best new Ramírez guitars we had seen in many years – truly outstanding performance instruments by any standard. With the C650 the workshop went back to basics and gave us a first-class concert guitar that anyone can play easily; this is the spruce ("A" for abeto) version.

Tone, Playability and Label

The tone is thick yet clear, with that essential warm, mysterious and moody quality that made Ramírez famous. Easy to play, it has the comfortable neck and relaxed action that the workshop brought back with the Tradicional. The new rosette and purfling are absolutely stunning. On the label: Amalia Ramírez's star signature, the year 2011 and No. X1-018, and the model code "C650-A" is written by hand beside the class.

For more on Ramírez, be sure to read The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar; meet the family members from Amalia Ramírez back to José I; and for some interesting fact-checking, see our article on 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.