2015 José Ramírez "Tablao" w/Pegs No. X5-006 SP/IN

This 2015 José Ramírez "Tablao" No. X5-006 is a flamenco guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides – a reissue of the 1913 "Guitarra de Tablao" of José Ramírez I.

From the Ramírez Workshop in Madrid

Over more than half a century the José Ramírez workshop has built guitars for countless professionals – everyone from Segovia to Sting, Sabicas to Chet Atkins and Christopher Parkening to Lee Ritenour. It was made at Calle de la Paz 8 under Amalia Ramírez, who has directed the family business since the death of her brother José IV in 2000.

The "Guitarra de Tablao" of 1913

This model is a reissue of a José Ramírez I "Guitarra de Tablao", based on a template dated 1913. The construction details have been slightly altered to suit today's playing preferences, and the aesthetic details slightly modified, always in keeping with the style of the time when it was first developed. Besides this flamenco, the model is also made as a classical.

Sound, Pegs and Label

This rosewood flamenco has an antique quality of sound, largely due to the flatter box depth and the extra width of both bouts. It is absolutely charming to play and has plenty of power for any concert setting. The detailing is beautifully and tastefully done, and the pegs are "machined" by Planetary – easy to use, with a traditional, old-school look. Ramírez offers a wooden or a clear plastic tap plate; this one has the clear plastic. The label reads "Reedición de la 'Guitarra de Tablao' (1913) de José Ramírez I", Año 2015, Nº de serie X5-006, and is signed by Amalia Ramírez.

Two Videos

In the videos above Amalia Ramírez presents the "Guitarra de Tablao" and talks about the Ramírez legacy.

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.