2018 José Ramírez "Tablao" w/Pegs No. X8-018 SP/IN

This 2018 José Ramírez "Tablao" No. X8-018 is a flamenco guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides, French polished; Jennifer Kim and Twanguero play it in the videos above.

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. Amalia Ramírez, the fifth generation of the family, has directed the workshop since 2000 and inspects every guitar during and after construction.

A Reissue of José Ramírez I

The "Tablao" reissues the "Guitarra de Tablao" of José Ramírez I, from a template dated 1913. Details of construction have been adapted slightly to current playing preferences and the decoration subtly modified, always true to the period of the original. It is made as a flamenco – like this one – and as a classical.

Sound, Pegs and Label

The flatter box and the extra width in both bouts give this rosewood flamenco its antique quality of sound; it is charming to play, with plenty of power for the concert stage. The detailing is beautiful and tasteful, the pegs are Planetary "machined" pegs with a traditional look, and the tap plate is clear plastic (wood is the other option). The finish is French polish. The label – "Reedición de la 'Guitarra de Tablao' (1913) de José Ramírez I" – is dated 2018, numbered X8-018 and signed by Amalia Ramírez.

Five Videos

Jennifer Kim plays Llobet's "Scherzo-Vals" on a José Ramírez "Tablao", and Twanguero plays his "Green Eyed Girl" and "Spanish Rag" on this 2018 "Tablao"; in the other two videos Amalia Ramírez presents the Guitarra de Tablao and talks about the Ramírez legacy.

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.