2019 José Ramírez "Guitarra del Tiempo" No. 300 SP/IN

This 2019 José Ramírez "Guitarra del Tiempo" No. 300 is a classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides – the spruce-top anniversary model.

A 2019 Ramírez from Calle de la Paz

This guitar was built in the famous José Ramírez workshop in Madrid, which for well over half a century has made instruments for countless professionals – Sting and Segovia, Chet Atkins and Sabicas, Lee Ritenour and Christopher Parkening. 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 Guitar of Time

A newly designed, enhanced top bracing is the heart of the "Guitarra del Tiempo", the follow-up to the "130 Años" among the Ramírez anniversary guitars; it is a permanent model, though its distinctive rosette changes over time, and the sound is articulate and full-bodied.

Sound and Label

Ample volume, reactive dynamics and a long sustain of the harmonics on all six strings make it a guitar for the demanding player. The spruce top adds clarity to its warm, bold voice. Its label, "Studio Guitar – Guitarra del Tiempo", is dated 2019, No. 300 and celebrates "over 135 years since the foundation of our workshop in 1882". Classical Guitar Magazine has reviewed the model.

Two Videos

Amalia Ramírez presents the Guitarra del Tiempo in the first video above and talks about the Ramírez legacy in the second.

Curious about the family? Our blog has The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, the whole line from Amalia Ramírez back to José I, and a little fact-checking on the 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.