2020 Stefan Nitschke "1912 Manuel Ramírez" SP/CSAR

A 2020 "1912 Manuel Ramírez" classical guitar by Stefan Nitschke, with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides – a tribute to the 1912 Manuel Ramírez that Andrés Segovia played for the first 25 years of his career, and named "La Luella" on its label.

In the videos above, Nemanja Bogunovic plays his arrangement of Nino Rota's "Love Theme" from "The Godfather" and Yifang Ko plays Jorge Cardoso's "Milonga" on this guitar.

Ramírez Outside, Romanillos Inside

Stefan calls it a mixture: the looks follow the Manuel Ramírez, while the inside follows José Luis Romanillos, with his open harmonic bar and four struts. The sound leans toward Romanillos too, with firm, steady basses and clear, piano-like trebles.

Dark Rosewood, Glowing Sapwood

The dark CSA rosewood fades into a glow where the grain meets the lighter sapwood, and the amber finish gives an aged look; the nut is 51 mm. Pre-owned, in perfect structural condition with modest finish wear.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 22 – Gernot Wagner and the New German Generation (with a feature on Stefan Nitschke)

Stefan Nitschke: A Guitarist Turned Guitar Maker

Stefan Nitschke is a German classical guitar maker, born in 1982, who works in Kirchhain, Hesse. A guitarist who came back to the classical guitar through the music of Tárrega, he studied at the conservatory in Osnabrück from 2002, where his teacher Ulrich Müller encouraged him to build his first guitar – on the carpet of his living room. He learned more by watching Gerhard Oldiges at work, and from 2004 studied at the Akademie für Tonkunst in Darmstadt while working as a luthier.

Romanillos, Hauser and Santos

His passion is the sound of the old masters, and his models pay tribute to José Luis Romanillos, Hermann Hauser I and Santos Hernández, as well as Vicente Arias and Manuel Ramírez – interpretations rather than literal copies. Like Romanillos, he gives each guitar a name. He was featured among "the new German generation" in Orfeo Magazine No. 22.