2023 José Ramírez "1a C650" No. W2-033 CD/IN

This 2023 José Ramírez "1a C650" No. W2-033 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides, with a French-polished top and lacquered back and sides.

The Ramírez Workshop in 2023

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 succeeded her brother José Ramírez IV in 2000, and she still inspects every guitar during and after construction – this one included.

The Ramírez "1a" Model

First class – "primera", or "1a" – is the designation of the standard Ramírez concert guitar, and it means top quality in workmanship, detail and choice of wood. The Tradicional goes back to the classic concert guitar of José Ramírez III, with the standard 650mm string length and an easy neck angle. For attention to detail, quality of construction and sound, we rate this instrument very highly. The top is French polished and the back and sides lacquered, which makes it a very practical guitar for the gigging musician who needs a solid, durable instrument for regular use.

Playability and Condition

It has all the color and warmth of a great Ramírez, and this one in particular has a huge, husky, almost "smoky" sound – that mysterious quality found only in a classic-sounding Ramírez, which we feel owes much to the cypress lining of the sides. Although second-hand, it is in excellent shape, with no damage or repairs and only some mild wear in the top. On the label: Amalia Ramírez's star signature, the year 2023 and No. W2-033, and the model code "C650 Trad" is written by hand beside the class. A fantastic guitar for the player seeking the timeless Madrid sound.

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.