2009 José Ramírez "1a Tradicional" No. Y9-024 CD/IN

This 2009 José Ramírez "1a Tradicional" No. Y9-024 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and Indian rosewood back and sides, with no damage or repairs.

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. The workshop moved to Calle de la Paz 8 in 1995, and five years later Amalia Ramírez took over from her brother José IV; this guitar was made there during her first decade in charge.

The Ramírez "1a" Model

This model is the famously designated "1a", which stands for "primera" in Spanish and means "1st" or "highest" quality. It follows the classic design of José Ramírez III, but with the standard 650mm string length and an easy neck angle, so it plays more easily than many earlier Ramírez concert guitars. For attention to detail, quality of construction and sound, we rate this instrument very highly.

Playability and Condition

It has all the color and warmth that we normally associate with a great Ramírez. The set-up is easy and the neck comfortable, so it is a guitar anyone can play with ease. This guitar is in great condition, with no damage or repairs and only some modest wear in the finish on the body and headstock. On the label: Amalia Ramírez's star signature, the year 2009 and No. Y9-024.

There is much more about the workshop on our blog – The Ramírez Family: Masters of the Guitar, the family members from Amalia Ramírez back to José I, and some fact-checking 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.