1969 José Ramírez "1aF IM" No. 3736 CD/CY

This 1969 José Ramírez "1aF IM" No. 3736 is a peg-head flamenco guitar with a cedar top and cypress back and sides, built in Madrid by Ignacio Manzano Rozas – a great gigging guitar, fitted with an endpin for a strap.

A Ramírez Flamenco by Ignacio Manzano Rozas

Segovia, Sabicas, Christopher Parkening, Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour, Sting – the list of professionals who have played instruments from the José Ramírez III workshop over the past half century is practically endless. This is a fun example of an older Ramírez concert flamenco built by Ignacio Manzano Rozas, as indicated by the internal stamp "IM" (for a complete list of Ramírez luthiers from this era, click here); 1969 was his last year in the Ramírez workshop. The guitar is lightweight and comfortable, and its sound is dry and aggressive in the old-world flamenco way. It is fitted with old-school wooden pegs for the traditionalist who likes the lighter feel of the older, mid-century style.

Label and Condition

The label is the new numbered type, signed by José Ramírez III: No. 3736, 1969. This guitar has been played considerably, as attested by the wear and dings on the surface of the body. There are two repaired cracks in the soundboard – one on the treble side near the edge of the tap plate (repaired internally with three small square spruce cleats), and the second on the bass-side edge of the tap plate (reinforced with one spruce cleat). It has an endpin for a strap, making this a great gigging guitar for the musician needing the versatility of a variety of different performing situations. An excellent player's guitar for the performer looking for a great workhorse that has the classic 1960s Ramírez sound.

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.

Ramírez Models, Labels and Builders' Stamps

For decades the workshop sold its guitars by class rather than by model name. The "1a" (first class) was the standard concert guitar; the "2a" (second class) was built the same way, and the shop explained its lower price tag by materials that might have minor aesthetic blemishes, or by its having been built by an apprentice rather than a foreman. Flamenco guitars add an "F" – "1aF" and "2aF". Until 1967 the labels carried only the year; from 1967 they were signed by José Ramírez III and gave the guitar's number and class, and from 1973 the 2a had a grey label of its own, with a red border and "R" numbers. Until 1971, many Ramírez guitars were stamped inside with the initials of the craftsman who built them – AM for Antonio Martínez, MT for Mariano Tezanos, PB for Paulino Bernabé and many more (see our list of Ramírez workshop luthiers). Later decades brought new models: the "Centenario", which roughly marked the workshop's hundredth anniversary; the "Da Cámara"; the shorter-scale C86 of 1986; and, under José Ramírez IV, the "Tradicional" and the "Especial".