1973 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1100 CD/CSAR

This 1973 José Ramírez "2a" No. R1100 is a classical guitar with a cedar top and CSA rosewood back and sides – the lowest 2a number in our museum, with no cracks or repairs.

The "2a": Pretty Much Identical to the "1a"

Countless professionals have performed on instruments from the famous José Ramírez III workshop over the past half century and more – think of Sting and Segovia, Sabicas and Chet Atkins, or Lee Ritenour and Christopher Parkening. The "2a" models are pretty much identical to the standard "1a" model in all ways; the Ramírez shop claimed back in the day that the lower price tag was due to either using materials that may have minor aesthetic blemishes, such as small knots, or what in Spain are called "cocas" (darker areas of resin concentration in the grain), or if they were built by an apprentice and not a foreman. However, after many decades of discussion, many players and aficionados have concluded that a great 2a can be identical to a great 1a.

Sound

This one has first-class tone and workmanship, offering a sound on par with the very best of the Ramírez workshop. The back and sides are an astonishingly beautiful set of CSA rosewood, among the finest on any 2a we've had. Thick yet clear, warm and moody, it has the voice everyone hopes for in a Ramírez of this period.

Label and Condition

It has the red-bordered 2a label that Ramírez used from 1973: dated 1973, signed by José Ramírez III and numbered R1100 – the "R" marks the 2a numbering. It also carries the small green sticker of the American distributor, Antigua Casa Sherry-Brener ("Modelo Segovia – Hecho a Mano"). With R1100 it is the lowest 2a number in our museum – one of the first guitars of the new 2a numbering. It is in great condition for its age, with no cracks or repairs and only very mild wear from previous use – a fine Ramírez for the active concert player or recording artist.

To learn more, 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.

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".