2006 José Ramírez "GH" SP/IN

This 2006 José Ramírez "GH" is a classical guitar with a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides – the George Harrison model, a reproduction of the Ramírez guitar he used in "A Hard Day's Night".

From the Ramírez Workshop in Madrid

Segovia, Sabicas, Christopher Parkening, Chet Atkins, Lee Ritenour, Sting – the list of professionals who have played instruments from the José Ramírez workshop over more than half a century is practically endless. Since 2000 the workshop has been in the hands of Amalia Ramírez, the fifth generation of the family, and this guitar was made in the first decade of her direction.

The "GH": George Harrison

The "GH" (George Harrison) is an improved and authentic reproduction of the José Ramírez studio model that George Harrison used during the recording of the classic Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night", heard on the Beatles recordings "Till There Was You" and "And I Love Her". It features all-solid woods and ornaments similar to those of the original model. Like all the workshop's artist and limited-edition guitars – made to commemorate a milestone in the Ramírez story or to celebrate an accomplished musician – it is handmade with only the most precious cuts of wood.

Condition and Playability

Condition is excellent – no damage or repairs, only some aesthetic blemishes, including mild playing wear in the finish and some delamination of the finish from some areas of the rosewood, which is purely cosmetic and leaves the guitar completely structurally sound. Set-up and playability are easy and the guitar has great tone, making it usable for virtually any genre of music. Inside is the blue round Ramírez sticker of the GH model.

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.