1964 Jose Ramirez "1a" SP/CSAR

This guitar was built in the famous Jose Ramirez III workshop, which for over half a century has produced instruments performed on by countless professionals from Sting to Segovia, Chet Atkins to Sabicas and Lee Ritenour to Christopher Parkening. This is a "blue label" Ramirez, which identifies this as a "first class" model (later called "1a"). Curiously, the guitar does not have an internal stamp on the heel identifying the builder, however the tone and workmanship are first class, indicating it must have been built by one of their top foremen at this time. The guitar offers a sound that is on par with the best that the Ramirez workshop had to offer from this era. It is a longscale however the nut width is only 51mm and the neck shape that follows makes it remarkably easy to play. The tone is thick yet clear, and has that essential warm, mysterious and moody quality that made Ramirez famous. Condition is excellent with no cracks or repairs, only some modest wear in the finish from regular use of the last half-century. Tuning machines were recently replaced with Gotoh copies of the original Fusteros.

For more information on Ramirez, be sure to read The Ramirez Family: Masters of the Guitar, or for information on the Ramirez family members, from Amalia Ramirez back to Jose I and for some interesting fact-checking on myths and facts about this legendary workshop.