José Ramírez de Galarreta y Planell, the founder of the dynasty, was born in Madrid in 1858. At the age of twelve he began an apprenticeship in the workshop of his master Francisco González, whose guitar shop was located on the Carrera de San Jerónimo in Madrid.
Between 1880 and 1882, José Ramírez I established his own workshop in the Madrid Rastro, marking the beginning of his independent career as a guitar maker. In 1890 he moved to Calle Concepción Jerónima 2, where his descendants continued the craft until 1995. Today the shop is located at Calle de la Paz 8, close to the original premises.
Once independent, José Ramírez I became the teacher of his younger brother Manuel Ramírez and later of his son José Ramírez II. He also trained several other makers, including Antonio Viudes, Rafael Casana, Alfonso Benito, Antonio Gómez, Julián Gómez Ramírez and Enrique García. García later opened his own workshop in Barcelona, where he became the teacher of Francisco Simplicio.
José Ramírez I became a central figure of the Madrid School of Guitar Makers, emerging as the most prominent master of his time in the tradition established by Antonio de Torres. Flamenco guitarists sought his expertise to address the limited sound projection of instruments then available, which struggled to be heard in tablaos and singing cafés. In response, he created the “Guitarra de Tablao”, a model that served as the foundation for later developments by his brother Manuel and eventually contributed to the principles of the modern flamenco guitar adopted by subsequent generations of makers.
One historical curiosity is that a Ramírez guitar owned by Agustín Barrios, now exhibited in the Cabildo of Paraguay, was built using the same plantilla as the “Guitarra de Tablao”.
