José Ramírez IV 1953 – 2000
José Enrique Ramírez García (José Ramírez IV) was born in Madrid in May 1953. In 1971 he entered the workshop as an apprentice at the age of 18 and in 1977 he reached the rank of first officer. In 1988 he took over the management of the business together with his sister Amalia.
One of his first steps was to define the models that had been built up to that point as a result of the change detected in the sound tastes of some guitarists in the mid-1980s.
A valuable recognition took place in 1979. Among several guitars that had been chosen to take to the master Andrés Segovia, there was one built by him, José Ramírez. At that time it was two years since he had become an officer in his father’s workshop and it was a surprise and a great satisfaction that Segovia unknowingly chose the guitar that he had built. Such was the young guitar maker’s joy that he gave it to him as a gift and wrote him an emotional dedication that he signed and glued next to the label. The maestro played that guitar in many of his concerts until the end of his days, everything is recorded in the letter that the maestro wrote to the musician.
In 1991 he continued building the guitar with all the sound characteristics of the sixties that he called “Traditional Model”. In addition, he started the project of another guitar with a new design that expressed a clearer and more direct sound; that was adjusted to the new tendencies and that he called “Modelo Especial”, being totally defined in 1992.
José Ramírez IV was in charge of detailing, developing and perfecting his father’s models, adapting them to the needs of the musicians of that time. He also developed new construction techniques that made the instruments more comfortable and easier to play; as well as more stable in their assembly, avoiding in some cases, and reducing in others, the deformations due to the movements of the woods.
Another important chapter was that of the study guitars aimed at beginners, students and musicians who wanted to amplify their instruments. We have to point out, that already in the times of José Ramírez I, these guitars were sold in the guitar shops as an alternative to the handmade ones, which naturally, were much more expensive and of a very superior quality.
At the beginning he did not put a label on them, but with time he realised the mistake, as the picaresque appeared in the form of claims of guitars that claimed to have been bought in his shop and, as they did not have a label, those claims could not be refuted. Finally, he had some special labels made, different from the ones he put on the professional models and, in this way, the problems were over.
As for José Ramírez II, not only he continued selling studio guitars built in series, but also he designed other models to be made by the best manufacturers that were in Valencia at that time. José Ramírez III, like his grandfather, did not like the studio guitars, so he did not care about the slow disappearance of his father’s designs.
However, José Ramírez IV did not think so. He was very conscious of the importance that those guitars had so that, the beginners, students and musicians who wanted an amplified guitar, had a guarantee of quality endorsed by the Ramírez house. His maxim was based on the fact that someone who starts out should not (and usually cannot) do so with a professional guitar, so he had to think of an instrument that, in addition to being affordable, had good quality and was pleasant to play. Certainly, that line was very well received as a starting point for approaching a professional guitar.
On the other hand, the interpreters who need to amplify themselves in a group can find in these guitars an option with less risk than that of making a type of work similar to their handmade guitar. So in the year 1986, José Ramírez IV, convinced his father to design together a line of study called “E”, made exclusively for Ramírez with a special selection of woods.
Later, in 1991, coinciding with the changes made to the handcrafted models, José Enrique designed another line of study more economical than the previous one and called it “R”, based on the template of the professional model C86.
