José Ramirez – 1976 1A

Description

The Ramirez family has been building fine and high-quality guitars since 1882 already. Their instruments have been and are played by some of the greatest guitarists in the world, such as Julian Bream, Andres Segovia, Laurindo Almeida, Oscar Ghiglia, Jose Luis Gonzales, and many others. Ramirez is an important part of the history of guitar building. Jose Ramirez I (1858-1923) trained a large number of guitar builders in his workshop at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. And José Ramirez III (1922-1995) was a pioneer in the use of cedarwood as top wood for guitars and built several guitars for Andres Segovia.

Julian Moraga Rodriguez built this guitar in 1976 in Ramirez’s workshop. The guitar does have some playing wear on the top, but not exceptionally much, considering that this beautiful guitar has been played for over 40 years. There are 4 cracks on the top, which have been professionally repaired with cleats inside and are now perfectly stable.

An extraordinary feature of this special 1A model is the usage of mahogany for back and sides. This transforms the Ramirez typical tone into a softer and earthier timbre. The tonal basis of this instrument is created by broad, powerful, solid basses. Paired with singing, lyrical Spanish trebles it becomes a sovereign concert guitar with the traditional sound of Madrid.