José Simón Ramírez de Galarreta y Pernías was born in 1885; he grew up in his father's workshop and learned the trade from him. In addition to being a luthier, he was a guitarist, and at age 20, he was hired to go on a two-year tour of South America.
It took a lot of effort to convince his father to give him permission to accept the contract, but he finally succeeded, since two years wasn't too long. However, the tour dragged on, and those two years turned into nearly 20, since, once the rondalla he had been traveling with disbanded, he decided to stay in Buenos Aires.
There he met Blanca, a Spanish woman who would later become his wife. They had two sons: José and Alfredo.
In 1923 he received the news of his father’s death and decided to return to Madrid with his family. Two years later he took over the guitar shop located at calle Concepción Jerónima number 2.
At that time, the store, which was on the ground floor, was attended by Jesús Martínez, while in the workshop, located on the upper floor, they worked: Alfonso Benito and Antonio Gómez as officers; Marcelo Barbero, still as an apprentice; and Manuel Rodríguez – nicknamed “Marequi” – as a varnisher.
José Ramírez II was also a renowned teacher, which is why he was awarded the Gold Medal at the Ibero-American Exposition in Seville in 1923. Unfortunately, in 1936, in addition to the many hardships brought about by the Spanish Civil War, there was also a shortage of materials and wood needed for guitar construction (a situation that persisted long after the war ended).
That shortage was the main cause of the discussions with his son José Ramírez III, when he reached the level of officer and began to do his experiments.
