The unmistakable sound of a Ramírez guitar is born of more than 140 years of craftsmanship in the city of Madrid. Of course, the use of woods carefully seasoned for decades has something to do with it, along with breakthroughs such as red cedar soundboards or innovation in varnishes, and the most meticulous artisan work. We also believe it lies largely in the love we put into our work, which carries over into our instruments. It is the sound chosen by Llobet, Segovia, Barrios, Sabicas, Serranito, Manolo Sanlúcar… and the one you hear in the Beatles’ “And I Love Her”. A sound that still comes out of the Ramírez family workshop, now in its fifth generation.
This story begins with a feature from Barrileño, part of the programme Más de uno Madrid on Onda Cero, which visited our house to explore how an instrument is still built by hand today, in a workshop that has shaped the world of the guitar for more than a century. You can listen to the full report on Onda Cero (in Spanish, about six minutes). Here we add what radio has no time to tell.
It all began with a hunting bow and a vibrating string
Before there was a workshop, a stage or a score, there was a bow. Thousands of years ago, someone stretched a string between its two ends, plucked it and discovered a principle that would change everything: a string under tension makes sound.
From there, the story is the oldest one we know: people trying, failing and improving. More strings were added, wooden boxes were built to amplify the vibration, and it was understood that by shortening the string with the fingers, a single string could give different notes. The lute and the vihuela came along, and centuries later one of the most universal instruments in the world appeared: the guitar.
A decisive part of that story was written in Madrid, in a workshop that has been building guitars for more than 140 years, almost exactly as it did on day one.
Madrid, 1882: five generations turning wood into music
In 1882, José Ramírez I opened his own workshop in Madrid after training in the craft from a young age in the workshop of Francisco González. His house is now the oldest guitar-making house in the world run without interruption by the same family. Five generations have lived through wars, crises and changing eras while doing the same thing: building an instrument for the hands and needs of the musician.
Five generations, one craft
- José Ramírez I created the tablao guitar, key to the development of modern flamenco.
- Manuel Ramírez, brother of José Ramírez I, learned the craft with him. He went independent, set up his own workshop and transformed the tablao guitar into the instrument that laid the foundations of the flamenco guitar of the Madrid School of Guitar Makers.
- José Ramírez II kept the workshop afloat through wars and hard times, and won gold medals at international exhibitions. He was a musician who emigrated to Argentina and worked at “His Master’s Voice”, then returned to Spain to take over the workshop after his father’s death.
- José Ramírez III was a revolutionary of the Spanish guitar, classical and flamenco (more on that just below).
- José Ramírez IV consolidated the house’s international prestige. After his death, his sister Amalia Ramírez took the reins on her own and became one of the first women master guitar makers in history. She is the one who tells this story in the Onda Cero report.
- Cristina Ramírez and José Enrique Ramírez lead the house today, with the challenge of preserving tradition and purity of sound, while bringing the guitar closer to new generations.
José Ramírez III: red cedar and synthetic varnishes
If one discovery changed the history of guitar making, it is José Ramírez III’s: he applied red cedar to the soundboards, which gave a sweeter, deeper and more powerful sound, increased the size of the body and lengthened the scale to gain volume in large concert halls. Synthetic varnishes also helped achieve greater projection. That design, born of listening and testing in the workshop, remains one of the foundations of what we call the Ramírez Sound.
The gift that changed the history of the guitar: Manuel Ramírez and Andrés Segovia
Of all the stories in our house, one is told with particular affection. In the early twentieth century, a young and still unknown Andrés Segovia walked into the workshop of Manuel Ramírez, brother of José Ramírez I and a master guitar maker in his own right. He had a concert booked at the Ateneo de Madrid and a modest request: to rent a good guitar, because he could not afford to buy one.
Manuel asked him to try it. Segovia began to play, and the master, listening from behind the counter, was left speechless. He decided that this guitar would be neither rented nor sold: it would be given. The Ateneo concert took place on 6 May 1913. Segovia’s first Ramírez is now kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
What happened next?
The gift did not serve for a single concert. Segovia took Ramírez guitars to stages around the world and, with them, helped bring about a historic shift: the guitar stopped being a secondary instrument and became the protagonist of the concert hall, of the classical repertoire and of the conservatoires. Over the years he tried guitars by other makers, but he ended up returning to Ramírez. As Amalia Ramírez recalls, the relationship lasted some 75 years, from his first Ramírez until his death in 1987.
If you want to go deeper, Amalia tells it in the first person in Andrés Segovia’s Manuel Ramírez guitar and the artisan workshop, part of our Historical Hints series.
From classical concert halls and tablaos to other kinds of music: why Ramírez guitars sound in so many worlds
The guitar Segovia raised to concert-hall protagonist went on to cross every border. In flamenco, Serranito, Manolo Sanlúcar and Paco de Lucía are part of that story. And in pop, George Harrison appears with a Ramírez in the video for “And I Love Her”, one of the most recognisable ballads of the Beatles, whose unmistakable sound owes a good deal to a guitar from our house.
It is no accident that the same family of instruments serves a classical or flamenco concert artist, a flamenco ensemble, popular music and a rock band: a deep, bright, warm sound, with round, powerful basses and trebles that sing, works on any stage.
What does it really mean for a guitar to be handcrafted?
The report sums it up with an idea we share: in a craft workshop there are no shortcuts. Every guitar takes time, attention and manual work, and that is why each one sounds different. What matters is the wood, the templates, the construction, the varnishing and the final adjustment.
And there is something deeper still in the shapes themselves: throughout history, some luthiers have hidden proportions, colours and meanings in their instruments that few know how to read, some of them based on sacred geometry. We explore that hidden inspiration in The Sacred and the Divine in the Guitar.
If you want to place the house within the wider history of the guitar, the Wikipedia entry on Ramírez Guitars offers a good chronological summary.
Frequently asked questions
Who gave Andrés Segovia his first Ramírez guitar?
Manuel Ramírez, brother of José Ramírez I. Segovia only wanted to rent a guitar for a concert at the Ateneo de Madrid, but on hearing him play, Manuel decided to give it to him.
Which guitar did George Harrison play in “And I Love Her”?
A Ramírez guitar. In the song’s video Harrison is seen with a Ramírez, a moment the Onda Cero report recalls as one of the links between our house and the history of rock.
How many generations of the Ramírez family have built guitars?
Five. Since José Ramírez I opened his workshop in 1882, the house has passed through José Ramírez II, III and IV, and Amalia Ramírez, and is run today by Cristina Ramírez and José Enrique Ramírez. Alongside them stands Manuel Ramírez, brother of José Ramírez I, who set up his own workshop and left a decisive mark on the flamenco guitar.
Why does a Ramírez guitar sound different?
It comes from the combination of noble woods seasoned for decades, the construction introduced by José Ramírez III and the craft work on every instrument. The result is a deep, warm and bright sound, with round basses and trebles that sing.
Where are Ramírez guitars built?
Our handcrafted guitars are built 100 % by hand in our workshop in Madrid. Our studio guitars are designed by the family and built in selected Spanish workshops to our plans and guidelines. They are checked and adjusted in our Madrid workshop.
Ready to find your Ramírez? Discover our Handcrafted Guitars and Studio Guitars, or tell us what music you play and what you look for in a guitar, and we will advise you with the same care that goes into building every instrument. Write to us or book a video call: we would be delighted to help.