Spanish(classical) Guitars

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luis

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I'm opening this thread because Crybaby's suggestion.Hope you like it.
As far as it's long I''ll complete it slowly...Suggestions are welcome of course.

I'll also open another one talking about classical and falmenco guitarist too.

SPANISH(CLASICAL) GUITARS:

Clasical guitar as we known today was born with Antonio de Torres(1817-1892)


Antonio de Torres. Antonio de Torres Jurado was born in Ca?ada (Almeria) in 1817 and died in Almeria in 1892.He learned carpentry in the town of Vera and worked in this job for some years. Then he moved to Granada in 1850 where Jose Pernas, who lived in 8 Plazuela street, taught him the art of making guitars. Torres who completely surprised everybody, as he did not have any previous relatives in this field, and he learned guitar making at the age of 33, achieved excellent results. Together with other guitar makers they created a basic, simple and elegant guitar, with a slender head and pronounced curves. He also took advantage of certain woods which were not appreciated in other European countries, like rosewood and cypress, which are still used in the making of flamenco guitars. The decoration of these guitars was minimal, as they were built foremost for playing.

The pragmatic Spanish guitarists, had realized before anyone else that the guitars which were so beautifuly decorated, worsened the quality of the sound because they were uncomfortable to play. The head of these guitars, since the 18th century, were long. They were equiped with rudimentary wooden pegs, adaptable simply by rubbing. Such characteristics are still in use in flamenco guitars. Although the rest of Europe used guitars with more strings (some longer and others shorter, Spain remained loyal for a long time to the six string guitar, probably because as it was bigger size was the most convenient for its use: the accompaniment of Andalusian songs and dances. It was not until 1820 that they adapted the six string guitar, with some changes adapted by Torres, the "Stradivarius of the guitar." After that this instrument evolved to the actual classical guitar we use today. There is little information about the period he spent with Jose Pernas, but what is known is the meeting he had with the concert performer Julian Arcus, which was determinant in his idea to dedicate his time exclusively to the making of guitars. In this meeting Arcas explained to Torre the problems of sound volume that the guitars had at that time.
His first phase as guitar maker is in Seville, between 1854 and 186__. His guitar labels had the following information:

"Por D.Antonio de Torres (On some labels the word "de" was omitted)
Calle Cerregeria 32 (en alguna cerrajeria)
Sevilla n?32 a?o: 186.....
The job of guitar making did not give him a good enough salary, so he left Seville in 1870 and settled in Almeria, where he established a porcelain and cristal store. After 1880 untill 1892 appears his second phase of guitar making, but he does this only for friends and not as a job. At this time his guitar labels had the following information:
Antonio de Torres
Constructor de Guitarras en Sevilla
vive hoy en Almeria, Calle Reah n?20 Ca?ada
Guitarra n?20 a?o de 18......


As we can see, he himself was conscious of his "two phases;" another surprising fact is that he never signed his labels. According to the biography of Alberto Romanillos, Torres had manufactured about 320 guitars during his career. Only 66 still remain. Antonio Torres had a very important influence on guitar making for various reasons. He lenghtened the body of the guitar and left a well marked neck. He also used lighter materials and and thin boxes and due to this, these instruments were not heavier than its predecesors. He also added (through an empirical process) a system of of lenghth proporsions based on a certain geometrical logic, that is still used today. Though his main contribution consists of a system of rods invisible to the naked eye. Such system is made with some wooden rods situated inside the instrument, whose function consists in both avoiding the bending of the instrument and giving you a complete freedom of movement. The purpose of these rods was to reinforce the cover and also it had an acustic type purpose.He used seven rods: one in the center and three on each side. A guitar built in 1763 by Francisco Perez, in Cadiz, came equiped with rods, but it does not seem as a post modification. Later, Luthiers , Jose Benedit and Juan and Jose Pages, from Cadiz and Francisco Sanguino, from Seville, bettered the process of fan shaped rods, of which we had mentioned before it was Torres who set the patterns. He thought rightly that the box and the rod were the vital points of the instrument. Imagine the lucky listeners of the time like Domingo Pra, who said the instrument had an exceptional sound. This same guitar can still be seen in the museum of instruments of the conservatory of Barcelona, although its bad condition makes it impossible to repeat that historical experience. Torres also set the standard lenghth of the diapason of the guitars in 650mm, lenghtened the "Trastes" and eliminated all the decorations. His artistic carvings around the "Boca" and the sides had a personal characteristic. His own carvings around the "Boca" are like yellow spikes on a green background. Doquier tried to immitate this, some of his guitares have been dimantled so as to penetrate in the mistery of its unmistakable sound and labels have also been falsified which appear on instruments which Torres had never really built. Though it is not difficult (due to the amount of his production) that an authentic uncataloged Torres guitar can still appear anywhere in the world.



*Taken from: http://www.laguitarra.net/ITorres.htm


Next famous and highly appreciated guitarmaker was Jos? Ram?rez (aka Ram?rez I) who begun Ram?rez dinasty and his brother Manuel Ram?rez.

The Ramirez family from Madrid, also represents a saga of manufacturers of guitars that starts up with Jos? Ramirez I in 1882, until the current manufacturer called Jos? Ramirez IV. Their guitars are of great level, and they enjoy great prestige among the professional guitarists. This firm owns several National and International rewards, relate to its craft . At the moment he builds with the professional guitars an excellent range of guitarsdedicated to students and amateurs.





Jos? Ram?rez of Galarreta and Planell, was born in Madrid in 1858. At the age of 12 he began working as an apprentice in the workshop of who was later to become his Maestro; Francisco Gonz?lez. The Gonzales shop was located on the Carrera de San Jer?nimo street in Madrid.
In 1890 Jose I established himself at Concepci?n Jer?nima n? 2, where his descendants continued to build guitars until the year 1995. And at this current time the store has been relocated on the street La Paz n? 8, very near the old shop.
Although Francisco Gonz?lez had Jos? Ram?rez like only pupil Jos? himself, however, was his smaller brother's teacher, Manuel Ram?rez, as well as of his son, Jos? Ram?rez II, also the teacher of Enrique Garc?a that later established himself in Barcelona (where he left a pupil: Francisco Simplicio), and of Juli?n G?mez Ram?rez. He also taught the trade to Antonio Viudes and to Rafael Casana, as well as to Alfonso Benito and to Antonio G?mez.
Thus, the Ramirez Dynasty began in Jos? Ram?rez?s workshop. Jos? Ram?rez was recognized as an outstanding master guitar-maker. In fact, flamenco guitarists would frequently approach him to find a solution for better projection of sound?. And that's how Jos? created the "tablao guitar." Although he was in agreement with the design by Torres, he built a larger flamenco model than most classical guitars in those days. The tablao guitar brought him much success, and added to his reputation as a maker of fine guitars.






Manuel Ram?rez de Galarreta y Planell was born in Alhama of Aragon in 1864. Although the habitual residence of the family was Madrid, the father's profession forced them to reside some time in this town. Manuel learned from his elder brother, Jos?, the guitar-maker's trade. And at the age of 27, in 1891, he decided to establish himself on his own. At the beginning, his idea was to move to Paris, and when he communicated his idea to Jos?, he helped him to carry out his project.

However, for an unknown reason, Manuel changed his plans, and he finally established himself in the n? 24 Cava Baja Street of Madrid, which sowed an enmity between the two brothers. The situation between them was never to clear up. After a time in Cava Baja Street, Manuel moved his shop to n?5 Santa Ana's square, and later on to n?10 Arlab?n Street, where he stayed definitively. In a short period of time he was to develop great prestige, by not only making guitars, but also violins, and he was named luthier of the Royal Conservatory of Madrid. In addition, he continued the school begun by his brother, and the guitar-makers he formed were recognized as amongst the best. These pupils were Santos Hern?ndez, Domingo Esteso and Modesto Borreguero.
With all the success obtained by the tablao guitar designed by his brother Jos?, it was natural that Manuel continued building it, but little by little he started developing it and perfecting it until getting an instrument that, still today, is the "model" for this type of guitar. Around 1912, a young man presented himself in the workshop in Arlab?n street with the purpose of renting a guitar for a concert he was to give. The clothes and general appearance of Andr?s Segovia were outlandish. The strangeness of the petition, as well as the visitor's aspect, made Manuel play with the situation giving him a guitar but not taking him very seriously.
However, after listening the youth playing, Manuel was so amazed that he decided to give him the guitar. That prodigious guitarist who played in taverns in exchange for a coffee was Andr?s Segovia. The guitar that Manuel gave him is now on display in the Metropolitan Museum of New York.





Jos? Sim?n Ram?rez of Galarreta and Pernias was born in the year 1885. He grew up in his father's shop, and he not only learned the trade from his father, but from journeymen like his uncle Manuel, Enrique Garc?a, and Juli?n G?mez. Besides being a guitar-maker, he was a guitarist, and when he was 20 years old he was hired to go on a two year tour of South America.
He found it very difficult to convince his father to let him accept the contract, but finally he convinced him that two years was not such a long time. However, the tour was prolonged, and the two years turned into almost 20?The group he traveled with had been dissolved so Jos? stayed in Buenos Aires. There he met the girl who later would become his wife, and who had traveled from Spain to Argentina with her family. They had two children, Jos? and Alfredo.
In 1923, he received the news of his father's death, so he returned to Madrid with his family. Two years later he was in charge of the Ramirez workshop on Concepcion Jer?nima. He was on the first floor of the store and was assisted by Jesus Mart?nez. While on the second floor workshop we could find Alfonso Benito and Antonio G?mez as journeymen with Marcelo Barbero, who was still an apprentice at the time. Manuel Rodr?guez nicknamed " Marequi" was there applying varnish but not as guitar-maker, which his son Manuel Rodr?guez would become later when he entered as an builders apprentice many years after the war.






Jos? Ram?rez II was a Maestro recognized for his work, and in 1923 he participated in the Ibero-American Exhibition of Seville where he obtained the Gold Medal. In 1936, due to the many problems that were brought on by the Spanish civil war, he had great difficulty in getting wood and materials for the construction of guitars. The situation lasted a long time; considerably hindering his work. That shortage was the main reason for his discussions with his son Jos? when he became journeymen and began to do experiments.






Jos? Ram?rez Mart?nez was born in May 1922. He joined the family workshop at the age of 18. His apprenticeship took place with no privileges but very soon he was admitted as a journeyman and he quickly began to experiment developing the guitar as a concert instrument. Because of the lack of material, and the fact that his investigations were not very profitable, his father and he would constantly argue about his father selling his experiments without keeping track of his work.
In 1954 his brother Alfredo died. He was in charge of the administrative work and was Jose?s best supporter, for he was convinced that Jose?s experiments would achieve their objective.
Three years later his father died and Jos? took over the running of the business with the help of his wife, Angelita. He had to give up his bench in the workshop and devote himself to full time management and supervision of his journeymen. He would work out his designs on paper and assign his journeymen to carry out the experiments he devised. Many of his investigations bore interesting fruit; like the discovery of red cedar for the harmonic top in 1965. This discovery was later adopted by practically all guitar manufacturers in the world, although at the beginning it was highly criticized because of its innovative nature.
He also tried different varnishes, and since his guitars were lacquered with alcohol based shellac like furniture, he felt they needed a more consistent rich varnish that not only protected the wood but would bring a better sound out of the instrument. Finally he got the owner of a laboratory; which sympathized with his restless pursuit, to mix an elaborate urea based varnish that gave an excellent result.
We had used this urea based varnish for many years but regrettably, some years ago, the laboratory changed their formula; affecting the quality and we had to stop using it. Jos? Ram?rez III made several experimentations with the string length; arriving at a particular scale that gave the best result for sound and projection without being too long. This 664 mm scale is the one being used today, but there was also a demand for a shorter scale that forced him to design a guitar with a 650mm scale. This happened in 1986, and for that reason the model was named C86; referring to the year of its creation. Later on his son Jos? Enrique modified the design; keeping the 650mm scale but changing the name of the pattern.





In 1983 Jose designed the ?camara? guitar, with the intention of eliminating the ?wolf notes.? It gave some positive results; for instance the clarity of its sound was excellent for studio recordings. This model adds an interior finish of Jacaranda or Caviuna located near the middle of the sides. The new guitar models were built with double sides of cypress in the interior. Later on they would change and use sycamore - and then they began to build them with half double internal sides. That remained until 1991. The double sides of cypress are glued to the Rosewood. Don't get confused and think this is plywood, since Jacaranda, caviuna and cypress are all solid woods. It was one of Jos?'s Ram?rez III acoustic experiments, and because of its excellent results, we still it use it today in our traditional guitars. In fact, some other guitar makers are using our technique at the moment. For all of his experiments and investigations, it is impossible to not give honorable mention to the 10 string guitar. This instrument was designed by Jose at the beginning of age 60. He started by performing some tests based on the ?viola d'amore?, but didn?t get satisfactory results, so he looked for the cooperation of Narciso Yepes who was very helpful in the development of this instrument.
Later he designed the eight string guitar for Jos? Tom?s. Meanwhile, Jos?'s main collaborator was Andr?s Segovia?. Ever since they met in 1952, Segovia was the one pointing the way with his wise critique. His demands and his scant approval reined supreme in Jose?s ears, for Maestro Segovia was extremely demanding when he had to choose an instrument for his use. This provided a great stimulus for Jose in knowing that Segovia should be interested in one of his guitars. In 1960 he built a guitar in which he compiled all the experiments that had given him good results. He added new ideas like the thickness of the wood, and asymmetries in the internal structure as well as vibrant masses at the traverse bar... When Segovia tried that guitar, he said he would like to keep it for a season, so he took it with him for awhile and traveled with it; making the Australia Tour in 1961. That was the first of a long list of guitars built by Jos? Ram?rez III for the Maestro to perform with in his concerts. As his construction techniques improved, he continued to experiment.
Those days coincided with the beginning of a long period of expansion, and this helped propel the guitars to world-wide popularity. Jos? moved the workshop to General Margallo Street while maintaining the small store at Concepci?n Jer?nima 2. In the new workshop, he teamed-up with several guitar-makers to be able to take care of the growing demand for his instruments. Later, toward 1970-71, he moved the workshop to a larger building, accepting even more journeymen; as the waiting list for his guitars had increased by two years. However, the workshop never became a factory. There were and are machines dedicated for fine work but there were machines dedicated for coarse work while the delicate work was done by the artisans. He ended up having a great number of journeymen building each guitar; from the beginning to the end, in accordance with the traditional method.
This was not "mass production," and never was. There were; on the other hand, several apprentices helping the journeymen in their tasks. They would loosen screws; untie borders, sand, and other jobs that allowed more time for the journeymen to do their delicate work. Also in 1971, the store in Concepci?n Jer?nima N?2 closed. They moved to a larger one, exactly in front of the old one at number 5, on the same street.
Many honors and awards were given to him; among the most outstanding were the gold medal of the Guitar Society in Chicago in 1962, the Bronze medal award by the Official Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madrid, gold medal to the exemplary Artisan of the Union Work of Craft, in Madrid, in 1972. He was also elected Honorary Partner of the Centre Culturale de la Chitarra in Rome in 1968, and Honorary Partner of Music in Compostela in 1983. He obtained the DIAPASON D'Or from the Ministry of Education and Culture of France in the year 1987, etc.
From all of the many cherished awards, the one he held most dear was a letter dedicated by Andr?s Segovia honoring his work.






Jos? Enrique Ram?rez Garc?a was born in Madrid in May 1953. He started working as an apprentice in 1971 at and reached the category of journeymen in 1977. He started at the time of the expansion initiated at the beginning of the 60s.
In 1979, he got the recognition of Andr?s Segovia since the Maestro chose from among several guitars that the workshop had previously selected and had sent to him. The one constructed by Jos? Enrique was the one chosen. This was a big surprise and especially a big satisfaction for him. His joy was so great that he wrote a great dedication with signature that was stuck beside the label. Mr. Segovia used this guitar until the end of his days, and according to the letters written by Segovia to Jos? Enrique, he used it with great satisfaction. This same guitar was sold at the beginning of 1997, in Japan, for 50.000 US $.
In 1988, he decided to run the family business with his sister Amalia. His idea was to re-define the models that were being built then. In the middle of the 80's, a change had been detected in the taste in sound of some guitarists. On one hand the rich and deep harmonic sound of our guitars was still appreciated, but this new current looked for an instrument with a clearer and more direct sound. He decided to make some modifications in the internal structure of our guitars -like the double sides - always taking as a base the pattern of the sixties. What he got was an instrument that came closer to the new taste, but without completely losing any characteristics of the old ones. It was in 1991 when Jos? Enrique realised this was a mistaken road that he had been taken, and as in many things in life decided it better to undo everything and to start again from the beginning.





He began to build a guitar with all the characteristic sound of the sixties which he named Traditional, and another one which didn't have anything to do with the previous one, one which expressed that clear and direct sound which was the solution for new tendencies. That guitar, after several experiments, was completely defined in 1992, and he denominated the Special.
Today, two lines are built in Ramirez?s workshop. Esencially, Jos? Ram?rez IV defined and improved the work done by his father, although he also introduced his own innovations. Besides defining the two lines professional classic guitars, he developed techniques of construction that made thm the most comfortable and easy instruments to play, and also more stable in their assembly thus avoiding in some cases, and reducing in others, the deformations due to the movement of the wood.





Another important chapter is the student guitars that never attracted Jos? Ram?rez?s III whose interest was centred exclusively in the professional guitars. In fact, already in the time of Jos? Ram?rez I, those guitars, dedicated to beginners, students and people with little purchasing power, were sold in the workshop as an alternative to those made by hand that, naturally, were much more expensive and of a very superior quality. That is to say, the same as now.
Jos? Ram?rez I, who had rejected guitars "made in series" had also seen the necessity of selling them in his business. At the beginning he didn't put a label on them, but with time he realized that this was a mistake because a lot of people could come to his shop with complains and he couldn?t prove the guitar was really coming from there. Also, without label, how could he argue with a client's statement? So, finally, he ordered some special labels, different to those he put in the professional models, to be made, and this way ended the problem.
Jos? Ram?rez II kept selling student guitars made in series, and more than that: he also designed some student models and he orderd them from the best manufacturer in Valencia. One of those models stayed till the middle of the 70s in the workshop, although already by then, and for many years, models were sold and not designed by Ram?rez, but rather they were chosen among the normal production of some factories, always looking for the most acceptable quality as possible. In fact, Jos? Ram?rez III, the same as his grandfather, rejected the student guitars, which is why he didn't care about the slow disappearance of those guitars designed by his father. However, Jos? Ram?rez IV didn't think this way.





He was very aware of the importance that those guitars could have for beginners and offering the student guitar would bring a guarantee of quality supported by the Ram?rez name. His argument was that a beginner shouldn?t necessarily start playing with a professional guitar, and that it was necessary to think of an instrument that, besides being accessible in price,should have good quality and be pleasant to play with. So in 1986 he designed a student line manufactured exclusively for Ram?rez with a special selection of wood. This line has been very welcome as a good starting point toward professional use. Later, in the year 91, coinciding with changes in the professional models, Jos? Enrique designed another more economic student line than the previous one, denominated " R ", being based on the insole of the professional pattern C86.






Amalia Ram?rez was born in Madrid in October 1955 into the Ram?rez guitar making family, and familiarized herself as she played as a child in its surroundings. By the age of 21 she joined the workshop where she learned how to make guitars. She left for a few years; only to return to help her brother Jose Ram?rez IV in the restructuring and management of the shop, and to bring a new look to the family business. The work was evenly distributed between the two. Jos? Enrique was devoted mainly to the workshop while Amalia applied herself to the commercial aspects. Amalia also built guitars after establishing the workshop again in General Margallo.



The real change occurred at the beginning of 1993 when they returned to the original outline of a reduced workshop and a limited production. ?Today, all of our professional guitars are sold. They can be acquired in our store in Madrid or through our world-wide network of distributors.? In the summer of 1995 the store moved from Concepci?n Jer?nima n?2, to the street of La Paz n? 8, very near the old store.
At the moment, the House of Ram?rez workforce comprises ten persons. The workshop has three officials - Carmelo Llerena, Fernando Morcuende, and Ricardo S?enz. The three apprentices are Pedro Abel Morcuende, Laura del Pino y Cec? S?nchez. Supervising the organization is Marisa Sanzano, who checks the production in the workshop and occupies herself with the administrative work, and assisting with the secretarial work is Arancha Prieto who works in the main office.



Two guitarists, with astistant Oscar Leal, work in the store. Antonio Molina- a Rock & Roll guitarist - and the gifted flamenco guitarist, Paul Mart?nez, who is responsible for the shop. Amalia Ram?rez can be found there, and after Jos? IV?s death in June of 2000, she took over the running of the company and committed herself to carry on with the family tradition.
Jos? Enrique Ram?rez left four children; Cristina, Almudena, Jos? Enrique, and Francisco Javier. They are still very young but Cristina has expressed an interest to continue the family tradition and will soon learn how to build guitars. Also, Jos? Enrique will join the business in the future when he?s finished with school. Therefore there is great promise for the Ram?rez family to continue with a fifth generation of guitar builders.
*All this resembles are taken from the web www.guitarrasramirez.com
I highly recomend buying the book titled ?Things about the guitar?by Jos? Ram?rez III or its spanish versi?n ?En torno a la guitarra?.I have mine signed by Amalia Ram?rez and I?ve learnt a lot from it.

There are other great guitarmakers, some are Manuel Ram?rez related, as direct disciples Doming Esteso and Santos Hern?ndez and some are Jos? Ram?rez related as main disciples as his son Jos? Ram?rez II, Enrique Garc?a, Rafael Casana and Antonio Viudez.From these last mentioned people are coming some excellent guitarmakers too as Faustino Conde(Conde Hermanos? uncle) and Jos? Ram?rez III. Jos? Ram?rez III teachs Paulino Bernab?,Jos? Ram?rez IV,,Jos? Romero,Arturo Sanzano andMariano Tezanos father among others.

JOSE RAMIREZ III DISCIPLES?





-Manuel Alonso Gim?nez .................... MAG (1), later n? 18
-Cayetano ?lvarez Luna ................................ (2)
-Jos? Luis ?lvarez Mariblanca .......... JLA, later n? 15
-Paulino Bernab? Almend?riz ...................... PB
-Carlos Blanco Pe?a ................ CB (3), later n? 20
-Enrique Borreguero Marcos .............. EB (4), later n? 17
-Manuel C?ceres Pizarro ................. MC, later n? 8
-Alfonso Contreras Valbuena ............. AC, later n? 7
-Pedro Contreras Valbuena ........................ PC (5)
-Jos? Flores Dur? ....................... JF, later n? 3
-Juan Garc?a Rey ....................... JG, later n? 9
-Manuel Gonz?lez Contreras ....................... MG
-Pedro Jim?nez Posadas .......... PJ (6), later n? 16
-Jos? L?pez Cubillo ................. JL (6), later n? 12
-Carmelo Llerena Mart?nez ......................... CLL, later n? 4
-Miguel Malo Mart?nez .................. MM, later n? 1
-F?liz Manzanero Cabrera .......................... FM
-Pedro Manzanero Cabrera ........................ (7)
-Ignacio Manzano Rozas ............................ I M
-Antonio Mart?nez Ortega .......................... AM
-Juli?n Moraga Rodr?guez ...................... JM (8), later n? 19
-Fernando Morcuende de Cruz .................. FM, later n? 5
-Ram?n Pe?alver Soler ................................. (9)
-Teodoro (Goyo) P?rez Mariblanca ........... GP, later n? 13
-Jos? Romero Garrido...........JRG, later n? 14
-Manuel Rodr?guez Fern?ndez .................... (10)
-Arturo Sanzano Moreno .................... AS, later n? 6
-Mariano Tezanos Castro ..................... MTC (11), later n? 10
-Mariano Tezanos Mart?n .................. MT, later n? 2
-Juan Miguel Guardiola Moreno ................. MAG, later n? 11
-Jos? Ram?rez IV ......................................... 0 (12)
-Amalia Ram?rez ............................................. (13)

NOTES:
(1) Although these were his inicials, I beleive he never used them: he used a number
(2) He didn't have inicials, when he made guitars, he used those of Pedro Contreras, PC
(3) The same as (1)
(4) The same as (1) & (3)
(5) Shared inicials with Cayetano ?lvarez
(6) His surname is Jim?nez, not Gim?nez; in addition, his name is Pedro - I have no record of Manuel
(7) He has no inicials because he never made guitars
(8) The same as (1), (3) &(4)
(9) Although he was the first disciple that he had, the same as: (7)
(10) He was not a disciple of Jos? Ram?rez III, he was a workmate, but he left before developing all his inovations. He's a disciple of Jos? Ram?rez II
(11) He also used the inicials MT, but with the T inverted, in order to distinguish him from his father
(12) He normally didn't use inicials, although at the beginning, in some guitars, he used "O". If he should use them, they would be JER
(13) She doen't use inicials on her guitars, although should she do so they would be AR.





Mostly the guitarmakers follows Torre?s style, but there are several as Arturo Sanzano who comes some innovation too?..


OTHER GUITARMAKERS:



Paulino Bernab?. Is considered among the rare elite of guitar makers. His instruments, widely usted by concert and recording artists, are sought after for their uniquely powerful , clear an sustaining tone. Born in Madrid on July 1932 studied the classical guitar with Daniel Fortea, a pupil of T?rrega. It was during these years that he developed an interest in guitar construction. The sound of his guitars is unique in that they have robust basses, strong trebles, and a wide palette of tone colours; a true "concert gran" among guitars. In 1972 completed a 10-string guitar for Narciso Yepes, which Yepes played until his death. In 1974 was awarded the Gold Medal at the International Grafts Exhibition in Munich.


Casimiro Lozano
Lozano?s guitars are the perfect work of a great luthier. The sound of his guitars is impressive, perfectly well- balanced, with rich harmonics well checked and very easy to play. Hisresearch centres on getting a spectacular sound. He works alone in his workshop without any assistants. He prefers a limited production, so the guitar comes completely from his hands.





Gerundino Fern?ndez.
(Almer?a) It is possibly the last of the great alive teachers in the art of the construction of guitars. She was born in Almer?a in 1931, he began to work the wood when he was very young. He is self taught and has studied their own conception of the instrument thoroughly. His guitars have a special personality.



Antonio Marin Montero. Granada 1933. The manufacturer of current guitars of more prestige inside of and outside of Spain. It combines the tradition with the investigation con an excellent result. The sonority of its guitars is of great power and the balance between sharp and serious perfectly compensated. It builds some 12 guitars a year, what is difficult to have these instruments in stok. It is necessary to wait some months for the delivery of the guitar.

Pedro de Miguel. The signature "Pedro de Miguel" corresponds to two great artisans of Madrid. Pedro Perez and Miguel Rodriguez. They worked for twenty years in the workshop of a man called Ramirez, where the reached their fame. In 1990 they established their own workshop. They offer three level quality guitars. First class guitars: totally handmade and have an exceptional sound quality and finishing. Second class guitars: also with an exceptional sound quality and finishing. Third class guitars: factory made studio guitars, made under the standards marked by these artisans. In little time, their guitars have reached great prestige among classic guitarists and especially flamencos. Gerardo Nu?ez, Pepe Habichuela play on "Pedro de Miguel" guitars.

Manuel Raimundo.
For more than 30 years, Raimundo has been improving the construction of his guitars. The selection of the most suitable wood and the great quality of his finishes guarantee the guitarist's satisfaction. In 1993 he won the Prize Craft Chamber of Commerce, and 1991 the Commercial Craft.

Jer?nimo Pena.
Born in 1933 in Marmolejo Spain. At age nine he was a carpenter apprentice, further on he became interested in the art of guitar making. He became a student of guitar maker Carlos Ramos in Barcelona and by 1967 he was building guitars full-time. One of the qualities of his guitars is the sweet rounded sound they produce, and also his beatiful carvings on the head and the bridge of his guitars. Among their clients it was Andr?s Segovia


http://www.bernabe-guitars.com/

http://www.hermanosconde.com/

http://www.conde-hermanos.com/html/espa?ol/home.htm

http://www.manuelcontreras.com/html/index.htm

http://galeon.hispavista.com/alvarezguits/

http://www.guitarrasmanzanero.com/principal_ing.htm

http://www.vicentecarrillo.com/eng_vicente_carrillo.htm

http://www.lafalseta.com/Miguel_Malo.html

http://www.lafalseta.com/Hermanos_Sanchis_Lopez.html
http://www.lafalseta.com/Ricardo_Sanchis_Carpio.html

http://www.zavaletas-guitarras.com/files/sntiago.htm

http://www.zavaletas-guitarras.com/files/dmiguel.htm

http://www.johnguitar.com/

http://www.granadaguitar.com/



http://www.alhambrasl.com/fremp_i.htm

http://www.guitars-m-r-sons.com/english.html

http://www.antoniobernal.com/www/ingles/principal.htm

http://www.guisama.com/

http://www.burguet.com/
 
Wow luis, that's ALOT of info you dug up right there, impressive!!
Anyway, too tired to read it right now, I'll get back here tomorrow to read it through,
thanks for your effort I appreciate it! :D
I'm sure i'll want a killer acoustic after i'm done :lol:
 
I highly recomend reading this interview with Paulino Bernab?,a Ramirez disciple.His guitars are selling around the world,Japan included(Kurosawa Gakki)

http://www.bernabe-guitars.com/entrevistas.htm
 
It's a student model "cheap" but the condition is not good(a spanish guitar sometimes is not possible to be repaired sucessfully).It this guitar were an US named branD(YOU KNOW WHICH) it would be sold as vintage and commanding high prices.I'll bvuy it if I was a collector but I'd never buy a guitar in that condition if I'm a player.....This guitar is rare ,including here Spain....Peple owning a Ramirez rarely sell the guitar....If I had a Ramirez I would send the guitar to Sanzano(one of Ramirez disciples) for reparing...
 
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