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  • The family
  • Our art
  • The shop
  • The workshop
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  • Professional guitars
  • Model sp
  • Studio guitars
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Amalia Ramírez

A native of Madrid, Amalia began her guitar making apprenticeship in the workshop under the direction of her father in 1976. She left for a few years; only to return to help her brother Jose Ramírez 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. José 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 Concepción Jerónima nº2, to the street of La Paz nº 8, very near the old store.

After the death of her brother in June 2000, Amalia Ramírez took over the direction of the business, dividing her time between the workshop, the office and the shop. She also inspects the guitars made in the workshop, both during and at the end of the construction process.

The team at Casa Ramírez currently comprises fourteen people, including Amalia Ramírez. The workshop employs three professionals at level 1 guitar makers , Carmelo Llerena, Fernando Morcuende and Ricardo Sáenz; one professional at level 2 guitar makers , Samuel Pérez and three apprentices, Gabriel Saar, Fernando García Mauriño and Enrique Ramírez. Marisa Sanzano is assistant to Amalia Ramírez and runs the office, and Aranzazu Prieto takes care of administration. Three musicians work in the shop, headed by Isaac Alvarez, a pianist with a degree in History and Musical Sciences; Manuel Casas, a guitarist and a student of the coursed [cuerda pulsada] instrument music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras, Alejandro García, a guitarist with a fine arts degree, and Cristina Ramírez, a journalist and a student of graphic arts.

Since she took over the direction of the business, Amalia has taken an investigative approach to guitar making, which began with different analyses of the template and fan bracing of the guitars, some based on the the golden section, a route along which she has only recently begun to travel. The work is slow, not only because each investigation necessitates a huge investment in terms of time, but also because she has to combine it with the running of all the other aspects of the business. She has designed a number of different models, including the SP, which is an intermediate guitar between the student and the professional models; and she also designed two different models to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the firm: the Anniversary guitar, a limited edition professional guitar, of which 125 will be made, and a student model which will be produced for a limited period of five years, between January 2007 and December 2011 – this is the 125 Years guitar.