José Ramírez III (1922 - 1995)...(Pag 2)
Later he designed the eight string guitar for José Tomás. Meanwhile, José's main collaborator was Andrés 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 José Ramírez 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. José moved the workshop to General Margallo Street while maintaining the small store at Concepción Jerónima 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 Concepción Jerónima Nº2 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 Andrés Segovia honoring his work.
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