{"id":8012,"date":"2017-10-09T10:16:45","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T17:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=8012"},"modified":"2020-01-16T10:52:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T18:52:05","slug":"new-gear-the-ramirez-guitarra-del-tiempo-honors-family-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/new-gear-the-ramirez-guitarra-del-tiempo-honors-family-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"New Gear: The Ramirez Guitarra del Tiempo Honors Family Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"
From the Fall 2017 issue of Classical Guitar<\/em> | BY ADAM PERLMUTTER<\/h6>\n

Ram\u00edrez\u2014whose instruments have been played by everyone from Andr\u00e9s Segovia to Chet Atkins\u2014is one of the most celebrated names in lutherie. This Spanish guitar dynasty began in 1882, when the freshly apprenticed guitar maker Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez I opened a workshop at Concepci\u00f3n Jer\u00f3nima No. 2, in Madrid. <\/span><\/p>\n

Five generations and more than 135 years later, Amalia Ram\u00edrez, daughter of Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez III, presides over the company while instructing her apprentice niece and nephew, Cristina and Jos\u00e9 Enrique.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many players, owning an instrument made in Ram\u00edrez\u2019s workshop\u2014costing in the five-figure range\u2014is well out of reach. Luckily for cost-sensitive players, Ram\u00edrez also offers its Studio line, a series of relatively affordable guitars that the company has been outsourcing to other Spanish shops. The latest addition to the Studio lineup is the Guitarra del Tiempo<\/a><\/strong>, which is a terrific instrument in all aspects, with a modest price tag.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

RICHLY VOICED<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Guitarra del Tiempo\u2014the name translates as \u201cguitar of the time,\u201d a reference to Ram\u00edrez\u2019s long history\u2014is the successor to the popular 130 A\u00f1os anniversary model. It is a traditional offering, with a cedar soundboard (spruce is optional) and Indian rosewood back and sides\u2014all solid\u2014and a 650-millimeter scale length fretboard.<\/p>\n

The first thing I notice about the Guitarra del Tiempo, aside from its intoxicating smell, is its impressive sustain. Whether I play open strings, fretted notes, or natural harmonics, the notes hang in the air for a long time. The guitar feels quite powerful and projective, perhaps because of its newly enhanced top bracing, and it has an obviously wide dynamic range.<\/p>\n

Overall, the Guitarra del Tiempo\u2019s voice is warm and lush, with a beautiful roundness to notes in all registers. The trebles are clear and singing, and the bass is richly present but not overpowering. Whether I run through Damien Aribert\u2019s \u201cNin-Nin,\u201d\u00a0a bossa nova\u2013inspired piece presented in the Summer 2017 issue, or an arrangement of a John Dowland lute piece, the guitar feels inspiring to play.<\/p>\n

With its shallow rounded neck and comfortable action, it\u2019s also a breeze to play\u2014all regions of the neck and barre chords included.<\/p>\n

BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED AND BUILT\u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Guitarra del Tiempo has not just a handsome voice, but an attractive appearance as well. The review model had a lovely set of woods: tightly grained cedar, with no visual defects, and quartersawn rosewood with the deepest chocolate coloration. The floral motif used on the rosette and echoed on the bridge\u2019s tie block is a nice flourish, as are the fine red and green definition lines on the purfling.<\/p>\n

My only complaint has nothing to do with the craftsmanship of the guitar and isn\u2019t a deal-breaker, but the Ping tuners did not have smooth tuning action, and this was especially noticeable when I tuned the sixth-string down to D.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the guitar is very well built. Its gloss finish is buffed perfectly and feels unobtrusive. The bone nut and saddle are perfectly notched, and the frets bear no roughness at their edges. Inside, the bracing and lining were attended to with similar care and attention.<\/p>\n

The Guitarra del Tiempo was clearly designed as a top-quality option for the intermediate or advanced student, and it excels in this capacity. But with its sonorous voice and easy playability, this fine Spanish-made guitar would not be out of place in the concert hall or recording studio.<\/p>\n

Ram\u00edrez Guitarra del Tiempo<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span>BODY<\/strong> Cedar soundboard (as reviewed); Indian rosewood back and sides; gloss polyurethane finish<\/span>
\nNECK<\/strong> Cedar neck; ebony fretboard; 650 mm scale length; 52 mm nut; gold open-gear Ping tuners with ivoroid buttons<\/span>
\nEXTRAS<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>Augustine Regal strings; TKL hardshell case<\/span>
\n PRICE<\/strong> $2,284 (street)<\/span>
\n Made in Spain
\ngoldtonemusicgroup.com\/joseramirez<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Fall 2017 issue of Classical Guitar | BY ADAM PERLMUTTER Ram\u00edrez\u2014whose instruments have been played by everyone from Andr\u00e9s Segovia to Chet Atkins\u2014is one of the most celebrated names in lutherie. This Spanish guitar dynasty began in 1882, when the freshly apprenticed guitar maker Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez I opened a workshop at Concepci\u00f3n Jer\u00f3nima No. 2, in Madrid. Five generations and more than 135 years later, Amalia Ram\u00edrez, daughter of Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez III, presides over the company while instructing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-stories","post_format-post-format-video"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Ramirez-del-Tiempo-Detail-1.png?fit=1146%2C657&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}