Really the modern Classical Guitar as we know it today was modified from more mid-evil instruments by famed luthier Antonio De Torres. Up until the Torres guitar, classical guitars were smaller-bodied, hand very underdeveloped bracing and and lacked the tone and volume qualities.
Torres guitars were so superior to any guitars available up until that time, his examples changed the direction of guitar making dramatically from that time forward.
The Notable Changes Torres Made:
Development of the fan strutting on the top plate. He felt so strongly about this fan bracing that he built a guitar with a high quality spruce top plate with his unique 7-fan bracing pattern. He built the back plate and sides from paper mache to demonstrate his point that a well strutted top plate was the most important aspect of a good sounding classical guitar. Many great sounding classical guitars made today still utilize the basic 7-fan braced pattern that he developed in the 1800′s, or a minor departure from that.
Antonio De Torres Guitar
Another of the most notable changes that Torres made was the reconfiguration of the body size. Up until that time the guitars had a much more subtle shape with upper and lower bouts lacking definition and barely no waist at all. Torres developed the larger box or sound chamber to give the instrument more volume and bass and a much richer sound. This difference was astounding from other instruments of the day.
Classical Guitars built prior to Torres were commonly very ornate, made with a lot of inlay of both shell and wood marquetry. Torres changed all that and greatly simplified the detail on the guitar with simple purfling and binding lamination’s. The plates were keep very plain and the guitar was totally beautiful as a result of its simplicity and elegance.
Finally Torres developed the tied classical guitar bridge that we see on the guitars made today. They are virtually unchanged from the original Torres design.
Additionally Torres experimented with the scale length and settled on the standard 650mm scale we see in many guitars built today. Along with that he developed the modern fretboard which was wider and much thicker than the instruments of the period.
Jose Ramirez III Classical Guitar
Arias & The Ramirez Brothers:
Although Torres left behind no pupils or successors, after his death Madrid became the Mecca of Classical Guitar construction. There were three luthiers that stood out of the pack. They were Vincente Arias (c. 1840′s – 1912), Jose Ramirez I (1857 – 1923), and his brother Manual Ramirez (1866 – 1942). The Ramirez brothers we fantastic luthiers in their own right and the shop that Jose started in Madrid exists today and is run by his grandson Jose Ramirez III.
Manual Learned the craft from his brother and had 3 students 2 of which, Santos Hernandez (1873 – 1942) and Domingo Esteso (1882 – 1937) made some outstanding classical guitars. Jose Ramirez I basically had 2 pupils as well. They were his son Jose II (1885 – 1957) and Enrique Garcia (1868 – 1922).
Manual Learned the craft from his brother and had 3 students 2 of which, Santos Hernandez (1873 – 1942) and Domingo Esteso (1882 – 1937) made some outstanding classical guitars. Jose Ramirez I basically had 2 pupils as well. They were his son Jose II (1885 – 1957) and Enrique Garcia (1868 – 1922).
In the 1960s, to cope with increasing demand, José III moved the workshop to General Margallo street in Madrid, and greatly expanded the number of employees, leaving the original premises as a shop only. In the early 1970s this was replaced by a larger shop at 5 Concepción Jerónima, directly in front of the original establishment. The original shop was restored and reopened at the end of the 1980s by José III’s children, José Ramírez IV and his sister Amalia, both themselves by then guitar makers.
In 1988 Jose III passed control of the business to José IV and Amalia. In 1993 they undertook a major restructure of the business, concentrating on wholly handmade professional instruments, and contracting out the construction of top-quality student instruments to be built to their designs and delivered to their own workshop for final inspection and adjustment.
In 1995 they were unable to renew the lease on the original shop, and moved to the current address nearby at 8 Calle de la Paz. José IV died in 2000, leaving Amalia to oversee the entire operation. As of 2010[update] this consists of a team of fourteen, including Amalia herself, four other guitar makers, and three apprentices.
