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Echi -> RE: The absence of Ramirez guitars after mid-80s (Oct. 6 2016 19:00:30)
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My 2 cents:
The de camara model was the heaviest classical Ramirez 1a ever made (due to a floating rosewood back between top and back), hardly usable for flamenco. Unfortunately Ramirez guitars were commonly set with a high action at the 12th fret and low action at the bridge. Segovia wanted such a high neck relief that made flamenco unplayable ...
1 As other people already said, the market of classical guitars was both more profitable and "honourable" for a brand like Ramirez (at the time considered a 'must have' for any serious professional): Richard Bruné wrote extensively about that superiority complex of Segovia over the popular aires, the gitanos etc. in his article "the origins of the classical guitar".
On the other side Ramirez used to sell classical guitars worldwide and obviously had few interest to win the small market of flamenco guitars.
2 The standard quality of Ramirez (according to many) dropped down arter the '80ies.
My understanding is that as they made big numbers (Robje explained it very well) the product ceased to be as good as before (at least the average wasn't as good as before).
The market suggests the best years for the flamenco Ramirez guitars are the sixties as they are still very sought after.
From 1965 Ramirez made a kind of a unique flamenco guitar (the model used by Sabicas) using mostly cedar tops with thin cypress back and sides.
3 in the 70ies the flamenco guitar standard became the new Conde model (particularly the flamenco negra) after Paco de Lucia.
Flamenco changed, Ramirez kept making the same model and never tried to follow the new trend.
4 The best journeymen of Ramirez left the company and the players who didn't favour Conde (a few) often preferred Contreras, Manzanero or Bernabe' over Ramirez.
From the 70ies the former Ramirez employees IMHO used to make better guitars than Ramirez even though just a few of them specialised in flamenco guitars (Josè Romero, Manzanero, Pedro de Miguel and more recently Manuel Caceres).
These guitars were often more expensive than Conde and very well made.
The post -Faustino era is a different age. Today you have many options (often cheaper, like Sanchis) and many top players are not anymore as faithful to Conde as they used to be before. Ramirez still doesn't offer a guitar able to compete with other brands IMHO.
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