France - Paris

1932

65,5 cm

Spruce

Rosewood

Spanish cedar - width : 47 mm

Ebony

Body length : 490 mm - Body width : 280/245/360 mm - Body depth : 94/97 mm

1 712 g

3/3,5 mm

Good (restored)

Conditions of sale and shipping...

Julian Gomez Ramirez (1879-1943) was born in Madrid. He started making guitars in the José Ramirez I workshop (he may also have trained with Manuel Ramirez). Around 1920 he moved to Paris and set up his own workshop. It was Gomez Ramirez who introduced Robert Bouchet to the Spanish tradition of guitar making, thus playing a decisive role in the history of French lutherie: in a way, Gomez Ramirez can be said to be the founding father of the new French school of guitar making. The fact that both Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya played Gomez Ramirez instruments is another indication of his musical importance.

Simply hearing the timbre of this 1932 guitar helps you imagine what it was that intrigued and fascinated the painter Robert Bouchet and eventually led him to explore a new creative range in the medium of sound, working with acoustic materials very similar to the human voice. This is a superb instrument — both in itself and for what it stands for.

Please note that the « Monsieur Gallopain » mentioned on the label (« This guitar was made specially for Monsieur Gallopain ») must have been Lucien Gallopin, the guitar player at the cabaret La boîte à matelots (The seaman’s club).