Jose Ramirez R2 Classical

I bought this around summer 2007, brand new. I've played classical as a serious amateur for decades and this was to be my first good/name brand instrument. I knew at the price [??850] it was going to be a 'student' guitar, but figured that it would be better thasn all my previous ones. Laminated back I think - which gives quite thin basses, tho' otherwise seems ok. Finish was good but neck was very raw and frets poorly dressed. After some effort to work on this it improved a lot.

Unlike cheaper instruments, the Ramirez DOES get the authentic classical/Spanish sound. I mostly attempt straightforward classical stuff, and this guitar helps with expressive possibilities. The lack of a full bass response is a slight issue, but the sound is rich - tho' not too loud. The main problem is a slightly harsh - almost metallic sound, and a tendency to appear to osscilate out of tune - [in the overtones], even when the guitar is as perfectly tuned as I can get it.

The action was optimum and playing easyish. For me it definately suits the harder tension strings best; even medium tension ones sound weak, and feel floppy. The frets were a bit poorly finished - both on their surface, and especially along the edge of the fingerboard. I had quite a bit of remedial work to do there - buffing, filing etc. Mostly the fit was good, but the guitar suffers from that most common malady: the 1st and 6th strings pull [or push] over the edge far too easily. Extra hard tension strings help with this, but I do wish guitar makers would seriously address this issue. I can't accept that it's just my problem.

The guitar is very sturdy and well put together.

i've not had any issues to relate.

I've been playing for nearly 40 years and had several guitars - including classicals. This is a very good instrument. A pleasure to hold, and it makes a very good sound if played in an authentic classical style. I would have another Ramirez tho' would spend more and try to get a pro model. This suited my budget [and ability!], but the slight frustration with fretting/neck width has become a bugbear.

solid western red ceder top.Laminated rosewood back and sides.Ebony fingerboard.Rosewood bridge.Quality gold plated machine heads.Year made 2006

I brought this guitar for flamenco.The r2 has a very bright flamenco nigra sound.Volume is high.Using Savarez Corum strings gives it a real flamenco bite.It contrast well with my cypress bodied flamenco guitars.The action of the R2 is of course is classical.

Action is of a good quality classical guitar.Finish is simple but it has the classic Ramirez look.

The guitar is very well made.It has a good solid feel.Finish is very good.I will gig with this guitar.

The Ramirez company has always anwered any email queries that I had.They seem to be very helpfull.

I have been playing flamenco guitar for 30 years.Flamenco guitars I own are a Pedro Maldonado,Manuel Rodriguez and Sanchis.If the R2 was stolen I would buy it again.I love this guitar because it gives a true flamenco nigra sound.Warmer than cypress bodied flamencos.I compared it with Alhambra`s 7fp 8fp 10fp all nigras.Perez professional Indian rosewood.The R2 easily is the better for flamenco.
The R2 for me gives contrast to my cypress bodied guitars.

A very simple but absolutly BEAUTIFUL Guitar the dumb people you submitted bad reviews are obviosly not to smart BEAUTIFUL

AHHHHHH HEAVEN GREAT BALANCE

Beautifully made

WILL LAST A LIFETIME

BUY THIS BEAUTY

I purchased my Jose Ramirez R2 guitar from Musicians Friend in March of 2005. Price $1429.00 with HumiCase. The guitar was made in Spain.

The solid Canadian red cedar top and laminated rosewood back and sides are are finished beautifully. The tuning keys work very well.

The original strings were so bad I considered returning the guitar, it sounded like a $150 instrument, but I changed the strings to a high tention brand and the guitar began to sound very nice. Good balance and good projection.

The action was very good from the factory. It feels good to the touch when played. No buzz, and I play pretty hard. I have not changed anything in the setup.

Five months after I purchased the guitar I began to notice the top just behind the bridge was becoming wavey. I was no longer flat. It looks like it is going to crack.

I contacted Musicians Friend and was told my 45 day return window was closed. My recourse was to contact the manufacturer, however they could not tell me how to do this. No email. No phone. Nada.
I seached on line and found Ramirez. They have not told me how to resolve the problem and my warranty time is running down.

No support..

The guitar is fun to play, has a good tone and action. However I feel the top will crack in time and it will be worthless. I have played classical guitar since 1960 and I am very disappointed in the Jose Ramirez Guitar Mfg. Co.

Made in Madrid, Spain 2002.
Solid cedar top, laminated rosewood back and sides, ebony fingerboard, rosewood bridge and fustero tuners. Purchased used.
Seems a little smaller than some classical guitars.

You can barely tell the R2 is laminated. Excellent in all frequencies. Plenty of brightness. Gives off warmth and personality. Could be a tiny bit more deepness in bass. That would increase rating to 10. Ramirez was smart to design this guitar
not to have boomy or fuzzy basses, which takes lots of $$ to get
both deep and precise.

Good action, great finish. A few blotches of glue inside, but
better than average workmanship in this price range for a student
guitar. Action is 3.6mm at low E 12th fret, 3.0mm at high E
12th fret. A little cramped on neck, due to seemingly smaller
size. I find some notes buzz because I don't fret them precise
enough when doing, for example, some bar chords. But, only
happens in relatively few instances. Probably not the best
guitar to do flamenco licks and chords on. Excellent for classical
playing. Important thing is that the guitar is fun to play.
You don't want to put it down.

Soundboard is thin, which makes this guitar very lively and
responsive. This increases the guitar's risk of accidental damage,
but one must be careful with any classical guitar. The better
sounding guitars, including this one, are fragile. tuning pegs
are fair. Finish is beautiful. Frets are sticking out a slight
amount due to winter wood dehydration. Might have to get them sanded,
but real slight amount, which might be gone when spring comes and
wood expands.
For the price, nut and saddle should both be bone. Plastic
is not good enough for such a fine instrument.
I think one could easily go on a concert tour
with this quality instrument.

Experienced guitarist, but more of a dillatante in classical guitar.
Tried out numerous student guitars ranging from $200 to $1400.
Ramirez guitars are expensive, but worth every penny, if you
find a good one.

Made in Madrid, Spain. 654mm length. Cedar top.

Rich, excellent projection, slightly dark but balanced sound.

Action comprised a bit for the sake of sound, a bit high, especially at the nut. Fit and finish flawless.

Over 12 years with no problems. Finish chipped once by broken string, otherwise just some fine scratches on the back. The sound and projection has improved noticably over the years.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I have a 1957 Gibson ES225, a Hohner 6-string, and S.D.Curlee bass, and a beginner-level Yamaha classical. Fender Dual Showman amp head with cabinet with 2 12in spkrs.

For its projection and tone, this guitar was a great value for the money. I have tried other instruments at over twice the price which do not compare. At the time of purchase, this guitar stood out, sound-wise. I play often with a flutist, and volume was important. It's a bit hard to play, and it needs the right strings to make the intonation just right, but well worth the effort.

I am looking to upgrade to a better instrument, but I'm finding that I need to spend close to $5,000 to find one that's at the next level.

Made in Madrid, 2002, but not at the main Ramirez factory. Solid cedar top with laminated rosewood back and sides, ebony fingerboard, rosewood bridge and fustero tuners. Looks and feels very nice.

A bright rich sound, with very good projection. Base and treble sound balanced. Nice attack and sustain. no buzzing strings.

Vert nice and easy to play. The action is medium 'ish', with nylon nut and saddle. the purfling and rosette are lovely, as is the gloss finish.

no worries.

Second to none.

Excellent guitar for both students and seasoned players.

Just a straight forward classical guitar. Cedar top and neck with rosewood back and sides. Very well crafted with one exception, cheap tuning machines. I replaced the stock tuners with Irving Sloanes, huge improvement in performance and appearance.

Very well balanced sound with good volume and projection. Intonation is excellent, though good quality strings go a long way in this regard. Cedar top gives it a warm mellow tone without any mushiness.

All excellent except for tuners.

Seems solid, I've only had it for a few months. I live in a very dry cold climate so proper humidity is essential.

Great guitar for the price. Comes very close to concert guitar sound at a quarter of the cost.

Jose Ramirez 97 R2 Classical Guitar. A plain vanilla ramirez guitar with a Solid cedar top, with rosewood laminate, fustero tuners,ebony fingerboard,rosewood bridge.

A very Spanishy Zesty sound. The highs are clear and bell like , the basses are bold but not boomy. The sound projection is better than average. it has good volume output and quiet capable of being loud when called upon. I have found this particular model to have a strong emphasis in the mid to high frequencey range as evident by the short amount of vibrating area of the top between the bridge and the lower bout(a short stretch of wood). it does have a sweet tone and good overall seperation between voices.

I dont have many quarrels here but i did replace the low grade quality fustero tuners that the factory put on it.

Havent had any problems so far. The neck is still straight the top hasnt bowed yet. only the sound has opened up after 5 yrs of playing it.

N/A

I have been trying out many guitars at different store locations in my state. I did notice a difference in all of the guitars i have tried especially the sound quality(tone) and volume output so shop around and play as many as you can! A ramirez rep has told me that these guitars pretty much all sound the same since they are mass produced in a artisan factory in spain but my intuition told me to try out as many as possible .I have other classical guitars including an old felix mannzannero and a couple of high end mexican made classicals . I can truly say that the R2 can hold its own among my other all solid wood guitars. it has its own unique sound and since it is mass produced for guitar centre and other stores i was able to get a great sounding spanish guitar at a very reasonable price. try that ten years ago. Even though the ramirez line and reputation has been downgraded over the years ,I found that some people have nothing better to do than to mock ramirez and it came to me as a complete surprise as to how many of my classical guitar pals like playing it so much! Thanks Guitar Center!

Decent materials all around. Red cedar top, rosewood laminate back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, gold tuners, detailed rosette, gloss lacquer. To compare, however, I had a Yamaha CG-201S that was light years ahead of the R2 at half the cost. So, shop around!

I sat with this guitar playing it and looking it over in the shop for
about 30 minutes. I initially thought it was a good guitar and that it played well and sounded good. Unfortunately, I was wrong. In the end, this guitar couldn't hold a tune in a bucket and didn't appear as though any tuning methodology had been built into it. The tone couldn't reach it's required bell chime and rounded off into a "bonk". The various tone elements wouldn't blend properly and there was just this mixture of incoherent sound. The work required to bring this guitar up to par was well beyond that of a setup. It needed much TLC from a skilled luthier who could re-assemble it. If I could have paid $75 bucks at a yard sale I would have snapped it up. But for a grand, this thing stunk to the high heavens.

I understand the R series guitars are cut in a factory and hand
assembled by journeymen luthiers. Quite frankly, I would send the gypsy who assembled this wooden box on a long journey. The workmanship that went into this guitar was laughable. What was particularly gross was the neck joint. It appeared as though the gloss lacquer had been applied to the body before the glue under the neck was dry and wiped away. The lacquer itself was cracked and oxidizing around the neck joint. The cheap plastic nut looked like it had been made with dull scissors. The tuners were all over the map in terms of firmness. The bridge looked like it was getting ready to go into orbit. What a joke!

See above

NA...The shop selling the R2 is going to send it back to Ramirez.

I am willing to believe that this guitar was just a lemon. It certainly came across as trying very hard to sound like a good guitar but it just couldn't get there thanks to the clown who assembled it. I have to say that it is time for the established makers of classical guitars to wake up! There are several new guys on the block building fabulous instruments that make the old guard look stupid. A famed spanish luthier once told his son that if a guitar maker was lucky enough to die in a welfare hospital it was only because he made enough money to get himself there. Then again, maybe he just made crappy guitars like this ridiculously bad R2.