2020 Stefan Nitschke "1912 Manuel Ramirez" SP/CSAR

German luthier Stefan Nitschke has become known for building quality instruments in the Torres/Hauser tradition, however for this guitar, Stefan decided to make it a tribute to the iconic Manuel Ramirez guitar from 1912 that was Andres Segovia's first important concert guitar that he would play for the first 25 years of his professional career. Stefan tells us that this guitar is actually a 'mixture' - aesthetically it is modeled on the Manuel Ramirez however the internal work follows more along the lines of Jose Romanillos (himself a builder of Torres and Hauser style guitars of course). As with Stefan's "Romanillos" model, he has built this guitar by copying key aspects found in Romanillos' work, in particular his open harmonic bar system with the 4 struts beneath. Soundwise, it also harkens closer to the Romanillos sound with its firm and steady basses, and clear, piano-like trebles. Nicknamed "La Luella", it features excellent materials as always including a dark set of CSA rosewood for the back and sides that fades into a beautiful glow as the grains approach the lighter sapwood that was in this tree. The darker, amber colored finish gives the guitar more of an aged look - overall a very handsome instrument. Although used, this guitar is in perfect structural condition with only some modest wear in the finish. Overall a stunning instrument all around.

Orfeo Magazine #22 - Gernot Wagner Pioneer of the double top and the new German generation