2012 Thomas Norwood "1910 Manuel Ramirez" SP/CSAR

Thomas Norwood has been building guitars out of his atelier in Paris for over 35 years. Born and raised in Pasadena, CA, Tom moved to Paris in the mid-70's after he fell in love with the city during a bicycle tour through Europe. For several years Daniel Friederich has been recommending Tom's guitars to GSI and so on a recent trip to Paris, we were able to finally meet him and see the guitars he builds. Tom currently makes 3 models, all replicas of guitars that have made their strongest impressions on him over the years of his career. They are: a 1910 Manuel Ramirez, 1932 Domingo Esteso and 1935 Santos. All are built not only to the same specs and with the same woods and decorative details as the originals, but they are also built to sound as the originals would have sounded when first built. We plan on offering all 3 models and this is the second we've had, which also happens to be Tom's personal favorite - the 1910 Manuel Ramirez. And indeed this instrument does capture the charm, feel and certainly appearance of the original. Although only a few years old, the sound is old-world, warm and very loose, making this undoubtedly one of the most successful replicas we've seen to date. Condition is excellent with only very modest playing wear.Orfeo Magazine #7 - French School Luthiery