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Manuel Cáceres Pizarro is
one of the leading
representatives of the Madrid school. Born in 1947 in Camillo de
Llerena, a small working town near the Rio Guadámez, when he was about thirteen, his
family moved to Madrid. A few days later, he found work as an apprentice in the Ramirez workshop. After a
brief time, however, his family moved to Germany. Unhappy
there, Manuel returned to Spain and work as a farm worker with his brother.
He soon found this work
monotonous, and decided to return to Madrid where he again found work in the Ramirez shop,
assisting Pedro Manzanero and Ramon Peñalver in the repair department. In
1964, he was transferred to the construction department, and spent four years there before
he had to do his military service. After doing his stint in the army,
Manuel returned to the Ramirez shop and was soon promoted to master craftsman.
He continued to work for Ramirez until
1978, when he decided to go out on his own. The guitars he made in Ramirez bear the
initials MC. In the years since, Manuel work has been recognized not only by international
awards but also by increasing numbers of professionals who have bought his instruments
such as Paco Peña, Los Panchos, Manolo Sanlúcar, Paco de Lucia. He has also given master
workshops on guitar making in Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. In
recent years, he has divided his time between working in his own
shop and working with Arcángel Fernández. |