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Reviews
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Bno1 on Jul 31, 2022
5 out of 5 starsI love my new Tenor Rebec "Quasimodo", the quality of the construction and the beauty of the craftmanship. I have it hanging on the wall and get many compliments. Everybody loves it!
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daryl on Apr 22, 2022
5 out of 5 starsA true piece of craftsmanship and art. I had a lovely correspondence with Ron prior and after my purchase. Delightful experience!!
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LatherandLuster on Mar 29, 2022
5 out of 5 starsAs described. Funny little addition to my collection and definitely a conversation starter. Fast shipping.
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Walter on Dec 22, 2021
5 out of 5 starsGreat design, high quality, repeat customer, highly recommend
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Walter on Dec 22, 2021
5 out of 5 starsBeautifully crafted, heirloom quality, repeat customer, highly recommend
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Walter on Nov 8, 2021
5 out of 5 starsRepeat customer, beautiful piece of functional art, very unique, highly recommend for one of a kind items
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christopher on Sep 4, 2021
5 out of 5 starsLove these pictures. Very talented artist. Quick shipping, would recommend. Bought 2.
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christopher on Sep 4, 2021
5 out of 5 starsLove this item. Its unique and always gets peoples attention. Shipping was quick, craftsmanship exceptional.
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christopher on Aug 30, 2021
5 out of 5 starsZebra wood bowl is beautiful. Head on top is very unique and gets a lot of attention. Love it.
About roncook
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Standing at the door to my studio. -
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Spindle turning a medieval chair leg. -
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Working on a small hurdy-gurdy. -
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Reviewing hand-drawn plans for a Germanic Rote. -
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Working on a dulcimer head at my carving bench.
Ron Cook Studios Celebrates 50 Years in 2022
I began making musical instruments in 1972 when I wanted a dulcimer to play and I couldn't afford to purchase one. I made it in the simplest and cheapest way possible: I went to a local lumberyard and found some inexpensive veneer for the top and sides. I picked up an old cheap, broken guitar at a flea market and used the tuning gears for the dulcimer head, as well as pulling the frets off the guitar neck to re-use on the dulcimer fretboard. I tuned up three guitar strings, and that was that.
This first dulcimer was an unqualified success, and I played it many times on stage. "The Coffin" occupies a place of honor in my collection today.
Soon after I made The Coffin, I began carving heads on musical instruments. Fascinated with the history of musical instruments, I spent many long days studying medieval, renaissance, and baroque instruments in the San Jose, CA public library. If carved heads looked good on Baroque instruments, I reasoned, why not try them on dulcimers? I had been drawing since I was a kid, and figure drawing came quite naturally to me. I picked up some carving tools at the flea market and made the transition from charcoal faces on paper to hand carved heads in walnut and maple.
I gradually started collecting power tools and assembling my woodworking shop. I taught myself to bend wood, and made several dulcimers for friends and collectors.
In the meantime, reality had dawned, and I needed to earn a living. In my father's footsteps, I became a union carpenter. Later, I returned to college and became a tech writer. After several years in high tech, making only a few instruments a year, I returned to full time instrument making in 2001. I've never regretted my decision. Through all that time, my ever-inquisitive mind helped me develop into the Renaissance Man I have become today.
Nowadays, not only do I create traditional instruments, but I create original instruments and replicate historical pieces. I also repair and restore antique instruments. Because of the repair log I provide with each repair, I have become sought after by people wishing to document a family or historical instrument. I have become particularly known for zither restoration.
But the wheels of my ever-inquisitive mind are constantly turning. Over the past two years, I've started making Medieval furniture, at first as companion pieces for the Medieval instruments that I've made, but now as pieces that stand on their own.
Today, I make what I want. Autoharps. Dulcimers and their ancestors. Furniture. I give lessons in carving. Occasionally, I take commissions.
I'm a real one-man-shop. I do all the research, all the designing, all the creating, all the wood milling, all the carving, all the sanding, all the finishing, all the sound clip recording, all the repair log writing and all the web work. There's only one thing I don't do. My wife the accountant insists on doing the books.
Shop members
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Ron Cook
Owner, Designer, Maker, Curator, Chief Cook And Woodcarver
I create one-of-a-kind wood sculptures, musical instruments, and furniture characterized by hand-carved figures and motifs. My pieces are based on historical sources, yet relate to today's artistic attitudes, sensibilities, and values.
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