Tom has been living in Healdsburg and working in his iconic barn for nearly ten years. Now, the owners of the property are ready to sell it. Tom is trying to find a way to buy this property and create something really special. In his words:

"Sometimes difficult circumstances create opportunity and this is one of those moments. My lifelong dream has been to create a Teaching, Research and Development facility for stringed instruments of all types. I have had a long time option to purchase the property I live and work on. That time has now come, and due to external circumstances, has been accelerated. I have until March to either buy this property or move. For many years my place in Healdsburg has been a nexus of all forms of music. If you have attended one of the Healdsburg Guitar Festival after parties, you know what an incredible place this is and the importance of its musical heritage. I have also taught for here for many years. This place has allowed the students to release themselves completely into the learning process. I have also done the best work of my life here.

I am now hoping to invite the best and brightest, from all disciplines, to teach here. To host seasonal outdoor concerts and house concerts. To continue our commitment to host community events here. And to develop video and teaching tools. Lots of great folks have offered to help and want to see this come to fruition, but I need to raise money quickly. I am encouraging you to order one of final 25 guitars or anything toward this goal. I would also be open to a creative equity sharing partner as the investment in the physical property is a sound one.

The Fretboard Journal offered to help by creating a podcast in which I discuss these issues. In it, I talk about the generation of makers who are soon retiring. This generation has a wealth of information that is simply not available through the internet. This type of knowledge is best learned through personal experience, side by side, with these modern masters of the craft. It is my intention to be sure that this information and knowledge does not retire with these makers and to provide a quality environment to this end. Click here for the podcast.

Please join me in this endeavor!" -- Tom Ribbecke

Contact us if you have any ideas, want to help, or are interested in purchasing a guitar.

Tom is now accepting students for his March 2012 class! The class is a week long lecture/demonstration. The class guitar is available for sale. Please email me with any questions or to reserve your place today!

There has been some confusion about Tom's Final 25 guitars. Tom has not retired and is still taking orders for his Final 25 guitars. If you are interested in placing an order please contact us.

Tom will be attending the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase in Woodstock New York this week. If you are in the area, stop by and see some amazing guitars!

Tom was recently interviewed for an article regarding the Lacey Act. Click here to read it.

Our local newspaper has just written an article on Tom and the RGC crew. Click here to read it.

Tom has a used, 17" Monterey with some cosmetic damage available at a great price! If you are interested in this instrument please email me for pricing.

Tom is now building a 40th Anniversary Guitar. If you are interested in this instrument please email me for pricing.

Check out the new article in Premier Guitar about Tom Ribbecke's illustrious career! The article is a Builder Profile and chronicles how Tom got started, his first guitars, the founding of RGC and his final 25 guitars. The article will appear on stands in the January issue of Premier Guitar.

SPECIFICATIONS: Master grade Birdseye maple back and sides, nut width is 1.710, average c-shaped neck, Koa binding, 25" scale, kasha bridge, ebony fingerboard, Birdseye pickguard and tailpiece caps, Birdseye maple neck, side port with ebony trim. And inlay by Larry Robinson of Anniversary sundial theme

Truly an exceptional guitar, please call or email me for pricing.

Tom is so excited to be going to the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase! The show is an alternative guitar show, featuring contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed instruments, exhibited by their makers.

The show is held October 23 and 24th in Woodstock, New York. Come check out our guitars and meet Tom! To learn more about the show click here.

This custom instrument was commissioned by a very discerning client who is unable to take delivery. It is museum quality, with exceptional quilted Sapele sides, a big leaf cello maple and a top I have had aging for twenty years. It is priced at $15,000.00. This guitar is exceptional and it's a rare opportunity so please email me or call 707-431-0125 to purchase this great guitar today!

Sorry, this instrument has sold!

A used 16" Monterey Jr, with and in top pickup, traditional specifications, 1.730" nut width, ebony fittings, round "Gibson" style neck of average size, 2 3/16" at the body joint, 2 3/4" deep. It has volume and tone in the top and a jack in the side. The back and sides are Big Leaf Maple, the top is a very tight Sitka Spruce, the F-holes have ivorid binding and the frets have been resurfaced. It is great for live performance and is serial #445 (made in 2007). It's wonderful instrument, a real players guitar. Call for price!

The Newport Guitar festival will have young luthiers dedicated to the craft, master guitar builders dedicated to the art, vintage dealers dedicated to the history, and a host of virtuoso musicians dedicated to the music of the guitar. For perhaps the first time in a festival, we will try to organize the guitar in way that is understandable in all its forms-as an instrument of music, as an instrument of art, as an instrument of history and as instrument of investment. We invite everyone who is interested in the guitar to join us in this grand experiment. We guarantee you won't be bored.

Tom will be at the show, exhibiting instruments and soaking up the sun. Come by and check out our guitars, including this amazing inlay by Larry Robinson:

Tom is a graduate of Syracuse University and has been featured in the school's Alumni spotlight.

Here's an excerpt:

During the course of four decades, Tom Ribbecke ’74 has acquired an international reputation for building guitars and basses of incomparable beauty. “Each musical instrument tells a story,” says Ribbecke, speaking by phone from his Bay Area office in California. “This is my gift, my mission in life: to create instruments that people will be playing 400 or 500 years from now.”

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Bobby Vega is going to the Euro Bass Day in Verona, Italy from October 31 thru November 1.

He's bringing his Bobby Vega Halfling Bass with him and will be conducting several seminars with it. Click here to view the schedule for the event.

We'll be attending the Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase held in New York in October.

The Woodstock Invitational is an alternative guitar show, featuring contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed instruments, exhibited by their makers.

Tom will be exhibiting at the Montreal Guitar Show July 3-5 2009. He will be bringing several instruments for display and sale including:

Due to all of the interest generated for Tom's Stradavari inspired cello Tom will also be building one mandolin! He is including these two rare instruments in his final 25. If you are interested in commissioning either the Ribbecke cello or the mandolin please email me for more information.

Tom will be at the Guitar Institute of Technology on Monday, June 8th to do a presentation on his guitars. Artists Kevin O'Neal, Bruce Forman and Pete Snell will be performing. Please email me for more information.

Tom is now accepting students for his guitar making class in the fall email me for more information.

This beautiful, one of a kind, Monterey is available for sale. It was placed with one of my dealers and fast became a favorite. It has been barely used and is a very rare instrument. Built from outstanding woods, it's the only Monterey built with a 2 7/8" depth. It also features white binding, instead of ivaroid, rarely seen in this model. Please email me to purchase this rare guitar.

Back by popular demand Tom will be conducting one more guitar making class in October. The class guitar is available for sale! Please email me for more information.

Sorry, this instrument has SOLD!

Tom is taking orders for the last slots of his private practice career. These instruments will be the "Masterpiece Series". Each instrument will be each unique and differentiated by label, material and thematic detail. The guitars will be the crowning work of his illustrious career. Each will be individual and uncompromised. Pricing will begin at $25,000.00 and will require a $10,000.00 deposit at the time of reservation. Tom has one remaining Testadura slot available in his lists. Please email me for more information.

Guitar Planet is a reality TV show based on the running of his personal practice guitar shop and the new production company, Ribbecke Guitar Corporation. The show is currently in production. Any new news will be posted here, so stay tuned. To see a promo clip of the show, visit www.guitarplanet.org.

A luthier collaboration between Tom Ribbecke & Linda Manzer. Normally reserved for a musical performance by two players, the word 'duet' is not usually associated with the craft of guitar making. It is, however, fitting in this collaboration between Tom & Linda. Built in the late fall of 2000 during an intensive seven day workshop in Healdsburg, California, the Duet is the musical dance of two distinct sensibilities.

A brilliant example of co-operation, their occasional compromises always tempered with a unified objective, like two musicians (which, of course, they are) Linda and Tom 'jammed' before an audience of fellow luthiers and a small film crew, who were there to witness the process of two great builders coming together and willing to put their craft on the line in this once-in-a-lifetime venture. The result of their labors is 'Duet'.

Featured in Acoustic Guitar Magazine; 'DUET' is currently in Linda Manzer's shop in Toronto and is available for sale at $45,000.00.