18 month sound check: Ribbecke Compliant Rim

[Mark Kleinhaut]

A year and a half has gone by…phew, and it’s time to check in once again with this fabulous monster of an instrument made by Tom Ribbecke. Have a listen!

[Gitterbug]

What can I say? I've always admired your playing and sound. But you're one of a kind, so there's no yardstick to measure against. Equally difficult to assess your guitar's contribution to the utterly pleasant totality. Hey, it's stayed in one piece and sounds wonderful. Must be good. However, given that a guitar like yours will be within the reach of a very chosen few, I'm inclined to laud your fingers and anything upstream. Thanks!

[Mark Kleinhaut]

What can I say? I've always admired your playing and sound. But you're one of a kind, so there's no yardstick to measure against. Equally difficult to assess your guitar's contribution to the utterly pleasant totality. Hey, it's stayed in one piece (18 rather than 118 months) and sounds wonderful. Must be good. However, given that a guitar like yours will be within the reach of a very chosen few, I'm inclined to laud your fingers and anything upstream. Thanks!

Thanks. I’m just doing what I like to do that’s NOTHING special. No riches or fame for this picker. Yeah, a guitar like this would run upwards of $20k these days because the maker is aging out and he’s a genius and all that. Way worth it compared to say your average used car that will be in the scrap pile in 5 more years time.

[Cunamara]

It is really interesting to hear how your guitar has matured in 18 months. As I posted elsewhere, it initially sounded tight and quick- like a snare vs. a tom. But it has relaxed, grown depth and has a singing quality that was initially hinted at. It looks to be about the same size as my GB10, but sounds much bigger. My GB10 has always sounded like a snare drum compared to my (carved) Cushman or ES-175- obviously that is not simply about the size of the box!

[Mark Kleinhaut]

It is really interesting to hear how your guitar has matured in 18 months. As I posted elsewhere, it initially sounded tight and quick- like a snare vs. a tom. But it has relaxed, grown depth and has a singing quality that was initially hinted at. It looks to be about the same size as my GB10, but sounds much bigger. My GB10 has always sounded like a snare drum compared to my (carved) Cushman or ES-175- obviously that is not simply about the size of the box!

Thanks for following the story with me. The guitar has settled in beautifully as you’ve noted. The bond I feel with it is also a matter of my adapting to it- learning how to coax out the tunes my ear wants to hear. Little adjustments with finger pressure can make big differences. I also changed strings from the Pyramid Classic nickel over to Stringjoy Broadways. Same gauge and the strings are very similar, but stringjoys just sound sweeter and intonation is better. The size on this is. 15” lower bout, by the way.

[pingu]

absolutely gorgeous Mark ….

The instrument has got bigger at the
bottom end now , to my ears , which is lovely

and kind of amazing considering
the dimensions ….

something to do with compliance of the top i guess ,
Ribbecke is sure onto something

so are you ….

[mikeSF]

Mark, your music is inspirational.
Your threads here led me to order a compliant rim guitar from Tom and he is making incredible progress: