Thank you Dusty for noting Ron Ewing's passing. Ron was a multiply-innovative luthier and player. For one thing, he brought us out of the days of chopstick-and-rubber-band-capos with his perfectly crafted and durable design. He was the inventor of the hourglass-teardrop hybrid which he called the Aorell, as mentioned below. He arguably invented the dulcimette and then played it in his driving strumming style. All his instruments had great, lively sound. He championed the 1 and 1/2 fret and used it to play hundreds of Celtic tunes. He was a regular builder-seller-player at dozens of regional dulcimer festivals in the East and Midwest. These he did marathon drives to, always with a load of newly built dulcimers, in one of his beloved vintage BMWs that he did all the mechanical work on. I visited him a couple times in Columbus Ohio and he at one point had an engine block on his kitchen table. He was also an avid cyclist. And just the nicest sort of person you could hope to meet. He will definitely be missed! 

Sorry to hear this. My one and only time interacting with Ron was for a custom capo he made me. I had purchased one of his capos years ago (a walnut capped one) from Elderly, mainly using it on my walnut teardrop, and had later built another dulcimer of cedar with a shorter height fingerboard. That capo wouldn’t work on it as the legs were too long, so I had him make me one with shorter legs. I asked if he could make it with a cedar cap to match the dulcimer, but he suggested a piece of koa being harder and of similar color, so I went with that and had him add an abalone snowflake inlay as well. He was very accommodating of my inquiry. 

I knew Ron, he not only built a few instruments for me, but we met for lunch and often corresponded regarding  number of topics including his time as Chet Hines’ apprentice.  He was always kind and generous and great conversationalist.  I’m saddened that he has passed.  

I never met Ron, but I do know that he was a tremendous asset to the dulcimer community. He will be sorely missed as a builder, player, and innovator. RIP, Ron.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Last summer I had the honor of being invited to Dulcimer Week in the Wallowas.  At the faculty concert, I played one or two tunes on the dulcimette before switching to a full-size dulcimer.  People in the back could not see the little instrument, so I was asked to hold it up for them, and happily, someone snapped a pic:

Sad news indeed. The Aorell I own has the most wonderful tone and sound.

Sad news. He contributed so much to the mountain dulcimer community. I contemplated many times ordering a dulcimette. I kinda wish I had. RIP Ron. 😔 

I played one of Ron's baritone dulcimettes when I won the National Dulcimer Contest at Winfield in 2016.  I was introduced to Ron by Sandy and Caroline Paton.  I bought my first dulcimer from him in the early 1980's, and we became friends and especially enjoyed playing French tunes together.  I don't think anyone made better small instruments than Ron.  Intonation and tone quality were always spot on.  He was a great innovator and a fine musician and will be sorely missed.  

Oh that is awful news! Ron was such a nice guy! His dulcimettes are wonderful instruments x

There are a couple of Facebook discussions about this, so some of you may know, but the great luthier Ron Ewing died a few days ago. 

Ron had been a central participant in the dulcimer community since at least the early 1970s.  His baritone dulcimers were especially appreciated, as were his smaller dulcimers, which he called "dulcimettes."  In fact, I own two of them, one an octave dulcimette and one that he called the baritone dulcimette, meaning it was tuned an octave above a baritone dulcimer or a fourth or fifth above a standard dulcimer.  Rumor has it that Ron also invented the dulcimer capo.  I doubt that's true, but he did develop the capo design that has become the standard.  Ron's website is still up at the moment, in case you would like to peruse his offerings.

Here is a short portrait of Ron and his dulcimers that Bing Futch offered many years ago on one of the early Dulcimerica videos .

I have not found an official obituary yet, only a couple of conversations on Facebook.  If anyone has more information, please share it here.

And perhaps we can share memories of Ron or even just examples of people playing his dulcimers.