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

updated by @robmachin: 01/28/26 03:59:12AM

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.

--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
updated by @dusty: 01/28/26 01:17:59AM