Tom Ribbecke

Acclaimed luthier; Tom Ribbecke has been building and repairing guitars and basses since 1975. He started with a repair shop in the Mission District of San Francisco, but after ten years (and hundreds of repairs) he closed the storefront to concentrate on custom building. Since then Tom has been on a quest for perfection and every instrument he makes is better than the last!

Tom’s instruments are built from the finest materials, with the most innovative designs and have been on display in museums such as the Smithsonian Museum and the Boston Museum. He helped found the Healdsburg Guitar Festival and he served 10 years on the board of A.S.I.A (Association of Stringed Instrument Makers). Tom's innovations and designs have culminated in the Halfling^TM design and the creation of RGC.

Although RGC is a separate company from Tom's private practice, Ribbecke Guitars, Tom spends almost half of everyday here! He makes sure that we are striving for perfection in every instrument.

Tom also creates all of our new designs, working closely with Mike Gutsch, our Foreman, to put the designs into production. No instrument leaves our shop without his approval!

Check out Tom’s private practice at www.ribbecke.com.

Bobby Vega

Bobby Vega’s legendary career as a bass player began at age 16 with Sly and the Family Stone. He has worked with Etta James, Billy Preston, Paul Butterfield, The Starship, Joan Baez, Olatunji, Mickey Hart, and more. He has over a hundred albums and recording projects to his credit and continues to tour and play today.

Bobby consults on fundamental design of instruments and setup. He puts his decades of experience and talent into choosing pickups, strings, hardware, wood and hand voicing the instruments.

Mike Gutsch

Mike is the Foreman of RGC. In fact, he was the first (and for a long time, only) employee of RGC.

Mike is our genius in residence. You need it: he'll make it! The quality of our instruments is due to his creativity and pursuit of excellence.

Daniela Ribbecke

Daniela is the Operations Manager at the shop and Tom's daughter. She has grown up in and around the lutherie industry, making this job a perfect fit!

Daniela does a little bit of everything, but mainly, she insures that your guitar will be ready on time!

Kevin Gilbaugh

Kevin began his career in Tom's private shop in 2000. Now he works at RGC in Setup.

His work at Tom's shop prepared him well for the detail oriented, custom nature of each instruments setup. He works closely with both Tom and Bobby to hand voice each instrument.

Chip Norton

Chip came to RGC in 2006, with seven years of experience, and quickly made a place for himself as the head of the Neck Department.

Chip has been invaluable in implementing new production procedures and working with Mike on custom necks. He has recently been promoted to Production Manager!

Matt Dion

Matt works in the Finish Department. He works closely with Tom to recreate Tom’s own bursts and acclaimed finishes.

Matt’s dedication to creating the finest finishes has shown in the constant praise we receive from customers and dealers.

Peter Sumpf

Based in southern New England, Peter is the RGC Senior Marketing Officer. He joins us at RGC following a previous incarnation as a respected technical operations senior executive at several national television networks.

A self-confessed guitar fanatic who is obsessed with all things guitar, he plays American Primitive and American Traditional Guitar as a solo acoustic performer, and is “amped” in his electric project as a member of “Peter Charles & the Cosmic Muffins.”!

Peter is also opening his own guitar store in June 2008! Check it out at www.barkingdogguitars.com!

Paige MacKenzie

Paige has been working at RGC, cleaning the shop after school, for quite some time. She is a talented guitar player who hopes to attend the Berklee School of Music.

Paige has just started her apprenticeship in the shop, working with Chip on necks, and now with finish too. She has already proven that she has the makings of a great craftsman!

Frankie DeSouza

Frankie already had a successful career with the band 'Frequency Murder' when he decided he would like to pursue lutherie. He has been working in all of the departments, learning a little bit of everything.

Frankie has really displayed talent in multiple areas of the shop and we're really happy to have him!

Mike Tardif

Having freshly arrived from Maine, Mike is the new guy in the shop. He graduated from The Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery early 2007, and was brought aboard RGC in November.

Mike has been working with Chip in the neck department, and now is trying his hand helping make the bodies. He has also been keeping the webpage updated and helping with random projects around the shop, as well as spraying and sanding lacquer as needed. He is happy to report that working at RGC has been a dream come true!

Timmy Lovold

Timmy and his brother Tommy have both worked in Tom’s private shop. Now Timmy is working for RGC in the Finish Department.

Jonathan Mankin

Jonathan started his career in music as a band geek. He’s been playing guitar and bass for four years. Now he’s an active musician and plays with several bands. While he still has dreams of making it in music he also wanted to learn the art of building the instruments he loves so much. Although his days consist of cleaning and anything else that might need doing or fixing in the shop, he still loves his job. He says, "RGC is an awesome place to work and I wouldn't want to work anywhere else now that I'm here. The pay isn't always on time and the messes that need cleaning up never end but as a musician, I couldn't think of a better place to work than around these amazing instruments and the people who build them. Not to mention it was beginning to look like no one else would hire me until Daniela called". He hopes to someday climb the ranks in the shop and become a luthier but for now, he's fine with just cleaning RGC and building guitars as a hobby with his dad at home.

Charlie Ribbecke