Rob has been building & repairing musical instruments professionally, since 1972. He was born and raised in the burbs of Los Angeles, CA of Italian descent. He has mentored under, and worked for, some of the world’s largest & most famous guitar manufactures and luthiers in the world. With over 40 years of experience in manufacturing & repairing thousands of instruments, rest assured, Rob will professionally take care of and handle your prized instrument with up most care. Today Rob continues to strive to help his customers in getting the best possible sound & performance out of their instruments either new or used.
While in his teen years Rob was passionate about Woodworking & Music. His building & repairing of musical instruments started sometime in his late teen years, as he discovered that he loved to work with Wood & Music. Rob’s very grateful for all the musicians, builders, luthiers and repairman who taught, mentored, inspired & encouraged him to keep at it, including:
Bernardo “Bernie” Rico Sr.(B.C. Rich Guitars)
John, Ed & Rudy Dopyera (O.M.I. “Dobro Resonator Guitars”)
John Quarterman (Quarterman Res-O-Cones)
Don Young (National Reso-Phonic Guitars)
Tony Vorell (Whittier Plaza Music/ Whittier Music Co.)
Leo Fender & George Fullerton (Music Man Guitars and G & L Guitars)
The education Rob received from his mentors was invaluable...not at all comparable as going to guitar making classes or a luthier school (which didn’t exist in those days). Rob started out mostly by trial and error... trying to repair broken instruments and building mountain dulcimers (while working in cabinet shops, going to school, and pestering luthiers). After college, he started his career working for some of the world’s largest known guitar manufactures.
In 1972, Rob began his professional career at Original Musical Instruments (OMI) “Dobro” (resonator guitars), with the Ed & Rudy Dopyera, brothers of John Dopyera (inventor & designer of “National & Dobro” Guitars). While there, he worked with John Quarterman (Quarterman Res-O-Cones), Don Young (National Reso-Phonic Guitars) & Fiddlin' Red Simpson.
From there,, Rob apprenticed with world famous Master Luthier, Ren Ferguson (Ferguson Guitars & Banjos), where he helped build John McLaughlin's famous "Double Rainbow" guitar, along with many other handmade pre-war dreadnaught guitars & mastertone banjo reproductions.
After that, Rob was then employed by CBS Musical Instruments (Fender®, Rodgers & Rhodes), in the Neck Fabrication Dept. until he was promoted to the Quality Control Dept. This is where he found the sister of George Harrison's famous solid rosewood Fender® Telecaster guitar from 1968, buried under a heap of neglected boxes. He then made a deal to purchase it & restore it.
When Mr. Leo Fender went back into business as CLF Research, for (Music Man Guitars, pre-Ernie Ball) and later becoming (G & L Guitars) Rob was employed in the Wood Shop and Assembly Dept. Within six months, warranty repairs were starting to come in, and Rob was asked by Mr. Fender, to head up the Repair Dept., where he worked on guitars owned by the famous Albert Lee, Joe DiBartola, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, James Burton, Eric Clapton, and many others. While working at CLF Research (Music Man), Rob partnered with John Quarterman (of Res-O-Cones) and opened “J & R Guitar Repair” in Fullerton, CA.
By 1980, Rob moved to S. Oregon and started his own musical instrument repair & custom build business until 1998, when he stopped for a bit to pursue other interests.
In 2007, after great demand & requests, Rob started the Shop back up again, as "Blue Note Woodworks LLC”, where he still strives to help his customers in getting the best possible sound & performance out of their instruments, either new or used.
Rob Cusumano - Owner / Master Luthier / Guitar Tech
Luthier
(Redeemed w/PayPal Acct.)
