About

Luthier/Guitar-Tech Rob Cusumano has been building & repairing musical instruments professionally, since 1972. He was born and raised in the burbs of L.A. County CA, of Italian descent. He has mentored under, and worked for, some of the world’s largest & most popular guitar manufactures and luthiers in the world. With over 30 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 get the best possible sound & performance out of their instruments.

  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”), John Quarterman (Quarterman Cones), Fiddlin’ Red Simpson, Robin Williams, Tony Vorell, Ren Ferguson, Larry Brown, Larry Ferrara, Fred Gerlach, Leo Fender, George Fullerton (G & L Guitars) and Doc Kaufman, most memorably. The education Rob received from his mentors was invaluable...not at all comparable as going to guitar making classes or a luthier school. 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 “Dobro” (resonator  guitars), with the inventors & designers of “National & Dobro” Guitars, (the Dopyera brothers, Ed & Rudy). While there, he worked with John Quarterman (Quarterman Res-O-Cones), Don Young (National Resophonic Guitars), & Fiddlin' Red Simpson.

   From there in 1973, 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 pre-war dreadnaught guitars & mastertone banjo reproductions. (Mr. Ferguson is now the Production Manager at Gibson’s Montana plant.)

   After that in 1974, Rob was then employed by CBS Musical Instruments (Fender®, Rodgers & Rhodes), working in the Neck Fabrication Dept. until he was promoted to the Quality Control Dept., where he found the sister of George Harrison's famous solid rosewood Fender® Telecaster guitar from 1968, buried under a heap of boxes.     In 1976, when Mr. Leo Fender went back into business as CLF Research, for (Music Man Guitars), Rob was employed in the Wood Shop and Assembly Dept. for CLF Research (Music Man), and later becoming (G & L Guitars). 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 “Music Man” (pre-Ernie Ball), Rob partnered with John Quarterman and opened “J & R Guitar Repair” in Fullerton, CA.

   In 1979, Rob moved to S. Oregon, and in 1980 started his own musical instrument repair business until 1998, when he started to pursue other interests.

   In 2007, after great demand & requests, Rob felt led to start the Repair Shop back up again, as "Blue Note Woodworks LLC”. You can call ahead to reach Rob directly or email him with questions. He will not only turn around your instrument quickly and economically, but also offers a Rush Priority Service for those with tight time restraints. If you are out of the area & need to ship your instrument in for repair, please call or email ahead for specific details & tips for shipping your instrument. Rob at Blue Note Woodworks will always strive to help please customers with honesty & integrity along with good ole’ fashioned friendliness and great prices. Rob is also available as an on-site Guitar-Tech, Stage-Hand or Soundman for events, concerts, and tours. For over 30 years & still as a semi-active musician, Rob knows and understands the needs of the professional musician...and to those that are just starting out also.  

   Blue Note Woodworks is also here to help you with an Online Music Store, offering you some of the best Hand-Picked Pro-Gear & Accessories available today, at the Best Possible Prices...shipped directly to your door. You can also call in or email, for even better deals and special pricing including schools, corporations, non-profits, churches & government entities or consulting on all your Gear & Accessories. The Online store offers mostly Pro-Gear & Accessories...Gear that is proven on stage & in the field, and at the same time, offers Gear & Accessories for beginners, hobbyist, & semi pro-players also. With so many items, it is impossible to list them all...so if there’s something you don’t see listed...don’t hesitate to call or email and ask.

  At Blue Note Woodworks they have tried to make an Online Music Store that is simple & concise for everyone, including their international customers. And since they “Will Beat Any Price- Guaranteed”, remember...when you want Experience (over 30 years of it), Knowledge & Trust ...lookup BlueNoteWoodworks.com

  As Luthier, Owner & Manger, Rob believes that all Art & Music is created and inspired by God, the giver of Life & our Eternal Living Soul. And that He gave us Art & Music, the universal language and expression of our Heart & Soul, and Inspiration. Rob's desire is to help bring that Inspired Art & Music back to the venues, streets & homes of today's mainstream culture.