Rick Reeve

Tim Pearson · #1 09-06-2004, 10:06 AM

Anyone heard of Rick Reeve? I've heard he's a reputable bowmaker.
Thanks.

LeslieD · #2 07-25-2006, 12:57 PM

Yes, I've heard of Rick Reeve. In fact, I have one of his first bows (bought it way back in 1977 or so when I was about 14 years old!!). I still have and use it. It has excellent balance, is on the light side but is VERY nice. When I had it re-haired, it was appraised more than $1200 (I got it for $247). At the time I got it, Reeve was selling his bows out of a Longmont, Colorado violin shop. I haven't heard anything from him in years.

SeayBass · #3 12-12-2006, 05:40 AM

I am a patron of Rik Reeve. I have 2 of his bows, both are really nice. Mine are medium light to light french bows. They are excellent. I think for the price range it is hard to beat a Reeve bow. One was made in 1999-2001. I bought it May 2001. The other was new in 2002.

I have seen a few bows made by Rik Reeve, and none were very heavy. they all are rather thin towards the tip, allowing the player lots of finesse and control. Mine really grab the string well without slamming it around. When off the string, the bow comes right back.

I think very highly of Rik Reeve and his craftsmanship. I have shown the bows to makers and players over the years and they aall acknowlege the excellence. One of the players who liked it very much is the principal bassist with National Symphony, Bob Oppelt.

I bought the bow through Rik's father, luthier Harry Reeve, who travels the south fixing stuff up. Harry used to run the St. Louis string shop.
The Reeve family are wonderful people.

hope that helps. Feel free to ask more specific questions.
-eric seay
bassist, Army Band, Washington DC area

LeslieD · #4 12-26-2006, 03:45 PM

I'd forgotten that he's Rik w/o the "c" But I think my bow is stamped with "Rick" and not "Rik." Though, I think there might be a very small "Rik" as well. (I'll have to take another look).

My bow has his name stamped in five different places--almost as if he was practicing where he wanted to have his name on the bow. He used several different "fonts" or sizes for the stamps, too, which I thought was odd.

I've had my Reeve bow for almost thirty years, and though I'm not completely sure, I think it's one of his first bows. I have a fuzzy memory of the whole story, but he had started this bow and had set it aside for quite awhile. When I was 14 and was looking for a bass bow, his father (Harry, I guess) seemed to think his son had been working on a bow...and he checked w/ him. Rik promised to finish the bow for me (I don't recall ever meeting him).

Yes, it's VERY light...but it's definitely my favorite. I'm holding on to it for now, but it's quite a treasure. If my house catches fire, I'll wake my husband, grab my cats, and then grab my RR bow (or wait, maybe the bow comes before the cats...)

When I "knew" the family, they were in Longmont, Colorado...but that was 30 years ago.

LeslieD · #5 01-02-2007, 09:22 AM

I just checked...it's definitely Rick with a "c" and not Rik. Unless, he was (or is now) using that version of his name.

Also--just wondering. Is there a good reason that this bow maker would have stamped his name four (or five--I think it's also under the frog, but can't remember) different times? Twice it's very small and is unreadable, and it's stamped larger in the regular place on opposite sides. Was he just practicing? Was it a mistake?

Does anyone else have the bow maker's name stamped multiple times on their bows? Any reason for it?

SeayBass · #6 10-03-2007, 11:23 AM

I have looked at my bow again and, yes, there's a C.
Harry told me that his name is prominent on the bow so that
1. we all know who made it, and
2. to prevent anyone from attempting to sell it as made by any other than Rick Reeve. It's easy enough to remove the name from a bow and advertise it falsely.

Last I heard the Reeves are in Arkansas. Though I am having a hard time getting a phone number for them- I want to commission another bow!
Anyone out there know the phone/address of the Rick Reeve Bow Shop?

Cfederle · #7 10-03-2007, 05:15 PM

I have had a Rick Reeves bow for quite a while now. It is one of the best bows I have had luck to play. The only other ones that I have like more have been one of Fuchs. Mine is on the lightish side but plays really well. It also has three stamps for his name. When I bought the bow (from Harry) he said it had to do with other people putting their names on Rick's bows. As for their value, Robertson's puts it up around 3500.

LeslieD · #8 08-27-2009, 12:27 PM

This last June I came across another Rick Reeve bow. It had a really odd diamond-shaped piece of silver inlaid on the side of the frog, and I think was a little heavier than the one I own. Chris Brown had it for sale at the Penn State ISB, but he didn't remember how it ended up in his collection.

RainCrow · #9 01-02-2010, 03:13 PM

It has been a while since the post asking for information about the whereabouts of Rick Reeve, bowmaker, but in case it will help anyone, you can google his contact information by typing in Rick Reeve Bow Shop in the search box and the address and phone number in Arkansas will come up. I too, have heard good things about his work and am preparing to try out some of his bows myself.