Cooley Stringed Instruments

03/29/2021

Cardboard dulcimer vs a wooden dulcimer!

A friend asked me to compare a cardboard dulcimer to a wooden dulcimer to see how they differ. I hope you enjoy the two songs I played "Simple Gifts" and "Gr...

03/21/2021

Here's a nice old Irish tune played on my 1973 Guild fingerpickers dream guitar! Need to get my business going stronger! Have a great day all!

This is a old Irish tune that the Bothy Band used to play. Triona Ni Dhomhnaill did the singing. I have always enjoyed the traditional singing and music of I...

05/24/2019

Some of my instruments on my old banjo chair! Two of the banjos I built and the Deering banjo I repaired. The brass bracket hoop broke and we tried to repair it. It wouldn’t fit after being fixed so I built one out of wood (beech) and it works well! Two of my cardboard dulcimers of over 800 built mostly in school workshops. My Martin D-18(1955) on top and a Martin D-28 (1979) on the floor. The D-28 has a new maple bridge plate (prewar sound). On the right top you have a 1973 Guild small body with a new fretboard. A finger pickers dream guitar! The fiddle I bought in 1982, two months after my son Henry was born. It was rebuilt by my friend and master fiddle man Daniel Savalia. Great bass tone! I really enjoy scratching around on that old fiddle! I haven’t played much in the past 20 years but I’m getting it out more nowadays! And in the front you see an autoharp that I bought to repair. It needs to be rebuilt (bars and felts). So here’s some of the things that bring joy in my life and in others! Contact me if you’re interested in anything you see or hear!

Jon Cooley

01/28/2017

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pfNPHfgrXMA

Jon Cooley banjo ukulele demo

12/05/2014

My first banjo built from scrap wood and a hickory board. All wood contruction. Turned nicely on the lathe. It was fun turning my first block rim. Nice old time sound.

12/05/2014

My first banjo uke