Ree Teeter

October 13, 1953 – March 19, 2024

Ree Teeter passed away peacefully in his sleep on the 19th of March, 2024, coinciding with the birthday of his beloved wife, Daryl.

Though he departed this world as he lived within it—on his own terms—he leaves behind a legacy of humor, love, and music.

We invite friends, family, and those whose lives were touched by Ree to share their memories, stories, and pictures on this page. While he may have been a man who found little use for tradition, in the memories we share, his spirit continues to resonate within the lives he shaped.

As per his wishes, there will be no public service, but his generosity extends beyond life as he has bequeathed his body to science. In time, his ashes will be returned to the waters of Kentucky Lake, a place of cherished memories and serene beauty.

I wrote about him the week he died: My dad died. He made a playlist's worth of music everyone should hear; I tried to capture some of his taste here: Ree's playlist on Spotify.

Photos

Dad at the grand opening of the second Sounds Like This

Dad playing a Martin acoustic in the 70s

First Strat at the Oak Forest shop, with Larry Sheara

Mom and Dad in '73 with a classical he built

With his dad and the Larson Brothers guitar

Norma with an East Indian rosewood dreadnought, Blue Island shop, late 70s

Tim with RT B-8200-001, the first 8-string bass, Blue Island, early 80s

Dad with the Euphonon around me and Lauren in the workshop

Memories

Left by friends and family on the original pages. To add yours, or to send a photo, email me and I'll put it here.

Ree didn’t like to go out much, as you know and have stated above. We were both huge Robin Trower fans, and once while we were working on one of the guitars he made for me, I told him Robin Trower was going to be downtown at the Park West, we should go and I was going to get tickets. He said he couldn’t, but I knew he wanted too, so being very persistent I told him I had already reserved the tickets and he had to, so he agreed. The night of the show, my buddy Jim Weirsema and I showed up and he was dressed up and ready to go. When we got outside he started to panic and say he didn’t want to go - so we grabbed him and threw him in the back of my truck kicking and screaming and locked him in. He started trying to kick open the tailgate but I was able to convince him that he probably would get pretty banged up if he was successful in escaping as we were going about 80 down the expressway…and it would not be conducive to his constitution being repeatedly run over. When we got to the Park west he was pretty pissed off but once we got him in I got him a double 151rum and coke and he loosened up lol. He really enjoyed the show, and afterwards, quite a few rum and cokes in, he even wanted to walk around the city a little bit. When I dropped him off he told me that he was glad he went but “don’t ever do that again damn it!”
We spent a lot of time together watching movies, listening and talking about music, working on my whacky projects. We had our ups and downs, but he was one of the most interesting people I know. I still catch myself using “Reeisms” now and then like “accoutrements” and “fuzz wah swell. He was very proud of you Jon. I remember sitting in his living room once, watching movies and drinking and heard you and someone else wailing on guitar, and I asked him “who is that?” He sad That’s my boy!” Then he asked if I would go show you some licks, so I paused and really listened…then I told him”I don’t think so”…so he asked “why not?” And I said “he’s already surpassed me.” lol. He had a grin from ear to ear. He was a very talented man, and he wasn’t afraid to share his knowledge. He is missed.

Bill Pratt, March 23, 2024
Ree was a great friend and no words can explain the loss. As I write this teary eyed and filled with sorrow 2 things I know Ree wouldn’t have wanted. I sit here and wish more people knew him. His talents were amazing and his outlook on life was tremendous, his Reeism’s were legendary and so many sayings of his I still use to this day. I will miss his stories, reminiscing about the good ol days and him sharing his dreams of retiring and buying a place on Kentucky lake to go fish! But I will always remember the great man that was my friend! Thank you for sooooo many good times buddy! Love ya!!

Ray Cioe, March 23, 2024
Hello Jon and Family my heart goes out to you. I know what loss is, if you can keep your memories close you will always have him with you in your heart.

I know March 19th is dear to me as well, my Mom's bday is the same as your mom's bday. So that means we have a lot to keep dear in our hearts.

Hugs to you and I know you'll be talking about what you remember for a long long time.

Joyce Rinkevicius, March 23, 2024
He was a very kind man to me when I was a teenager. He gave me my first set of allen wrenches to adjust my guitar neck, said I could keep them because I wanted to be a luthier like him someday. Since then I dove through tinkering with things...I never really thought to before. I never thought I had the ability. He instilled a part of me in who I am today. I'm sorry for your loss, and I really miss RT.

Corey Fleming, March 23, 2024
To your point I remember him restringing my R series Ibanez that would not stay in tune even with the locks and all that.. and he says “ahhh I know what’s wrong with this guitar… it has Ibanez syndrome” He definitely had strong opinions about EVERYTHING. To this day I think he was right. I remember it being the cool place to shop for guitars. My grandparents bought me my first electric Washburn Guitar from him. It changed the course of everything in my life. It was one of my favorite memories. Jonny you will not be getting my prayers because I do not subscribe, but I will always remember him and value those memories and we can talk about it whenever you feel you’d like to. ❤️

Jenn Jilbert, March 23, 2024
I always remember walking into RT Guitars and your dad sitting there playing his classical guitar finger picking some song. I always stopped in my tracks just to watch him play... similar to how many of us just stare when you play Jonny. You are your dad man... love for movies, music and strong opinions. He will always live on within you!

Travis Schwark, March 24, 2024
Ree was larger than life. To think of him gone from this earth is unfathomable. Yet reading that he had passed away hit me with an immediate wave of emotion.
I have known Ree since I was 15 years old. I had my dad's guitar and I wanted to learn how to play it. I found Rt Guitars in the phone book and this friendly voice told me to come on over to his shop and he'd get it restrung and in playing order. The shop at the time was in his basement and I remember going down there and just being mesmerized by it. It was like Santa's workshop but for adults who loved guitar. He was kind and welcoming. In fact, he was always encouraging to me and other teens I would bring over to meet him and see the shop. I'm not sure I ever would have pursued playing guitar it if I had not met him.
Our friendship for the next decade or so consisted of calls or visits to his retsil shop in Midlothian when I had questions about anything guitar related. He was always bursting with information and enthusiasm and I found him to be fascinating and fun. Years later, when he had moved the shop into a smaller location in the strip mall, I talked him into taking me on as one of his apprentices. I spent every Monday with him for a year..maybe more...while he taught me to design and build my own guitar. He was a wonderful friend to me and many days we would just tinker and talk with little "work" accomplished. Our conversations were always fun and deep and hilarious...credit due to him alone. He was a gifted story teller (writer as well). He would talk about his sisters and growing up, beam about his kids, or tell me about crazy times at the shop. I used to call it "Mondays with Ree" like the book "Tuesdays with Morrie" and he would laugh and comment in his witty "Ree way" about why he has to be the dying old man in this scenario. He was at the time still young and full of life..my senior by 25 years. He would often put on one of his movies from his "library" as background. I remember watching "Goodfellas", "Little Big Man", and "Lost Weekend" among other classics with him. Ree taught me so much more than guitar setting/building. He was incredibly wise and talented....beyond a doubt the most eccentric person I have ever met. He was like some Renaissance Man from 1000s of years ago. Truly. I was always amazed at how much knowledge he had accrued and the things he had taught himself before there was the internet..let alone books on the topic of guitar building. He even built the tools he needed to do a job when the tool he needed wasn't available. They just don't make men like him anymore. Beyond all that, he was COOL...Like naturally charismatic and hip and had a laugh that was contagious and although paternal he never once seemed "old".
The last decade our friendship had been delegated to sporadic phone calls that were less and less and an occasional gift I sent him on his birthday. I regret that immensely but it's the way he wanted it. He had "retired". I respected that and him. I am beyond lucky to have known him and been one of the people he allowed into his madcap and wonderful world.
Thinking of you Jon and your sister Lauren whom I never met but still feel like I know. I imagine the many lives Ree touched, the talent he fostered, and the dreams he helped encourage and it makes the loss of his feel less finite.

Dolores Maier, March 25, 2024
Asa bassist who knew Ree for over 45yrs there was never a time that he didn't assist me me when my guitars were misbehaving. We shared many a drink in his basement over the years and I am truly heartbroken at not being able to call him just to chat. I love ya brother and will see you on the other side. God must have really needed an awesome friend and luthier in heaven. I will miss him dearly.

Mark Blachowicz, March 26, 2024
I first met Ree about 17 years ago when he had his shop in Midlothian. I had just gotten an Ibanez guitar the year before and I knew very little about them. An RVX220, which Ree thought was cool, a "flying V on acid" as he described it. I didn't know about truss rods and getting them adjusted. I had driven past RT guitars and figured I'd stop in and ask why the strings were buzzing.

I'll never forget how excited he got to take a look. Before I know it he busted about a tuning fork, tickled a few sweet spots, started turning an Allen wrench and before I knew what happened he made it sound perfect. I've still got an LTD devil girl in the case, pristine as the day he sold it to my parents for my Christmas gift.

Every time I'd call him up for adjustments I'd chain smoke with him just talking about everything from cars to guitars to bitching about the government. Ree was full of knowledge and talked to everyone like you were good friends for years, even if he just met you.

Super nice man and full of knowledge. I took a dean ml to him once thinking it was beyond saving and the work he put into this guitar and the seemingly microscopic adjustments he made between sawing and filing the fretboard, installing a new stopnut and getting a twisted neck somehow straight again blew my mind. He was unbelievably dedicated, skilled, knowledgeable, passionate, funny and kind. He will be dearly missed.

Jake Bittner, April 22, 2024
Though you’d think because I became an English teacher that I’d be good with words, I didn’t inherit that trait from my dad. He did share his poetry and encouraged me to write my own, but what I learned most was to appreciate words and embrace creativity in as many ways as possible.

He gave me acoustic guitars (first a Lauren, then a Breedlove) and in 2016 he taught me to build my own electric guitar. I always felt too intimidated by my brother’s musical talents to actively pursue playing for fear of failure, but I do know he loved to hear me sing. He loved to recall the time I thought having headphones on meant people couldn’t hear me sing. He let me sit in my rocking chair behind the living room recliner singing my heart out while he and his friends hung out. I regret not finding time to professionally record some of my own songs and share them with him, but I know he was happy to just hear me sing from the kitchen.

I was proud to tell people about my dad. It felt unique and “cool” to have a dad that worked with guitars for a living—a dad that wasn’t like any one else’s.

Some of my fondness memories as a kid are the small moments trying to make him proud or impress him. Counting all of the guitars in his shop to keep inventory. Sorting screws and nails propped up on a workbench. Sweeping the basement shop floors. I’ll always love the smell of wood and sawdust.

Though I think many people didn’t understand him or his relationships, I felt we had a good one. He didn’t attend my band/choir concerts, various sport games, or even my wedding, but it didn’t matter to me what other people thought about that. I knew his attendance didn’t have anything to do with how much he cared about me or how proud he was of me. He simply didn’t conform to society’s standards and expectations. Instead, he showed up in other ways. For each band concert, I used reeds and a clarinet case from the brand “Lauren” because he ordered them special to his shop. Even though he didn’t understand the “pituitary glands squeaking up and down the gym floor”, he’d listen if I wanted to talk about my games. He shared love stories with me my entire life — stressing that ALL movies were love stories, even Ridley Scott’s Alien.

He told me on several occasions that my mom had to convince him to have a second kid. I think maybe he felt guilty about that in some way so he made it a point to remind me that he was so happy to have had me. Though he didn’t like to have long conversations on the phone with me, rather than ask basic questions about work or the mundane, he’d always ask if I was happy with life and remind me he was proud of me—that I expanded his life.

My dad knew so much about so many different areas of history and life in general. He most impressed me with his wealth of movie knowledge. When I watched a movie with my dad I didn’t just watch the movie, I learned about the actors and history of the film. How he remembered so much about so many films still baffles me. The first horror film he showed me was Dead Alive. The film I loved watching with him the most was Ninotchka. I love that he wasn’t afraid to cry watching romance movies with me.

I’m devastated he didn’t get to meet my son because I saw the way he loved my niece and nephew. Seeing the way they lit up his life was really special. The last time we spoke on the phone he shared his favorite songs by Huddie Ledbetter “Lead Belly” that I will share with Hudson—“Mr. Tom Hughes’ Town” and “Out on the Western Plains”.

Some other things I plan to share with my son—his various methods of tickling (tickle bugs, monsters, airplanes); running down the hall to jump into the bed “coming in for a landing” JU88 style; “sleeping” on the dock / falling off the edge of the bed only to be caught at the last moment; binge watching Three Stooges and The Honeymooners (I specifically loved cuddling up behind his knees as he lay down on the couch).

Maybe my favorite tradition that I plan to carry on with my own child is the start of summer break. My dad would open the front door and all the windows while he blasted Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” loud enough for me to hear when I got off the bus on the last day of school each year. Once I made it home from the bus stop, he’d play Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and Mumbo Jerry’s “In the Summertime”.

Other things I’ll miss:
- Hearing him say “oh what the God Christ” as he loudly shuffles through Tupperware or pots and pans
- Watching “Cash Cab” and playing along
- Galaxy pancakes (made with the leidenfrost effect) and all of his other baked goods that were accompanied with tips and tricks that he was willing to share with the world rather than keep them as baking secrets
- Hearing him call me “honey… and could I just say… bunny” (I call my son Huddy… and could I just say… Buddy)
- The random videos he’d find to share with me even on my short visits home—Brother Theodore, Irwin Corey, Amy Winehouse performances
- His grocery list drawings of the perfect package of bacon
- “let’s not get panicky!”
- “Fashion consultant dad” and “Health man”tips

Ultimately, I’m glad he’s no longer in pain. The first day of spring and my mom’s birthday must have been “a good day to die!”

My heart soars like a hawk. Oh papa, I love you.

Lauren Teeter, March 22, 2024
I met Ree a few times in his store in Midlothian, and owned one of his custom guitars for a bit. Great person, an absolute encyclopedia of guitar knowledge and a great luthier. RIP

Larry, November 14, 2024