#Ome banjo dealers professional

вЂњIt was during those years in the trading business that I fell in love with the use of wood and metal as an art form and began learning vintage design techniques with those materials,вЂќ he said.OME are a small, family-owned company specializing in building exceptional Bluegrass, Old-time, Irish, and Jazz banjos.

#Ome banjo dealers professional

He became interested in antique firearms and that early exposure led him to become a professional gun trader at age 14. When he was growing up in Kentucky, his mother was in the antiques business, and he accompanied her to look for sales items. Ogsbury said he was always intrigued with building things out of metal and wood. ThatвЂ™s the smallest market, but they buy expensive instruments,вЂќ he said. There are three main banjo markets ? bluegrass is the biggest, then folk or old time, which was last big in the 1960s, and then jazz banjos, which tend to be played more by professionals. The banjo market is a niche market, but the number of banjo players appears to be growing, he said. вЂњThatвЂ™s difficult to do since dealers donвЂ™t like it if you sell direct,вЂќ he said. Currently, Ome Banjos sells about 50 percent of its inventory through dealers and 50 percent direct, he said. It also has an extensive Web site and a color catalogue. Ogsbury said the company has always depended on word of mouth for referrals but does some advertising in trade magazines. вЂњWe build our instruments to last for several generations,вЂќ he said. ItвЂ™s an investment value, too.вЂќДЄ banjo that sold for $200 some 25 years ago could now be worth about $1,000, he said. A high-quality banjo can bring as much as $70,000 for older Gibsons, and the rare ones will keep going up,вЂќ he said. Our instruments become more valuable with time. вЂњMost of our customers appreciate the quality. Ome Banjos sells the musical instruments to all kinds of customers, from professional musicians to intermediate players to collectors, he said. Then 10 years later it took about $25,000 to do the same thing,вЂќ he said. вЂњThe first time around it took about $5,000 to get started. When he founded Ome Banjos, he started the company with three other partners. With his first banjo company, he reinvested the profits to keep building the business. вЂњI sold all the guns and everything else I had to start building banjos,вЂќ he said. Ogsbury has always demonstrated business acumen. His daughter, Tanya, handles the office and public relations for the business. Today he works with two apprentices and two other master banjo builders. He took a few years off and then started the second banjo company in 1970.

With Ode Banjos, Ogsbury produced about 1,900 banjos ranging from basic aluminum pot long-necks to fancy bluegrass models. Named Ode Banjos, it was sold in 1966 to Baldwin Piano and Organ Co. Ogsbury started his first banjo manufacturing company in 1960 in Boulder. вЂњWood carving and metal engraving is done out of the shops in their own studios around the country,вЂќ he said. While Ome Banjos does some of the artwork on the fancier banjos, some is contracted out to artists. We make very high-end instruments,вЂќ he said. But we usually have a two to three-year supply minimum that we keep here. вЂњWe use exotic materials from around the world. It can take from six months to two years to produce a banjo on order, depending on how unusual the instrument is, he said. We usually have 30 or 40 banjos on order all the time.вЂќ вЂњBut we make over 200 standard possibilities, so there are many we canвЂ™t stock. вЂњWe try to carry 100 instruments in stock all the time,вЂќ Ogsbury said. With only six employees, Ome produces banjos ranging from the standard instrument priced at $1,000 to $2,000 to more exotic banjos with fancy artwork priced at $15,000. Ogsbury founded Ome Banjos in 1970, and his company now earns about $350,000 in revenues each year. Instead, heвЂ™s busy overseeing the manufacture of some 125 handmade banjos annually at his Boulder shop. BOULDER - Chuck Ogsbury doesnвЂ™t have much time to play the banjo anymore.