I love the look of smoked gunmetal/black chrome and gold metalwork on a banjo. I don’t necessarily seek them out and generally wouldn’t say I’m hung up on aesthetics — but twice now I’ve come across ones that I “had to have” based on visual appeal, and luckily they haven’t disappointed in the tone department either. Wanted to share a few pics of my black’n’golds, ask a question or two,
and encourage others to share some pics of theirs!
These are my babies. I don’t really bring them out much as they’re… too pretty. On the left is a 2001 maple Stelling Staghorn (pre Pass rim). The smoked gunmetal plating is really hard to photograph — in pics it closely resembles chrome, but in person it’s a looker!
And on the right…. Holy moly. New acquisition, an OME from lord-know’s-when? Seems to be a walnut (I think?) Juggernaut II with the “black mogul” treatment. SN# 72946. Would love to obtain more info on this one, but seems like Chuck and Tanya aren’t too active on the hangout nowadays. It’s not 100% mint, but very clean and in person this thing is STUNNING! Seems to have been gold plated, with black chrome over that… the beautiful etching work displays the gold beneath. Purchased online via brick and mortar music store with no background info — if anyone has any insight into this one, please let me know.
Edited by - TimFoster on 11/27/2024 09:22:31
The Ome is rosewood - just an absolute beauty!
Both are!
Thanks Pigeontown Banjo Co !
Was wondering whether the OME might be rosewood, but seemed to (in person anyway) have a bit more of a butterscotch walnut hue than the deeper reddish-browns I associate with rosewood. Which itself is really only supported by an 80’s fender acoustic with a rosewood back I’ve had since I was a kid lol.
I guess these things could be stained any color… but is there a way to tell based on the grain pattern? Or moreso just having familiarity with the look and OME’s typical offerings?
Simply drop dead gorgeous!
Black and gold are a stunning combination. I'll take two. LOL I wouldn't sell either one if they were mine.
Holy smokes, Batman! they both are absolutely stunning.
Those are exactly the 2 brands I thought of when I started reading your post!! It's a nice look. Gun makers have been putting gold accents on blued steel for over 100 years. Black chrome is certainly tougher than gun bluing.
The banjo I'm holding in my avatar, and also pictured in the photo below, is a black and gold LouZee Blackjack made in 2003 by Paul and David Hopkins. It's the second LouZee Blackjack they made. The first is black and chrome and is Paul's personal banjo. I bought mine from Paul and David at IBMA, in 2003, and I firmly believe I was fated to own it because the date on the label inside the rim is my birthday.
Love it! One day I’d like to try one of those… I recall they have some unique things going for them - custom ring and scale length etc…
quote:
Originally posted by TimFosterLove it! One day I’d like to try one of those… I recall they have some unique things going for them - custom ring and scale length etc…
It's an exceptionally responsive banjo with a mahogany neck and a birch Tony Pass rim. It has a 27" scale and a tone ring that's unique to the LouZee line of banjos.
Back down to one black and gold banjo….
I had planned on sending the OME out to Richie Dotson to sort out a few things..
but after reaching out to Chuck, seemed the hoop and rim were not original OME components… the hoop didn’t bother me, but I dunno… was able to return to Guitar Center, so if anyone wants it keep an eye on their site!
Hey Tim - I'm surprised! Do you have better pics of those components? The Guitar Center pics are typically awful....
Hi Blake — lol, yeah, they’re pretty bad. Below are some slightly better pics of the rim and hoop.
The hoop upon close inspection does have a different sort of ornamentation than the rest of the Black Mogul theme… the leaves in the pic below only appear near the neck joint, and aren’t repeated elsewhere — but they work IMO. I don’t have a pic of it, but down by the tailpiece there’s a small bit of engraving which mostly matches what was done on the flange — though not quite as cleanly. But again, considering the overall theme I think it was pretty well executed.
The rim Chuck called out on account of the serial number, which wasn’t true to OME’s format. It seemed well constructed, though I did notice that the hole through which the top coordinator rod travels to affix the neck has been enlarged to an oblong/oval shape… i guess to assist in getting the neck height where it needed to be.
It was overall a nice banjo… but the action was about the max I’d want it up the neck with the “stock?” bridge on it — which was a bit undersized, sitting lower than all my other 5/8” bridges… and I wanted to fit it out with a frosted head, which probably has less give than the super thin clear head on it… so ultimately a bridge swap and new head were probably going to have the action sitting even higher; initially I was going to send it out to Richie Dotson to sort out but… instead decided to cut my losses once I realized the rim wasn’t original.
Still… was a pretty banjo and I’m sure it will make someone happy given a bit of elbow grease.
Edited by - TimFoster on 12/23/2024 17:05:59
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