Congrats on the inheritance, Rob. Considering your friendship with Mr. Davis and Mr. Lombardo you are a good man to add to that banjo's history in your own way.

I'm a fan of Ome banjos having owned a Wizard with a wood tone ring, an early 90's Mogul plectrum, and an early 80's XXX 5-string that I had Gold Tone convert to a 19-fret tenor. They used one of the Ome Artist necks made by Chuck Ogsbury and company that Gold Tone inherited when they took over the Ome brand.
 

That’s interesting, Mark. I assumed Starr would have taken the old stock.

I read a comment somewhere that the Ome guys were not too pleased with Eddy’s design, it was not in line with what a great banjo should be. Having had a Mogul and now this, I can say there are clear differences, but the overall quality did not drop. If I were designing my own personal banjo, it would be pretty much identical to Eddy’s, though maybe be with something more aesthetically pleasing than the white Formica screw-on back!

Great to hear that you are back playing music Rob - and recovering from your serious health issues! I'm sure Eddy would be pleased that his banjo transferred from Tony's hands to yours. I think Jack Ray has another one of his banjos (where has Jack gone?!). How does the banjo compare to the Pisgah one that you owned. I saw that on Ebay but I didn't have the funds (and also can't really justify it with 4 tenor banjos already). Obsessed! I saw a Clifford Essex weaver on Ebay the other week and was sorely tempted but had to sit on my hands...

Ha, you sound like me, Carry. My focus has always been all over the place, different instruments and styles. Looking back I wish I had been more focussed on one (maybe two!) instruments, but I'm beyond help.

The Pisgah was nice, but nice isn't good enough. Ironically I bought it because I thought it was close to Eddy's banjo, but now I know it really wasn't. It had too much of a folky aesthetic, if you know what I mean.

I haven't seen any new videos by Jack for a long time. He was always a fun watch. The banjo Eddy gave him was a copy of the one I have, but made in Europe - I can't remember the maker's name. It is a really high-quality banjo, for sure, but Eddy just didn't play it, I believe.

I've never had an Alf Weaver banjo, though have heard nothing but good reports about them. They were never for sale when I had the funds.

Nice to hear from you, Carry. I watch your videos when they pop up. You've really made good progress!

Rob, I hope this banjo brings you much pleasure. Banjo is health-giving and one of our 5-a-day!

Thanks, EEB. Unfortunately I'm playing about five instruments per day!

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob MacKillop

That’s interesting, Mark. I assumed Starr would have taken the old stock.

I read a comment somewhere that the Ome guys were not too pleased with Eddy’s design, it was not in line with what a great banjo should be. Having had a Mogul and now this, I can say there are clear differences, but the overall quality did not drop. If I were designing my own personal banjo, it would be pretty much identical to Eddy’s, though maybe be with something more aesthetically pleasing than the white Formica screw-on back!

Most, if not all, of the old Ome necks now owned by Gold Tone have the OME logo on the peg head. Maybe that is why Ogsbury gave them up in the deal ? Could not use them on his new Starr line unless he re-worked the headstock overlay.

The one I selected looks perfect to me. Nice woods and inlays. It was unfinished, but Gold Tone did a great job with that application. The only downside with these necks is that the fancy inlays do not have the beautiful black engraving lines found on the inlays of Ome's top models.

You can see them here under Custom Parts:

https://omebanjos.com/parts

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Interesting. I see what you mean.

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob MacKillop

Apparently Tony’s last video, and using this instrument. I have to say I find it very, very moving. He knew he didn’t have long.

https://youtu.be/a7zYctOwVho?is=dJomMA_p7BXdwyTq

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Yes, very moving video, Rob.

Congratulations on your new banjo! May you enjoy it for many years!

And may I be so bold as to suggest that

Once you’ve traded in that heavenly banjo for a heavenly harp

Maybe you could leave the instrument to

americanbanjomuseum.com/

I’m thinking that they could put it a glass display case honouring Eddie?

Will Wilson
Niagara-On-The-Lake, ON

Thanks, Will. Hopefully that will be decades from now :-)

I don’t know if the American Banjo Museum has on its Directory non-American players, but here’s my banjo contributions: https://robmackillop.net/banjo/ 

Rob

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob MacKillop

Thanks, Will. Hopefully that will be decades from now :-)

I don’t know if the American Banjo Museum has on its Directory non-American players, but here’s my banjo contributions: https://robmackillop.net/banjo/ 

Rob

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That's very impressive. Your recordings of early finger style banjo music are quite beautiful, and without them I might have written off that whole genre entirely. 
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob MacKillop

Thanks, Will. Hopefully that will be decades from now :-)

I don’t know if the American Banjo Museum has on its Directory non-American players, but here’s my banjo contributions: https://robmackillop.net/banjo/ 

Rob

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That is going to take a long, long time… It could also pass on to some worthy tenor banjoist, the way Eddie himself an Tony favoured.

Thanks, gentlemen.

That is fantastic Rob! I too loved Eddy and was very inspired by him and his many videos. Something I really admired about him also, was that if you sent him a message- he would reply to it. I always got a thrill when I saw one from him. He was one in a million and to this day, his very casual video of him playing Cry Me A River delights me to no end- even after viewing it many many many times over the years!

Enjoy that banjo and all the mojo Eddy no doubt left in it!

Cheers, Bud. That’s the Eddy I recognise too. He owns Cry Me A River almost as much as Barney Kessel.

Yes, the banjo has Eddy’s mojo, but also some of Tony’s. I hope to leave it a little of mine through time.