Best Banjomaker

For the last half-century, OME Banjo Company founder Chuck Ogsbury has been the mind behind some of the best banjos money can buy. Gram Parsons, Bela Fleck and Pete Wernick are a just a few of the musicians to pluck these instruments that double as striking objects d'art. The company crafts traditional, jazz and bluegrass models, twanging out about 125 annually in best-of-the-best woods, such as curly maple, Honduran mahogany, Gabonese ebony and Brazilian rosewood. For serious banjo buffs, OME's top-shelf models have 23.5-karat gold plating. No gold records guaranteed.