If you are one of the growing numbers of Mumford Brothers fans or an aficionado of Bela Fleck, you already know they play Gold Tone instruments.
If you saw Stephen Colbert play a lick from "Dueling Banjos" after a recent program that featured comedian-musician Steve Martin, you guessed it: Colbert did it on a Gold Tone banjo.
Not bad company to keep for a family-owned business in Titusville.
Gold Tone has made banjos since 1993, when Wayne and Robyn Rogers, folk musicians who opened the Strings N' Things Music Center in 1978, started to manufacture the TB-100 travel banjo. Eighteen years later, the selection has grown.
"We design about 130 acoustic instruments, including all sorts of alternative instruments, and we outsource the actual manufacturing," said Tommy Sivert, the company's sales manager and director of artist relations. "We now are one of the biggest banjo producers in the world. If we are not No. 1, then No. 2."
Despite "a virtually nonexistent marketing budget," in Sivert's words, Gold Tone instruments are found in music stores worldwide. But the current success of this country's home-grown stringed instrument, he said, can be attributed to technology.
"The success (so far) of Gold Tone has been due to the Internet and people's willingness to blog about their positive experiences. Our Internet business is booming . . . as customers are willing to buy a product sight unseen because it has great reviews," Sivert said.
"With minimal marketing and advertising, we have been successful because we put out a quality product at an affordable price that people appreciate and willingly praise."
Success has not robbed the company of the common touch that made it so well-known in its early days. For example, its banjos come in 12 classifications, largely because people have asked for them.
"We've really been open to people's suggestions," said Sivert, a 2003 graduate of Astronaut High School who started working with the company after he did a science fair project on instrument coatings.
Musician George White, a player for decades, jumped on a Gold Tone banjo as soon as he heard about it, and continues to play that instrument.
"I've got the very first, best, top-of-the-line instrument that Gold Tone ever produced. It goes back to before Wayne actually started to manufacture banjos," said White, who has done freelance writing for FLORIDA TODAY. "I have got serial number No. 1, and I have played it all these years. It still sounds as good as it ever did. That's what happens when people who love banjos make banjos."
It also helps that the banjo now is used in various types of music. Kid Rock uses a Gold Tone. So do Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, formerly of the Doobie Brothers, and ex-Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.
"We're finding banjos showing up with a number of bluegrass names, but also among pop, classical and other artists, and not just the traditional flat-top (type)," Sivert said.
He smiles about the company's success and adds that people still call to ask how to change a string or get advice about the sort of instruments they should use.
"The way the banjo has progressed really is the way Gold Tone has progressed," Sivert said. "We're so happy about that."
