ukuleles

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Ukulele

SammO (SammoS)

SammO and SammoS were brand names of the Samuel C. Osborn Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois. Samuel Osborn opened a music tuition and instrument distribution company around 1900. By 1906 he had shops in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as music teaching conservatories around the country. His music schools needed a lot of instruments and in 1916 he started his own manufacturing company in Chicago. The company made acoustic guitars, mandolins and banjo-ukes often using koa. In 1919 he opened an ambitious new factory using production line techiques to make pianos - this led to cash flow problems for Osborn who was forced to restructure his company. In 1922 Osborn died of complications following an appendectomy operation, aged just 47, and his company finally ceased trading.

Source: Samuel Osborn catalog 1920

Ortega

Ortega was established in 1994 by the German musical instrument distributor Roland Meinl (Meinl Cymbals & Percussion). At the beginning Ortega Guitars was a classical guitar company with a range of 6 classical guitar models all made in Spain using traditional methods. By 2018 their product line had expanded considerably and included acoustic & classical guitars, acoustic basses, mandolins, ukuleles and banjos as well as accessories and effects for acoustic instruments. By this time most Ortega instruments were made in China although there was still some Spanish manufacture.

Source: Ortega Guitars website (25 October 2018)

Orlando

Orlando acoustic & electric guitars, basses and ukuleles were made in Japan in the 1970s. Some also made in Korea. The electrics at least were supposedly made by Matsumoku.

Oriolo

Don Oriolo founded the Oriolo Guitar Company in 2010. Oriolo had worked in the music industry for most of his career as a musician, songwriter, producer and execuitve at music publishing companies. More recently Don has been the CEO of Felix the Cat Productions, Inc (his father is cartoonist Joe Oriolo -  creator of Casper the Freindly Ghost who also bought the rights to Felix the Cat). He brought his acoustic and electric guitar sketches to the Felix the Cat art department, who developed his concepts into finalised designs. Oriolo’s cartoonish and colorful designs – many of which featured a Felix theme were indtroduced at NAMM 2010. Since then the line up has been expanded with more conventional looking models including acoustic guitars and Kahuna ukuleles.

Source: Oriolo Guitar Company website (16 October 2018)

Noble (Duane)

Duane Noble makes acoustic guitars, harp guitars and ukuleles by hand in his Richland, Washington workshop. In 1997 Noble was inspired to start making guitars, after seeing an acoustic harp guitar for sale in the Dusty Strings music shop in Seattle. He started out guided by the book "Guitar Making, Tradition and Technology" by Bill Cumpiano and Jonathan Natelson and by 1998 had made his first guitar - an acoustic 6 string. What started as a hobby soon grew into something bigger and in 2004 Noble built a shop and moved his business out of his garage. By 2006 the business became a full time job.

Source: Duane Noble website (27 August 2018)

Norma

Norma brand guitars, basses and other instruments were made in Japan for distribution by Strum and Drum of Wheeling, Illinois from 1957 to 1972 at least.

Source: Norma catalogs

Nakanishi

Seiichi Nakanishi (born 1939) established the Nakanishi Music Instrument Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in 1958 in Konan, Aichi, Japan. He made guitars, ukuleles, banjos and mandolins - but mostly ukuleles producing around 300 a year when he had 3 employees. Seiichi Nakanishi retired in 2005 and his apprentice Hayato Siihara took over the factory.

Morena

Morena acoustic and classical guitars - date from the 1950s or 1960s. Some at least were made in Japan.

Source: Morena acoustic guitar sold on Reverb.som

Miller (Ken)

Ken Miller started reparing guitars in 1962 when working on his own instruments. In the 1970's he worked for Guild Guitars in Westerly, Rhode Island for several years eventually becoming the assistant foreman in final assembly. After leaving Guild Ken focused mostly on repairs while making a handful of guitars each year. Ken was a full time luthier from 1999 to 2015, specializing in fretted instruments  he made balalaikas, banjos, dulcimers, guitars, mandolins and ukuleles. In 2015 he retired.

Source: Ken Miller guitars website (31 May 2018)

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