Barbara Lawlor, Peak to Peak.  Nederland local luthiers Bonnie Carol and Max Kimmel announced this week that their work will be shown in the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Both of them will be on exhibit. Bonnie and Max have been partners for 46 years, creating instruments that are works of art and forming musical groups that are enjoyed all over the Front Range.

This year, Max was invited to be part of the Luthiers of Colorado Exhibit and Bonnie was then invited to be part of the same exhibit.

“Pretty darned thrilling if you ask us,” says Bonnie. She and Max are well-known in the area for their performances ranging from dulcimer and flute at the Art of the Center, as well as playing with a group of people on their marimbas, bringing any event to life.

Luthier: The art of stringed instrument restoration, repair and building.

Bonnie Carol learned to build dulcimers from Max. She created 328 instruments between 1972 and 2004, after which she collaborated on another 125 with Krimmel. Bonnie was one of the first to use Schaller geared tuners instead of the traditional friction pegs.

Construction of each dulcimer is different, guided by the particular piece of wood as well as artistic and acoustic design considerations. An early Carol dulcimer, has gone to the Smithsonian Institution American History Museum as part of the Ann Grimes dulcimer collection. In 1999, Carol finished “#309” which she constructed using curly koa wood from Hawaii and features rosewood bindings, engraved mother-of-pearl inlays in the fingerboard and rosewood leaf sound holes.

Nederland artist Max Krimmel’s career as an instrument builder began in 1965 with a Denver Folklore Center course in guitar making “Build Your Own Peach Box Guitar”. He built 169 instruments between 1965 and 1982, bought by such clients as Jerry Jeff Walker, Stephen Stills, David Bromberg, the Kingston Trio’s Bob Shane and Colorado favorites Judy Roderick, Carla Sciaky, Mary Flower, Chuck Pyle and his partner Bonnie Carol. Jazz guitarist Al Di Meola and the group Supertramp used Krimmel guitars on albums recorded at Caribou Ranch.

Made in 1980, the guitar on display has the full “Style 45” treatment, the top of the Martin line, distinguished by abalone shell and mother-of-pearl inlay everywhere and a bridge constructed of solid ivory. The sides and back are Brazilian rosewood, the top is German spruce.

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is housed in the Trading Post building at Red Rocks near Golden, CO, on the western edge of Denver. Exhibits include John Denver, Benny Goodman, Poco, Manassas, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Harry Tuft and the Denver Folklore Center, Judy Collins and the bands of our coming of age: Firefall, Poco, and Crosby Stills and Nash.

Another exhibit from Gold Hill resident Chuck Ogsbury includes the OME banjo, “Parrot” Grand Artist Megatone.

Chuck Ogsbury came to the art and craft of lutherie in 1960 as an engineering student at the University of Colorado, sand-casting aluminum banjo rims to produce the first 100 ODE long neck banjos in his parents’ Boulder garage. By 1965 he had produced over 2,000 ODE banjos, ranging from basic aluminum pot long necks to fancy bluegrass and jazz models. After selling his small company, in 1971 he started another, OME, which improved the instrument in design, construction and tone.

Chuck and his daughter Tanya are carrying on the family tradition with builders Rich Sharples, Gustavo Silva and Jose Prado having made more than 6,000 banjos, with the quality of the designs expanding to include handmade models of every imaginable style.

The “Parrot” bluegrass banjo also features the work of Colorado artisans: The wood carvings and inlay engravings are by Ron Chacey of Pagosa Springs and Kent Bailey of Florissant; the metal engraving is by Tim Gabriella of Marshall.