BAART is a family business, reinvented. Brothers Quico and Jan Soler are third-generation wood turners, whose grandfather crafted furniture legs, stair rails, wooden knobs and many other products before their father took over and built up the company, by then called Tornería Soler SL. Quico recalls watching his mother work too, when he was small enough to sit in a basket at her side.
The business continued successfully for a long time – "We had 15 clients and, for twelve years, every week we made balusters, pillars, railings, etc," says Quico – but in 2008 the recession hit.
Thanks to musician friends, the Soler brothers saw a market for a new specialist product: handmade, professional-quality drumsticks for drums and cymbals. The brand, BAART, uses hickory and maple wood for resilient drumsticks that are sold to music shops and directly to musicians.
But BAART needed another hook and in 2015 began offering customisation to its customers, initially using a Roland VersaUV LEF-20 desktop UV printer to print the name of artists or bands – or any other design – directly to wooden drumsticks. In 2016, BAART upgraded to the larger LEF-300, which can print bidirectionally to a vast range of materials and products up to 100mm in height and 8kg in weight.
"With the Roland VersaUV LEF-300 the possibilities are unlimited."
From its origins in the small town of Sant Pere de Torelló in Spain, BAART now crafts 5,000 pairs of drumsticks a year and counts stars of the music world as its customers.
"It is a luxury to be able to design the model that allows you to obtain the necessary nuances for a better interpretation," says Ángel Celada, drummer in bands including Mecano.
The drumsticks now make up around 30 per cent of the Solers' total turnery business; it continues to produce traditional wooden items such as doorknobs, plus toys, creative packaging and a new product – wooden totems based on the shape of soundwaves, that can be worn as a necklace.
"From the beginning, Roland DG has brought us great benefits and new business opportunities," the brothers say.
"With the new Roland VersaUV LEF-300 we have expanded our offer and have been able to offer our customers a personalisation service that they value and that they did not know about. With the LEF-300 the possibilities are unlimited."
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