Dale Rabiner, Principal and Founder
Dale Rabiner views his "job" as a labor of love - for guitars, music, and people. As founder and principal of DHR Music, Dale's main role is to oversee all operations, sales and marketing. He focuses on providing unique quality experiences at every touch point whether it be on the website, in email or phone communications, or in person at the store, a guitar show, a sponsored clinic/ concert, or special community event. Dale's primary goal is to build long-term relationships, as well as friendships, with our clientele by seeking to be a resource before, during, and after any particular transaction. In addition, he aims to expand our name recognition in the marketplace and increase sales for the specialized music products that we offer, so that we have more influence with bringing left handed instruments to the market and increasing the acceptance of left handed playing as a legitimate method option, equal to right handed playing.
Although enamored by the business, Dale hasn’t always made a living from selling guitars. His previous career was in the investment business as a money manager, however, this would not have been his life path if it wasn’t for his guitar playing form. When he decided to learn the guitar as a kid, he taught himself to play a right handed instrument left handed, upside-down. This proved detrimental at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he had hoped to study jazz guitar. The head of the department informed Dale that because of his “poor form,” the school of music would not be able to teach him how to play guitar but he could still study music arrangement, theory or composition ... or learn to play "properly." After much thought, he concluded that proceeding with this plan would be throwing away all his previous hard work, and decided to major in economics at the University of Cincinnati instead. After graduation, Dale received his master’s degree in finance and completed a three-year post-graduate chartered financial analyst (CFA) program. He then signed on to work at Bartlett & Co., the oldest existing registered investment advisory firm in the country, where he successfully climbed the corporate ladder.
Throughout his investment career, Dale was an avid guitar player and collector. He created DHR Music in the mid 90's as strictly an internet based business, buying and selling instruments as a hobby. Then in 2003, Dale decided to retire from the investment business and pursue his true passion - guitars and music. Since he plays left handed, being an advocate for the left handed community is a keen interest of his. While offering both right and left handed instruments, he has created a specialty niche' as one of the finest suppliers of left handed instruments in the world. Dale has been instrumental with bringing left handed models, from the companies he represents, to the market which had previously been unavailable. He has also developed a loyal clientele of righties and lefties alike by offering custom, one-of-a-kind, and best of breed instruments to all players, regardless of their orientation.
By the close of 2008, DHR Music had grown exponentially with clients driving and flying in from around the States and abroad to test out his world class instruments. It became evident that a physical store which could provide a superior "experience" while visiting and testing out instruments was imperative. Dale's desire was to create a haven for guitar enthusiasts where they could interact with the world's finest instruments as modern sculptures of functional art by displaying the instruments in a way which exalted their art form. In addition, he wanted to create an environment which welcomed visitors and provided the ideal setup to experience the instruments' playability. In May 2009, he opened DHR Music Experience in Montgomery, OH - a historic district in the greater Cincinnati area, where these ideals were realized.
Additionally, Dale owns an independent record label called J Curve Records, which features jazz, Latin, blues and roots music. You may find CDs from the label available for purchase in the store or online at http://www.jcurverecords.com.
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