Mother of pearl inlays adorn these two long-neck Ode and Baldwin Ode era banjos with aluminum pots from Boulder, Colorado. The BRC founder has owned the brown banjo since 1971 after buying it from a now prominent folk singer. The black banjo rested in someone’s garage unassembled for almost 40 years until he purchased and restored it. Although the BRC founder is primarily a bluegrass resonator 5 string musician, the mellow tone of the black banjo makes it ideal for quiet around-the-house picking.
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8 Comments
Hi there,
I have been looking for your banjos on ebay… is there a good keyword to search for them there?
thanks so much,
Elizabeth
Lizzy- Thanks much for your inquiry. Because of a day job, my slowly restored banjos appear on e-bay about every 3 months or so. A keyword is not used but each instrument is described by its unique features. I wish there were a better way to track the BRC banjos, but my hobby has no time table or marketing strategy to it yet. Again, thanks for your post. Barry
Barry,
I’m looking at purchasing an ODE banjo from a local man in my town. Would you mind sending me an e-mail with you’re phone number and other contact information so I can ask you a bit more about the ODE and things to look for?
Thanks for your time, Happy New Year!
Adam
Adam- Thanks for providing the serial number of the instrument. A brief history: It is generally believed that the center two digits of the serial number indicate the year of manufacture, which is 1978 in your case. The other digits represent the lot number and instrument number, although it is not clear which # is which. Baldwin bought Ode in 1966, and the name `Ode` was not used for 5 years per sales contract. In 1970, Baldwin moved from Colorado to Arkansas, and Gretsch took over manufacturing Baldwin-Ode banjos, and soon the Baldwin pre-fix was dropped back to just `Ode`. My own 2SR banjo made in 1972 has `Baldwin-Ode` on the peghead. The `2SR` means that it is a style 2 banjo with aluminum rim bearing a (S) standard neck length and an (R) archtop pot. A 2SR Ode banjo from that era has a loud bright and brassy sound and might fetch up to the $800 to $1000 range depending on condition, but the pre-Gretsch banjos are a little more valuable. Hope this helps, Barry
Hi! I bought my Ode long neck Pete Seeger in 1962/3. I had the rim and pot gold plated and used it on the road/concerts/tv with my folk trio called “The Frontiersmen”. I always regretted selling it. However, I did get a Vega Pete Seeger long neck from The White Mountain Singers’ Steve Fiott and would let the late John Stewart (The Kingston Trio) use it on his solo tours. John was a great friend; long live his music.
Billy- Thanks much for your comments and your thoughtful remembrance of John Stewart. Your 1962/3 Ode long neck was probably Chuck Ogsbury`s Model 21. He is now making Ome banjos, but you can view his historical Ode catalogues on the Ome website and probably see your instrument. My Ode long neck was purchased from a folk singer 45 years ago, and it still sounded good when I played it this morning. All the best and thanks again for your post. Barry
Barry-thanks again for your fine website.
I have an Ode longneck (marked Muse on the dowel stick), SN 1592 in my workshop right now, has been owned by one family since it was new.. appearance is a bit rough, a fair bit of corrosion on the hardware, and I will have to replace the original Grover open back tuning machines as they simply will not work, but everything else is solid and I intend to keep all else as original as I can. The owner played hell out of it up to the time he passed, so it is full of good music and fine vibes. Based on my limited research, it seems to be very early one, walnut neck with maple center, tension tailpiece, aluminum archtop shell, and the peghead is the curly one…anyway, I am bringing it back to playing condition for the family and would like to know a bit about it. Thanks….
Micky- Thanks for your narrative about the Muse long neck and the kind comments about my website. Historically, Chuck Ogsbury`s 1960-1966 era Ode banjo enterprise was a mail-order business, and his Muse instruments were for retail purposes. It is doubtful that his current OME banjo business has archives of the old Muse serial numbers, but you can phone his workshop and talk to his daughter Tanya who works the front desk. The Muse and Ode catalogues from the 1960`s can be viewed at <https://www.omebanjos.com/about/ode-instruments/>, and hopefully you can identify the model of your instrument. Of note, the bearded musician on the front of the 1964 Ode catalogue is holding a high end Muse resonator 5 stringer that is owned by a collector in Boston, and I have had the opportunity to play this ornate vintage instrument. As above, in my own modest collection reside 2 Ode long necks that serve well as daily practice banjos because of their wife- friendly tone. Thanks again for your query and comments. From the BRC, Barry