giweb - Posted - 01/22/2015:  15:21:56

Dear BHO members. Tonight I was fortunate enough to perhaps secure my last dream long neck banjo. It is a 1964 model 33, serial number 654 ODE. Headstock marked simply ODE. I did not have enough time to research the purchase before buying it, but I'm hoping it is one of the last pre-Baldwin ODE long neck banjos. Or, at least, it was built with original pre-Baldwin parts. It came with a Lifton case that looked very good in the photos. Can't wait to see and play it! The price with delivery was $900.00. Did I hit a home run or just a triple?

giweb

"Nothing Worthwhile is Easy!"

"Making Music is Worthwhile!"

Completing your long neck banjo collection is priceless!

john bange - Posted - 01/22/2015:  15:37:29

Grand slam

kmwaters - Posted - 01/22/2015:  15:38:13

Read all about the history and Chuck's sale of Ode and starting Ome, etc.

omebanjos.com/welcome.html

Just click the History button on top

Ken LeVan - Posted - 01/22/2015:  15:41:41

I definitely like the model 33. It's not clear to me whether it's an archtop or flathead. Apparently, the 33 came in both kinds.

Either way, I think you got a good deal.

mikehalloran - Posted - 01/22/2015:  16:08:46

quote:

---

Originally posted by giweb

Dear BHO members. Tonight I was fortunate enough to perhaps secure my last dream long neck banjo. It is a 1964 model 33, serial number 654 ODE. Headstock marked simply ODE. I did not have enough time to research the purchase before buying it, but I'm hoping it is one of the last pre-Baldwin ODE long neck banjos. Or, at least, it was built with original pre-Baldwin parts. It came with a Lifton case that looked very good in the photos. Can't wait to see and play it! The price with delivery was $900.00. Did I hit a home run or just a triple?

---

Serial# 654 is way too early for Baldwin. It will surprise me if it is as late as 1964. 

The catalogs are not complete but you should have a better idea of what you have here:

omebanjos.com/odeinstruments.html

33 means it's a long neck. 32 is a regular 5 string, 34 a plectrum, 35 a tenor and 36 a guitar banjo.

The Grade should be stamped on the pot (not all were). Grade 0 is one piece mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard (not in the online catalogs but I own one). Then there's Grade I, II, III with different woods and features.

Next you get to the rim design which can be tricky to figure out but, between the catalog and the ODE folks on the BHO, we'll help you to know what you have. The catalogs can be confusing here.

Oh yea, HOME RUN!!!!!

Edited by - mikehalloran on 01/22/2015 16:09:24

darwinyarwin - Posted - 01/22/2015:  16:20:17

Tom you really do have a dream long neck!

I have ODE # 645, which I bought new in the summer of 1962 from a music store in California that got it directly from Ode in Boulder CO.  It was originally a long neck with one of the early aluminum flathead pots w/o an integral tone ring. It's a 3 piece maple/Peruvian mahogany laminated neck with harpoon peghead, integral truss rod that protrudes slightly above the plane of the head stock; no truss rod cover. It has no carved name at all in the peg head, and "IRR" was stamped at the factory next to the serial number on the dowel stick. I've always assumed it was an 'irregular' model made from factory parts in some transition between the Model 21's and the later Model 30 series.

With your banjo being less than 10 serial #'s later, yours must be a 62-63 model, a "pure" ODE made in Boulder, and very definitely pre-Baldwin. You got a good deal, despite the current drop in long neck prices. A home run for sure. It will play circles around any other long neck, and will sing out wonderfully. You did very good, lucky guy!

Perhaps Ed Britt will chime in with definitive information on your long neck if he reads this.

Tom Warren

PS I say mine was "originally" a long neck because the neck itself was destroyed in about 1980. (long story) I replaced it with an RK regular length 5-string neck, but everything else remains original. Luckily I was able to acquire another Ode Model 21 "C"-grade long neck (Serial # 53!!!) with the same parts as my original Ode. (got it from the estate of the original owner.)

Edited by - darwinyarwin on 01/22/2015 16:22:32

mikehalloran - Posted - 01/22/2015:  19:19:25

Tom Warren, do both of yours have the cast ODE tailpiece? 

BANJO TONY - Posted - 01/23/2015:  02:23:53

Tom, welcome to the ODE family. please post some pictures. by the way that's my ode model c I am holding in my picture.

darwinyarwin - Posted - 01/23/2015:  04:48:11

quote:

---

Originally posted by mikehalloran

Tom Warren, do both of yours have the cast ODE tailpiece? 

---

No, Mike, the Model 21 was built before Ode produced those wonderful cast tailpieces. It came with a basic 6-hole square tailpiece. It looks like Elton made them, but there is no brand name on the tailpiece. If you look at that 1961 Ode catalog, you can see it.

My '62 does have the cast tailpiece, but early enough that there is no Ode logo cast into it.

 

Best,

Tom

ZEPP - Posted - 01/23/2015:  06:58:48

quote:

---

Originally posted by mikehalloran

 

Serial# 654 is way too early for Baldwin. It will surprise me if it is as late as 1964. 

 

---

I ordered, and took delivery of, number 1639 new from Chuck Ogsbury in 1964.  As I recall, it arrived in May or June.  

Curiously, when I look at the file on the Ode owners group on Yahoo, my serial number seems at odds.  However, I know when I ordered mine and when I got it, so I am absolutely sure of its provenance.  I do have to wonder if failing memories and guesswork has skewed the number list a bit!

Anyway, congratulations!  I think those old Odes just get more and more appreciated ith the passage of time!

Cheers,

ZEPP

 I still have and play this banjo.  

Edited by - ZEPP on 01/23/2015 07:00:15

mikehalloran - Posted - 01/23/2015:  11:20:31

Yea, my 33 Grade 0 is ser# 1609. I've assumed 1964. 

stanger - Posted - 01/24/2015:  06:39:57

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ken LeVan

I definitely like the model 33. It's not clear to me whether it's an archtop or flathead. Apparently, the 33 came in both kinds.

Either way, I think you got a good deal.

---

Hi, Ken...

Like everything Chuck Ogsbury does, there are so many variations, with each numbered and different, things about the Odes get confusing.

The 33 model, as Mike Halloran mentioned, means the banjo is a longneck. The rim series may be different.  Chuck's first banjo rim were simple pieces of hard aluminum tube stock, cut to height with a band saw at the U of Colorado's engineering school tool shop.

The Series 20 rims were his next, and the first cast aluminum rims. They were followed by the Series 30 and Series 40 rims.  The Series 30s were the first  cast rims that have the familiar Ode name and lettering cast into them, and could be made into a flathead by turning down part of the integrally cast inner rim I call the 'shelf'. The earlier Series 20 rims were very similar, but the inside of the rim was much rougher, and there were other differences.

The Series 40 rims were his last, and most complicated series. They all incorporated brass parts added onto the tone ring that was already there as part of the casting. Counting the tone ring system that was used on the Baldwin Grade 2 banjos, there were 4 different designs in total, all used on top of the series 30 cast rim.

With serial # 654, giweb's new banjo is too early to have a Series 40 rim. It's either a 20 or a 30., and either could be a flathead or an archtop.

regards,

stanger

BrittDLD1 - Posted - 01/27/2015:  07:07:46

Hi!--

Don't forget about the SAND-CAST (first) "Series 30" rim,
with the 52-hole integral archtop. It came out in the 1962 3-fold
pamphlet -- with Etta Clevenger holding a Series 30 52-hole, on
the front panel.

It's not as neat & clean as the later DIECAST Series 30 and Series
40 rims... But ChuckOgsbury STILL considers that Sand-cast
Series 30 rim to be his BEST-sounding rim. (I have a resonated
standard-neck one -- and it sounds great for frailing, AND for
Bluegrass picking.)

Regards, Ed Britt

giweb - Posted - 01/28/2015:  21:03:03

My beautiful ODE has arrived. It turns out to be the best of the best . . . thanks to all ODE faithful for your background, possibilities, comments and conjectures! Waiting for my treasure I read every link to ODE banjo I could find on BHO and the rest of the internet. No wonder they are so prized! BHO members who were active in the CHUCK OGSBURY / ODE BANJO odyssey have shared and continue sharing their contemporaneous stories, memories and details. What a perfect way to spend time waiting for my banjo! Thank you!
Thanks to all that research, I can identify MY BEAUTIFUL ODE #654 as a model 33 long neck, grade 1, with scroll headstock. The rim is sand-cast early 30 series, 52 hole casting with integral-arch-top. Could be late 1962 or early 1963. Could be made from whatever was available in the shop. Doesn't matter - it's perfect!
I let it warm up while I explored it, connected my tuner and could not believe the tone and sustain! Up and down the neck, it sang to me! I spent several hours enjoying the sounds.
I've been looking for an ODE long-neck for awhile. It's even better than I dreamed! Photos later, it's midnight!
giweb
"Nothing Worthwhile is Easy!"
"Making Music is Worthwhile!"
Finally getting an ODE is priceless!

mikehalloran - Posted - 01/30/2015:  14:58:54

Welcome to the ODE Folkies Home!

Pictures from my very last jam session in 2008:

33 Grade 0, flathead - Muse branded

A 33 Grade 1 arch top with an ebony board. My friend has since passed on. I don't know who has this now.

Edited by - mikehalloran on 01/30/2015 15:05:16