Baldwin Ode Banjo Serial Numbers

16-08-2021
 |  [RAND-100] - Comments

The serial format should be one of the following: 2SR – xxx 2SR – xxx – G 2SR – xxxx – G 2. Does it have the gear adjustment hole - in the heel? When Baldwin bought ODE, in 1966 - they kept using Chuck's original vendors, to make all of the parts. So, all of the 'ODE' stampings remained on the metal work - right up until the very end. Ode/Baldwin Style C plectrum banjo made in the U.S. In 1970s or early 1980s. This banjo has been refinished -not the best, not the worst. The inner rim has been repainted black so there are no identifying marks, serial number, etc. Likewise the headstock was painted black so therefore no Ode or Baldwin.

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Baldwin ode banjo serial numbers list printable

Serial numbers were at approximately #5xxx - when the Groton, Connecticut works were started in April, 1920. Gretsch stopped active production of Bacon and B&D banjos, around 1966-67 when Baldwin (Gretsch's parent company, at that time) bought the ODE Company. However, some Bacon/B&D stock was still seen on 1970 price lists. (It would be an 'official' ODE - with a dowelstick, stamped with 'ODE Boulder, Colo.' And a serial number in the 19xx to 21xx range.).

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From oded28 on 4/23/2013 9:37:43 AM

1976 Baldwin Ode banjo June #61 June #74 2001 Flatiron A5 Artist. For some reason, it looks like the original serial number has been covered up by another.

does anyone have an accurate/ definitive serial number list for odes that transitions into the early baldwin years( 1966-1971)

Baldwin Ode Banjo Serial Numbers List Printable

plus styles made and description

Baldwin Ode Banjo Serial Numbers List Printable

Baldwin Ode Banjo Serial Numbers

Ode Banjo

2 Comments

stanger says:
5/7/2013 2:48:32 AM
The short answer is no. When Chuck sold to Baldwin, Baldwin got all his records at the time of sale along with everything else. And when Baldwin went bankrupt, all the records were lost.
It's possible they may exist, stuffed away in a pile of Baldwin documents or in the hands of a former employee, but with each passing year, the chances of anything showing up dims.
Ed Britt spent a lot of time for about 5 years building a data base which includes serial number, banjo particulars, and date of sale/manufacture, and a few of us and I contributed all we could to it, but it still has a lot of big holes.
Their serial system under Chuck was sequential, but gave no indication of banjo type, model, or anything else other than the style number. Baldwin continued to use it until ca. 1971, but seems to have modified it, and when they did, Baldwin left a 1000 number gap in the sequence. Shortly after 71, they went to the system they used until the end.
The paper labeled banjo serial system has more info as to what the banjo is, but it doesn't say how many were made over a year's production. We could only guess. All the system gives us is the number made in a month, and even that is sketchy.
All Ed can do is make educated guesses much of the time. While some of the years were fruitful for his database, others were not, especially the years around the factory fires. 1974-76 are particularly sparse.
Those years were the time when a lot of details, such as the peghead shape and proportions, got real wobbly and the production seems to have been very low. The banjos made then still were to spec, but neither of us have dug up very many.
He's been quite busy the past 2-3 years doing other stuff, and I don't know how the database work is progressing at present.

GeneRutt says:
5/5/2019 9:26:13 AM
GeneRutt


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