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Continue ShoppingWe’re very excited about the new ODE banjos. The first version of the company was founded by Chuck Ogsbury, who started tinkering with banjos in the late 1950s while he was in college. Those early experiments led to the founding of ODE and by 1962 he was offering a full line of open-back and resonator models in 4, 5, and 6-string versions. In 1966, he decided he wanted to see more of the world than the inside of a banjo workshop so he sold the ODE to Baldwin, the piano company, and hit the road. Baldwin continued to build ODE banjos until 1980, when the rising popularity of synthesizers pushed acoustic instruments into the musical shadows.
In 2021, Chuck’s son, Zen Ogsbury and his partner, Zoe Hatch, resurrected the ODE name and started a new line of banjos. These instruments are crafted in the original ODE shop with Chuck’s guidance. Like the very first banjos Chuck made in the early 1960s, the new ODEs are simply decorated. But they are made with the same attention to detail as everything made by someone bearing the Ogsbury name. These exceptional banjos, with all the tone, playability and quality you could want at a price that won’t break the bank.