Leedy Hollander

A professional drummer by trade, U.G. Leedy Hollander established the Leedy company in Indianapolis in about 1898. In 1924, after hiring a former Ludwig employee, Hollander began manufacturing banjos! Most musicians don’t recall today that Ludwig had its own line of banjos, and like those instruments, Leedy employed top tension adjustment, but with all brass, high-end parts rather than the pot metal hoop of the Ludwig models. The brass parts made Leedy’s adjustment superior to that of virtually every other banjo maker, including Gibson. Unfortunately, despite the intricate craftsmanship that went into the Leedy banjos, its metal rim was a weak point, thus it produced a somewhat inferior tone. Both Leedy and Ludwig were purchased in 1930 by Conn, who combined the best features of both and began building an entire line of banjos.