Bacon & Day Composite Orchestra/Silver Bell Tenor Banjo (1922/1924)
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Item # 12356
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Bacon & Day Composite Orchestra/Silver Bell Model Tenor Banjo (1922/1924), made in Groton CT, serial # 6944/12931, natural finish, laminated maple neck with ebonized fingerboard, laminated maple rim and resonator, black gig bag case.
This tenor banjo is a composite of two different instrument from the same era and maker, but is a good fine playing and sounding instrument especially for Irish tenor playing. The rim is a very fancy pattern 19-fret B & D Silver Bell, made around 1924-5. The 20" scale neck and dowel were originally part of an openback Orchestra Style A, an earlier instrument from 1922. These components have been combined to make a fairly unusual but great sounding short-scale Silver Bell ideal for the Irish style, combining the maximum tonal power of the full Silver Bell tone ring and resonator with the more easily playable short scale neck.
The rim has been heavily re-worked cosmetically but is an original 1924 B & D unit. There is very elaborate engraving on the flange, tone ring sheath and hoop, not a pattern we can attribute to B & D but the work is beautifully done. All metal parts have been heavily gold plated. The inlaid rings on the resonator back are more appropriate for an originally simpler model, confirming the engraving and gold plating are later work.
The bulk of the hardware appears original including the Silver Bell tone ring and Oettinger tailpiece except for the armrest, a much later non-Silver Bell part. There are no resonator bolts, the unit is secured to the rim by four gold-plated screws. The wood of the rim was also refinished long ago as well. It was quite common in the 1950-70s for old 1920's banjos revived for the Dixieland craze to be "Upgraded" like this, it was considered "the thing to do" at the time.
The neck is laminated maple with multiple wood underlays topped by an ebonized fingerboard, which is bound and decorated with elaborate shaped pearl inlay. The headstock has the older "Bacon" script logo and a pearl doodad beneath. The tuners are more recent Planet style. The dowel is original to the neck, marked "The Bacon Orchestra A". The attachment to the rim is done with correct style Bacon hardware, but the rim was drilled for a Gibson-style lower coordinator rod at some point that is now gone. The dowel has an old resonator mount hole in the center. The neck and dowel appear to have been lightly overfinished long ago.
Even considering its mixed pedigree this is a truly excellent player's banjo, combining the easy playability of the short 20" scale neck with the tonal firepower of the full resonated Silver Bell rim. As a superb "flash" Irish tenor this would be hard to beat, even if not a fully authentic period instrument it is built from superb 1920s period parts and is now a unique creation.
Overall length is 30 3/4 in. (78.1 cm.), 11 in. (27.9 cm.) diameter head, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 20 in. (508 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/8 in. (29 mm.).
As noted this is not a fully original instrument, but a well-assembled composite. There is finish wear to the (refinished) resonator and light wear to the back of the neck. The gold plating is very heavy and has only minor wear overall, some corrosion visible on the flange and most heavily loss to the lacquered plating on the armrest. The frets appear original and show some wear in the lower positions but the banjo plays very well, set up with a modern plastic head and vintage style Grover bridge. It has a very fine sound and is ready to gig, housed in a recent Gold Tone gig bag. Very Good + Condition.
This tenor banjo is a composite of two different instrument from the same era and maker, but is a good fine playing and sounding instrument especially for Irish tenor playing. The rim is a very fancy pattern 19-fret B & D Silver Bell, made around 1924-5. The 20" scale neck and dowel were originally part of an openback Orchestra Style A, an earlier instrument from 1922. These components have been combined to make a fairly unusual but great sounding short-scale Silver Bell ideal for the Irish style, combining the maximum tonal power of the full Silver Bell tone ring and resonator with the more easily playable short scale neck.
The rim has been heavily re-worked cosmetically but is an original 1924 B & D unit. There is very elaborate engraving on the flange, tone ring sheath and hoop, not a pattern we can attribute to B & D but the work is beautifully done. All metal parts have been heavily gold plated. The inlaid rings on the resonator back are more appropriate for an originally simpler model, confirming the engraving and gold plating are later work.
The bulk of the hardware appears original including the Silver Bell tone ring and Oettinger tailpiece except for the armrest, a much later non-Silver Bell part. There are no resonator bolts, the unit is secured to the rim by four gold-plated screws. The wood of the rim was also refinished long ago as well. It was quite common in the 1950-70s for old 1920's banjos revived for the Dixieland craze to be "Upgraded" like this, it was considered "the thing to do" at the time.
The neck is laminated maple with multiple wood underlays topped by an ebonized fingerboard, which is bound and decorated with elaborate shaped pearl inlay. The headstock has the older "Bacon" script logo and a pearl doodad beneath. The tuners are more recent Planet style. The dowel is original to the neck, marked "The Bacon Orchestra A". The attachment to the rim is done with correct style Bacon hardware, but the rim was drilled for a Gibson-style lower coordinator rod at some point that is now gone. The dowel has an old resonator mount hole in the center. The neck and dowel appear to have been lightly overfinished long ago.
Even considering its mixed pedigree this is a truly excellent player's banjo, combining the easy playability of the short 20" scale neck with the tonal firepower of the full resonated Silver Bell rim. As a superb "flash" Irish tenor this would be hard to beat, even if not a fully authentic period instrument it is built from superb 1920s period parts and is now a unique creation.
Overall length is 30 3/4 in. (78.1 cm.), 11 in. (27.9 cm.) diameter head, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 20 in. (508 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/8 in. (29 mm.).
As noted this is not a fully original instrument, but a well-assembled composite. There is finish wear to the (refinished) resonator and light wear to the back of the neck. The gold plating is very heavy and has only minor wear overall, some corrosion visible on the flange and most heavily loss to the lacquered plating on the armrest. The frets appear original and show some wear in the lower positions but the banjo plays very well, set up with a modern plastic head and vintage style Grover bridge. It has a very fine sound and is ready to gig, housed in a recent Gold Tone gig bag. Very Good + Condition.