Bacon & Day S-2H (Conversion) Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1937)
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Item #3740
Bacon & Day S-2H (Conversion) Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, c. 1937, made in Groton CT, sunburst lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck; spruce top., original black hard shell case.
A lovely example of an extremely rare flat top guitar. This Bacon & Day Senorita S-2H was built in the mid-late 1930's when the Bacon Banjo Company was on its last legs, a victim of both the lingering Depression and the declining market for banjos. While the guitar itself was made by Regal, Bacon & Day instruments were always top quality, and this ranks with the finest Chicago-made guitars of the era.
This is a very unusual guitar in that it still features a 12-fret neck joint in the later 1930's, the result of having been originally built as a Hawaiian-style instrument. The much more common standard Spanish style "Senorita" of this era is a 14-fret guitar, and the added body resonance of this S-2H gives the guitar an amazing sound.
Although the Bacon company built many of the finest (and most expensive) banjos of the 1920's, they had no experience, or apparent interest, in building guitars. They had dabbled with ukuleles and mandolins in the early 1920's and had even sold a few Martin guitars with a Bacon stamp, but in the main had been able to prosper with a banjo-only line.
When the high-end banjo market collapsed in the early 1930's, Fred Bacon and David Day, both older men with decades of experience in the music business, took the expedient route and contracted with outside makers to supply them with guitars that could be finished off as "B&D's". While similar to other Regal-built instruments including the Tonk Bros. Washburn line, these "B&D" guitars are always distinctively appointed, and also the best that could be had.
This B&D Senorita S-2H was by 1937 one of the company's very few flat tops and retailed at $50.00, a fairly high price and not much less than the larger Gibson Jumbo or a Martin D-18. Built of high-grade mahogany, this Bacon is a fairly deluxe instrument, but the company's main promotional efforts were given to "orchestral" archtop guitars. The spruce top is ladder braced and single bound, with multiple binding on the soundhole edge. The bridge is a standard pattern rectangle with an offset saddle, much like the 1930's Gibson style. There is a very nice tortoise celluloid pickguard.
All 1930's Bacon guitars are quite rare. They are considered very collectible, both for their inherent quality and due to a longtime association with John Fahey, who played a Ne Plus Ultra flat top extensively in the 1960's. This Senorita is a unique and great-playing and sounding guitar with a clean and powerful tone, the only example of this particular model we have ever seen.
Overall length is 39 1/4 in. (99.7 cm.), 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/4 in. (641 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Very nice overall, with several repaired top cracks, most noticeably on the center seam. There is also one side crack on the upper treble bout, all fully closed up. Finish is well-preserved, with some light pickwear above the strings. Tuners are newer Waverly, with no additional routing. This guitar has been converted from Hawaiian and is simply a fabulous-sounding and playing instrument. Very Good + Condition.
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A lovely example of an extremely rare flat top guitar. This Bacon & Day Senorita S-2H was built in the mid-late 1930's when the Bacon Banjo Company was on its last legs, a victim of both the lingering Depression and the declining market for banjos. While the guitar itself was made by Regal, Bacon & Day instruments were always top quality, and this ranks with the finest Chicago-made guitars of the era.
This is a very unusual guitar in that it still features a 12-fret neck joint in the later 1930's, the result of having been originally built as a Hawaiian-style instrument. The much more common standard Spanish style "Senorita" of this era is a 14-fret guitar, and the added body resonance of this S-2H gives the guitar an amazing sound.
Although the Bacon company built many of the finest (and most expensive) banjos of the 1920's, they had no experience, or apparent interest, in building guitars. They had dabbled with ukuleles and mandolins in the early 1920's and had even sold a few Martin guitars with a Bacon stamp, but in the main had been able to prosper with a banjo-only line.
When the high-end banjo market collapsed in the early 1930's, Fred Bacon and David Day, both older men with decades of experience in the music business, took the expedient route and contracted with outside makers to supply them with guitars that could be finished off as "B&D's". While similar to other Regal-built instruments including the Tonk Bros. Washburn line, these "B&D" guitars are always distinctively appointed, and also the best that could be had.
This B&D Senorita S-2H was by 1937 one of the company's very few flat tops and retailed at $50.00, a fairly high price and not much less than the larger Gibson Jumbo or a Martin D-18. Built of high-grade mahogany, this Bacon is a fairly deluxe instrument, but the company's main promotional efforts were given to "orchestral" archtop guitars. The spruce top is ladder braced and single bound, with multiple binding on the soundhole edge. The bridge is a standard pattern rectangle with an offset saddle, much like the 1930's Gibson style. There is a very nice tortoise celluloid pickguard.
All 1930's Bacon guitars are quite rare. They are considered very collectible, both for their inherent quality and due to a longtime association with John Fahey, who played a Ne Plus Ultra flat top extensively in the 1960's. This Senorita is a unique and great-playing and sounding guitar with a clean and powerful tone, the only example of this particular model we have ever seen.
Overall length is 39 1/4 in. (99.7 cm.), 15 1/4 in. (38.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/4 in. (641 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).
Very nice overall, with several repaired top cracks, most noticeably on the center seam. There is also one side crack on the upper treble bout, all fully closed up. Finish is well-preserved, with some light pickwear above the strings. Tuners are newer Waverly, with no additional routing. This guitar has been converted from Hawaiian and is simply a fabulous-sounding and playing instrument. Very Good + Condition.
