Bacon Senorita S-1 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1933)
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Item #6768
Bacon Senorita S-1 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, c. 1933, made in Chicago, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, mahogany back sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
This is a nice example of a rare pre-WWII flat top guitar. This Bacon & Day Senorita S-1 was built in the early 1930's when the Bacon Banjo Company was struggling, a victim of both the lingering depression and the declining market for banjos. It is a small body, 14-fret flat top of quite modern design for its era, the equivalent of Gibson's L-0 of the same period. While the guitar itself was made by Regal, Bacon & Day instruments were always top quality and this guitar ranks with the finest Chicago-made guitars of the era. This Senorita S-1 is the earliest version of the most basic flat-top style offered by B & D, with a shorter body than later '30's examples. The spruce top is X-braced and quite light, quadruple bound around the edge with single binding on the back and the soundhole. The bridge is a standard pattern rectangle with an offset saddle, much like the 1930's Gibson style. The neck is a soft "V" shape and there is a very nice tortoise celluloid pickguard of typical Regal style.
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 late 1920's Fred Bacon and David Day, both older men with decades of experience in the music business, took the expedient route and contracted 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.
All 1930's Bacon flat top guitars are fairly 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 flattop extensively in the 1960's. This Senorita is a unique and great playing and sounding guitar and the only example of this early version of the model we have ever seen.
Overall length is 38 3/8 in. (97.5 cm.), 13 15/16 in. (35.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.). This guitar is in excellent playing condition with some cosmetic wear. The neck has been reset and the bridge taken down and rounded off slightly, the frets are original with some light wear. The tuners are new repro pegs; no extra holes or routing were done. The finish is checked overall, there are nicks and dings overall and a lot of scuffing to the back but no major finish loss. The "Senorita" logo has faded but is still visible on close inspection. The back center seam has been resealed; there are no other visible cracks. The neckset appears to have involved a noticeable amount of steam escaping around the heel joint, so the sides and area around the heel show a lot of checking and some touchup. The tortoise celluloid opickguard shows some areas of light cracking, which have been filled in. This is a superbly light instrument with a very resonant sound, an exceptionally fine pre-WWII Regal-made guitar. Excellent Condition.
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This is a nice example of a rare pre-WWII flat top guitar. This Bacon & Day Senorita S-1 was built in the early 1930's when the Bacon Banjo Company was struggling, a victim of both the lingering depression and the declining market for banjos. It is a small body, 14-fret flat top of quite modern design for its era, the equivalent of Gibson's L-0 of the same period. While the guitar itself was made by Regal, Bacon & Day instruments were always top quality and this guitar ranks with the finest Chicago-made guitars of the era. This Senorita S-1 is the earliest version of the most basic flat-top style offered by B & D, with a shorter body than later '30's examples. The spruce top is X-braced and quite light, quadruple bound around the edge with single binding on the back and the soundhole. The bridge is a standard pattern rectangle with an offset saddle, much like the 1930's Gibson style. The neck is a soft "V" shape and there is a very nice tortoise celluloid pickguard of typical Regal style.
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 late 1920's Fred Bacon and David Day, both older men with decades of experience in the music business, took the expedient route and contracted 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.
All 1930's Bacon flat top guitars are fairly 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 flattop extensively in the 1960's. This Senorita is a unique and great playing and sounding guitar and the only example of this early version of the model we have ever seen.
Overall length is 38 3/8 in. (97.5 cm.), 13 15/16 in. (35.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.). This guitar is in excellent playing condition with some cosmetic wear. The neck has been reset and the bridge taken down and rounded off slightly, the frets are original with some light wear. The tuners are new repro pegs; no extra holes or routing were done. The finish is checked overall, there are nicks and dings overall and a lot of scuffing to the back but no major finish loss. The "Senorita" logo has faded but is still visible on close inspection. The back center seam has been resealed; there are no other visible cracks. The neckset appears to have involved a noticeable amount of steam escaping around the heel joint, so the sides and area around the heel show a lot of checking and some touchup. The tortoise celluloid opickguard shows some areas of light cracking, which have been filled in. This is a superbly light instrument with a very resonant sound, an exceptionally fine pre-WWII Regal-made guitar. Excellent Condition.
