This is a superb sounding 5 string banjo. Quoting George Gruhn in “The Vintage Catalogue”– “During the banjo boom of the 1920s, many musicians considered Bacon & Day to be the finest banjo maker of the time. Their instruments were prized for their exceptional volume and cutting power, as well as for their beautiful craftsmanship… we can only speculate what might have happened if Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, or some other well-known bluegrass player had used a Bacon & Day model.”
• Bacon & Day Super, 5-string Banjo (Style A)
Serial number: 25892 (early 1928)
• Resonator, stamped on inside (in nickel-laminated maple):
Bacon Banjo Co., Inc.
Groton, CT. U.S.A.
Dec. 20th, 1927
• Conversion, 5 string neck (original neck was probably a tenor or plectrum); Presumably, this neck is newer than the banjo– yet the advanced MOP fret markers are as found on the earliest versions of B&D Super banjos.
We assume this neck was built by one of the very best U.S. “conversion” builders – with a re-use of the original MOP inlay at the peghead plus the dowel stick. Maple neck, with steel reinforcing rod. Fretboard is beautiful jet-black ebony; multi-layer neck bindings.
• 22 frets
• Scale length: 27 inches
• Extended Maple resonator– nickel laminated on inside
• Original flat Tulip-hole flange (not the “add-on” round-hole resonator of earlier years).
• Original, top of the line Type III Silver Bell tone ring (No Hole tone ring) original to the instrument (this is the most sought-after, advanced tone ring, introduced early 1927).
• Original 2 band Grover geared tuning pegs
• Fults tailpiece, and included a variety of Fults tone pins. Bob Fults made the best tailpieces available. And his tone pins let you tweak the tone of your banjo. There are several interchangeable Fults pins included here– ivory, ebony, lead, sterling silver, brass, and copper. Plus a “tone lock”. (Bob Fults recently retired, and these highly sought after Fults tailpieces and pins are no longer available.)
In its original hard shell case. Price: $3950.
