1929 Bacon & Day (B&D) Silver Bell No.1 Tenor Banjo

Description

Here’s a nice, solid Silver Bell No.1 tenor, and a good reminder of how ahead of the jazz-age banjo game Bacon & Day was. It has most of its original parts, including the flange, Oettinger tailpiece, but it does have recent Five-Star planetary pegs, a recent vintage case and an after-market armrest. Also, the thumb screws that hold the resonator on have been replaced. The neck, shell and resonator his banjo has been refinished and while the work was well done, it doesn’t look like it was done with lacquer (maybe tung oil?) and the color and texture of the finish isn’t quite in the original style. Notably, the finish on the resonator is more matte than gloss. It looks like this banjo was refretted some time ago and the new frets have a little wear but the have lots of life in them. The neck is straight and the neck angle is fine. Overall this banjo is in excellent playing condition and is ready to make some music.
We ship on the Wednesday following the end of the Sunday auctions.