c. 1925 Bacon & Day Silver Bell # 1 Five-String Banjo w/ Original Hard Case

Description

Travel back in time with this cool old banjo. It's a mix.
Built by Bacon & Day in Groton, Connecticut, it's a Silver Bell number One five-string banjo. Stamped on the inside dowel, the serial number is 17,470. It was built in about 1925. However, the flange, resonator, and tailpiece are from an old Vega/Boston banjo, a Vega Tubaphone possibly.
I bought it from the family of the original owner. The story is that it was played back then to back up burlesque dancers in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. It is in quite fine condition. It has a new head and strings on it.
A bit of the neck binding, on the bass side, between the fifth and seventh frets, is missing.
The metal tone ring is attached to the rim.
The spider artwork on the outside of the resonator is likely not original.
It comes in the original case, which has wear and gear. The case handle is missing. The case latches and hinges work properly. The inside case accessory pocket lid is torn loose. The inside of the case has lovely emerald green velvet.
It's a classic All-American banjo, ready for its next owner. It sounds just wonderful.
Questions?
It will be well packed with plenty of new 1/2" bubble wrap and shipped in a new 46"x19"x7" stout cardboard instrument box.
Please check out our eBay store,
Time Travel Music
, for more cool vintage stuff, including a bunch of vintage guitars (and a few ukuleles, banjos, fiddles, mandolins and amps, as well as fiddles, brass, woodwind, and various oddball musical instruments and old instrument brochures & catalogs).
And please check
out our YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/toadstoolshadow, to hear some of our original music.