wrightpk - Posted - 04/01/2016:  15:09:15

This banjo belonged to my dad and I don't know it's age or anything about it. I would appreciate any information you could give me. 

Thanks

Thanks for the help in getting the resonator off. I think there are two screws missing that is why I didn't know what I was looking at when I saw the thumbscrews. No, I don't know anything about banjos other than I loved hearing my dad play it. He also had a Vega Vegaphone Deluxe Tenor with a serial number 87198. It actually is the picture that is attached to this wrightpk message. My dad pllayed in a band for years that did gigs mostly in the metropolitan Minneapolis and St. Paul area. I found information on the Vega several years ago but looking at this site I think the serial number indicates 1926 or so and I had put down 1929 from earlier research. 

Getting back to the Bacon, I did add some pics of the inside with serial number 31845 showing. Also has a No. 1 and says it was Bacon Banjo Co. Groton, Conn. USA

Edited by - wrightpk on 04/02/2016 11:44:57

ldieckow - Posted - 04/01/2016:  15:20:32

If you take the resonator(back of the banjo) off with the four thumb screws you'll find a serial number on the dowel stick. If you post that # here I'm sure several people will be able to comment/help

wrightpk - Posted - 04/01/2016:  16:20:30

I looked for the 4 thumb screws on the back but could only see 8 very small screws on the silver rim above the back. So I took those out but cannot get the back off. I don't know if it hasn't been off for years or what but my brother who had this banjo before me said my dad had it modified to be plug into an amp so maybe that is why it has different screws. Just guessing here.

G Edward Porgie - Posted - 04/01/2016:  17:49:32

The four screws are not on the back of the banjo. Lance was indicating that the resonator is the back of the banjo, in case you didn't know what part he was referring to. The thumbscrews are located around that resonator on the side of the banjo, just above the metal part of said resonator.

By the way, this is a "SymphoniE" not a "SymphoniC." That's a pretty easy mistake to make with that script-style lettering.

cebracher - Posted - 04/01/2016:  20:38:03

...and here's some info from an archived discussion...

banjohangout.org/archive/142691

ldieckow - Posted - 04/01/2016:  21:00:53

sorry if i wasn't clear on the location of the thumb screws, player with not much collector knowledge. just happen to have a 1935 Symphonie plectrum that looks a lot like it

Ira Gitlin - Posted - 04/02/2016:  06:35:45

Beautiful banjo, wrightpk. You didn't say whether you know anything about banjos in general, so--at the risk of telling you something you already know--let me supply a little context here.

This is a "tenor banjo". The standard tuning (from lowest string to highest string) is C-G-D-A, though some musicians like to tune it lower (G-D-A-E). Tenor banjos were very popular in the 1920s and '30s. They're mainly used for traditional jazz (a.k.a. "Dixieland"), where they play chord rhythm, and Irish music, where they play the melody along with the fiddle, pipes, etc. They're played with a flat pick. (The banjo you hear in bluegrass is a five-string banjo, picked with the fingrs--a very different thing!)



 

wrightpk - Posted - 04/02/2016:  11:04:16

quote:

---

Originally posted by G Edward Porgie

 

The four screws are not on the back of the banjo. Lance was indicating that the resonator is the back of the banjo, in case you didn't know what part he was referring to. The thumbscrews are located around that resonator on the side of the banjo, just above the metal part of said resonator.

By the way, this is a "SymphoniE" not a "SymphoniC." That's a pretty easy mistake to make with that script-style lettering.

---

ldieckow - Posted - 04/02/2016:  20:22:49

according to Polle Flaunoe's database of B&D banjos, your Symphonie is a 1932. congrats and if you'd like to keep it, I'm sure there are folks on this site that would help you with instruction. if not, others can help with a value

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 04/03/2016:  01:20:31

Yes - what you have is a B&D Symphonie Silver Bell No. 1 tenor banjo - manufactured early 1932. It´s now included in my databases - here´s a link to the published general version acoustudio.dk/BD_and_Bacon_database.html

The Symphonie model was introduced in 1930 - at first hand with a 12" pot, but very soon also with a 11" pot - the latter very soon became the most sought for version - especially for tenors like yours. All Symphonie´s did basically get the newly developed archtop tone ring, an extended resonator and a stepped resonator flange with fleur-de-lis holes - you can find some of these features on other models as well - but all-together they were characteristic for the Symphonie model. Only - a number of early 11" examples got a stepped flange with F-holes - most likely due to a shortage of stock. Here´s for example a 1931 tenor of mine - with the F-holes - acoustudio.dk/BD%20Symphonie%2030883.htm

The Symphonie is a top-pro banjo - with a fantastic sound, power and sustain plus playability - well kept examples do normally keep rather high prices. This also due to the relatively few examples built.

Polle

Edited by - Polle Flaunoe on 04/03/2016 01:27:32

wrightpk - Posted - 04/03/2016:  10:47:53

Thanks for the links with information about this banjo. If I keep this banjo, can anyone give me a monetary number that I could insure it? Also, if it is not being used, should the strings be loosened or how should it be stored?

Gordy Ohliger - Posted - 04/03/2016:  18:16:25

Polle can help you here....

 Please, please! Loosen the strings.... but most important of all; keep it inside your home, like your great great grandmothers clock, grandfathers tools, whatever you CARE about...no fluctuation of humidity, extremes of temperature (in the garden shed). Care, that is all. If not yourself, please move it on to one who revers this instrument. Write down the Provence of the instrument; everything you know about it, and move it on.

 Thanks

Polle Flaunoe - Posted - 04/06/2016:  00:55:33

It´s very hard to come up with an exact estimate for the value of a Symphonie SB - partly due to its rarity and partly because of the large costs connected with a professional refinishing.

However from my trades over the last decade I can see that a Symphonie tenor brings 40-50% more than a tenor example of other Silver Bell models - mind you in the same condition.

Yours seems to be a players instrument first of all - based on my own experiences only I´ll roughly estimate its value to $1,500-1,700.

For comparison - a fully refinished example like the one posted by me above - or an example in original excellent/near mint condition - will IMO in USA have a value of $2,700-3,000.

I hope that this helps.

Polle