DVD-quality lessons (including tabs/sheet music) available for immediate viewing on any device.
Take your playing to the next level with the help of a local or online banjo teacher.
Weekly newsletter includes free lessons, favorite member content, banjo news and more.
Premier Sponsors
|
Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/121854
parsnyps - Posted - 07/15/2008: 11:12:39
I inherited a banjo 'MADE BY THE BACON BANJO CO INC GROTON CONN USA". Also on the dowel is the number '2' where a serial number is normally found, and also '-THE BACON PROFESSIONAL' can be found on the same side, of the dowel, as the serial number. It is 4 string, 17 fret. On the skin are the words 'Jos Rogers JR' and '1st Quality'. Grover is the maker of the tuners and Presto is the maker of the tailpiece. It appears well-used but in good condition.
I'll send pics to anyone, this message won't allow me to attach pictures for some reason.
Thanks,
Paul
Edited by - Banjoman on 07/15/2008 18:13:24
banjonz - Posted - 07/15/2008: 12:54:46
Paul, you can load photos onto your homepage here. Just go to the RHS of you page, click on 'upload photos' and follow the prompts.
Wayne
New Zealand
"I call my girl my meloncholy baby! She has the head like a mellon and the face like a collie"!
wfawley - Posted - 07/15/2008: 13:01:54
Value depends a lot upon condition, but a No 2 FF Professional is a desirable banjo for conversion to 5 string....and I'd say comparable in value to a tubaphone or whyte laydie tenor...maybe slightly less because they've a smaller playing populace....or maybe slightly more depending upon other factors...like which style Grover pegs...2 tabs...or 2 bands? If it were to be equipped with an original 5 string Presto tailpiece....well, that would certainly impact the value as well. I've seen the 5 string tailpieces turn up on tenors before.
Wyatt
If your friends criticize the car you drive, or the banjo you play. Get new ones.
jims38134 - Posted - 07/15/2008: 17:16:08
I know I'll catch a LOT of flack, but, if people want 5 string banjos, there are tons of them around. I personally think it is a travesty to take a vintage tenor banjo and turn it into something that it isn't. After all, there are only a limited number of old tenors around!
OK, I'm off my soapbox and feel better now......
jim
wfawley - Posted - 07/15/2008: 18:00:58
Making a neck and dowel stick to install on a vintage tenor pot assy is not a crime. The tenor neck and dowel stick are not harmed....and the banjo gets played....and basically....no, there aren't a lot of original FF-professional 5 striings lying in closets. They're expensive when you can find one....so conversion of a tenor...in a responsible manner....is the right thing to do for some folks since it affords them the "mojo" of playing an old banjo...and adds the functionality to a 5 string player that's just not there as a tenor.
If you want them all to remain as tenors.......then buy all of them. Then you can decide what should and shouldn't be done with them. Until then......allow the 5 stringers to have their fun too.
If it weren't for the 5 string crowd......many of the old tenors simply would not be desirable....and would be worth a whole lot less. I'm sure that when you sell a tenor banjo that's gained popularity in the 5 string world...that it's escalated value, which can be directly attributable to that popularity......doesn't upset you.
Wyatt
If your friends criticize the car you drive, or the banjo you play. Get new ones.
jims38134 - Posted - 07/15/2008: 18:55:50
Mr. Fawley,
I do buy all I can afford and can get my hands on (currently own 6 vintage tenors). I agree that if done correctly and if they can be returned unharmed to their original glory that there is "no harm no foul".
I did once own a B&D Silver Bell #2 5 string (fairly rare) and I opted to sell it as it was to a 5 string aficionado and not turn it into a 4 string tenor or plectrum.
When I did a "google search" on Bacon FF/ Bacon Professionals to try to help Mr. Paul out with his value question, there was only one tenor that I could find pictures of or reference to (photos courtesy of you per the website), all of the others were 5 strings.
jim
jim
wfawley - Posted - 07/15/2008: 19:02:44
How many were original 5 strings is the operative question though. Most of them probably started out as tenors. Problem with the FF is that, to my knowledge, it's not revered as a tenor....but is much coveted as a 5 string. It's one of those cases where....were it not for teh 5 string guys...the value would be less....which, if I was trying to fill up a barn with banjos might be looked upon a bad thing, I guess.
Brings to mind the Ludwig banjos.....disliked by practically everybody......and not especially valuable either. Some are only worth the value of the pre-war planets to the 5 string crowd.
Wyatt
If your friends criticize the car you drive, or the banjo you play. Get new ones.
pgroff - Posted - 07/21/2008: 05:11:08
Hey guys,
I have a 1920s Bacon Professional 3 tenor and like it a lot. I also wonder how many tenor IR banjos were made, since we see so few. Obviously other Bacon tenor models became much more popular and the IR tenors were phased out. Mine has a short scale 17 fret neck and a different tone than most jazz players like.... but vive la difference.
I am not one of the Bacon experts since I have been involved with them such a short time, but from my little research so far I would like to make a couple of points.
The 5-string players who like and discuss the Bacon IR banjos seem always to call them "ff Professionals." Also, I think there is a widespread assumption that all non-Silverbell tone rings on Bacon banjos are the "ff donut type." You see this ring called a "Bacon ring" in descriptions of recent Bart Reiter banjos and there was a recent thread in which a member here used that term.
But, in addition to all the variants of the Silverbell ring on the B & D models, the Bacon banjo company made a variety of tone rings. Some were a simple hoop (like the Style C), some were a skirted ring spun over a hoop like a Vega Little Wonder (the Bacon Peerless and other models).
My own 1920s Bacon Professional 3 tenor had a tone ring identical to my 1920s Bacon Peerless though the ring of the Professional was cut differently and accepted a modern Stew-Mac "Bacon ff donut ring" with no modifications of rim or ring.
In the Bacon 1923 catalog (and in the marking on the banjo) this model is called the "Professional 3" -- *no "ff"*
So it's probably not a good idea to make assumptions about the tone ring inside a Bacon IR banjo or to call all "Bacon Professional" models 'ff Professionals."
BTW my Pro 3 sounds equally great -- though definitely different -- with the two alternative tone rings.
I have seen some high-quality IR banjos made as 5 strings in the last few decades but only one recent IR tenor I know about (a Bart Reiter). I haven't seen many original Bacon IR tenors for sale either. I agree with Wyatt that if parsnyp's tenor is converted it would be a good idea (and maybe economically smartest in the long term) to make sure the conversion is totally reversible and save all the parts.
Paul
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Privacy Consent (EU/GDPR Only)
Copyright 2026 Banjo Hangout. All Rights Reserved.
