richard baskowski - Posted - 09/23/2013:  05:30:53

Hi folks the subject of the bacons came up in the post about title'75 years ago...." also in collectors corner. a very interesting thread indeed. check it out especially if you own one of these wonderful banjos.The discussion about the differences in tone rings with the internal resonator banjos, is where maybe more information or should I say,response from some owners is needed to clarify the ff designation.It has been pointed out that some of us have just the simple spun ring, with no markings of ff .also noted was the bracket shoe configuration where the top of the shoe rests directly on the tone ring. also there is a link to the 1924 catalog so you can drool over what you could have bought back then. no mention of the ff is found there. Also very cool is the info that stew mac has the donut tone rings to fit if you want to tinker with the sound, if you have the plain ring as i do on #10712. any  information on these banjos would be appreciated. Also if you have a story about one of these it would make a nice compliment to the bacon and day history lesson that is going on in the other blog.  rick

beegee - Posted - 09/23/2013:  05:43:17

ff?

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 09/23/2013:  06:30:42

I think this is the thread you mentioned:

banjohangout.org/topic/270824

richard baskowski - Posted - 09/23/2013:  06:43:27

yes that is the link. thanks for you interest.the ff is described by ed britt in that thread.stands for forte forte better known as double forte which of course means play loudly. the issue is in its use to describe tone rings?   rick

pgroff - Posted - 09/23/2013:  06:56:04

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your interest in this question and for reporting that your internal-resonator Bacon banjo, like mine, has the narrower tone ring and is not stamped "FF."

I already replied to my friend Polle in the other thread.

But just so you know my history with this question, here are links to some other times I've tried to raise this question.

I believe the problem is that many banjo players, even experts, and especially those whose main interest is the 5-string, *automatically* call every internal-resonator Bacon banjo an "FF" model.  My view is that some were "FF" and some were not, just as some had the wide tone ring and some did not.  The question is whether the stamping of the banjos correlates with the tone ring, but that's hard to answer when even the experts keep calling them all "FF" models.

Some links now.  You might find some useful ideas for tinkering with your own banjo here too.

banjohangout.org/archive/232572

banjohangout.org/archive/232572

banjohangout.org/archive/113558

banjohangout.org/archive/121854

PG

Edited by - pgroff on 09/23/2013 06:57:19

pgroff - Posted - 09/23/2013:  08:28:24

Sorry for the cut-and-paste error above.  I missed some of the topics and listed one twice. 

Here you go:

banjohangout.org/archive/127123

banjohangout.org/archive/131407

banjohangout.org/archive/131767

PG

richard baskowski - Posted - 09/23/2013:  13:16:20

thanks pg i do like to tinker, so i might check out that ring. thanks for the threads as i went through them.It would be great if we could hear from others as i am sure they are out there.another thing i noticed about #10712 is that there is quite a bit of difference in the quality of the inlay work between the headstock and the finger board . the headstock, on the front with design and the bacon lettering is flawless and not a speck of cereal. the design on the back as well as the flame on the heel were cut out roughly and there is lots of filler.the inlays on the fingerboard are not that much better, in fact the inlay at the 12th fret has an obvious mistake, which was filled with goop and dust. It seems obvious that a master did the head stock and an apprentice did the rest. or is this consistent with the methods and standards of the time? I know the inlays on my grich granada are perfect. but the engraving on the stretcher band is a little sketchy. so i guess it happens, and of course does not affect the sound. just sayin.otherwise i hope i am in as good shape when i am 90.             pick solid rick

pgroff - Posted - 09/23/2013:  13:37:36

Richard,

If Stewart-MacDonald doesn't list that so-called "Bacon ring" anymore, they may still have some old stock stored away.  That was the case when I contacted them.

If they are truly out-of-stock, I think I have one extra in storage here.  Both the rings I got from them had minor cosmetic damage to the plating that did not affect the fit or sound.

stewmac.com/

Paul Groff

Miami, FL

Edited by - pgroff on 09/23/2013 13:38:13

carlb - Posted - 09/24/2013:  06:14:04

quote:

---

Originally posted by richard baskowski

 ......another thing i noticed about #10712 is that there is quite a bit of difference in the quality of the inlay work between the headstock and the finger board . the headstock, on the front with design and the bacon lettering is flawless and not a speck of cereal. the design on the back as well as the flame on the heel were cut out roughly and there is lots of filler.the inlays on the fingerboard are not that much better, in fact the inlay at the 12th fret has an obvious mistake, which was filled with goop and dust. It seems obvious that a master did the head stock and an apprentice did the rest. or is this consistent with the methods and standards of the time? I know the inlays on my grich granada are perfect. but the engraving on the stretcher band is a little sketchy. so i guess it happens, and of course does not affect the sound. just sayin.otherwise i hope i am in as good shape when i am 90.             pick solid rick

---

Pictures would be good and I'd appreciate it if you could please add a few details like the ones listed in the Excel spreadsheet at the web site:

sugarinthegourd.com/BaconProfe...alBanjos/

carlb - Posted - 09/24/2013:  06:36:48

Just another note about the tone ring. Most of the Bacons, that I have information on, have the donut tone ring. A few, mine included, have a plain circular tone ring. Note, that in both cases the metal of the tone ring is one piece that starts on the outside (resting on a ledge of wood and supported by the shoes) and continues to the inside either as a donut or curled under creating a simple circle.