jwold - Posted - 11/22/2025:  09:50:12

Is there a huge difference between the sound of the two banjos?
Brighter? Louder? Comparable?

Thanks

cebracher - Posted - 11/22/2025:  10:22:12

My Silver Bell tenors, with their resonators, are definitely louder than my Blue Ribbon.

I own fully restored examples of each, several SBs including a Renee Karnes restored banjo plus a nice Blue Ribbon trap-door model with the cover on the back of the pot, and I'd have a hard time saying that they are "comparable".

The Blue Ribbon was considered a "student model" banjo whereas the Silver Bells, from #1 on up, all had the same tone ring although the wood varied a bit and opinions vary on the richness and quality of their respective tone.

As for brightness, that depends entirely on the setup of the instrument. I have SBs that vary greatly depending on the bridge, string type/gauge, tailpiece, etc.

What has your experience been?

Chris

Bill Rogers - Posted - 11/22/2025:  11:27:30

it’s a lot more complicated than that. First, the Blue Ribbon was one cut below the Silver Bell—not a student instrument at all. They used the same tone rings. There were three iterations of the Silver Bell tone rings: the “perforated” one, with holes completely through the ring, came first; second was one with holes only on the inside of the ring; thelast one had no holes, but sat a fraction of an inch above the shell, resting only on the outside edge. Which ring is in a given banjo is a function of when it was made. Ome copied the latter two Silver Bell rings with its “Silverspun” tone rings. The earlier ones copied the no-hole SB rings; later Ome switched to a copy of the inside-hole SB rings. I suspect the Silver Bells, Blue Ribbons and the Omes can be set up to sound very similar, especially if they have the same type of tone ring. 

Edited by - Bill Rogers on 11/22/2025 11:44:14

cebracher - Posted - 11/22/2025:  12:44:00

quote:

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Originally posted by Bill Rogers

it’s a lot more complicated than that. First, the Blue Ribbon was one cut below the Silver Bell—not a student instrument at all. They used the same tone rings. There were three iterations of the Silver Bell tone rings: the “perforated” one, with holes completely through the ring, came first; second was one with holes only on the inside of the ring; thelast one had no holes, but sat a fraction of an inch above the shell, resting only on the outside edge. Which ring is in a given banjo is a function of when it was made. Ome copied the latter two Silver Bell rings with its “Silverspun” tone rings. The earlier ones copied the no-hole SB rings; later Ome switched to a copy of the inside-hole SB rings. I suspect the Silver Bells, Blue Ribbons and the Omes can be set up to sound very similar, especially if they have the same type of tone ring. 

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Hi Bill, I agree with everything you said, but I guess what prompts me to call the Blue Ribbons "student grade" is that they were cheaper in the Bacon catalog if I remember correctly. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Good and detailed info that you provided.

Chris

mb4me - Posted - 11/23/2025:  08:54:54

Early blue ribbons had hardly any tone ring with just the outer skirt. The two on reverb now are like that. My blue ribbon was not as solidly and precisely built as the silver bell.