Found on facebook marketplace.
May be one of few (only?) Silver Bell branded "Bacon" rather than "B&D" from the Bacon Banjo Co., Groton, Ct. Or maybe this is not actually a Silver Bell tone ring banjo as the resonator plaque implies.
Ideas about this one?
Maybe the only one made? I doubt that Gibson was the only banjo maker that turned out one-offs and oddities from time to time. The pearloid fingerboard and peghead overlays are not what you normally see on a Silver Bell, either.
Whatever it is, it's a good looking banjo.
With my very limited knowledge, and I hope to be corrected because I know squat about wedding cake banjos, it is generally believed that these "Fred Bacon Specials" were built after it all ended and Fred was retired, his wife doing much of the decoration work. Have read/heard that many of these were cobbled up or built for students or friends of Fred.
Don't know if it is true and these are not my thing.
Resonators can be changed/added and Bacon banjos tend to be targets for "up grading" by or for the Boomer/Shakey's Pizza generation.
I've seen a handful of these. As best as I can tell, Joel's info is accurate.
100% agree.
