Bacon & Day Silver Bell Banjo

Stew-Mac Bacon style 8 F hole ring married to handmade neck marked B. & D. Silver Bell. Length: 96cm.

The Bacon & Day Company was established in 1921 as a partnership between David Day, who had been plant manager of the Vega Banjo Company, and Fred Bacon. Prior to his association with Day, Bacon had banjos made for him by Vega, and by Rettburg & Lange. Most of these earlier instruments were 5-strings inlaid with the name "Bacon" on the headstock. They featured unusual tone chambers with f-holes on the bottoms of the rims.

While these early Bacon-brand instruments were of excellent quality, it was the Bacon & Day Silver Bell line of banjos that established the Bacon name as the zenith of craftsmanship. To this day most tenor and plectrum players consider Bacon & Day instruments to be the finest ever made. Ironically, in today's market, Bacon & Day tenor and plectrum banjos are sought as collectors' items and command higher prices than do banjos by any other maker; the equivalent 5-string models, however, are relatively neglected. In fact, few of today's 5-string players ever have tried a Silver Bell Bacon & Day, and many are not even familiar with the name.

The Meisel Collection. This instrument is being sold from The Meisel Collection assembled over a period of forty years by an accomplished attorney from Princeton, New Jersey. The owner traveled the world in search of rare, interesting, and handsome instruments to fill a collection that until now was displayed in his beautiful Princeton home.

Please note: The items in the Meisel Collection are being sold F.O.B. Princeton, New Jersey. The recommended shipper is the U.P.S. Store, 174 Nassau St., Princeton, NJ 08542 which has extensive experience shipping fragile auction items. The Store can be emailed at store2026@theupsstore.com or called at 609-924-0759. The auction house makes no commission on shipping; payment for shipping is made by the buyer directly to the shipper. Although buyers are free to use any shipper they choose, we have found this shipper to be fair and reliable.

Condition: More detailed condition reports and additional photographs are available by request. The absence of a condition report does not imply that the lot is in very fine condition. Please message us through the online bidding platform or email Guernsey's at auctions@guernseys.com to request a more thorough condition report.