WS18-2

Bacon ( by Vega)              “Hybrid” F. F. Professional                      5 String

 

S/N- 462                     1909                            11 x 27 “                                  6 3/4 lb.

 

Fully original except the tuners are geared Planets.

 

Condition: Mint.

 

Background: The 1906 original Bacon catalog that surfaced recently is devoted exclusively to the F. F. Professional models. Four models were pictured and described; numbers 1, 2, 3(Dragon), and the No. 2 Special with the Flower Pot peghead inlay and a finely carved heel. If one makes a list of  12 features that differ between the No. 3 model and the No. 2 model in that catalog and then compares this banjo with that list, about 2/3s of the features are like those that were present on the No. 3 (Dragon) model. One other feature, the peghead inlay design, is a flower pot like was on the No.2 Special model. Because I have owned another precise twin to this banjo, I do not consider it a custom instrument but believe it was a standard offering Bacon made available several years after the catalog. Both those banjos had “late” serial numbers.

 

About this instrument: Features like the No. 2 model: plain heel, round hooks, ivoroid tuner knobs, and tuner shafts are not gold plated. The features that are like the Dragon model are: the peghead shape, a “Vega star” inlay in the back strap, decorative veneers under the board and peghead cap, board inlays, fancy heel cap inlay, maple neck, decorations on the bottom of the internal resonator ( marquetry and celluloid imitation tortoise shell ), and long ball end nuts.

 

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