1924 Bacon Style C Banjo Mandolin

This is a customer's Bacon banjo mando that was delivered to the shop for repair. It got "the usual" which included a fret level/dress, an added shim at the heel, some small amount of cleaning, a new (old) bridge fit to it, and a setup. The sound's a bit nicer than in the clip -- a bit more husky and clean -- and it has that delightfully rugged feel one usually gets with Bacons. I've had several style C tenor banjos and a "professional FF" banjo mando, but not one of these. It sounds remarkably like... a mandolin version of the style C tenors. Who'd have thought, huh?

While all of the hardware is original (and probably the skin, too), the tailpiece lacks is "cloud" cover and the bridge is a parts-bin one from another period banjo mandolin that needed a taller one.

Bone nut.

The neck is mahogany but the fretboard and headstock veneer are dyed pearwood or maple.

Note the random extra holes drilled here and there for -- what?

There's also general grunge and perhaps a bit of extra varnish here and there.

Pearl dots... and a nice old dryness hairline down the extension part of the fretboard. I've added a patch on the back for support.

The bit of felt at the string ends is to dampen any overtones.

The rim is deeper than most banjo-mando rims and it has a ply maple center with mahogany veneer on the exterior. There's no tonering on style C s but the top edge of the rim is shaped to give a bit more focus to the tone.

The tuners work just fine. One replaced screw.

There must've been some sort of aftermarket resonator installed at one point.

The serial places this at 1924.