TO SUPER HART'S B&D SILVER BELL #1 PAGE !
Here are some photos of my Bacon & Day Silver Bell #1 Plectrum Banjo which which I have recently obtained. This instrument was purchased through an eBay Auction. This instrument has been professionally restored by a renowned instrument restorer and looks like it just left the showroom. It has the early and more desireable tone ring with the holes drilled. There is no mute on this banjo, never had one. I plan to make a faithful reproduction 5-string neck for this instrument and retain all of the beauty and character that I possibly can from the original plectrum neck. I believe that it is imperitive to retain the original character and identity of these vintage instruments when converting them to another form. I will in no way modify the instrument so that it cannot be easily converted back to its original form. Should I ever sell this instrument, all original parts including the original case will certainly be included and accompany the banjo to its new owner.
Finally, on September 1, 1999 the reproduction 5-string neck for the Silver Bell #1 Plectrum is finished and installed. It has been well worth the wait. Many thanks to Dave Nichols at Custom Pearl Inlay for this artistic rendition. This neck is a faithful recreation of an original B&D neck done in beautiful curly maple. Even though the front and back strapping has been faithfully reproduced, a 2-way truss rod accessible through the heel has been added as additional insurance against warpage. All inlays were painstakingly reproduced from those on the plectrum neck. If I do say so myself,it's very difficult to tell that this is not an original neck except for the fact that it looks too factory fresh. The action is nice and low up the neck just the way a Bluegrass picker would like, and the tone and volume is amazingly similar to a Mastertone ( I know, I know. That's sacreligious). This is astounding because Silver Bells characteristically have a "sweeter" tone than the Gibsons but this one has all the tone, volume and "guts" that the prewar afficionados will appreciate. The banjo is set up with a Weatherking outside frosted head torqued to 9 kg/cm, a 5/8 inch compensated Snuffy Smith bridge, and medium Gibson Earl Scruggs strings. Since I could not locate an original 5 finger Oettinger tailpiece I opted for the next best thing, a Richlieu Tensionator tailpiece which is a machined rather than sandcast recreation of the Oettinger. I finished off this beauty with a factory original knee mute assembly. I probably won't ever use it but I feel that since the Silver Bells usually came with one originally, this one deserves no less. I would enjoy receiving comments from anyone who views this page.
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