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Post by Village Idiot on Jan 16, 2023 22:27:57 GMT -5
I saw this when I stopped at Guitar Central from some strings today. I call those a Pete Seeger banjo with the really long neck (three extra frets I believe) and the smallish body with no resonator. She was trying to find out if it had any value. My thoughts were she was checking in the wrong place, and also that it looked cool to someone like me who knew what it was, that the very nature of it means it's probably not worth a whole lot.   |
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Tamarack
Administrator
Ancient Citizen
Posts: 9,390
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Post by Tamarack on Jan 16, 2023 23:14:30 GMT -5
Yikes! Bacon banjos are well-regarded. I hope she didn't sell it cheap.
The Bacon brand and the long neck would date it to the folk scare of the 1950s/early 1960s. Wild guessing on my part would say it is worth at least $1,000 and probably more like $2,000.
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Post by Russell Letson on Jan 16, 2023 23:15:25 GMT -5
Don't know about the Bacon long-necks, but the Deering Vega versions run between $4 and $6+K--though there's a budget model for a mere $2400. Pre-Deering Vega long-necks can be found under two grand, and Bacons seem go for considerably less.
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Post by millring on Jan 17, 2023 6:09:54 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure that that one was once owned by Uncle Dave Bacon.
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Post by howard lee on Jan 17, 2023 7:42:46 GMT -5
Yikes! Bacon banjos are well-regarded. I hope she didn't sell it cheap. The Bacon brand and the long neck would date it to the folk scare of the 1950s/early 1960s. Wild guessing on my part would say it is worth at least $1,000 and probably more like $2,000.
They go really well with Egg banjos.
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Post by majorminor on Jan 17, 2023 8:03:57 GMT -5
She needs to shave.
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Post by drlj on Jan 17, 2023 9:11:07 GMT -5
Bacon Belmont was a brand made by Gretsch for sale in Montgomery Wards stores. Wards & Sears used to sell lots of instruments made by several makers. You will find the Bacon Belmont name a many different types of banjos and guitars. The long neck pictured is one of many instruments with the Belmont name. These are not high value instruments but $650-1000 would be a reasonable range in value depending on condition. I found a couple on Reverb going for $500-750 And a couple in the $300 range. There are Bacon Belmont guitars out there with that same crazy bridge that is on the Spider John Koerner Gretsch that was pictured in a thread recently. Gretsch Bacon Belmonts were made in the 50s and 60s. That banjo is probably early 60s during the Folk Scare. Don’t confuse these with Bacon and Day banjos.  |
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Post by Marshall on Jan 17, 2023 9:31:27 GMT -5
Ahhhh. The days when Department Stores ruled the economic world. Seems so strange now. But when I (we?) was a kid that was the tale end of how that world operated. My parents were Sears shoppers. Kenmore appliances. Craftsman tools. Silvertone guitars.
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Post by drlj on Jan 17, 2023 9:35:35 GMT -5
Many of my friends had Silvertone or Airline(another Wards brand) guitars, amps, and basses. A couple had that Silvertone that came in the amp/case. Those, made by Danelectro, go for $900-1200 now.
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Post by TKennedy on Jan 17, 2023 9:50:53 GMT -5
Reminds me of a funny story. Around 1965 as an aspiring folkie with Pete’s red banjo book I bought a Vega Folklore long neck. The budget Seeger model. (Still have it)
A friend and I were driving to Denver and stopped at a burger joint in a small town. When the cute carhop came out we told her we were traveling folk singers and I got the banjo out opened the case and set it on the ground and started playing. She was quite impressed until our grand finale departure when my friend backed over the case.
She was rolling her eyes as we left.
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Post by billhammond on Jan 17, 2023 9:54:13 GMT -5
Many of my friends had Silvertone or Airline(another Wards brand) guitars, amps, and basses. A couple had that Silvertone that came in the amp/case. Those, made by Danelectro, go for $900-1200 now. Asking $1,500 for this package:  |
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Post by drlj on Jan 17, 2023 10:31:06 GMT -5
Many of my friends had Silvertone or Airline(another Wards brand) guitars, amps, and basses. A couple had that Silvertone that came in the amp/case. Those, made by Danelectro, go for $900-1200 now. Asking $1,500 for this package: Cool. They were actually pretty neat guitars. A couple of friends had them and they played nicely and sounded pretty good. Bacon Belmonts, btw, often have Mother of Toilet Seat inlay and headstock, like the guitar I posted. |
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Post by billhammond on Jan 17, 2023 10:33:34 GMT -5
Reminds me of a funny story. Around 1965 as an aspiring folkie with Pete’s red banjo book I bought a Vega Folklore long neck. The budget Seeger model. (Still have it) A friend and I were driving to Denver and stopped at a burger joint in a small town. When the cute carhop came out we told her we were traveling folk singers and I got the banjo out opened the case and set it on the ground and started playing. She was quite impressed until our grand finale departure when my friend backed over the case. She was rolling her eyes as we left. But why would you have a case for a banjo? |
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Post by drlj on Jan 17, 2023 11:06:51 GMT -5
All a banjo needs is a good mute.
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