Old Bacon Amateur Mandolin - looking for info

[elfin knight]

Hi all,

I am the very proud owner and player of a Bacon Amateur Mandolin and I'm trying to work out when it was made.
I've looked around online and it seems that they began making them in 1921. Do people agree with this?

There's not much info to go on with mine - it says "designed by William Place Jr." and then there's a signature over that text but I'm not sure if that's original or just a print. Someone has also scrawled the number #141 in pencil on the number. Is this a serial number?

Any info would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
James

[EdHanrahan]

Some would say "Photos, please", but I'll just comment that photos get folk's attention AND jog their memories.

There are a fair number of identical older instruments running around under varying brand names. From what little I know, "Bacon & Day" was highly respected, but don't know if "just" Bacon was at all related.

[Capt. E]

Glad you have one that is in playing shape. I had one once that David Grisman bought from me. It is still my avatar here on the Cafe. I remember it being nice enough, but lived up to the "amateur" name. They are rather rare. They are pretty much 1920's make. My opinion is they are more of a collector's item than something to play regularly. I found mine to be rather heavily built.

[elfin knight]

Hi both,
Thanks for that - I'll post some photos up and see what people make of it.
I play mine all the time, love the sound, and it comes to the campfire. It's got a very warm, rounded sound. If it is a collector's item then I didn't realise it.
Watch the space for pics. I'll get something up asap.
James

[Jim Garber]

I have an Amateur model and an Artist. The Artist is the high-end model. The Amateur is the simple teardrop. I never thought either were particularly heavy prob lighter in weight than equivalent Gibson or Lyon & Healy mandolins. They are earlier than Bacon & Day (B&D).

[mrmando]

I have one here, No. 156. I don't know how many were made altogether, but I do know that Bacon carved mandolins were made only until 1924. It would be difficult to narrow it down further, I should think, unless there are some company records somewhere.

Not a whole lot of people collect them so it's hard to say what they are worth. If you like to play yours, then keep playing it; it's not a priceless artifact and it's better off making music than sitting behind glass.

[Jim Garber]

BTW the Bacon Artist is the model of one of the Eastman Dawg copies.

Old thread on Eastman DGM mandolins

[Capt. E]

I have an Amateur model and an Artist. The Artist is the high-end model. The Amateur is the simple teardrop. I never thought either were particularly heavy prob lighter in weight than equivalent Gibson or Lyon & Healy mandolins. They are earlier than Bacon & Day (B&D).

At the time I also had a Martin Style C and perhaps I was just comparing the two. The Martins are very light weight. As I think about it, the Bacon Amateur was similar to a Gibson A. Glad you are enjoying it. I do love vintage instruments.

[elfin knight]

Here's some pics - and yes, I added a fisherman pick up to it - that might be sacrilege, we shall let the floor decide :-)

[Jim Garber]

Here's some pics - and yes, I added a fisherman pick up to it - that might be sacrilege, we shall let the floor decide :-)

A fisherman pickup would be fine but would that be for fresh water or salt water fishing. Considering it is a Bacon maybe adding a hog trough would be better.

[allenhopkins]

According to this Trails.com page,

"From bluegill and crappie to catfish, fish love the scent and taste of bacon. Whether you are bottom fishing or fishing close to the bank, bacon is an effective alternative to traditional lures."

So a Fisherman pickup on a Bacon mandolin might work well, especially for blue(gill)grass or them ol' catfish blues.

On the other hand, it might sound crappie.

[Bill Kammerzell]

I have one here, No. 156. I don't know how many were made altogether, but I do know that Bacon carved mandolins were made only until 1924. It would be difficult to narrow it down further, I should think, unless there are some company records somewhere.

There is a timeline at Mugwamps, that states Bacon introduced two carved top mandolins in 1920. Here is the link. So possibly 1920-1924?
http://www.mugwumps.com/BaconSerialNumbers.html

[Jim Garber]

Here is my SN list for Bacon carved mandolins. I assume Martin that yours is an Amateur (included in the list below as 156)?

Almost all the Bacons I have seen have been dated 1921 on the label. My Amateur does not have a label and I am not sure if it ever had one. I have others listed but no SNs for them.

I would appreciate any other owners who have SNs for these. I have some MC members mandolins listed here already.

051 Amateur
114 Artist
156 Amateur
161 Artist
182 Professional
20X Professional
204 Artist
221 Artist
221 Artist
316 Professional
432 Amateur

[chip]

Just picked up a #424 'Bacon' Amateur mandolin. Figure it's a 1922-23 w/ohc, cosmetically vg condition except for separation cracks due to shrinkage and fret board needing a slight reglue towards the 12th fret. Had my luthier look at the separation cracks due to shrinkage and would be better to just leave them be as they're not going to get any worse otherwise it would be a case of filling in and sanding , etc. I can't find any current valuations on these, any ideas ?

[JFDilmando]

Jim, I noticed that you have an old listing of Bacon serial numbers there.. if you are keeping that updated, you can add a 321 Artist which I have...

[chip]

I bought the instrument from a friend whose mom had it stored in the attic of her home in southern ,.ca. apparently the cold/heat caused a little drying out, thus the hairline separations. Would appreciate a current value if anyone knows as I have a client whose been looking for a reasonable priced vintage mandolin. The mandolin is in near mint condition otherwise and I don't want to overprice it but also don't want to take a loss on it. Case is in very good condition too. Can't find much info on current pricing.

[mrmando]

Mine's been sitting for a long time at $1200. So they probably aren't worth that much.

[chip]

Thanks for the info, where yours listed?

[mrmando]

Thanks for the info, where yours listed?

On my own site, and at Reverb. Should probably throw it on the Classifieds here and see what happens.