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Thread: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

  1. #26
    Capt. E Capt. E's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Quote Originally Posted by Capt. E View Post
    Look at my Albums for some good photos of the Bacon Amateur. I remember it also had a rather low serial number. Sorry I didn't take a photo of the label.
    Actually, I really don't remember a label on my Amateur and my photos do not show one.
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  2. #27

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    My Bacon Artist is numbered 204 and label is signed "William Place 1921." All the Bacon mandolins of those styles have three-digit numbers and most seemed to be dated 1921:
    • 051 Amateur
    • 114 Artist
    • 156 Amateur
    • 161 Artist
    • 182 Professional
    • 20X Professional
    • 204 Artist
    • 221 Artist
    • 221 Artist
    • 316 Professional
    • 432 Amateur/Student


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    Jim,
    I have a Bacon Professional mandolin #108 that can be added to the list:
    Last edited by Gibson John; Apr-23-2018 at 5:00pm.

  3. #28
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gibson John View Post
    Jim,
    I have a Bacon Professional mandolin #108 that can be added to the list:
    Can you post some photos?
    Jim

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  4. #29

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    My Bacon Artist is numbered 204 and label is signed "William Place 1921." All the Bacon mandolins of those styles have three-digit numbers and most seemed to be dated 1921:
    • 051 Amateur
    • 114 Artist
    • 156 Amateur
    • 161 Artist
    • 182 Professional
    • 20X Professional
    • 204 Artist
    • 221 Artist
    • 221 Artist
    • 316 Professional
    • 432 Amateur/Student


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    now that is a real beauty, what does it sound like?

  5. #30

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

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    The label is not in the best shape but I can see the serial number 108 & part of the signature is not there but the year 1921 is.

  6. #31
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    If I look out my office window I can literally see the old Bacon factory . . . but I have never seen one of the mandolins in this area.

    Strange.

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  8. #32
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gibson John View Post
    Click image for larger version. 

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    The label is not in the best shape but I can see the serial number 108 & part of the signature is not there but the year 1921 is.
    The mandolin looks like it is in excellent shape.
    Jim

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  9. #33
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeZito View Post
    If I look out my office window I can literally see the old Bacon factory . . . but I have never seen one of the mandolins in this area.

    Strange.
    Hey, Mike. Take a photo and post it here.
    Jim

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  10. #34
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Here is a shot of the front of the building, as it stands today:

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    Some additional background on what Willkamm contributed in Posts #4 and 5:

    The address is now a restaurant. If you go around to the back of the building there are some basement offices that may be a part of the original Bacon factory. The reason I say 'may' is because the site sits right on the edge of the Thames River - and back in 1938 a horrendous hurricane blew through this area, and almost all of New England, that utterly destroyed everything in its path - and just about anything that sat along the Thames River in the town of Groton was practically annihilated. I can't say what remains of the original building, but there is a good chance that at least some of it was destroyed, 80 years ago.

  11. #35
    Registered User nmiller's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Mike - that restaurant uses the same address as the Bacon factory, but it's a few buildings down from the original factory - which does survive, but is basically now a barn used for storage by the owners of the house out front. There are pics of it here.
    www.OldFrets.com: the obscure side of vintage instruments.

  12. #36
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Well, you learn something new everyday. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that the town actually switched addresses - this is the same town that, until a few years ago, had multiple streets with the same names.

    THANKS for the info - I will have to drive by later today and check it out . . . and check the local pawn shops again to see if any Bacon's have shown up!

  13. #37

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

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ID:	167149Yes it's in excellent shape & plays & sounds great!
    My son also has a Bacon Amateur mandolin serial number 432 but it does not have a label inside but stamped on the headstock. I think it's a 1922 but not sure, if anyone does know if correct or what year it its post it.
    Last edited by Gibson John; Apr-27-2018 at 5:19pm.

  14. #38

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    This Bacon Belmont mandolin was just listed but doesn’t look like any other Bacon model. I’m wondering if it was one that was produced after Bacon had sold out to Gretsch in 1939?

  15. #39

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Dave Bradford, it appears to be very similar to a Harmony Monterey- I have one- sold as an S S Stewart that is from 1938 or 1939- the f holes are different as are the tuners which suggest this mandolin is late 1940s or even 1950s. The alternative, is a Stra-O-Lin of the same era- late 40s. Here is a Harmony Monterey which I think it is now for sure:

    https://reverb.com/au/item/3748569-h...-h417-mandolin
    Last edited by NickR; Oct-19-2020 at 10:15am.

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  17. #40
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Nice to resurrect this older thread. As far as who made these my guess is that either Bacon brought someone or a few folks into the factory to tool up and make the few of these we find. Or else they contracted out to some unknown luthier(s). They are nicely made but don't really resemble any other makers even in terms of the minute details. Anyway, another mystery we may never find out.

    They seem much rarer than Lyon & Healy especially the Artist model. Many years ago I was at a party in NJ and was playing mine and Stan Jay of Mandolin Brothers was there and he came up to me out of breath and said, "What is that? I have never seen one of those."
    Jim

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  18. #41

    Default Re: Bacon mandolins - who actually built them?

    Looking again at that Bacon Belmont on eBay, all the metal fittings are secured with Phillips screws. I don't know when Harmony went over to Phillips screws but I assume it was well into the 1960s making this mandolin much newer than I had first thought.

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