So far only these four Bacons from the 1920s have been examined by vintage guitar players, dealers and collectors. There may be other undiscovered or as-yet unidentified Bacon guitars with Martin pedigree. One estimate says Martin built no more than two dozen Bacon guitars for the banjo maker in the early 1920s.
Still, these rare, well-made and well-preserved guitars from the 1920s cast new light on the first effort by Bacon, a well-known banjo maker, to market a line of premium guitars. They also illustrate Martin's bumpy road in selling private label guitars.
For half its existence Martin tried to boost sales to several entities and venues: retail shops, music teachers, sheet music publishers and regional distributors. These deals generally took one of three configurations: Martin-branded guitars; unbranded guitars; and privately labeled guitars. Some of these instruments had a Martin serial number and some did not.
Martin may have had high expectations with Bacon, since it was dealing with a nationally distributed musical instrument firm or publisher, such as The Ditson Company, Southern California Music Co. or Rudolph Wurlitzer Guitars, which each generated sales of several hundred instruments for Martin.
But Bacon's sales of Martin-made guitars were lackluster. In the end, it made and sold only a few dozen guitars with Bacon and the deal was short-lived.
Bacon logo, indicia stamp, dovetail S and Martin serial number
"A few guitars without Martin stamps were made for the Bacon Banjo Co. about 1924," said Mike Longworth, former company historian and the author of Martin Guitars, A History (4 Maples Press, © 1988, 2nd printing 1994), which presents what amounts to an etymological survey of Martin guitar styles, nomenclature, production totals, dimensions and pricing over a 160-year span.
Longworth didn't identify any Martin style numbers or production totals for the guitars it made for Bacon. He nevertheless added, "Some of Bacon[']s guitars were probably made by other firms, as well," without identifying any makers.
Three of the four newly found Bacon guitars are concert-sized and built with a design and materials similar to a Martin 0-21. Each has a 131/2-inch lower bout width, slotted headstock, neck with 12 frets to the body, ebony finger- board, bar frets and pearl dots at the 5th, 7th and 9th fret. Each is made with rosewood back and sides, spruce top and an ebony pyramid bridge.
The fourth Bacon guitar is identical to a Martin 2-17 model. The back, sides and top of this guitar are solid mahogany. It has the 12-inch lower bout width of a 2-17 model, neck with 12 frets to the body and bar frets on ebony fingerboard.
Guitars made under build-and-brand contract
The Bacon company owners, Fred Bacon and David Day, made a later attempt at selling premium guitars when banjo sales sagged in 1930. Since they didn't build guitars, they again used a build-and-brand contract with an outside firm. At that time they chose Regal Instrument Co. of Chicago IL, which produced nearly two dozen models of ornate and pricey guitars with a Bacon & Day label.
In the last 20 years these top-of-the-line arch-top and flat-top guitars by Regal, built between 1931 and 1939 for Bacon Banjo Co., have blossomed in collector esteem and monetary value among vintage guitar cognoscenti.
Unlike these Bacon & Day guitars by Regal, few Bacon guitars by Martin from the 1920s were known to exist. So offering details on these newly unearthed guitars is intended to illuminate an otherwise overlooked period in the histories of Bacon Banjo Co. and C.F. Martin Co.
Bacon with dark and glowing russet burst
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1924 Martin-made Bacon (no sn) with S on surface of dovetail joint |
Bacon with Martin serial number
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| 1923 Bacon with Martin sn 18909 |
Its design and construction is identical to a Martin 0-21 guitar. However, the spruce top on this Bacon has a natural finish, not a shaded finish like the Bacon described above.
It also has a herringbone rosette and herringbone backstripe as found on the typical Martin 0-21 of the 1920s. At that time it sold at retail for $50.
This rare bird does not have a Martin insignia or pearl Bacon logo on its headplate. Instead, the rear of the headstock has been die-stamped: "Made by the Bacon Banjo Co. Inc., Groton, Conn, U.S.A."
The neck on this instrument was reset by Elderly Instruments of Lansing MI in early 2018. At that time Elderly listed the guitar for sale at $7950.
Martin 0-21 with die-stamped Bacon brand
The third Bacon is also identical to a Martin 0-21. It was built with a concert-sized rosewood body, spruce top and 12-fret neck. It was produced without Martin branding or serial number. Instead, it was die-stamped on the nack of the headstock: "Made by the Bacon Banjo Co. Inc., Groton, Conn, U.S.A."
This third Bacon guitar is one of many vintage Martin acoustics described and displayed with images by photographer and guitar collector Robert Corwin of Philadelphia on his website www.vintagemartin.com.
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Tuning machines on 1923 Bacon concert guitar by C.F. Martin Co. Photo: Robert Corwin
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1924 Bacon 2-17 model has Martin sn 20956 and die-stamp "Bacon Banjo" |
This dimunitive guitar has a Martin serial number — 20956 — across its neck block. This number dates the instrument's production to 1924. During that year Martin built 500 of such 2-17 models and sold them at retail for $27.50. Of note is the fact that this guitar is among the first guitars Martin produced that were braced sufficiently for use with steel strings.
The guitar originally belonged to Harrigan's father. "He bought it second-hand sometime in the mid-1930s," he said. "It has been in the family ever since, though played very little."
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