B&D Super 17 Tenor Banjo

I totally love the the tonal sound of the B&D 29 hole perforated tone rings installed in the ‘Super’ and ‘Silverbell’ model tenor banjos. The Super Tenor was built from 1920 to 1927 by the Fred Bacon Banjo Company in Boston, Massachusetts. This banjo with serial #13628 was produced in the year 1925. The banjo is in excellent original condition with excellent nickel plating throughout and original lacquer. The Super Tenor is built with Birdseye Maple, Ebony for the fingerboard, and fairly elaborate Mother of Pearl inlays, especially to the headstock. The 5 piece neck is nicely profiled for Irish trad playing with good frets and has nice low playing action complete with original Planet geared tuners which hold the tuning well. The back of the neck has the ‘strapping’ layered woods which are common in the B&D builds.

You don’t often come across a short scale 17 fret version with the trapdoor flush resonator. I know sometimes 17 fret tenor banjos can sometimes suffer from a satisfactory tonal sounds and you often have to use 13, 20, 30, 40 gauge strings but I have installed standard 19 fret strings (Harmonic silver plated 12,18,28,38) and it makes this banjo ring. Check out the video below. A nice feature are the original arm rest and oettinger tail piece, all hooks & nuts are original also. Comes with original hardshell case in great condition.

Banjo details