Zwingle J. Dragar, born in 1906, was my father. This is the banjo he bought new, sometime in 1932. He had a few first names in his lifetime. He went by "Zeke", until his musician friends started calling him "ZD", and the name stuck. This was just after he joined a new band in 1933, that started off as "Charles Craft (his birth name) and his Orchestra". No one in the band cared for that name, so all the members put down names they liked, and threw them into a hat. Charles drew the first piece of paper and became "Baron Elliott". "Baron Elliott and his Stardust Melodies Orchestra". The swing band was very popular in the region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, with daily local and often national broadcasts. Sometime near the end of WWII, Baron decided to take his band on the road. ZD's decision was to stay at home and raise a family. That's where I came in. My father loved his banjo. He kept it in pristine condition. He played daily, and every night I would sit and listen to his music. I would give anything to hear him play again....Smile. I have kept the Silver Bell in safe storage ever since my father passed away.
Our professional writes:
"This Bacon & Day Silver Bell 1 "Sultana" and the serial number (30963) has me under the impression that this is a late 1931 model. I am certain it was built in Groton, Connecticut. The body has a bright celluloid veneer. The head and the position markers on the fret-board are ornamented with flourishes of red and green color, mainly diamond and floral in design. The body (pot) is eleven inches, and the resonator brings it just over the thirteen inch mark.
It is a nineteen fret (23" scale) tenor banjo of the late Jazz Age. It appears to be all original down to the Grover bridge and the 1920-30s Grover tuners, which are in as good of working order today as they were eighty-odd years ago. There are twenty-four tension brackets on the pot, and the flange on the shallow resonator features an f-hole pattern. You'll note that the banjo features Fred Bacon's patented "knee mute" which is operational. The tailpiece is the original "Oettinger" style, accepts ball and/or loop end strings, and the break angle of each string can be adjusted by the thumbscrew on each corresponding "finger" on the tailpiece, going a long way to ensure proper break angle and increased tuning stability.
The banjo has minimum wear and plays well. It was professionally set-up earlier in the year. There is a hardshell case (presumed to be original) in very good condition. There are few, if any, tenor banjos that could claim to be fancier, better playing, or better sounding than the Bacon Silver Bell Sultana, and this is an exceptional example of the model."
Polle Flaunoe writes:
"I have in the past owned, rebuilt/restored and later sold several Sultana SB #1 tenors like yours - I love this model - first of all for its fantastic performance and very rich sound - it's sought by many players for this reason."
I have a short (~1 min.) video of Nic Landon "foolin' around" , that i would be happy to email you.
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