The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 4 of 14 FirstFirst ... 23456 ... LastLast
Posts 76 to 100 of 344
  1. #76

    User Info Menu

    Xuoham, thanks for the comments. I had told Lora to make sure the guitar gets a little extra time to dry. It will be interesting to see what progress has been made.

    ​Well I got so much going on right now that I plan on using the waiting time very industriously, you see in mid March I am relocating to the Chicago area to be near my Mom who we had to put in an Advanced Care facility, her nurse sent me photos Thursday and doggone my Mom is so frail. I gotta go there really soon. It means making a huge sacrifice and rehoming my animals, a real heart breaker for me. I already have someone that is taking the chickens and coop - the best prospect I could ever pray for, the horse farm behind me. Vinny1K said I have a big heart, well doggone guys right now my heart is anxious to be at my Mom's side and breaking because these guys sense something is up. They're all on their very best behavior too. So it is a bitter sweet time for me. Please pray for my Mom, Georgia. And pray also that I find the very best homes for my guys. THAT would be much appreciated.

    Big

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #77

    User Info Menu

    Heart breaking moments and the sheer beauty of life are mysteriously connected.

    My prayers for your Mom and your little friends, Mike. Best of luck to them.

    One seldom regrets moving forward, and even so, it is never as cruel as regretting NOT doing something, is it ?

  4. #78

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by abelljo
    Mine didn't need any fret work, just electronics and a couple of details here and there. Set up I mean. But I do all the work myself so I save up a lot.

    Let us know how it sounds when you get it.
    Hi Abelljo!

    Any more photos on your 18" build? What's the depth?

    She looks nice!!!

  5. #79

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
    Xuoham, thanks for the comments. I had told Lora to make sure the guitar gets a little extra time to dry. It will be interesting to see what progress has been made.

    ​Well I got so much going on right now that I plan on using the waiting time very industriously, you see in mid March I am relocating to the Chicago area to be near my Mom who we had to put in an Advanced Care facility, her nurse sent me photos Thursday and doggone my Mom is so frail. I gotta go there really soon. It means making a huge sacrifice and rehoming my animals, a real heart breaker for me. I already have someone that is taking the chickens and coop - the best prospect I could ever pray for, the horse farm behind me. Vinny1K said I have a big heart, well doggone guys right now my heart is anxious to be at my Mom's side and breaking because these guys sense something is up. They're all on their very best behavior too. So it is a bitter sweet time for me. Please pray for my Mom, Georgia. And pray also that I find the very best homes for my guys. THAT would be much appreciated.

    Big

    Take Care of yourself Mike. Your Mom is in our prayers. She will be more comfortable knowing you are nearby when you get there. GodSpeed. And good luck to the animals too.
    Stay strong Mikey..

  6. #80

    User Info Menu

    It's tough but I got to do it. I talked to my Mom about 1/2 hour ago. She's doing ok, learning that the regular bingo game is a nice distraction for her, she likes "gambling". I keep seeing the scene from The Godfather where Michael Corleone is at his father's hospital bedside kissing his hand telling him "I'm with you now Pop, I'm with you"... I long for that moment with my Mom, and when I can spoil and pamper her with my cooking. Tough steps earn me a safer place to grow old, a little more money in the budget every month and seeing my Mom. Chicago has a lot to offer an old foodie like me. I keep asking God for help with the animals. My local friends are working to help me. Something is gonna come up for everyone. I'm not leaving Jersey until I have everyone placed in a good Forever Home. That's how I roll.

    Thank you for your encouraging words and prayers, everyone.

    Big

  7. #81

    User Info Menu

    You got it brother.
    New Jersey is losing a bright spot.

    JD

  8. #82

    User Info Menu

    BigMike, I am a big believer in prayer. I also will be praying for you.

  9. #83

    User Info Menu


    03:45 mail call.
    Hale ?!?!!!

    Looking very nice. Check out the stuff in the background, bending frames, partially built archtops
    My guitar is amazing


    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpegMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpegMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpegMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpegMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpeg
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 05:13 AM.

  10. #84

    User Info Menu



    A couple more shots. Wow who needs coffee now ?!?!
    Lol !?!?

    a little iPad quirkiness
    ill post them later
    think I posted one twice... Lol !!

    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpegMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpegMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpeg
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 09:58 AM.

  11. #85

    User Info Menu

    Sexy from head to toe !

    Btw, it's always fun to look at all the stuff in the background. I love all those pix taken at a different place each time.
    Starting to get an idea of the main room, especially in relation to those photos.

    Man, i would love to go there and see and touch and smell and hear.
    Not so far from Okinawa ...

  12. #86

    User Info Menu

    I agree, it would be very fascinating going there, seeing them work for a couple days. You can't "get it all" just by doing a walk thru.

    It reminds me of the fascination I have when in a really top flight restaurant, seeing all the really very nice plates coming out. There was a seafood/charcuterie place in Berkeley I met a date at, first date. She suggested we sit up in the balcony for the people watching - it was just before Christmas and a lot of out of towner's were visiting and relaxing (very much like the Chinese New Year for Lora and The Wu's) the menu was jaw dropping. They had the best selection of raw oysters (at least 7 varieties), lobsters, crab, seafood dishes, charcuterie (roasted meat cuts and specialty sausages and salami made on site, and their own aged artisinal cheeses. Being up in the balcony I could see waiters taking out these great platters. I stole more ideas for my home use just seeing the stuff presented. My date could see I was in my own element and we had fun talking and drinking. Our food was really nice. I told her I would love working there for 6 months to just learn how they did all that stuff. The food was really very top flight.

    Added treat, when we were almost ready to leave the table behind us emptied. Going down the stairs was Carlos Santana the famed guitar player (wearing a suit with a matching scarf and beret). I gave him a little nod and wink and he busted out a great smile in return... Totally cool.

    I can see anyone like us just being absorbed by what Mr and Mrs Wu do in their little workshop - it'd be like paradise for all of us to really get an understanding of how all this comes to be. And an appreciation of our own instruments once we have them in hand
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 10:20 AM.

  13. #87

    User Info Menu

    Mike that is amazing.
    Mr Wu should be grateful for the help you give them. You are selling a bunch of guitars for them.
    That is awesome.
    JD

  14. #88

    User Info Menu

    Well I guess I am helping them sell, but really it's my enthusiasm for the form and how they go about doing it in a very old world, non CNC fashion. If my enthusiasm and love for the craft rubs off and people decide to buy well great. I mean look at the background stuff in this last batch of photos, there's a very nice sunburst sharp cut Super 400 looking guitar, a nice blonde venetian cut arch top (gotta get back on my iPad and blow up what it says on the headstock) and more being slowly assembled. I'm telling ya I'd be like a kid in a candy store...

  15. #89

    User Info Menu

    I like the characters for Mr Wu's name: He's a luthier and an artist - his name should be on the instrument. If I order I'm thinking similar symbols for fret markers could be very cool (just need to think of a message I'd want on there).

  16. #90

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by MaxTwang
    I like the characters for Mr Wu's name: He's a luthier and an artist - his name should be on the instrument. If I order I'm thinking similar symbols for fret markers could be very cool (just need to think of a message I'd want on there).

    That's exactly what I thought. I had any number of options at my disposal but at the end of the day I realized, HEY This Is A Mr. Wu Guitar... and seeing someone else had used that very design on his guitar it seemed a natural to me.

    Now my next guitar I've got another idea in mind. Of course the YolandaTeam label will be inside, signed by Ms Lora, Mr and Mrs Wu... My next guitar will be a 17x2 1/2 inch
    copy of a Campellone guitar built to commemorate the lost Twin Towers, it is called the Manhattan Skyline, I am having him recreate it (but with the pickup right against the end of the fingerboard and the larger thinner body explained above). I want it to say Manhattan in the same scroll that is used to say M Campellone in this photo... A cherry sunburst, my first cherry sunburst arch top. Once my move to Chicago is completed I can start the new project. Same deal, the VERY BEST woods they can find, no rush to get it built, just do it right...

    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-p2_ufhf1okik_so-jpgMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-p6_uibw2fcnx_so-jpgMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpeg
    Attached Images Attached Images Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpeg Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-image-jpeg 
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 01:51 PM.

  17. #91

    User Info Menu

    Question BigMike:

    The characters of Mr Wu's name are inlaid abalone, or a template like the "special" logo?

    I assumed any headstock logo, especially if requested, would be actual MOP.

    Is Mr Wu not prepared to do MOP inlay designs on headstocks? If the answer is no, why glue a template and then lacquer over it? Is it to save time, and have the end result appear more accurate?

  18. #92

    User Info Menu

    I specifically requested the logo to be abalone. In my original post I state that.
    I can see how some guys would want the logo of their choice to be in MOP, look at the 18 inch guitar being talked about now and you'll see his logo is MOP I believe...

    Here is the Special inlay, it is MOP and it was INLAID. What any good inlay artist would do is lay the logo on the headstock in the position they want it, trace the area in pencil they need to cut out of the ebony headstock veneer and cut inside that. I've done enough opal inlay to know you mix epoxy and something black and carefully lay that in the cutout area, then gently lower your inlay pieces in, which Mrs Wu did (that inlay is 3 distinct sections). In my case you can see once it was done where the upper part of the capital S in Special and the middle of the lower case P have that epoxy mixture in them. No big whoop to me (but that's because I've done inlay in 18k rings I cast).

    I think I mentioned it before and you can see it again and again in this latest batch of photos. They shot the photos inside and I bet it was overcast: so many times it is artificial fluorescent lighting only and any outside light is negligible at best. Here's the inlay again.

    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-qq-22270-2925520160113124449-jpgMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-qq-22270-2925520160130160153-jpg


    Here's the blue tulip on that 18
    inched and that logo is inlaid MOP, yes ??

    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-2_zps8mq128oo-jpg
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 05:30 PM.

  19. #93

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
    I specifically requested the logo to be abalone. In my original post I state that.
    I can see how some guys would want the logo of their choice to be in MOP, look at the 18 inch guitar being talked about now and you'll see his logo is MOP I believe...

    Here is the Special inlay, it is MOP and it was INLAID. What any good inlay artist would do is lay the logo on the headstock in the position they want it, trace the area in pencil they need to cut out of the ebony headstock veneer and cut inside that. I've done enough opal inlay to know you mix epoxy and something black and carefully lay that in the cutout area, then gently lower your inlay pieces in, which Mrs Wu did (that inlay is 3 distinct sections). In my case you can see once it was done where the upper part of the capital S in Special and the middle of the lower case P have that epoxy mixture in them. No big whoop to me (but that's because I've done inlay in 18k rings I cast).

    I think I mentioned it before and you can see it again and again in this latest batch of photos. They shot the photos inside and I bet it was overcast: so many times it is artificial fluorescent lighting only and any outside light is negligible at best. Here's the inlay again.

    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-qq-22270-2925520160113124449-jpgMs Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-qq-22270-2925520160130160153-jpg


    Here's the blue tulip on that 18
    inched and that logo is inlaid MOP, yes ??

    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-2_zps8mq128oo-jpg
    Thanks for the confirmation BigMike.

    I requested, and agreed to, MOP "inlays."

    To my surprise, yesterday Lora confirmed for me that the "blue tulip" logo above, in her words, "will glue on the head using lacquer."

    What am I missing about the "inlay" process done by Mr Wu? Essentially a "sticker" is created from photoshop and then lacquered over on top of the ebony? What about the individual fretboard markers? Are these "stickers" too?


  20. #94

    User Info Menu

    2B, I still think you are off by a Jersey Shore Mile on your guess.

    Look at my headstock INLAY, that picture of the inlay pieces, look at it. In the photo it's backwards, yes ??
    And you have to ask yourself, how many pieces is that inlay. Is it 3 or is it 11 ?? In other words are each of the "spears" in the bottom and top individual pieces (each totaling 5 pieces) or is each "spear" 1 piece of pearl with very clever jewelers saw incisions cut into it, so that when it is flipped over and inserted into blackened epoxy it shows thru the pearl enough to look like separate spears. These are clever tricks of the scrimshaw and inlay artists craft.

    OK, now look at the center section, it's backwards yes ?? Look very carefully (I have an iPad Air and I'm able to really blow that image up by doing a "stretch"). Can you see what I call "tap holes", holes drilled for a jeweler saw blade to go into, the cutter inserts the end of the blade thru the hole, attaches it to the lower part of the saw jig and tightens the blade. Then carefully cuts the S in Special. But in doing that a piece can call out in the upper part of the S thus the upper part of the S is filled with blackened epoxy). Next the P in Special is started. See on the bottom where the saw is used to cut the long part of the P with ?? Guess what, in doing that the center of the P could fall out leaving room for blackened epoxy to fill it. Next another "tap hole" is drilled and the rest of the word SPECIAL is sawed clear thru the pearl. With me so far ?? So you lay those pieces on the headstock and trace the area you will cut out, first with a Exacto knife and perhaps the rest carefully whittled away with a Foredom flexible shaft and bit or a Dremel with a small bit.

    I say all this because I studied Jewelry Making at Southern Illinois University, worked as an apprentice on the North Side in Chicago until I got drafted and later in my 2 years taught Jewelry Making at a Special Services Arts and Crafts center on base as my full time duty. After that I kept making jewelry up until about 2007 when my eyes started messing up. There's a million little tricks they use. These are my "guestimations" on how they did my inlay. Do you honestly think my SPECIAL inlay is some "sticker" ?? Really ?? Maybe they had to do that with the Tulip, but that isn't that hard a thing to pull off with some slick jeweler's saw work. How do you think they take a fingerboard and cut into it or the inlays ?? They use awls and or a dremel or flexible shaft
    hand piece and small bits. Takes time, it's work suited for someone who is very patient and has a VERY steady hand. Or some hippie dude doing whites or crank to keep them busy (sorry my shady past is rearing it's strange head here).

    I'm up for any suggestions. Stickers, I don't think so. If my fingerboard inlays were stickers they would have gone on AFTER the frets were installed... Just me wondering out loud using my jewelers experience.


    Big
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 09:34 PM.

  21. #95

    User Info Menu

    I wonder if that's my 18" on the background??????

  22. #96

    User Info Menu

    Ask Ms Lora point blank to ask Mrs Wu how she made the inlay and then take the conversation with Ms Lora from there once you get your answer.

    Here's another Special headstock inlay, notice the guitar headstock
    has flame maple binding, something Mark Campellone refuses to do (based on an experienced member's request to M Campellone a man who Campellone sold many guitars to that he sold in his store).

    It's a Mr Wu Special copy, the motivation for my project... It's a cherry burst, sorta fatter neck. Gorgeous guitar

    .
    Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project-img_8448-jpg
    Last edited by BigMikeinNJ; 01-30-2016 at 09:57 PM.

  23. #97

    User Info Menu

    abelljo, it may indeed be your guitar. If it is it appears it now has it's frets done. Based on that I would suggest you inquire with Ms Lora, you may be in the just after Chinese New Year shipping window I am now in !!!!

    Which would be cool indeed !!!!

    Yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  24. #98

    User Info Menu

    Okay, clearly communication was dropped on my "inlay." An overlay of a template glued on is clearly not a MOP inlay. If there is no etching of ebony to insert individual MOP pieces, they're not inlays, are they?

    A word of advisement to anyone ordering a future guitar with Mr Wu can learn from my experience, should ask more specific questions, regarding inlays. This sticker gluing process onto the top of the headstock came as a complete surprise to me.

  25. #99

    User Info Menu

    I know it's not what you wanted 2b but I'm sure it's fine.
    And if it bothers you, they could probably fix it.
    Thanks for teaching us that the language barrier is potentially a real issue with this particular builder. They will learn and they will get it right. The guitar is still beautiful.
    Joe D

  26. #100

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Joe DeNisco
    I know it's not what you wanted 2b but I'm sure it's fine.
    And if it bothers you, they could probably fix it.
    Thanks for teaching us that the language barrier is potentially a real issue with this particular builder. They will learn and they will get it right. The guitar is still beautiful.
    Joe D
    Thanks for the supportive word Joe.

    I've received confirmation that every "inlay" Mrs Wu produces is inserted into the wood by etching the ebony - Except the headstock logo.

    Per Ms Lora their headstock logos are generally overlays atop the headstock, and lacquered over. And that makes perfect sense given the vast number of intricate letters needed to satisfy everyones labeling needs.

    Perhaps its only companies that use the identical name each time, such as the "heritage", that inserts a name logo into the headstock of a Golden Eagle which are "inlaid" into the wood? And even they don't use MOP logo's on their lesser guitars.

    What do I know about inlays on new guitars...I've never owned one!