Ms Lora/Mr Wu Special Project

[mr. beaumont]

Classy response, from a maker of classy guitars.

[aboutIt]

Thank you, MarkRhodes, for passing that along to us.

[eddy b.]

The reason I like this forum so much is that it regularly teaches me about life, not just jazz music as it pertains to guitar. It is a truly remarkable era to be alive for. Kudos to all involved. Come back Big Mike!!!

[BigMikeinNJ]

I want to briefly break my fast from the site to say a few things for the last time.

Today I wrote Mr. Campellone directly:

Hello, my name is Michael Hale, I'm a retired old guy in Jersey. I'm part of the hubbub on the JazzGuitar Forum because I ordered a guitar in the finishing stages that has your fretboard inlay design and SPECIAL crest. Otherwise it is an Eastman AR910 body and neck, with your glorious headstock shape. I've been working with Ms. Lora and Mr Wu some years. They are wonderful honest people, free of the guile we sometimes assume as part of a person's character in our country. Mr Wu was one of the founding builders at Eastman when it first started (2001 ??). I have one of the first 5 prototypes that Eastman made for their first NAMM show, Mr Wu built it. Great instrument. Later when he left Eastman and went to work for Mr. Li of Yunzhi I had a John Pisano style guitar made, again Mr. Wu did the work. Great poor man arch tops.

You already know the other part about a guy I know who was offered the "Red Guitar" as I call it that was commissioned by 3rd party and then rejected. I wanted a guitar very like that but I knew I couldn't put your name on it, to me that would be an infamnia, a counterfeit. I don't do that. I'm never going to sell this guitar Mr Wu is making, I would never try to misrepresent it as a Campellone. In conversation I call it my Special Copy for convenience sake, but it doesn't really copy your fine work, it pays homage to it in the same way your guitars are influenced by Gibson, D'Aquisto and other greats.

Someday I hope to come into a bit of money through my family and I will then be able to order from you. I want a guitar very much like that lovely Manhattan Skyline you did. I knew and lost a number of customers (I worked at Fujitsu in California as their Network Support Tech) in both Towers. So though lovely that guitar evokes bittersweet memories for me. But a beautiful tribute. The headstock inlay was a brilliant stroke of creativity !!

Truly your work is awesome and like I said I hope one day to order a real M Campellone. Thank you for your time.

Michael W. Hale

_________________

I freely share the letter I WROTE HIM because I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. I wanted him to know how much I admire his work and guitars. Someday I will be able to purchase more than one guitar from and I will.

I want to thank all of you who sent me PM's asking me to come back. Thank You. And also to those of you who have been praying for my Mom, Georgia Hale, who now is in an extended care facility. I am doing everything here in Jersey as quickly as I can to move to Illinois to spend time with her in her last days. This involves rehoming all my pets: my chickens, my cats and my beloved buddy Lady T. Dog... Damn this is the most painful thing I have ever done in my 69 years. I have to euthanize two of my cats Wednesday, both old sweet creatures, but they have frequent seizures and its time I send them over The Rainbow Bridge. The chickens and coop are miraculously going to the horse farm people just behind me. They love the coop and the chickens. Only this morning a dog rescue group called Fur Friends reached out to me and dear Lady is going to them Saturday morning.


I know my time here is done, I have no regrets. I just don't see eye to eye with many of you. As long as your interests don't interferre with mine God Bless. I'll contact many of you privately so we can stay in touch and someday you can visit me in Chicago and I can cook for you and you can play my guitars, post some videos here in my absence.

All the best to you, try to play nice huh ??

BigMike


Please pray for my mom Georgia...

[vinnyv1k]

God bless Mike !

[yolandateam]

Another thing that could be useful is to provide Lora and Mr Wu with an exhaustive list of all the archtop makers.
Simple, no ?

That one is not exhaustive but it's a good start.

Also, iim7V7IM7 started a thread in that vein. Especially this. Please take a look Lora !

Mr Wu company is probably too small to have an international lawyer, but maybe a good list is all they need to avoid that "Campellone Affair".


ps: oh ! those prices ! ouch ! Still probably cheaper that a good cello though, lol.

courtesy of iim7V7IM7 from the above mentioned thread:

Anderson = $5,600 - $18,000
Unger = $4,400 - $16,000
Benedetto = $9,000 - $30,000
Buscarino = $9,000 - $24,000
Campellone = $4,450 - $12,500
Comins = $8,500 - $12,500
Grimes = $6,200 - $22,000
Lacey = $10,000 - $20,000
Mapson = $5,550-$18,500
Marchione = ?
Megas = $6,075 - $9.300
Moll = $5,500 - $15,000
Monteleone = ? (likely expensive)
Mortoro = $5,300 - $18,000
Nickerson = $5,000 - $8,000
Ribbecke = $25,000
Schaefer = $7,260-$10,230
Triggs = ? (I suspect more affordable)
Walker = ? (not taking orders currently)
Zimnicki = ?

Hi，Xuoham,

Yes, you are right. I will help Mr Wu collect other brand in all over the world and try to help him avoiding same problem happened. and it is really appreciated if all of you can help us.Cause sometime, I couldn't search all the brand from others.

Yours
Lora

[yolandateam]

Hi Ed,
Yeah, I know what she meant.
This whole ordeal taught me a lot about why it is not prudent to speak your mind around here.
Lora, if it was a mistake, I apologize. Good luck to you.
To the Forum and its Moderators, I apologize for any tension I might have caused.
BigMike, I'm sorry for hijacking your thread.
This has already taken way too much of my time away from me doing what I need to do. Come to think of it, I am defending a gentleman who has no idea who I am and will likely tell me to shut up and leave it alone. So from here on in, that's what I will do.

Hi, Joe,

First, thanks for your words. It is warning us we couldn't make same mistake in the future.

And I am really appreciated this forum helping learning more English and your culture. We are from different place, having different culture background. Just open yourself to others, and others will show nice to you.

Yours
Lora

[yolandateam]

I want to briefly break my fast from the site to say a few things for the last time.

Today I wrote Mr. Campellone directly:

Hello, my name is Michael Hale, I'm a retired old guy in Jersey. I'm part of the hubbub on the JazzGuitar Forum because I ordered a guitar in the finishing stages that has your fretboard inlay design and SPECIAL crest. Otherwise it is an Eastman AR910 body and neck, with your glorious headstock shape. I've been working with Ms. Lora and Mr Wu some years. They are wonderful honest people, free of the guile we sometimes assume as part of a person's character in our country. Mr Wu was one of the founding builders at Eastman when it first started (2001 ??). I have one of the first 5 prototypes that Eastman made for their first NAMM show, Mr Wu built it. Great instrument. Later when he left Eastman and went to work for Mr. Li of Yunzhi I had a John Pisano style guitar made, again Mr. Wu did the work. Great poor man arch tops.

You already know the other part about a guy I know who was offered the "Red Guitar" as I call it that was commissioned by 3rd party and then rejected. I wanted a guitar very like that but I knew I couldn't put your name on it, to me that would be an infamnia, a counterfeit. I don't do that. I'm never going to sell this guitar Mr Wu is making, I would never try to misrepresent it as a Campellone. In conversation I call it my Special Copy for convenience sake, but it doesn't really copy your fine work, it pays homage to it in the same way your guitars are influenced by Gibson, D'Aquisto and other greats.

Someday I hope to come into a bit of money through my family and I will then be able to order from you. I want a guitar very much like that lovely Manhattan Skyline you did. I knew and lost a number of customers (I worked at Fujitsu in California as their Network Support Tech) in both Towers. So though lovely that guitar evokes bittersweet memories for me. But a beautiful tribute. The headstock inlay was a brilliant stroke of creativity !!

Truly your work is awesome and like I said I hope one day to order a real M Campellone. Thank you for your time.

Michael W. Hale

_________________

I freely share the letter I WROTE HIM because I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. I wanted him to know how much I admire his work and guitars. Someday I will be able to purchase more than one guitar from and I will.

I want to thank all of you who sent me PM's asking me to come back. Thank You. And also to those of you who have been praying for my Mom, Georgia Hale, who now is in an extended care facility. I am doing everything here in Jersey as quickly as I can to move to Illinois to spend time with her in her last days. This involves rehoming all my pets: my chickens, my cats and my beloved buddy Lady T. Dog... Damn this is the most painful thing I have ever done in my 69 years. I have to euthanize two of my cats Wednesday, both old sweet creatures, but they have frequent seizures and its time I send them over The Rainbow Bridge. The chickens and coop are miraculously going to the horse farm people just behind me. They love the coop and the chickens. Only this morning a dog rescue group called Fur Friends reached out to me and dear Lady is going to them Saturday morning.


I know my time here is done, I have no regrets. I just don't see eye to eye with many of you. As long as your interests don't interferre with mine God Bless. I'll contact many of you privately so we can stay in touch and someday you can visit me in Chicago and I can cook for you and you can play my guitars, post some videos here in my absence.

All the best to you, try to play nice huh ??

BigMike


Please pray for my mom Georgia...

Pray for Georgia.

[travisty]

BigMike, I don't know you from Adam and I am sorry this hubbub has caused you to rethink your time here. I do hope you will reconsider. I, for one, have been ever so positively affected by your enthusiasm for this project.

I applaud your letter to M Campellone, and I applaud M Campellone's reasoned and understanding response to Mark Rhodes.

I urge you to consider that the people who have been posting in ways which bother you (when you obviously have more important things to think about) are really posting about an idea, and not a person, and they too may be affected by external events about which we do not know. Sometimes a short break is necessary for peace of mind and people regret saying the first thing which came into their head. I find people reasonably well-meaning here.

I, for one, would love to see a final picture of the guitar, and then hear how you get on with the guitar once it arrives. And in the meantime I wish you all the best in spending time with your mother and friends in Chicago, and hope if BigMikeinNJ doesn't see fit to return, BigMikeinChicago decides to take his place.

[Max405]

Hi, Joe,

First, thanks for your words. It is warning us we couldn't make same mistake in the future.

And I am really appreciated this forum helping learning more English and your culture. We are from different place, having different culture background. Just open yourself to others, and others will show nice to you.

Yours
Lora

Lora, I have learned from you too. You seem to be a sincere, wonderful person.
I will be in the market for another guitar soon. Would you be interested in making one for me?
Thanks, Joe D

[RonD]

"I find people reasonably well-meaning here."

Less everyday, so it seems.
Over the years that I've been here, I've watched as some very valuable contributors were chased away.

Yeah, I know, "freedom of speech", "it's my opinion", etc...

Common courtesy seems to have been forgotten.

Big Mike posted here, excited about his new build. Chose to share it with us. We love guitars...
Instead, some individuals decided that it was theirs responsibility to crap all over this thread, to be the super hero defenders of the guitar world.

It's too bad. This could be a great place.
Don't bother citing TGP or other sites as being worse. Ignorant behavior is just that. Quantity is irrelevant.

Over, and out.

[yolandateam]

Lora, I have learned from you too. You seem to be a sincere, wonderful person.
I will be in the market for another guitar soon. Would you be interested in making one for me?
Thanks, Joe D

Hi, Joe,

Yes, if you want, of course , Mr Wu and I would like to try our best help you building a dream guitar for you.

Anytime, you will be welcomed.

Yours
Lora

PS. 4 days later, Chinese New Year is coming. Best wishes for all of you.

[abelljo]

I have purchased guitars from Mr Wu and my expectations have been exceeded every time!

[GNAPPI]

I too will likely have one made for me someday, that tear drop is a cool one.

[m_d]

Thank you Mike for your contributions, I learned a lot from you. All the best to you in this tough period. I hope you'll be back.

[MaxTwang]

"I find people reasonably well-meaning here."

Less everyday, so it seems.
Over the years that I've been here, I've watched as some very valuable contributors were chased away.

Yeah, I know, "freedom of speech", "it's my opinion", etc...

Common courtesy seems to have been forgotten.

Big Mike posted here, excited about his new build. Chose to share it with us. We love guitars...
Instead, some individuals decided that it was theirs responsibility to crap all over this thread, to be the super hero defenders of the guitar world.

It's too bad. This could be a great place.
Don't bother citing TGP or other sites as being worse. Ignorant behavior is just that. Quantity is irrelevant.

Over, and out.

RonD thanks for breaching this subject and thanks to BigMike for liking it (or I wouldn't comment):

We all love guitars and we all get excited about gear. When someone posts a NGD or new build thread - keep it positive in the thread. If you have something unrelated and negative to say about, hmmm, ethics related to a different guitar, start a new thread and have a discussion about ethics and guitar building. It's a huge topic and could be an interesting read (not just imports, 'boutique' too). But don't piss all over a member's excitement for new gear and possibly taint that member's feelings towards their dream guitar (we all know what it's like to buy new gear, respect that when it's someone else).

[Woody Sound]

Please pray for my mom Georgia...

I will. My first and only grandchild was just born 10 weeks early, and was named Georgia.

[aboutIt]

MaxTwang, I think RonD, like 2B before him, is overstating a bit and ascribing motives that don't hold true, at least for me. But your point-- and I think the underlying spirit of RonD's-- is a good one. It could have been a new thread. I've been watching this thread since BigMike started it, and I shared his excitement for what is a beautiful build. My apologies to BigMike for not suggesting a new thread to discuss the issue (which everyone clearly acknowledged was with another guitar). As you said, it was a good topic for a different thread. And RonD and 2B (and BigMike), I've read your posts for some time and have respect for all of you.

[BigMikeinNJ]

MaxTwang, I think RonD, like 2B before him, is overstating a bit and ascribing motives that don't hold true, at least for me. But your point-- and I think the underlying spirit of RonD's-- is a good one. It could have been a new thread. I've been watching this thread since BigMike started it, and I shared his excitement for what is a beautiful build. My apologies to BigMike for not suggesting a new thread to discuss the issue (which everyone clearly acknowledged was with another guitar). As you said, it was a good topic for a different thread. And RonD and 2B (and BigMike), I've read your posts for some time and have respect for all of you.

Nonsense !! You were an absolute dirtbag the whole way, once you saw that photo of the Red Guitar you kept hitting people. attacking their character, intentions and honesty. Making assumptions about their ability to speak English and to be able to access the internet and search out builders names and demanding THEY PROVE their honesty and every other mean and despicable reasoning you could cook up.

To me kid you are dead. No absolution for you. You mother should be embarrassed the way you behaved. The Worst of Forum "Etiquitte" a real shame. You would never speak like that to anyone to their face in person. You would have been dead a long time ago.
Get thee away from me, punk...

Mark, you want to ban me now ??? Please do. Delete my userid if your admin guys can. I don't want anyone to see any of the help I shared here over the years. Your site does not deserve my help. YOU chimed in too... Shame on you. You are a moderator, you should have been PMing people asking, hey are these accusations true. But NO.... you had to go on shark attack mode too, Shame on you. As a moderator you are supposed to be above all that, not getting caught up in the blood frenzy that is such a common thing here.
This truly is the JazzGuitar Gear Page.

BigMike

[aboutIt]

Sorry you feel that way Mike. Apology stands, nonetheless.

[yolandateam]

Yesterday, I wrote an apology letter to Mark, and he is so kind that accept our apology. He is really a master.

Again thanks all of you point out our mistake and helping us to correct it.

Yours
Lora

[xuoham]

Yesterday, I wrote an apology letter to Mark, and he is so kind that accept our apology. He is really a master.

Again thanks all of you point out our mistake and helping us to correct it.

Yours
Lora

This is great !

I must be honest, i love BigMike, it's a shame he goes, but i think that iimV7IM7 was right to warn that this one guitar is a counterfeit.
He did it in a very moderate way, and besides the misunderstanding because it was unclear whether it's someone else's guitar, i do not remember he "attacked" anyone. Nor him getting "angry".
And this positive outcome from Lora gives him credit.

It triggered attacks from other members also, and i feel sorry for all this overreacting and overattacking.

The unfortunate reality of this forum is it can be at times like swimming with sharks and God help you if you have a cut finger that is bleeding. It can turn very quickly from advise to a personal attack which either leaves a member very mad and upset or with very hurt feelings.

I feel blessed everyday for remembering this, i'm sure there's many, many like me:

[Para]

Best wishes Mike.

[Archtop Guy]

I will. My first and only grandchild was just born 10 weeks early, and was named Georgia.

In the midst of all this anger,Congratulations Woody!

[BigMikeinNJ]

I will. My first and only grandchild was just born 10 weeks early, and was named Georgia.

I'm sorry to hear the baby was born early, I hope she is all right (I never had any kids but 10 weeks preemie sounds a little scary, I pray all is well). So when you handing out the C gars ?? LOL !!

You guys have no idea all the stuff I have on my plate. Just yesterday I took and surrendered two of my cats, both old and very sickly. My vet thinks she can rehome them to someone equally as crazy and willing to constantly clean up the disgusting messes they make. I had these guys since they were mere babies and I was invested. So after almost $500.00 in tests to confirm they can be placed I signed over custody to the Vet. It is so heart wrenching to see these guys look at you like "hey where ya going". Jack hid under a little towel in his carrier. Last night no Jack sleeping alongside my leg. But this is one of many steps, my wife left me with 6 cats, the dog and chickens. The toughest separation comes Saturday when I give up my dog Lady to a wonderful organization called Fur Friends In Need (they have a website, if you are big on animal love they take PayPal donations). Now I start packing boxes to keep my mind occupied. So that's what I was going through while all these people were attacking me, the Red Guitar, the WU's and Lora. Those people are my friends, I sat and let you guys run with it for about 36 hours without replying, just letting you do your thing. ANY reply I would have made would have prompted more attacks and so called "logic".

_________________


Lora shared a story in an email last night. I particularly like it because even in her culture somebody is always going to find a way to criticize you, here's the story.



Some days before, I read a cartoon story. one couple with a donkey, the couple both on the donkey, others said : you see how tired the donkey is! " then the wife jump down, and his husband on the donkey, others said, "he is so selfish ,he didn't let his wife on the donkey. then the couple change, wife on the donkey, husband is walking, others said: so fooly he is, Just his wife on the donkey. then the couple all walking not on the donkey, then others said: so useless, there is a donkey,but they don't ride it at all.

So again, thank you to all the guys who wrote me privately wishing me well. Thanks.
Back out of here to move along with all I have to do. Maybe after I am in Chicago and settled visiting my Mom I might look in. You'll have to guess if I was there. I think Lora will post the final approval shots of my guitar once it is ready to ship, she's more than welcome to do so. Maybe we can keep it on topic this time, huh ???


I DID hear back from Mr. Campellone, what a nice man. I didn't think to ask permission to share his reply so I am not going to post it. He totally understood the circumstances and was so easy going. I am sure he'd be a great guy to hang out with. I think my LIKE barometer would say "I'd like cooking for him". That's my seal of approval, cooking for someone.