The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #51

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    Quote Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
    You look like my half brother David, who was from Livermore, CA, and tall and thin in the early 70's. He passed away last year at age 65 following a post op infection developed after a hernia operation!

    Imagine that, saving for months to purchase a new Gibson Byrdland for $1200. Shaking my head.
    Not sure whether or not I know you personally, Greg, but as a fellow forum member I just wanted to add my voice to the others in offering sympathies on the passing of your half-brother David.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #52

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    Pretty cool having Mark Campellone and Matt Cushman here. Knowledge we would never know. Though they have no stars on the Walk of Fame like Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable they are certainly stars around here. Thank you Gentlemen. Though the love of archtops in the world is very small it is a huge passion. Frankly if all there was, were Strats and flattops I would still be playing the clarinet.
    I tell this story all the time. The 1st time I heard a archtop was in 1973. George Benson’s White Rabbit album. I immediately traded my Les Paul for a 345 and started saving for a archtop. My 1st archtop was a new Byrdland. A 13 month wait for it. $1200 brand new.Attachment 68483
    Ha - great photo! And that Byrdland looks like a beauty - boy, 1200 bucks brand new back then - how things have changed! Reminds me of when I bought a brand new S400CES from a local music store back in '73 - list price at that time was $1395 - archtops weren't exactly flying off the shelves in those days - I offered them $850 and they took it!
    The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-s-400-001-jpg

  4. #53

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    Quote Originally Posted by MCampellone
    Ha - great photo! And that Byrdland looks like a beauty - boy, 1200 bucks brand new back then - how things have changed! Reminds me of when I bought a brand new S400CES from a local music store back in '73 - list price at that time was $1395 - archtops weren't exactly flying off the shelves in those days - I offered them $850 and they took it!
    The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-s-400-001-jpg
    Wow, $850 for a brand new Super 400. Of course, in today's dollars that is about 8 grand, but still.

    In 1973 I was 15 and bought my first Gibson, a 1970 ES-175D in mint condition. My negotiating skills were not yet honed so I paid the seller's full asking price which was $329. I was quite happy as Joe Pass, a 175 player was by then my number 2 guitar hero behind Wes Montgomery. And buying an L-5 was out of the question. Wes and Joe are still my main two guitar heroes. Today with some heard earned wealth, I own two L-5's and 3 ES-175's (along with 10 other guitars including three vintage D'angelicos).

    In 1980, I was playing in a rock band and had not yet acquired any wealth so I traded that 1970 ES-175D for two guitars, a 1978 Les Paul Standard in mint condition and a 1979 hardtail blonde Stratocaster with a bit of playwear. While I miss that first 175, I think I made a good trade (at 22, my business skills were "improving").

  5. #54

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    Quote Originally Posted by MCampellone
    The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-s-400-001-jpg
    The "Custom Made" plate is a nice touch, ha!

  6. #55
    I loved that early 70's cherry sunburst ! Nice S400 Mark.Bubble back
    Last edited by vinnyv1k; 01-30-2020 at 09:06 PM.

  7. #56

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    According to inflation calculation rate. $1395 in 1973 buys $8073.00 today. So maybe we are where we were in 1973. I am sure someone could buy a mint Super 400 fo4 $8073 inf they had the cash.

  8. #57

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    In 1973, I was promoted to captain, O3, in the Army, and my total income for the year was $10,506, which included flight pay of $1320. That's about $875/month, and what I thought was a lot of money. There is no way I would have paid $1395 for a guitar. In 1970 I paid $2000 for a new Ford, out the door. Today, it would be close to 10 times that. I also bought a Gibson J45 that year for ~$200, which was paid with my first two months of jump pay. Ah, to be young and stupid again. But of course that's redundant.

  9. #58

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    I don't have anything to really add, other than that I am really looking forward to how this turns out. I love the threads on this site about the guitars being built. And honestly, to echo what has already been said, how lucky are we to have some great builders be part of this site? Add to that some tremendously talented and knowledgeable people, it's really a wonderful thing!

  10. #59

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    And Santa is here too!
    JD

  11. #60

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    Great photos and story Vinny. "Do me a solid". I haven't heard that since the late sixties. Very groovy.

    Sorry for your loss, Greg. Keep the faith and remember the good times.

    Regards,

    Tony D.

  12. #61
    Bound F Holes ....The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-09c73d09-bb4f-45fa-b000-0a6454e44921-jpg

  13. #62

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    I loved that early 70's cherry sunburst ! Nice S400 Mark.Bubble back
    Yeah, it was a beautiful guitar - really clean workmanship and it played like butter - the finish was actually more brown than red - kind of a dark ice-tea color - and I think it's pretty rare to see quilted maple back and rims on a Gibson from that period!

  14. #63
    One thing that really stands out on Mark’s work is the binding work. The seams are invisible and perfectly aligned. The multi ply miters are perfect. That is a art just right there alone.

  15. #64

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    Stay tuned Attachment 68304
    Very nice Vinny!

    DB

  16. #65

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    Quote Originally Posted by MCampellone
    Not sure whether or not I know you personally, Greg, but as a fellow forum member I just wanted to add my voice to the others in offering sympathies on the passing of your half-brother David.
    Mark, very much appreciated.

    And thanks to all for offering their sympathies!

  17. #66

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    Bound F Holes ....The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-09c73d09-bb4f-45fa-b000-0a6454e44921-jpg
    I commented about this off line with Vinny.
    The top wood that Mark is using here is amazingly clear and de-void of any obvious winter growth lines.
    The man knows how to pick em..

  18. #67
    Top and back. Mark doesn’t fool around.The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-5c1d61c1-9a04-41ac-a812-fb0c251d3b4a-jpg

  19. #68

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    i assume that this would be just the thread to ask mr. campellone about his background...i'd assume he comes from a line of woodworkers and maybe even instrument makers...that kind of eye & understanding is difficult to learn otherwise...not impossible! but...

    cheers

  20. #69

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    i assume that this would be just the thread to ask mr. campellone about his background...i'd assume he comes from a line of woodworkers and maybe even instrument makers...that kind of eye & understanding is difficult to learn otherwise...not impossible! but...

    cheers
    From Mark’s website:

    Mark Campellone was born August 29, 1954 in Providence RI. With an abundance of artistic talent on the maternal side of his family, and a father with a keen ear for music, Mark began at an early age to display noteworthy abilities in these two areas, both of which would be important to his future work as a guitar builder.

    Mark began playing guitar at age ten, influenced by the Beatles and other popular music of the mid 60’s. Mostly self-taught, he played his father’s old Stella flattop for two years before getting his first good guitar – a Gibson hollow-body electric. As a youngster, while learning to play guitar, Mark also began to develop an appreciation for the instrument itself, particularly instruments like the Gibson L5 and Super 400. The early impressions made by these instruments would linger and later influence Mark in the design and construction of his own archtop guitars.

    As a result of his father’s interest in music, Mark was exposed to musical styles other than rock&roll while growing up. The home record collection included everything from classical music to the pop and jazz standards of his father’s era, and with dad being a guitar buff, there were many recordings of fine guitarists playing in these styles. Listening to these recordings deepened Mark’s interest in playing guitar. Eventually, the challenge of playing jazz guitar became a strong focus for him, reinforcing his interest in the guitar associated with that musical style – the archtop.

    Though he had considered an art related career, Mark finally chose to attend the Berklee College of Music. After one year of advanced studies there, Mark began working as a professional musician. Maintaining a strong interest in guitars led Mark to begin building instruments in the mid 70’s. In the years that followed, while continuing to work as a local musician, he built electric six-string and bass guitars and did repair work on both electric and acoustic instruments. This work included the repair and restoration of a number of vintage era archtop guitars, which provided the basis for Mark’s knowledge of these instruments and piqued his interest in building them.

    Mark built his first archtop guitar in 1988. Within a couple of years he decided to stop playing professionally to concentrate on instrument work, with the ultimate objective of building archtop guitars full-time. Through the following decade Mark exhibited his work at various guitar shows where his instruments quickly gained the attention of archtop guitar enthusiasts across the U.S. and abroad. Orders began to come in steadily and Mark was soon building archtops full-time.

    Mark’s instruments have established him as one of today’s premiere builders of archtop guitars. His work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American History as part of the Blue Guitar Project and has been covered in numerous guitar related publications.

  21. #70

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    Ya gotta just love that wood.

  22. #71
    Bubble maple for rims....The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-eba0a5e0-c0e8-4410-ad01-f2f3af9a9e5a-jpg
    Last edited by vinnyv1k; 02-08-2020 at 09:18 PM.

  23. #72
    Rims bent.....ya baby The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-d8c374b3-5633-4e1a-9039-a2e21896254b-jpg

  24. #73
    One thing I really like that Mark does is he reinforces the input jack inside the rim with another block of wood. No chance of rim cracking. One of those unseen improvements.

  25. #74

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    Quote Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
    One thing I really like that Mark does is he reinforces the input jack inside the rim with another block of wood. No chance of rim cracking. One of those unseen improvements.
    How thick is the block vk?
    sop on most electric archtops I've seen

  26. #75
    The new CAMPELLONE V1K model begins-1259e5bf-77d6-4458-b0ef-12453103ff6f-jpeg
    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    How thick is the block vk?
    sop on most electric archtops I've seen