The New Campellone Standard Nick build

[Hammertone]

I think you’re being a little hard on Gibson in the Norlin days.

Keith, I'm not refering to Gibson and the fine folks working for Gibson, who built the guitars. I'm refering to the owners - the E.C.L. crowd - H. Norton Stevens, and his buddies, along with his HBS buddy Arnie (Maurice Berlin's son). Followed by Rooney Pace and Piezo Electric Product, Inc.. Their track records are less than stellar, although some of them have impressive criminal records. I'm speculating that they imposed various conditions, managment directives and so forth on the Gibson company, driven by their financial hijinks. This, no doubt, resulted in some, uh, interesting decisions at Gibson.

Here's a fun read:
The day the music died: Rooney, Pace and the hostile takeover of the Norlin Corporation. - Free Online Library

I like this part:
"The root cause of the demise of the Norlin Corporation must be sought in the fateful decision made by Norton Stevens and his board of directors to divest the company's operations in Ecuador and to acquire entirely new lines of business in electronics, music, and printing, all areas in which the Norlin executives had no prior experience. The most damaging criticisms of Norlin's management came in regard to the 1969 acquisition of the Musical Instrument Company: it 'immediately filled its management ranks with MBAs who had no previous experience with musical instrument design and manufacture.' "

[floatingpickup]

Here's a fun read:
The day the music died: Rooney, Pace and the hostile takeover of the Norlin Corporation. - Free Online Library

That certainly was an interesting story and it sounds like there would have been a lot of pressure on the staff to reduce costs and increase profitability. Around the same time, I worked at a company that was going through a very similar situation, which finally ended with a successful hostile takeover and divestiture of almost all of the subsidiaries. It was demotivating to say the least. I imagine that the people who were actually building guitars in Kalamazoo were living with constant worries about their future, while still doing their best and taking pride in their work. And then Henry and David Berryman came along and bought Gibson for a mere $5 Million! The next chapter is a whole other story.
Keith

[vinnyv1k]

Fretboard.....sweet !

[Nick71]

Fretboard.....sweet !

very sweet..

[vinnyv1k]

Neck

[Nick71]

Neck

Thank You Vinny,
I appreciate the update, looking good!

[MCampellone]

Thank You Vinny,
I appreciate the update, looking good!

This shot shows the neck blank brought up to the point where the fingerboard and peghead faceplate can be attached - the dovetail has been cut, the peghead ears and fingerboard extension have been added, and the truss rod has been installed -

[Nick71]

This shot shows the neck blank brought up to the point where the fingerboard and peghead faceplate can be attached - the dovetail has been cut, the peghead ears and fingerboard extension have been added, and the truss rod has been installed -

Thank You Mark C..
I understand completely because I have been to your website. I got to see all the pictures of your shop and your equipment and I got to see your guitar building process in its stages..

[vinnyv1k]

Neck progress

[vinnyv1k]

Completed neck

[2bornot2bop]

Amazing huh...to observe an artist bring pieces of wood...to life. Beautiful.

[Nick71]

Completed neck

Vinny thanks for the update.
That neck looks impressive!!
What a pleasant experience this build is. Mark C has got his craft and production down to a science and that makes for a no nonsense quality build. Proud to be apart of it!!
Nick..

[vinnyv1k]

Ready for some lacquer

[neatomic]

gonna be a killer with the lollar p-90!!!....just rollback them knobs! hah

cheers

[Nick71]

Ready for some lacquer

The craftsmanship, the quality control, the attention to detail, the personal touch for each and every order, the on time delivery..
Mark Campellone is a huge asset to the archtop community..

Bringing a huge smile to my face visualizing playing..

[vinnyv1k]

Sealer coat and antique stain.

[Nick71]

Sealer coat and antique stain.

Sweet!!

[vinnyv1k]

Love the maple on this one.

[MCampellone]

As I'd mentioned in a previous post, this hard maple back looked pretty plain with no lacquer on it - but now, with some finish applied, the figure really pops - it also has a beautiful refractive quality, and the figure seems to move as light hits if from different angles.

[vinnyv1k]

Finish going on.....

[citizenk74]

Lovely!

[2bornot2bop]

I thought there was a Cameo coming from this batch. Was I wrong?

[Nick71]

There is one in this batch..

[Nick71]

Finish going on.....

I am very impressed with the color’s simple elegance..
It looks like soon to be finished..

[vinnyv1k]

Lacquer done