Campellone’s latest batch

[Mark M.]

Mark just finished his latest batch. Here is mine:



I’ll do a proper NGD when I receive it. I can’t wait!

[vinnyv1k]

Dark cherry sunburst.....Saaaweeet !!! Congrats

[Hammertone]

More shots to come.

[Mark M.]

I see that someone ordered a gold foil pickup. I thought about that before going with the Biltoft CC floater. I’d love to do an A/B.

[GuitarJay]

Mine is on the front of the stack. The top is a NOS 50s L4 top!

[Mark M.]

Very cool, Jay!

[Woody Sound]

I see that someone ordered a gold foil pickup. I thought about that before going with the Biltoft CC floater. I’d love to do an A/B.

It looks like a DArmond.

[jumpnblues]

Holy smokes, what a collection?!! Huge congrats on the new ax.

[jim777]

Absolutely gorgeous guitars, Congratulations guys!

[jim777]

I would love to see a front on pic of that last reddish looking one as I still haven't decided on a color for mine, though I am leaning towards the brown burst one on his homepage

[GuitarJay]

Mine shown above is chestnut sunburst, and the front looks darker than the back as the 50s NOS spruce top had darkened a bit with age. Mark said he applied the same stain to the front and back when I asked if the front actually looked darker or if it was just the lighting. I dig it!!!

[Mark M.]

Picking out the finish color was very hard for me. I went around and around between Dark Cherry Burst, Chestnut Burst, and Antique Burst. I am happy with where I settled on Dark Cherry Burst, but I know I would have loved any of them. Mark’s finishes are spectacular.

[Hammertone]

In the past year, Mark got three NOS Gibson carved spruce tops - a JS top, an L-4/L4C/L50 top, and an L7/L7C/L5/L5C top. The JS was used on my Gibsellone Award, the 16" one was used on Jay's just-completed guitar, and the last top is available as an option on an existing or future order. Impossibly rare, airdried for 60 years or more, and quite gorgeous - someone grab it!

[vinnyv1k]

Mark is a pretty flexible guy. Most builders would tell you to F off if you said hey use this Gibson top instead of yours.

Or maybe Mark is like cool one less top to carve….

[Hammertone]

Mark is a pretty flexible guy. Most builders would tell you to F off if you said hey use this Gibson top instead of yours.
Or maybe Mark is like cool one less top to carve….

Well, given that:
-he is intimately familiar with Gibson archtops;
-they are one of the main inspirations for his design approach;
-he has built over 580 archtops to date;
-the opportunity to work with NOS parts like these is vanishingly rare;
I can understand his enthusiasm for working with these carved plates, solving whatever challenges they present, and integrating them into his production process. I know that both of them required all sorts of work that was not part of his established methodology. Given that my socks are knocked off every time I play the "Gibsellone Award" he built for me, it was unquestionably worth the extra effort. I look forward to playing Jay's Campellone "El Forte!" (my name for it).

I have one Gibson top plate left, which is not NOS, but was removed from a (presumably otherwise destroyed) blonde, non-cutaway 1950s-era Super 400. It would be nice to mate it to a Super 400 with a smashed-up top, if anyone knows of such a beast. Also, if anyone can recommend any bulk deals on socks, that would be swell.