May 13, 2024 - JOHN’S CORNER: Medical Update
Sometime, back in the last century, around 1998, a young man called me up and said he had a pre WWII original Gibson RB-75, five string flathead banjo for sale. He asked me if I would be willing to pay him cash for it if he flew it up to me in Rochester, New York. I said, if the banjo was straight and right, I’ll pay for it and we agreed on a price. When he came up, the banjo was just as described and it turned out, he could really play it very well. It’s just the neck did not suit his hand. Now this is when we were first organizing our cellar showroom in the basement of the big house on East Avenue. The young man said to me, "Mr. Bernunzio, some day I’m gonna have big house with the basement full of banjos and people are going to come there and they’re gonna play and buy my banjos… my vintage banjos ….my name is Jim Mills….and he did just that, including writing the definitive book on Gibson banjos.
We were so sorry to read of his untimely passing at the age of 57. He was a gem of a person.
Our bluegrass jam with Trudy Fagan had a visitor with a clarinet and the music sounded fantastic. He said to me, "if you can play a harmonica with Bluegrass, you can certainly play a clarinet". He was a welcome edition to our jam.
Nothing drags Jay Scott out of his retirement more quickly that a wartime Gibson jumbo flat top!
This wonderful Mom had a Happy Mother’s Day spent with daughters Rose and Grace.
The first year we open the store this kid walks in who wants to play guitar and I hire him. He works for us for a bit while attending the University of Rochester. On Saturday, Dr. Michael Melnick and his wife came by to visit and show off 2/3 of their children! Including this newest member.
JOHN’S CORNER: Medical Update
May 13th, 2024
Good morning friends,
Last week I had my annual physical at my doctor’s office in Spencerport, New York…a long way from Penn Yan. My physical was with the physician’s assistant, a fine young man who I’ve met several times. He looked at the profile of my report from my blood work, checked out all my parts and said to me with astonishment "Damn, I wish I had your numbers!". Yes, my numbers are fine…. Blood pressure, cholesterol, HDL, PSA and scores of other numbers. Even though I wasn’t great in math, I’ve always had good numbers and those numbers point to a good, healthy future. Of course the downside is that all of the mechanical parts have been breaking down for years. He said you’ll probably live a long time but it won’t be that comfortable! I retorted, "Look, if I was a 1947 motorcycle, I’d be at the bottom of a scrap heap somewhere. And don’t give me that "vintage" crap…I have too many non original parts! I’m just glad I’m a 1947 human and still know my name and reside above the ground!
I’ve been spending a bit more time with things at the store and commuting from Penn Yan the past few weeks. I like my job, I like the people I work with and I like the stuff that I deal in. I even sold three banjos this week! We’ve been doing a little rearranging at the store and re-organizing with the keen help of Greg Maslyn. Instruments keep pouring in at a faster rate than they’re leaving so we are anticipating a big sale coming up in a week or so. Keep your eyes on our website as there are some fantastic deals.
With peace,
John Bernunzio
I like the guitars facing forward instead of on a slant…opinions?
Keuka Lake looking south from the Bluff
I saw these two guys on Sunday while I was exploring the Keuka Outlet Trail in search for wild cardoons