July 6th, 2026

Good morning friends,

    Several months ago, one of our longtime customers dropped off a large cardboard box at our store along with some instruments to consign. Inside the box was all of the mailing lists that we had sent out since the late 1980s. We gathered around, reading and looking at where we have been and I thought it would be a good time to share a glimpse of this journey with my readers in this format. The history of Bernunzio musical instruments goes back to the mid 1970s. I started putting out small lists in the late 1970s and had refined it a bit through the early 1980s. However, it wasn’t till I met Julie Schnepf, and we became a team, that our printed mailer became a household name. Then around 1995 a customer of mine said to me "if you sell me that old National guitar for a really good price, I’ll build you a website." My reply was, "what the hell is a website?" He said, "trust me you’ll be happy". For a few years we continued with our printed mailer alongside our digital listings on the computer, but eventually the technology took over and the printed mailer was a thing of the past. So it is with some nostalgia that we look into the past and share these pictures of what Bernunzio Vintage Instruments once was. It is interesting, of course to compare the prices of instruments and the quality of inventory that we had back in the day. It is just mind blowing. The finest pre-WWII  Martin guitars, great Gibson Jazz guitars and the best banjos in the world passed through our hands in those days. So I give you these pictures glimpses of the past… read with nostalgia and enjoy, what once was Bernunzio Vintage Instruments. We are still very much alive and under the leadership of a new generation of young men who we hope will take it into the future.

With peace,

JB

These are the guys that are calling the shots today. I have ultimate confidence in Sam Snyder and Ryan Yarmel at the front line and Alex Patrick in the repair. Together, they have 50 years of experience and they have made Bernunzio Uptown Music a welcoming Center of Music in downtown Rochester, New York

We’ve always a had history of sidewalk art, usually done by my grandchildren, and this was no exception

On Sunday, we took a beautiful drive west through Middlesex, NY to the town of Naples.

A great establishment in Naples is Hollerhorn Distillery… it is dedicated to really pure authentic spirits and they host music in several venues. The food is outstanding and the service is great. Performing there on Sunday was our own Alex Patrick, Ali Lindsay, and Ryan Yarmel….collectively known as Ali Lou and the Sugar Boys.