June 8, 2026 - A FRIEND I NEVER MET
Gibson Southern Jumbo: Only a Gibson is Good Enough!
On Friday, we celebrated the birthday of my twin granddaughters, Olive and Scarlett…. These two precious little girls could not be more different from each other; they are both a delight to my life… we are planning a sleepover in Penn Yan!
Jose Barocio and Rose Bernunzio….heading to San Francisco….
Most of the garden is now planted
A FRIEND I NEVER MET
June 8th, 2026
Good morning friends,
Around 30 years ago, I received a phone call from a fellow out west. He was a teacher/musician from Phoenix, Arizona and he had acquired a guitar that he thought was quite valuable. It was a rosewood Gibson Southern Jumbo with the banner "ONLY A GIBSON IS GOOD ENOUGH" in the peghead. These guitars have always been sought after by collectors and players. They were made during WWII with a lot of anomalies in their construction. I leveled with him and told him that if I had that guitar, I would sell it for $15,000 which was quite a handsome sum 30 years ago. He was quite surprised at the value. He confessed to me that he had called a famous Long Island dealer and they had offered him $3000 for the guitar but wouldn’t tell him the value. I’ve always had a business model that tells people what they have and what it is worth, and then they can make the decision whether they want me to sell it for them or sell it outright. He decided to send me the guitar for consignment. I sold it within a week and sent him a very large check. Over the course of the next 30 years, this school teacher sent me nearly $2 million worth of guitars! It seems that he was very connected to the musical community in Phoenix and he trusted me and we had a great relationship. My friend, John Kally, passed away this weekend after battling bone cancer. We talked several time a week for 30 years BUT we never met in person. We never shook hands. We never spent any time together, but somehow two retired teachers were able to buy and sell some of the finest American instruments that the vintage market has seen. I will miss my conversations with him. I will miss my friend that I never met.
We also have some additional news from the homefront. Our daughter, Rose Katina, and her husband Jose and our one year old granddaughter, Talia are moving to San Francisco! Both of these master teachers have accepted fantastic jobs in the city San Francisco. We will miss them and our hearts are hurting, but we are so excited for them to have the opportunity and recognition they deserve. We are planning plenty of visits to the city by the bay.
With peace,
JB
My friend John was also a great harmonica player….