October 20th, 2025

Good morning friends,

    When I started this little business nearly 50 years ago, I had no idea what it would become…it was just a passion that I followed. Things that are done with passion are the most human endeavors and I continue to this day to try to instill that in my staff….passion must be the driving factor.

     Sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s, when I was in living in Penfield, a guy stopped by my house. He was interested in old guitars and I had just restrung a really beat up, but wonderful sounding Gibson L-00 from the 1930s. John Elwood Cook was an art teacher in Connecticut, but his wife was from our area, so occasionally they would visit. He bought that guitar and continued buying guitars and playing and writing music throughout the course his entire life. He had a penchant for fine sounding guitars…. particularly old Gibsons. Sadly, he passed from this life in 2019. From his obituary: "John was a prolific songwriter, musician and artist with a special connection to the St. Lawrence River. As a fourth generation resident of the 1,000 Islands, he captured the essence of the river through his artwork and music. His successful career was recognized on both the local and national level. His work appeared in many juried shows at the Thousand Islands Art Center and the Frederic Remington Museum where he was awarded "Best in Show" several times. Other notable achievements include participating in exhibits at the Chautauqua Institution three times and the Adirondack Watercolor National Exhibition at The View in Old Forge, NY. He was a lifetime member of the Silvermine Guild and had a one-man show there early in his career."

   When John was sick, his wife, Judy would ask him if he wanted to sell some of his guitars and he said he just couldn’t do it. He liked buying guitars, but not selling them and at that point in his life, he didn’t want to close the door on his guitars. Now, Judy enlisted us to sell John’s collection a few guitars at a time and we have been finding customers for them over the past few years. This weekend she came up with the last guitar. I remembered it very well from 50 years ago. It was a Gibson Jumbo Roy Smeck model, but it had a strange anomaly. Gibson made two Roy Smeck models: the STAGE DELUXE and the RADIO GRAND. One was rosewood and the other mahogany. At some point in the manufacturing process, this guitar was mislabeled with the designation in the peghead of a rosewood guitar, but in fact the back insides are mahogany. I believe it’s been like this since it left the factory and I know for a fact, it’s been like this for the past 50 years. It is an absolutely phenomenal instrument and we will be listing it sometime in the next week. 

  The point of this is that while some folks careers have come to an end and their collections are being dissolved, young players are stepping in to pick up the pace. My two captains, Ryan Yarmel and Sam Snyder will be taking off this week to purchase another very large collection of guitars, mandolins and banjos. It’s what we do. It was what we are known for. It is what we are trusted to do right….exciting times ahead for Bernunzio Uptown Music.

With peace,
John Bernunzio 

PS. Just after writing this piece, I received a note from John‘s son…he has the L-OO that I sold so many years ago. That made me so happy.

JB

Finally, the rains are coming soon Autumn will be just a memory.

Saturday gathering in Rochester, NY waiting to get into the ukulele jam…