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Richard Jernigan -> RE: Ever had a guitar stolen? (Jun. 20 2026 0:15:52)
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Not a guitar theft story, but a guitar related theft nonetheless. There used to be a big musical instrument store occupying part of the ground floor of the Colegio de las Vizcaínas in Mexico City. It's an 18th Century Baroque building which covers a whole city block in the Centro Historico. The music store had a good used string instrument department. (Click on the link to see the building:) https://images.milenio.com/uP5aVkLWUiiWIBUyQcipvPtE3oU=/942x532/uploads/media/2017/09/07/fachada-del-colegio-de-las.jpg Around sixty years ago I noticed a 1930s Santos Hernandez blanca for sale there. Though I was pretty sure I couldn't afford it, I approached the counter confidently. In those days in Mexico City, if you had enough money to buy a suit, you wore one. with a white shirt and tie, and you paid to have your shoes shined every day. The middle aged blonde attendant, clad in a plaid skirt, cardigan and sensible shoes, smiled and handed me the guitar. I retired to the row of chairs along the wall facing the counter, and took out my tuning fork. It was ornamentally engraved and housed in an elegant tooled leather case. I tuned up and played Mario Escudero's version of Ramon Montoya's Rondeña, copped off an LP. The guitar was so responsive and had such a beautiful flamenco tone that I played it better than I ever had before. While I was playing two nine- or ten-year old street urchins peered in through the big glass window behind my back. They came in, sat on chairs next to mine while I played, and muttered and mugged astonishment at my virtuosity. I took the guitar back, and apologized for being unable to afford it. Then I noticed the attendant had tears in her eyes. She said she was from Ronda, and thanked me for playing. It was an emotional moment. I turned back to collect my tuning fork, which I had left lying on the chair. The tuning fork, its case and the two young boys were gone. I hastened to the door, looked up and down the sidewalk, but they had made their escape. RNJ
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