NO guitar day... :(

[Grandturk]

-Soloist
-Mahogany body
-Unpainted maple neck
-Reverse headstock with abalone Jackson script logo
-Reverse abalone sharkies
-Bound neck & headstock
-Ebony fingerboard

You gotta dig deeper - go for one of those Pablo style necks with the bloodwood or ebony laminates. Just ratchet what you like up a notch.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

You're a bad influence.

I've been more than happy with my USA Selects, they're "good enough" for me.

[emperor_black]

whatever you wanna buy, better buy now in this down-market. I was just looking on eBay's completed listings and definitely big ticket items are selling on average $200 - $300 lesser than they used to say, 2 - 3 yrs ago. Savings rates are down, stock market is very finicky (just lost about $1500)...where're you gonna spend the money on?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Given that I have guitars that I just flat out don't play - I think (should this ever happen to me) I would probably try to consolidate down to 2 or 3 killer guitars given the opportunity.

Well,


I did some checking, not specific to MY insurance but just typically, and I don't think I'll just be getting a big-ass $check$ for retail value of a bunch of new guitars. That seemed "too good to be true" so, I'm not surprised.

As it turns out, with "replacement cost" insurance, they will pay you a "depreciated" value up front (same value as if you did not have "replacement cost" insurance.)

Then they will pay the difference between that amount, and the cost to replace it, when you replace the item.

So long as the depreciation calculation is fair, it should work out OK, considering a scenario where I "sold" the guitars that I "don't want to replace" anyway, and I'm not really trying to make a profit here.

But, it does mean that I get the most out of my settlement by replacing the most depreciated guitars (like, the SL2) that I want to replace.

I hope they're fair in calculating the depreciation of a 1-month old USA Jackson.

[Firebird V]

Damn that sucks. I just am seeing this thread now. I hope you get them back or get them replaced and that it all works out. I will keep my eyes open for those for sure.

[tomanyjacksons]

It seems more often than not you the insured end up taking it in the shorts because your agent looses money if he or she pays out fully on a claim. IE a guy I used to work with had someone break into his home shop and take a Snap-on tool box full of tools all Snap-on so you know it wasn't cheap and he had it set up for replacement cost aswell and his agent started dicking with him about going to Wal Mart and buying everything there and bringing him the reciept. Needless to say the agent ended up with a busted lip over the deal. Which granted I don't agree with doing things that way but he's known this guy all their lifes and knew he was a volatile person when dicked with. So for that his agent drug his feet hard that is until he needed his car worked on and then mysteriously his check showed up. 9 months of pissing him around because he didn't want to take a hit in what he gets back for saving the insurance company, and it's not like he was hurting $$ wise, just greedy. I don't think much of insurance companies or agents. Sorry for that rant over.

[Musician78]

I really can't disagree.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Yeah, their first offer for "actual cash value" will probably be a low-ball offer. I'm expecting that I will have to negotiate.

But if their Actual Cash Value offer is way too low then it just is more reason for me to replace all of the items, including the ones I don't even want.

Because then I get reimbursed full retail and I can then sell them for what they were REALLY worth.

That, by the way, is not "insurance fraud" that is called "business."

And the Insurance Co. knows that costs them a lot more, so it's in their interests to be fair.

Example:

They offer me $300 for my mint 6-month-old Strat, which I wasn't going to replace. But I know it was worth more than that, so I buy one for $1150 and submit the receipt. I get the $850 difference.

Now the Insurance co is out $1150. I have a Strat I don't want.

I sell it for, let's say $700. Now I'm up $400 over their crappy low-ball Actual Cash Value offer. Good for me!

But, it cost the Insurance company $850 for me to get $400. Bad for them.

If they just offered me $700 to begin with, this wouldn't happen. So, I imagine they're onto this little game and their Actual Cash Value calculations are pretty good.

I hope.

[Grandturk]

Bad for them.

Yeah, but think about all the other rubes out there who never get robbed, never have a fire or a flood, or a tree fall on their house. Basically, paying premiums for decades and the Insurance Co. is raking that money in.

That's business.

[Rich#6]

Most of the money insurance companies make is off of investments. There is almost always more payout vs premiums. That's why premiums go up so much when the markets are down.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Rich, GT, what you say is both true. However they WILL try to minimize the payout. I just have to be ready to play the game and look for whatever loopholes I can use to get what I want.

I honestly don't want to replace the Strat, the PC1, the DK1, CS Charvel or the '88. No '88 would ever be the one that I had, which is why I had it in the first place. The Strat, I never played. The DK1, well, I'd rather have a Soloist. And the PC1, while a very cool guitar, again, I'd rather have a Soloist. I really just liked my USA Soloists (the SL2, and the 2 SL1's) and I want to replace them.

I'm hoping that they will for example allow me to replace the PC1 with an SL2H-MAHQ which is the same price. I don't know why they would not, because at that point it becomes a question of "Would I rather have the Actual Cash Value of the PC to put towards an SL2H-MAHQ and pay the difference out of pocket or just get a PC1." And I might get a PC1, in that case, which costs them $2399 anyway. :think:

Well I guess however it turns out it's a hell of a lot better than having all my shit stolen and getting NOTHING. And hopefully at least I can replace my 3 Soloists with brand new Soloists which, I'd be very happy with.

[atdguitars]

Normally with insurance companies replacement cost is exactly that. They expect you to replace it with a like or similar item unless that item is no longer available. Since most of yours are still in production then expect them to require you to replace them with the same thing. Your best bet is to take a lump sum settlement and buy what you want.
It pays to have your gear appraised by a qualified professional. Appraisals are less likely to be disputed by insurance companies and can save you a lot of headaches in the process.

[emperor_black]

I'm hoping that they will for example allow me to replace the PC1 with an SL2H-MAHQ which is the same price.

Doesnt matter if its the same price. As far as they're concerned, it says PC1 on one guitar and the other says SL2H. Its like difference of toyota and Dodge to them because they're not guitarists. My wife does not know the difference between my $150 crate v33h and my $1400 Mark IV. She says she like the crate because its smaller and newer. :ROTF:

And the insurance companies NEVER lose money. Look at all the news behind AIG. How were AIG making their big bucks? Insurance. Now they're down, they're still handing out million dollar bonuses. If I were you, I'd find the most expensive guitar store to order the best guitar that they'll approve. Sell it and make a profit. No harm in that! We're all paying thousands to them. At least one of us will make some good use of it.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Thanks for your input atdguitars.

And, emperor_black, I know what you mean... My wife says I'm crazy for having more than one guitar because the only difference is what COLOR it is.

I am still holding out some hope that my insurance just pays Replacement Cost without having to actually buy the replacement items. That's probably overly-optomistic but until I hear back from the adjuster I won't know.

I found some info on how they calculate depreciation and it's like how it's done for taxes, i.e. the useful life, how much of that has been used up, and how much you paid originally.

I think I know how to negotiate/work this now in my best interests. :idea:

- I'll definitely want to replace the ones I bought used because I won't get anything for them otherwise. I put new hardware and electronics in them so, I'm getting royally screwed if I don't replace them! So, a new DK1 and a new SL2 (SL2H, since that's the closest available replacement) are in order.

- I think I can argue that 1.5 months of a guitar's life is insignificant and the condition was mint/NO wear and tear, so zero depreciation on the PC1 and SL1F. Even if they do depreciate it, it SHOULD be less than 1% (2 months is less than 1% of 20 years, which is a conservative estimate of a guitar's useful lifespan, hell the '88 was 20 years old and had plenty of life left in it.)

- I could make that same argument for the black SL1 but I won't, because I got 20% off when I bought it through GC because they messed up a prior order. They won't give me the depreciation off of MAP, even though I can't get 20% off again that will be "tough luck" so I'll want to replace that one. That's fine, I want another black SL1... Actually I'd like to have the one I had already.

- The others, I think the depreciated value should be OK, they were purchased new for MAP or close to it.

The '88 is kind of a wildcard here. I don't know what they're going to come up with for a replacement item. But whatever it is, it won't really replace it, and chances are I won't want whatever it is anyway, so I'll probably just settle for the cash value.

[nafe]

Really feel for you on this.
I had the misfortune to have the exact same thing happen to me about 8 weeks back. Fortunately i was in the process of moving house at the time so most of my guitars were at my girlfriends place, but the bastards got my Dinky and a Rhoads Replica which i had only finished building from scratch about 3 weeks beforehand.

Would be interested to see how your insurance claim pans out, we're still waiting for our insurance people to get back to us.