Mandolin appraisal - john sullivan

[burg]

Hi there,

I own a John Sullivan F5. I'm in the process of getting renter's insurance/personal article insurance and am wondering how to get this thing appraised.

I know I need to get to Gryphon (my closest appraisal shop) and get it done proper, but I am at a bit of a loss as to how much it will be.

I bought this instrument about 4.5 years ago. Does anyone know what his most recent mandolins were selling for before he passed? I have no idea and they very rarely show up for sale.

Feel free to message me personally. I know it's a sensitive subject.

Thanks.

[Bob Gray]

I can offer the info that when I took possession of my F5 in Sept. 2005, John told me that his asking price for a new F5 at that time was $8000. That is more than I paid for mine, which was ordered in March 2004. So it is apparent that he was increasing his prices over time.

[bradeinhorn]

i'd say somewhere in the 7000-8500 range would be a fair range.

[allenhopkins]

Are you insuring it for replacement value? Find out what S is charging now, and use that.

If your insurance company wants you to take your initial purchase price and depreciate it, you'd arrive at a much lower figure.

[sgarrity]

Hard to replace it since John has passed away.

[JeffD]

You know, you might want to think about getting separate insurance on the instrument. What Tom says above is correct, and it might be better to get with Clarion or some insurance company like them, who specialize in musical instruments, vintage and new, and understand the issues unique to them.

There are a couple of threads on the cafe about instrument insurance, and what companies folks have had experience with.


Just a thought.

[TomTyrrell]

Jeff's got a very good point. A lot of instruments cannot be replaced (Stradivarious, Loar-signed Gibsons, etc) but the owners do get them insured.

[Spruce]

Delicate subject indeed....

For insurance purposes, I would double any figure that has been mentioned so far....

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[mrmando]

If you get separate instrument insurance, you may not need an appraisal. You can simply declare the value and the insurer will schedule it for that amount. At least that's how it went down in my case.

[MikeEdgerton]

Have George Gruhn do the appraisal, you won't have to double it and if you get into a haggling match with your insurance company his credentials are impeccable and believe me, that means something when push comes to shove with these folks (I work for an insurance company). Just keep in mind that you'll never be able to sell it for the appraised price.