For sale?

**Gary Watkins** · Jul-12-2012, 7:06pm

For sale, VERY reasonable price. Neck needs adjusting, and has “SOME” checking on the front. This is/was not a collectors instrument. It has been heavily “played”. Free strap included. Convertible TWEED case included. This was/is a 1993 Gibson F5 Custom, made in Bozeman, MT. As soon as I stop throwing up and stop crying, I’ll explain why you should NEVER let your wife load your instruments in the car.

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**pickloser** · Jul-12-2012, 7:09pm

Oh man!! I am so sorry that happened. It was a beauty. You have my deepest sympathy. (And I'm feeling a bit sorry for your poor wife too.)

**Folkmusician.com** · Jul-12-2012, 7:10pm

ouch, that hurts!

**robert.najlis** · Jul-12-2012, 7:15pm

ooh, sorry to hear about that. Ouch.

**Paul Busman** · Jul-12-2012, 7:44pm

OH well, time for a new one. Mandolin, not wife...

**f5loar** · Jul-12-2012, 8:20pm

So are we to assume you asked her to put in the car and she put on the pavement behind the trunk directly behind the rear wheel and then talked to someone on the cell phone and forgot to load it into the trunk and you drove over it? On the good side, you have provided the best photo of the famous "bolt on" neck Gibson was using during this time period. Must be pretty strong cause the neck joint still looks pretty tight. I can offer you $500 cash with better case.

**re simmers** · Jul-12-2012, 8:38pm

I assume it's on life support? Will you be trying to resuscitate? Did you call the sheriff to get your wife?

Bob

**vhughes2000** · Jul-12-2012, 8:48pm

I like basket cases but I don't think that victim will live again..

**JEStanek** · Jul-12-2012, 9:00pm

Ouch. A second one of these this week. Try checking with your insurance company. This may be covered.

Jamie

**Randi Gormley** · Jul-12-2012, 9:08pm

Jeez, man. So very sorry.

**John McCoy** · Jul-12-2012, 9:21pm

^{UCH !}

Shall we assume that the ensuing "conversation" was audible three blocks away?

Somebody mentioned insurance. You should check; it might be covered, depending on details. FWIW, Once when my wife drove my car into (through) the wall of my garage, insurance covered that. And that damage covered a whole lot more square feet than yours. (That's my ex-wife I'm talking about.)

**f5loar** · Jul-12-2012, 9:29pm

I think the only time insurance covers a wife running over something is when it's you she ran over and only then we are talking life insurance paying her but only if it was accidental. If she ran you down on purpose she could be looking at 10 to 20.

**vhughes2000** · Jul-12-2012, 9:39pm

You can have musical instruments covered under your homeowners policy,I had mine covered way back when and it was pretty cheap.

**John McCoy** · Jul-12-2012, 9:57pm

Gosh, I just realized something. If you had just had a Tone-Gard on the back, and another Tone-Gard on the front, and a ferret cage on the neck, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

(Sorry for being flippant over such a tragedy, but sometimes ya just gotta laugh to keep from crying.)

Dare we hope that you've got another mandolin you can play for a while?

**Eric Hanson** · Jul-12-2012, 10:20pm

I second the "That just hurts!" comment.
Sorry for your loss. I hope it doesn't hurt the marriage. Good wives are hard to find. Even ones that accidentally trash a valued instrument.

**Ivan Kelsall** · Jul-13-2012, 2:50am

Sometimes things are so bad,that no amount of shouting & screaming will let the frustration out - this would be one of them for me - a 'stunned silence'. Two weeks before last Christmas,i went into the entrance hall in my home,only to find that the ceiling had collapsed because of a water leak from a bathroom pipe.I just got on with it & had it replaced.The whole job got finished on Christmas Eve.
Gary,i'm truly sad to see your instrument wrecked like that,i know how i'd feel if something like that happened to one of mine.I'm sure that your wife was shocked as well,maybe even more than you. Accidents will happen,easy to say it,but you have to bite the bullet & move on. I sincerely hope that the instrument was insured & that some cash will be coming your way,

Ivan

**G7MOF** · Jul-13-2012, 3:50am

I've got accidental damage ins for all my instruments, both at home and away. Must just be a UK thing then!

**Buck** · Jul-13-2012, 10:18am

Originally Posted by JEStanek

Ouch. A second one of these this week. Try checking with your insurance company. This may be covered.

Wasn't the other one in a tweed case too? No tweed for me!

Good thought on the insurance too. I have a policy with Heritage covering accidental damage, home and away. Both repair costs and decreased value are covered, minus the deductible of course.

**Mike Romkey** · Jul-13-2012, 10:29am

Big Joe's motto is you can't break them so bad we can't fix them.

Sorry for your loss.

Hope to not see more pix like this for a while. Interesting look/test of the bolt on neck, though.

**Dan Margolis** · Jul-13-2012, 10:29am

Yikes!

**SternART** · Jul-13-2012, 10:33am

Ahhh geeze, this same thing happened to me about 25 years ago.....backed over my own mandolin, girlfriend felt terrible........my case was better though & it was repairable, just a top crack.
Sorry for your loss!

**almeriastrings** · Jul-13-2012, 10:48am

Hi Gary,

I know how much it meant to you. Really very sorry to hear this.

Try not to let it get you down too much. It is a rather well-worn old saying, but it has truth on its side. These things happen. Mandolins, no matter how much we talk about them are just wood and wire and glue in the end. There's more important things, as you know.

Take care of yourself and those close to you, my friend. Mandolins come, mandolins go.

Best wishes from Spain.

**TonyP** · Jul-13-2012, 1:29pm

Gary that's horrible.

I just saw this and like has been mentioned, two in a week is tough to see! I'm sorry this happened to you, as it can happen to any of us.

Hope it somehow works out and your loss won't be so bad.

**Kevin K** · Jul-13-2012, 2:22pm

Sorry for your loss there, makes it worse it was the wife that did it. If she asked for forgiveness, you have to forgive, tough for forget though. Keep the headstock in a shadow box if you can and hopefully insurance will allow you one even better.

**CES** · Jul-13-2012, 2:40pm

Originally Posted by f5loar

I think the only time insurance covers a wife running over something is when it's you she ran over and only then we are talking life insurance paying her but only if it was accidental. If she ran you down on purpose she could be looking at 10 to 20.

Unless he "needed killin'," of course, though that defense may only work in SC and Texas, and maybe some parts of Alabama (I'm proudly from SC, btw)...If he needed killin', she might just get off with a "Thank you!"

Agree that the photo of the neck joint is very cool, but, man, hate that it had to happen this way! Sorry, Gary...