Re: Should I file a claim for a Prize Burdwise Mandolin?
This was an entry-level, inexpensive instrument. If your primary goal is to have an instrument that your grandchildren will play, getting it restored would make no sense; you'd be miles better off buying a modern student-grade instrument. You could get a very decent instrument for a fraction of what restoration would cost.
Mike E's take on its value is correct, IMHO. If you have a local instrument dealer who'd be willing to give you an market value appraisal for a few dollars, that's as far as I'd go. It the mandolin was in fact sold originally in the 1920's or '30's, it might have been priced at $15-25. I'm looking at a catalog photo from 1928 of a similar Regal instrument, and it lists for $7.50. If you have a deductible on your insurance policy, and if your other losses are only slightly above that amount, adding the mandolin's appraised value to your claim won't come within miles of funding a real restoration.
Could someone with some woodworking skills, provide a purely cosmetic restoration -- clamp and glue the separated sides, perhaps try flattening out the warpage to the top -- and produce a non-playable "restored mandolin" that could be hung on the wall as memorabilia of your mother-in-law? That might make some sense from a family-history viewpoint. But I'd forget trying to restore this one to playability, for grandchildren to take up.
Sorry for your problem; it's tough to lose a piece of family history. But, of course, from that perspective, it's not really lost, just made unplayable -- at least in terms of reasonable cost.
Allen Hopkins
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Natl Triolian Dobro mando
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