IF IT WEREN'T FOR BAD LUCK...

[DaveKell]

Last week my wife and I left for our first road trip from Texas to Indiana in our brand new Explorer we had for two weeks. While stopped for construction traffic on a freeway in Illinois we were hit from behind by a distracted driver who never even touched his brakes. An Illinois state trooper estimated the guy was going around the posted speed limit of 55 when he hit us. Our car seemed to instantly explode around us. The trooper wouldn't let us out of the car until an ambulance arrived to take us to the ER. We were badly bruised and bounced around but no serious injuries. The driver who hit us was ticketed for being at fault in an accident that ultimately totaled 3 vehicles and sent four people to the hospital. Oh yeah, my implant survived totally unscathed so there is that. They hold up well in high speed collisions!

The truly bad part of this for me was I had a one of a kind 36 year old acoustic guitar in the car. I inherited it last year from a wealthy friend who passed from cancer. It was his favorite guitar in his vast collection. He commissioned its build and it had tons of gorgeous abalone inlay on it. It was crushed as was my spirit when I finally saw it. Given the fact that I was already being treated for 3 back fractures and a dislocated disc in my neck, a high power Houston, TX law firm has all but guaranteed me a sizable payday in the near future. The at fault driver's insurance provided us a rental to continue the trip but since they've paid off our new car they're only giving us until this coming Tuesday to turn it in. I have one appraisal on the guitar for $3,500 but in reality it's priceless to me. I'll never get another guitar with an equal sound at that price even if the insurance company gives me full appraised value. Anybody who knows guitars would know the older an acoustic gets, especially if it was a quality instrument to begin with, matures to an incredible sound new guitars can never match. I intend to give the adjuster an extremely hard time over this first thing Monday morning.

[tomas1]

Dave, I'd at least save every piece of the guitar. Maybe someone will be able to reconstruct it someday. Glad you and your wife weren't hurt more badly.

[DaveKell]

Dave, I'd at least save every piece of the guitar. Maybe someone will be able to reconstruct it someday. Glad you and your wife weren't hurt more badly.

I've been put in touch with a guy who spent 22 years in the repair shop at Martin Guitars, the premier acoustic guitar company in the world. He quoted me $800 to put it back together, which would be well worth it it came back sounding the same. Too many splits all the way through the wood that would have to be cleated and glued to expect that to be the case. Depending on how large my settlement is though I might take the chance.

[Larry10625]

Last week my wife and I left for our first road trip from Texas to Indiana in our brand new Explorer we had for two weeks. While stopped for construction traffic on a freeway in Illinois we were hit from behind by a distracted driver who never even touched his brakes. An Illinois state trooper estimated the guy was going around the posted speed limit of 55 when he hit us. Our car seemed to instantly explode around us. The trooper wouldn't let us out of the car until an ambulance arrived to take us to the ER. We were badly bruised and bounced around but no serious injuries. The driver who hit us was ticketed for being at fault in an accident that ultimately totaled 3 vehicles and sent four people to the hospital. Oh yeah, my implant survived totally unscathed so there is that. They hold up well in high speed collisions!

The truly bad part of this for me was I had a one of a kind 36 year old acoustic guitar in the car. I inherited it last year from a wealthy friend who passed from cancer. It was his favorite guitar in his vast collection. He commissioned its build and it had tons of gorgeous abalone inlay on it. It was crushed as was my spirit when I finally saw it. Given the fact that I was already being treated for 3 back fractures and a dislocated disc in my neck, a high power Houston, TX law firm has all but guaranteed me a sizable payday in the near future. The at fault driver's insurance provided us a rental to continue the trip but since they've paid off our new car they're only giving us until this coming Tuesday to turn it in. I have one appraisal on the guitar for $3,500 but in reality it's priceless to me. I'll never get another guitar with an equal sound at that price even if the insurance company gives me full appraised value. Anybody who knows guitars would know the older an acoustic gets, especially if it was a quality instrument to begin with, matures to an incredible sound new guitars can never match. I intend to give the adjuster an extremely hard time over this first thing Monday morning.

I glad you and your wife are OK, sorry to hear about the guitar.. Because of the sentimental value, you will NEVER get it back no matter how much money they give you. Glad your implant held up.

Larry

[David_R]

Dave, I am so sorry for all the shit you and your wife have gone through (and continue to go through). I will keep all of you in my prayers.

[DaveKell]

The insurance company paid me three grand for the guitar. I already got another one from my friend's estate he custom ordered from Taylor guitars and paid six grand for. I got it for two grand since I've helped sell the bulk of his guitar collection. My wife switched from Ford to GMC and is now driving a new Denali suv. I previously said we were released from the ER with no serious injuries but man how that has changed. My neck is wracked over I still can't turn my head and no amount of hydrocodone stops my back from hurting. In addition to being an old school signpainter, I also hand pinstripe motorcycles. That's currently on hold as I've developed a tremor in my hand. I'm learning more and more everyday why people say don't settle too quickly with an insurance company. This shit is getting real!

[rdnkbiker]

Hi Dave
Sorry to hear about your accident my wife and I got hit last july on our Harley by a distracted driver we had to get a lawyer to much to try to go through catch 22 they get there cut 33 1/3 percent but why wifes hand was so bad she couldn't continue working so lots involved but hopefully light at the end of the road getting doctor bills settled working on other stuff takes lots of time and patience's and don't settle until you and your wife are completely healed up once you settle no going back,i know how crazy it gets but they want to settle the least amount,hang in there good luck

jim

[DaveKell]

Hi Dave
Sorry to hear about your accident my wife and I got hit last july on our Harley by a distracted driver we had to get a lawyer to much to try to go through catch 22 they get there cut 33 1/3 percent but why wifes hand was so bad she couldn't continue working so lots involved but hopefully light at the end of the road getting doctor bills settled working on other stuff takes lots of time and patience's and don't settle until you and your wife are completely healed up once you settle no going back,i know how crazy it gets but they want to settle the least amount,hang in there good luck

jim

I'm well aware how insurance companies want to settle for least amount. This law firm in Houston has one of the best records in the country for State Farm settlement amounts and employs about 50 lawyers. They've essentially stopped me dead in my tracks as far as being able to do the hand lettering and pinstriping I supplement my retirement income with. That's gonna cost them eventually. I'm in no hurry to let them off the hook and am willing to go all the way to trial with it. I'm a persuasive speaker and am confident the insurance company doesn't want me in front of a jury telling what their driver did to me in this accident.

[AnotherOldMan]

Dave,

How did you resolve the smashed guitar?

[DaveKell]

Dave,

How did you resolve the smashed guitar?

As I said, they compensated me three grand for it. I've been put in touch with a repair guy who worked in the Martin Guitar Company's repair department for 22 years. I sent him detailed pics of the damage and he sent me a repair estimate of $800 to fix it up. He also sent me pics of a couple of Martins that looked like they were run over by a tractor and also of what they looked like after he rebuilt them. The guy is a wizard with a national reputation for his work. He said my guitar is far and away not as bad as many he's rebuilt. I'm going to be shipping him the "remains" of my guitar soon. He said it will take three or four months to accomplish and offered that a person will have to look very carefully to tell it was ever repaired. Of course, I'm concerned about any loss of its wonderful voice after 36 years of aging. He's going to have to repair a lot of heavily split apart wood with glued on cleats and the like. It's bound to change some. However I'm very much in favor of the guitar being a survivor and doing this for the memory of a dear friend who willed it to me.