Official Luthiers Forum!

It's not happened very often, but I had a serious "oops moment" over the weekend while installing frets that left an obvious scar on the Lutz top of a show guitar I was finishing up. The lacquer repair is easy, but I lost a 2 x 3 mm divot of wood from the top and can't cover the spot with a pick guard. The guitar has probably lost its value for exhibition. I have surprised myself about how Zen I've been about it, but then it wasn't owned or committed to anyone, so the loss is mine alone.

But it got me thinking "what if that had happened to a customer's guitar?" Indeed, in the past month I've had several guitars through for repairs and set up, including a vintage Martin and a 24-year-old custom Ovation that is the main axe for a local composer. What would I have done if I'd had a similar accident with one of those? Now, that thought makes me squirm!

Given that I'm returning to Québec at the end of the year, I'm curious what Canadian luthiers, especially repair people, are doing about insurance. I'm not too worried about customers slipping on the ice outside the shop, but more the possibilities of losses incurred while their instruments are under my care.

Back when I was getting started repairing (the late 70's), I checked into insurance for just such an instance. The figure my insurance guy quoted me was higher than my entire yearly income at the time. Maybe it's different now.

I just figured if I trashed a vintage Les Paul I'd be paying for it out of my pocket.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Ellis Hershman at Heritage Insurance (musicins.com) is the guy for me.

His rates are reasonable, he's equipped to cover everything, including shipping and shop damage, and he has a well-earned reputation of actually PAYING claims rather than fighting them. We use him to cover high value shipments.

Don't know how he does with the border, though. . .

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Very helpful, Frank, as usual.
Rather expect he's not licensed to broker in Canada, but he certainly seems to know what's required. Still looking for someone with similar services in Canada, if any of my Canuck brothers know of anyone.

You could always call Heritage. If they don't serve Canada they may know who does.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I'm pretty sure Heritage services Canada... at least they quoted a policy to me a few years ago and the pricing was reasonable.

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David Radlin
http://www.facebook.com/radlin.guitars