Hey all,

Don't want to be a bother but I was hoping someone could give me some insight on replacement value of 1983 American Strat and hard case. My family had a house fire and my dad's strat has some smoke damage which sucks...alot. The strat was in perfect condition and the case essentially was too except for few minor scratches on the exterior. The inside of the case still smelled new..well until the fire. He never gigged with it and neither did I cuz it was his baby.

thanks!

You would need to provide a little more information to get a good idea, as there were a few different Strats available at the time. Does it have two knobs and an input jack mounted on the pickguard where the third (tone) knob would usually be? Or featureless white pickups, lots of switching options and gold hardware? Or does it look pretty much like a contemporary standard Strat in all respects..? The differences might make the replacement cost vary by a few hundred or even a grand or two if it turned out to be a Dan Smith-era Strat.

I suspect (if your laws are anything like ours) that whatever your dad's guitar is (or was), your insurance company will offer to replace it with an American Standard Strat.

Ukiah,

I feel for you and know exactly what you are going through as my parents just recently had a fire and lost everything they had including the guitar that my dad just got for Christmas. It wasn't a Strat or anything, but it was special to him. Hopefully your parents had insurance and it will cover replacement of everything that was lost (my parent's didn't because they just rented and didn't own their home). I hope everyone is ok (mine are) and I'm sure everything will turn out. Sending lots of mojo you way and let your folks know I'm thinking about them.

Good luck,
Bill

_________________
"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul..."

-Emily Dickinson

Unless the case and guitar is fire damaged you can get it deodorized (various methods exist) I would be getting quotes on it to your insurance and keep your guitar if you can.

Not that people cannot help. But you should get the value of the guitar appraised by a professional dealer for identical replacement value. Depending on the deal you have with your insurer getting any conservative quote could leave you rather empty handed if the guitar indeed needs replacing and was in original condition.

As stated there are different models , so a picture and serial number would help.