Guitar Club

Barnezy

chris78 said:

This exists 

http://www.rareguitarclub.com/

I’d love a Fb version if anyone has deep enough pockets. Like @AlexO I waste a fortune on constant trading

But it can’t be done 

i hate it when people steal my ideas  

Sassafras

I thought that's what places like Thomann were for.
You buy one guitar and send it back after 14 or 30 days for another one and keep doing it till the end of time

Barnezy

Sassafras said:

I thought that's what places like Thomann were for.
You buy one guitar and send it back after 14 or 30 days for another one and keep doing it till the end of time

Very good point.

TeleMaster

I seeeee. I thought we were sharing our own guitars. Yes, that makes much more sense! 

John_A

It's only a matter of time before " sorry it fell of the stand and has a 1" diameter chip and I'm afraid I have no money"

I'd trust a lot of people on here (and have) but it's like lending money to family, not a great idea IMO

spark240

Nice idea....but how much will it actually cost to rent the guitar for a week, with postage etc.

  And would people really pay it just to try them out, it’s different the if you need to rent for a gig or studio use.

midlifecrisis

For me the joy of the guitars is actually "owning" them. even if two days later i decide to sell on at a loss cos i changed my mind. for this reason, im out too.

Iamnobody

Monkey Tennis? 

digitalscream

Just chiming in here...if anybody were to do this, The Fretboard wouldn't want to be associated with it in any official capacity. Happy for it to be organised here. but (obviously) there would be no liability.

And, for what it's worth, I find it hard to believe that any insurer would cover such things. Not only have you got the problem of - y'know - people, you've also got repeated trips through the courier system, which isn't known for treating guitars particularly well.

It's a good idea, and I'd love it if such things were possible, but I don't personally think such an ideal world exists.

idiotwindow

digitalscream said:

It's a good idea, and I'd love it if such things were possible, but I don't personally think such an ideal world exists.

That there's already a similar club in existence (see posts earlier in the thread) suggests that the idea isn't pie in the sky.

Incidentally, insurers will insure anything for an appropriate premium. You just need to speak to the right people.

chris78

The guitars from rare guitar club were fully insured. There was a difference in options to cover insurance

545454

Maybe something with a more local basis would be a good way to try the idea out - face to face meets to avoid courier hassles etc. Granted, may be rather slim pickings for more rural members, but there could be the potential for town-based groups??

spark240

Jam days are always good for guitar try outs....

musicman100

Can’t see it actually working 

Barnezy

digitalscream said:

Just chiming in here...if anybody were to do this, The Fretboard wouldn't want to be associated with it in any official capacity. Happy for it to be organised here. but (obviously) there would be no liability.

And, for what it's worth, I find it hard to believe that any insurer would cover such things. Not only have you got the problem of - y'know - people, you've also got repeated trips through the courier system, which isn't known for treating guitars particularly well.

It's a good idea, and I'd love it if such things were possible, but I don't personally think such an ideal world exists.

These guys  http://www.rareguitarclub.com/ are renting out vintage 60's starts and LPs for £45 pm with insurance. Insurance is like gambling, someone is always willing to take the bet on. 

fretfinder

Barnezy said:

digitalscream said:

Just chiming in here...if anybody were to do this, The Fretboard wouldn't want to be associated with it in any official capacity. Happy for it to be organised here. but (obviously) there would be no liability.

And, for what it's worth, I find it hard to believe that any insurer would cover such things. Not only have you got the problem of - y'know - people, you've also got repeated trips through the courier system, which isn't known for treating guitars particularly well.

It's a good idea, and I'd love it if such things were possible, but I don't personally think such an ideal world exists.

These guys  http://www.rareguitarclub.com/ are renting out vintage 60's starts and LPs for £45 pm with insurance. Insurance is like gambling, someone is always willing to take the bet on. 

Basic membership is about £44 a month plus £100 joining fee and you have to collect and return the guitars in London yourself and provide evidence of your own full insurance for the guitars. Premium membership is £67pm plus £250 joining fee, the only difference being that it includes ‘basic insurance’ whatever that means. Platinum membership is £167pm plus £250 joining fee and the only additional benefits I can see are that they’ll deliver and collect the guitars ‘somewhere in London’ and you get access to ‘special events’. So unless you’re in London or go there regularly, forget it. As far as I can see on the website they’ve got about half a dozen desirable guitars, no more. I’ll be amazed if they’ve got that many members!

Barnezy

fretfinder said:

Barnezy said:

digitalscream said:

Just chiming in here...if anybody were to do this, The Fretboard wouldn't want to be associated with it in any official capacity. Happy for it to be organised here. but (obviously) there would be no liability.

And, for what it's worth, I find it hard to believe that any insurer would cover such things. Not only have you got the problem of - y'know - people, you've also got repeated trips through the courier system, which isn't known for treating guitars particularly well.

It's a good idea, and I'd love it if such things were possible, but I don't personally think such an ideal world exists.

These guys  http://www.rareguitarclub.com/ are renting out vintage 60's starts and LPs for £45 pm with insurance. Insurance is like gambling, someone is always willing to take the bet on. 

Basic membership is about £44 a month plus £100 joining fee and you have to collect and return the guitars in London yourself and provide evidence of your own full insurance for the guitars. Premium membership is £67pm plus £250 joining fee, the only difference being that it includes ‘basic insurance’ whatever that means. Platinum membership is £167pm plus £250 joining fee and the only additional benefits I can see are that they’ll deliver and collect the guitars ‘somewhere in London’ and you get access to ‘special events’. So unless you’re in London or go there regularly, forget it. As far as I can see on the website they’ve got about half a dozen desirable guitars, no more. I’ll be amazed if they’ve got that many members!

True, but they are pretty highend. Some of those guitars are worth £15-20k. 

I was thinking more mainstream custom shop stuff. Buy VAT free, depreciate them over 5 years off the tax bill and then sell them on. A £4k CS Strat would only end up costing a few hundred quid, if anything at all once it's sold secondhand. 

Shipping could all be standardised, with courier proof cases, no boxes needed.

It's obviously not easy to workout, as it doesn't seem to have been done before. If there is a market though, it can be done. But that's the question, would people sign up for something like this? 

p90fool

It would be simpler and cheaper if everyone just told their spouses that they were borrowing guitars from The Fretboard Guitar Club library, and that we hadn't spent thousands on those guitars arriving via couriers all the time at all.  

idiotwindow

Barnezy said:

I was thinking more mainstream custom shop stuff. Buy VAT free, depreciate them over 5 years off the tax bill and then sell them on. A £4k CS Strat would only end up costing a few hundred quid, if anything at all once it's sold secondhand. 

VAT, of course, is not a free lunch. Yes, the club business buys stock at the ex-VAT rate but the membership fees would have to incorporate VAT (a £50 monthly fee is £41.66 net) and the subsequent sale of the guitars secondhand would also have to account for VAT too (it's a common misconception that VAT shouldn't be levied on secondhand goods).

In general, I think the idea is sound but setting up such a business (or club) would require a fair chunk of capital investment. Leaving aside the overheads (insurance, storage, staff, etc.), the basic requirement is that the club would need to have at least one guitar for each member. Even just a 100 member club would need £250k plus of guitars. With current low interest rates it might be a winner but my back of the envelope calculations are that the monthly membership fee would have to be significantly in excess of £50 for it to work. £50pm = £42 net = £500pa = £2000 over 4 years per member.