Guitar Lending Club

Cabicular

thomasross20;966140" said:

[quote="Cabicular;965788"]Move to Edinburgh Tony
I have everything you need

Remember me in that. I'm already here!

[/quote]

What are you interested in? I think you've seen "the list" there are a few more since that version

jonnyburgo

Good idea, J.Con will be on it like a bonnet.

thomasross20

Cabicular;966253" said:

[quote="thomasross20;966140"][quote="Cabicular;965788"]Move to Edinburgh Tony
I have everything you need

Remember me in that. I'm already here!

[/quote]

What are you interested in? I think you've seen "the list" there are a few more since that version [/quote]


The list was so big. Maybe try a nice LP and proper amp lol. Hope your house move (is that right?) has gone smoothly!

Cabicular

Still in the process
It's taking a while to sell in the current market
I've got some decent kit here
It's been so long though I can't even remember where my Matchless is!

Sassafras

There aren't many people I trust with my gear. In the past when I've lent stuff out some of it's come back broken or not come back at all.

I'm out.

andyoz

I'd say it would quickly end up as "Guitar Fight Club"...now there's an idea.

randomhandclaps

meltedbuzzbox said:

maybe try something broken into regions?

I don't want people sending me their broken shit.

thomasross20

Cabicular;966416" said:

Still in the process
It's taking a while to sell in the current market
I've got some decent kit here
It's been so long though I can't even remember where my Matchless is!

You must live in the batcave to store all that gear!

mudslide73

randomhandclaps said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

maybe try something broken into regions?

I don't want people sending me their broken shit.

This. What's the quality threshold? eg. I'll lend people my 1996 Squier Strat as long as I get access to @gassage 's stripey R9. 

Moss

mudslide73 said:

randomhandclaps said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

maybe try something broken into regions?

I don't want people sending me their broken shit.

This. What's the quality threshold? eg. I'll lend people my 1996 Squier Strat as long as I get access to @gassage 's stripey R9. 

I'll swap my ukulele for Gav's 62 Jag

TTony

mudslide73 said:

This. What's the quality threshold? eg. I'll lend people my 1996 Squier Strat as long as I get access to @gassage 's stripey R9. 

I didn't (initially) think of it as us lending our own/existing gear out to others.  There'd be plenty of wrinkles that'd need ironing out for something like that to work.  

And gear-swapping/lending could be done anyway without needing some sort of "club" to facilitate it.

I suppose the club aspect would be more akin to shared ownership of guitars - or club-ownership rather than individual-ownership.  The membership fee would pay for instruments that the club members would be interested in playing & trying out over an extended period (rather than just a quick bash in a showroom), but probably would never actually jump in and buy themselves.

Needn't be new stuff - could be s/h.  Some manufacturers might like to seed their potential future business by donating stuff "on loan" to the club (and they could get further payback through posted reviews).  Might be B-stock.  Might be self-builds.  

A major issue would be setting the fee.  The lower the fee, the fewer instruments could be bought into the club, and the longer an individual member could have to wait before their turn came around.  The higher the fee, the less attractive it becomes, the fewer members join, the fewer instruments could be bought into the club ... 

mudslide73

That's something I would be interested in. I understand the concept now  

Skipped

There is a guitar lending club.  There was an article about it maybe a year ago in either Guitarist or Guitar & Bass. They have several high end vintage guitars. I think there was a 'Burst. There was a monthly membership fee.
I seem to recall thinking.....Nah....that is not going to work. I could not imagine how the insurance could be feasable.

If no one else can recall this....it means I dreamt it. But I don't think I did.

pmg

Gassage said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

maybe try something broken into regions?

Sped read this- thought it said 'religions...."

First thought was: 'Who wants a fucking sitar?'

Having a sitar would be good!

marantz1300

You have to trust all members of the club are good honest people.
I have been down this road years ago with hifi.
It did not work.
Some people will be selfish and not want to return gear.
Its a great idea,but very difficult to police.

JookyChap

I used to work a place where we had a Premium Bonds club. Basically, ten of us put a tenner each in every month and took it in turns buying a £100 Premium Bond, the idea being if any of them ever won we would split the winnings. 

After everybody had a bond in their name (each month somebody different actually bought the bond with the groups money), we dissolved that group and each kept their own bond. Those that wanted to be in the next group could, those that didn't had their places offered to other people.

It sort of struck me we could do something similar - in effect all getting interest free if nothing better out of it. But while the group runs, everybody could take a turn on all of the guitars, month at a time.

If each participant chooses the guitar they want, in effect the first person to receive their dream guitar is then paying it off for the rest of the groups lifetime, the last person to receive their guitar is saving up, with the bonus they are playing everybody else's dream guitar while they are waiting. 

That way, it works for all purses - if my dream guitar is £500 and the group has ten members, I put £50 per month in. If yours is a £5K vintage Gibson thing, you put £500pm in.

You could even have a sitar if you like...

Edit: Ob viously, if you have ten members, it takes 20 months etc.

Neil

All just seems fraught with danger  to me.

No matter how much faith you can have in people there will always be some screw up down the line when the headstock gets broken off the Gibson or if someone has used a Strat "very vigorously" at a pub gig .

Just order your dream guitar on line and you get a decent time to assess whether you want to keep it or just send it back - without being in a club and at no cost to yourself.

Garthy

I really like the idea, but like cars you would have to prove what marks and dings where there when it was collected/delivered to the borrower and after too. We all have different thresholds on damage too, I keep my new guitars pristine and my s/hand ones with no further damage from the day I bought them, yet others actually pay four figure sums for what I consider a pile of scrap found in a house fire. Some consider this 'adding to a story being told' yet it's just plain fucking careless in my eyes.

DulcetJones

More thoughts:  One central location in each city that can support this concept would leave pick up and delivery up to the "members"(?).  We have a musical instrument lending library here in Kingston Ontario Canada that's geared to making sure low income families can gain access to instruments( a legacy of a much loved local musician who died far too young).   This relies on donations from  whoever can donate, local music stores and musicians and many touring acts that pass through have donated some nice guitars and other instruments.  Most of the stock is low end though, but the model the idea works on would probably catch on.  One more idea, I wonder if any music stores have ever considered a "Subscription" type service along these lines.  Pay an annual fee and gain access to any guitar in the store, one per month.  I'm sure this would present a lot of problems that would have to be ironed out but any new stream of income is worth looking into at least.

spark240

I like the idea, but I think it would only works on a large scale with some serious funding to kick it off, plus you have to get the guitars from A to B safely somehow, insurance would take care of damages.

The instruments will almost always have a real value of some sort, so once they are paid for its generally profit as maintenance is minimal, wear and tear has to be accepted and the user wouldn't be trying it to look at the finish.

The instruments could be bought on low interest finance so the start off budget of say 10k would go quite a way  I reckon.

I think I would go variable subscription and then per day rental, so.

You pay £50 annual, but £5 per day rent OR you pay £250 annual for the more serious, and £1 per day rent....I haven't worked that out its just a theory !

Im beginning to like it....so what do I need,

Gibsons, Fenders , Rics, PRS, ...?