guitar borrowing ettiquite

[music321]

so, when would you let someone borrow your guitar? I've only lent a guitar out twice. once to an uncle (i went through a phase where i wasn't playing my accoustic). i knew he'd take care of it. another time to a lab partner/friend from school. he totally had my back getting me some missing notes, so i really felt i had to let him borrow my les paul for the weekend.

i don't know if i'd ever let anyone take one away over night. party situations (with some friends, some strangers) are the worst. the whole point of having the guitar there is to promote unity among people. for some people, mine is the first guitar they've ever touched. i've let some people pop their guitar cherry on my ax, then go on to buy one of their own, and take lessons.


the whole time a stranger uses a guitar, they're saying "like this?" "how does this sound?" "this is great!" and I'm thinking "for the love of god, i hope you don't bump it on that chair and gouge it" "that dude with the beer stumbles is getting way too close" etc., etc., etc.

your thoughts?

[blowtorch]

the main etiquette concerning guitar borrowing is don't borrow someone's guitar.

[wayloncash]

You may look but don't touch listen but don't speak. Nobody better lay a finger on my baby

[Stubee]

I don't borrow guitars and not sure I ever have in ages of playing. But I've lent them and still do.

One never came back. Hope he's still playing it. Oh well...

I don't lend my favorite axe to anybody but if I've got a beater around and a guy really needs it, I lend it. Only strings attached = I'd like it back and if ya break it, pay to get it fixed. But honestly if I'm loaning out a $100 dollar guitar to a guy who hasn't got squat I ain't gonna pore over it with a white glove when it comes back.

[String Tree]

If they say: "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!"

You might not see it again. :)

[Beachbum]

I'm a generous man. If you're a freind and you need a place to stay for awhile or even a few bucks to tide you over I'm willing to talk about it. But no one gets near my woman, my guitars, or my pickup truck. There's just no reason to tolerate that kind of foolishness.

[music321]

stubee gave me an idea-

maybe i'll buy a $50 beater to lend out

[Ricky D.]

Just use the same criteria you would use for lending money, the amount the guitar is worth. That's what is at risk.

[kelnet]

Originally Posted by music321

guitar borrowing ettiquite

your thoughts?

When I started playing in a duo back in the early 80's, I didn't have enough money to buy a good guitar, so I borrowed my partner's Hagstrom Swede. We played for about two years and I took extremely good care of that guitar over that time.

I think if you're going to borrow a guitar, you have to treat it like you're borrowing someone's child. Be careful with it, be responsible, and make sure you give it back in the same condition it was in when you were given it.

If you borrow a guitar for more than a few days, I think it would be nice to include a new set of strings in the case when you give it back, just as a thank-you.


As for lending - I don't let my guitars out of my sight. Someone else can play them, but they can't take them.

[Toto'sDad]

Lending hasn't worked out real good or real bad for me, but I don't much like loaning much of anything. If I need something, I go buy it, if I can't buy it, I don't need it. I don't mind handing a guitar over to someone who wants to play it, but them going out the door with it is another thing. I am just not much on borrowing, or lending, anything.

[tazzboy]

How about not.

[Lostinthe50s]

Originally Posted by Beachbum

I'm a generous man. If you're a freind and you need a place to stay for awhile or even a few bucks to tide you over I'm willing to talk about it. But no one gets near my woman, my guitars, or my pickup truck. There's just no reason to tolerate that kind of foolishness.

Woman? Sure, if she'll have ya. Pick-up, no problem, moving stuff is what it's for. Don't come near my guitars or my dog. Fiddle with the knobs on my amp and you take your life in your hands.

[harold h]

The best advice on loaning a guitar comes from the old Gilligans Island
episode where the famous director gets washed up on the island.

" Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
Do not forget: stay out of debt.
Think twice, and take this good advice from me:
Guard that old solvency!
There's just one other thing you ought to do.
To thine own self be true. "

[trev333]

I've loaned a few of my herd out at times... swapped guitars with friends,etc..
maybe not my number 1's... but US teles/strats..
more likely to loan out a partscaster/home build for test runs... even mates kids who want to see what a tele/strat feels like...

I'd lend better ones to known players who might want to use one for a gig/recording,etc...

no one has asked to borrow one yet...

they're guitars when it all boils down to it..

be prepared for the worst though, this loaner got dropped on the tiles....at least Teles are tough,,,

[Justinvs]

Years ago I got really drunk after a play I was in, and a friend asked if he could borrow my guitar to play a few songs at the bar we were busy drinking dry. For some reason I took offense to this (recall I was drunk) and offered to beat him up for asking. the next day I felt so bad about it that I have never since been stingy about loaning my gear out. If someone I know wants to borrow a guitar or amp they have my blessing. Besides, most of the people who would ask to borrow any of my stuff would be just as glad to loan me their stuff, so it all works out in the end.

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by Ricky D.

Just use the same criteria you would use for lending money, the amount the guitar is worth. That's what is at risk.

+1. Pretty simple.

I don't lend out anything that I can't afford to lose. I don't borrow anything that I can't afford to replace.

I learned the hard way not to loan stuff out unless you don't mind losing it... Or losing the friend who borrowed it. Now I keep a couple of "hunnerd bucker" loaner guitars around, and if a friend needs an amp, they are welcome to my Peavey Bandit.

Generally I loan stuff out a lot more than I borrow, but I had to borrow some gear years ago when all my regular stuff got stolen. It wasn't my ideal rig, but it worked, and I was grateful that it was there.

BTW, What do women and pickup trucks have to do with borrowing guitars?!

[Nick JD]

I farm them out to lots of people to create room. Then I usually forget who has them.

[Green Lantern]

NEVER! I'll never loan someone one of my guitars. If they want to play them while I'm present, that's okay, but I will not let someone leave with one of my instruments for them to give back at a future date. I've had too many bad experiences lending stuff out. Thankfully, it was stuff that wasn't of as much monetary value as guitars, like video games, but they were valuable to me and that's all that matters. I frequently got my stuff back trashed, or the motherfuc*kers would move away without returning the item(s) or even pawn my stuff. It pisses me off just thinking back to that. What they did, depending on the incident was either straight dishonest and bad, or very disrespectful in the least.

I know how I feel about this, so I never ask to borrow other people's valued items.

[JayFreddy]

Originally Posted by Green Lantern

...I frequently got my stuff back trashed, or the motherfuc*kers would move away without returning the item(s) or even pawn my stuff...

Been at the exact same place, felt the exact same way.

Pawning something that doesn't belong to you is actually theft. If someone steals from you, it means they're a thief, and not a friend.

I'd rather not live in a world full of jerks. I only treat people like jerks once they've proven they're jerks. In the meanwhile, I only lend stuff I can afford to lose. If I lose a $100 guitar and learn that someone I thought was cool is actually a jerk, in the long run, that's not a bad investment of $100, IMHO.

And then I can still go about my daily business thinking everyone's cool, except for a few jerks...

[LGOberean]

Originally Posted by JayFreddy

... I don't lend out anything that I can't afford to lose. I don't borrow anything that I can't afford to replace...

And we have a winner. That's it in a nutshell, 'nuff said.

Originally Posted by JayFreddy

...
I learned the hard way not to loan stuff out unless you don't mind losing it... Or losing the friend who borrowed it.

Also sage advice.

Originally Posted by JayFreddy

... Now I keep a couple of "hunnerd bucker" loaner guitars around, and if a friend needs an amp, they are welcome to my Peavey Bandit.

Loan a beater and a Bandit. Brilliant! It won't break your heart if the beater gets broken, and as for the Bandit...well, they'd be hard pressed to hurt a Bandit.

Originally Posted by JayFreddy

... Generally I loan stuff out a lot more than I borrow, but I had to borrow some gear years ago when all my regular stuff got stolen. It wasn't my ideal rig, but it worked, and I was grateful that it was there.

Yeah, me too. Offhand, I can think of three instances in the last 29 years of my borrowing someone's guitar.

Lending? That's different. I've lost track of how many times I have loaned a guitar to someone at an open mic event. At my gigs, if musician friends are out in the audience, I call them up and let them use my guitar and mic to perform a song or two.