Actually, GuitarAffair.com has been around for a few months now, but I discovered it when it was still pretty new back in January of this year. GuitarAffair.com is a great take on “try before you buy” with high-end guitars. Owned and operated by Jim Basara (yes, that’s the same Jim Basara who does reviews for Guitar Jam Daily), the site is set up to let people rent high-end guitars for a period of time – but they can keep them if they like them (of course, they have to pay for them). Here’s an excerpt from Jim in an e-mail he sent to me:
There are two parts to my business. One model is to rent guitars to business travelers who are guitar enthusiasts and never get to play because they travel a lot (I used to be one of these guys). The other is, of course, to sell guitars. By targeting business travelers, my goal is to get boutique instruments into the hands of people with the means to buy them. I ship all over the country, so it’s a fairly large pool. For the sales piece, if someone rents a guitar and then purchases one, I rebate the rental fee. This turns the business into kind of a demo program for those manufacturers I am a dealer for. And on that note, as a custom builder, you may be interested in what I’m doing for Gigliotti Guitars… …for people who are interested in purchasing a Gigliotti, but want to play one [before buying one outright], I send them a Gigliotti and three additional necks with the more popular neck profiles. Each of those necks is fretted with three different sized fretwire. This way, the buyer gets to play the Gigliotti but also feel more comfortable about picking the neck carve and fret wire… …I’ve also had interest from some tier-2 pros who don’t like the hassle of taking their guitars on commercial planes all the time.
While Jim targets business travelers, the business is pretty much open to anyone who wants to try a guitar out before buying it – or just wants to be able to play some great guitars! Check out the site! It is very cool!
On a personal note, GuitarAffair is one of those ideas I wish I had come up with… I dig it when people latch on to a great idea and expand on it to make living out of their passion. That’s exactly what Jim hopes to do with GuitarAffair.com.
A note about Jim…
Jim has a long history with vintage guitars, having established himself as a vintage gear guru and technician, having learned the ins and outs of guitar tech at Fretworks. He has also been writing reviews for Guitar Jam Daily since day one, which is how I first encountered him. An avid player himself, he has played for several years, and loves to play so much taken guitars with him on trips the world over! The dude knows his stuff!
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