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The idea of renting a guitar is not something that a lot of people often?think about.
You might have thought about borrowing a guitar from a friend and you have most likely thought about buying one. But is it a good idea to rent a guitar?
Can I Rent a Guitar?
A lot of musical instrument stores do guitar rentals. So yeah, it’s definitely an option.
Should I Think About Renting a Guitar?
it’s definitely worth giving a thought to.
There are pros and cons to renting and it’s not something you?d want to do over the long term, but here are some reasons why it might benefit you to rent in the short term.
You Have Just Started Playing
Maybe you?ve just started playing guitar but you?re not sure if something that you are going to stick with. But you need a guitar to practice with in the meantime and you don?t have anyone to borrow off.
In this situation renting a guitar for a month or two could be your short-term solution.
If you are learning guitar then it’s really important to have your own guitar. If you are taking lessons and only get the opportunity to play a guitar during your lessons, your progress is going to be painfully?slow. Renting a guitar to practice on means you will progress much faster ? which will make you a hundred times more likely to stick with the instrument.
Buying is also a good idea – and it helps you to commit to learning the instrument.
You Are Looking to Buy Your First Guitar
Too often people buy their first guitar without giving any though as to what they are buying. They just think if they buy the cheapest thing that they can see that that will do.
But often this is the fastest way to become disheartened with playing guitar. People buy a guitar that is hard to play or unpleasant to play and they don?t get enjoyment out of playing their instrument. You don?t have to spend a fortune to get a guitar that’s nice to play and sounds decent.
You can check out the following to get an idea of what a good first guitar might be:
>>The Best Acoustic Guitars for Beginners
But there?s another way to make sure you get a guitar that you know you’ll enjoy playing. Rent first. Rent a guitar for a short-term period (most stores will allow for short-term rentals) and then swap that for another guitar once your rental period is up. Do this a few times until you find what you think you like. Then you can buy that make/model.
You Are Looking for a New Guitar
Even if you already own a guitar it can sometimes be a good idea to rent.
Yes, you can go into a store and try all the guitars. But if you rent you can try a guitar for a longer period of time to really get a feel for it and see if it’s the right guitar for you.
You can try guitars with different tonewoods, different sizes/shapes, different nut widths ? and see what specs you like the best ? this can go a long way to helping you decide on the ideal guitar for you.
Related: Guitar Reviews by Top Wood
Related: Guitar Reviews by Back and Sides Wood
Related: Guitar Reviews by Size/Shape
Pros and Cons to Renting a Guitar
There are pros and cons to renting a guitar. The?ones below are the ones I could think of. If you can think of any others feel free to leave a comment in the comments section below.
Pros
- Can try out a guitar for an extended period of time before deciding if it’s something you want to buy
- Can get a guitar that you can practice on and not have to invest in buying if you?re not sure if you will continue with the instrument
- You might be able to play a quality of instrument that you couldn?t afford to buy outright
- If you are travelling to a destination and will need a guitar in that destination but don?t want to travel with your own
- If you are playing a gig and your own guitar isn?t the kind of quality that you would want for that gig
Cons
- More expensive in the long-term than buying a guitar
- The bother of renewing your contract if you want to extend beyond the original rental peiod
- There are less options for guitars to rent than there are?for guitars to buy
Thanks for reading
If you have any other opinions or ideas around the idea of renting a guitar, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.
FAQs Rent A Guitar
Presumably, this question is more concerned with how much it costs to get started playing guitar than how much it actually takes to play a guitar – subscription services of this kind are rare and hard to come by. So, to buy your first guitar, you should look to spend anything between $200 and $800, depending of course on your budget and how seriously you are going to take to the instrument. You can spend less than this though and still be left with a decent enough instrument that will get the job done.
In technical terms, anything $200 or less is usually considered a budget guitar, known as an entry-level guitar in some circles. Such guitars can often be found in the kind of all-in-one bundles that pander toward the undiscerning beginner guitarist, including, say, a gig bag, strap, amp, plectrums, etc, in one neat package that contains all the things necessary to get started. While such a guitar will certainly not be the right choice for the more discerning guitarist who is a little later in their guitar journey, for a beginner, though, it will usually get the job done with no questions asked.
The phrase ‘tiny guitar’ could actually refer to a few different things. This is very often the phrase that people use to describe a ukulele – even though it is technically a separate instrument, many deign to call it a tiny guitar because of its visual likeness to the guitar. Equally, this phrase could also refer to the smallest playable guitar, the nano guitar, an instrument that is around as long as one-twentieth of the diameter of a human hair, around the size of an average red blood cell. This was developed as a way to exhibit the potential of nanotechnology. Likewise, the phrase tiny guitar could simply be referring to those guitars that are less than full-size, such as half-size and 3/4-size guitars.
Indeed they can. It is actually a rather common misconception that half-size guitars are only for children. Adults with smaller hands and smaller bodies would actually feel rather well-catered for using a half-size guitar. Such guitars are not only smaller in terms of their bodies but are also smaller in their other proportions, meaning the neck and fretboard are proportionally smaller too. Even artists like Ed Sheeran have found use in using a smaller guitar, perhaps for the sake of acoustics, or for a lower volume or alternative tonal output.
