Instrument swap?

Has anyone ever swapped instruments with someone? Like for an extended amount of time? I ask because I have a sweet Weber that I don't currently play. I don't want to sell it. It is in great shape, without much player wear even without a scratch guard(I don't drag or plant a pinkey, and I have control over my pick)
I want to find a way to spend time with some other great mandolins ( Red Diamond, Kimble, Nugget, Gilcrest, Didenbostel, Henderson, Wood, and others...you know who they are)
Is anyone interested in swapping? Any thoughts on how to insure against abuse or damage? Maybe an escrow account?
If this is inappropriate for a forum discussion, please excuse me, just trying to discuss this issue. I don't think there should be any exchange of money, kind of like the pick samplers, just big ticket mandos.
My mando is a 2007 Weber Custom Elite F5. Port Orford Cerdar, one piece back, varnish, evo medium frets, in a Price case, so shipping and insurance will be high.
Looking forward to the discussion.
Happy Pickin
Matt:cool:

I've swapped. My guess is that Scott wants it in the classifieds.

Btw I'd support MC with a donation for the hookup..

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Originally Posted by catmandu2

I've swapped. My guess is that Scott wants it in the classifieds.

Btw I'd support MC with a donation for the hookup..

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I want to clarify, I don't mean trades, just a temporary trial of another top tier instrument, with expectations of full return in exact same condition. Not a transaction, just a visitation.
My mando is a " keep it for life" instrument, and I don't expect to buy another top tier instrument for another decade, but I'd love to use a different one for a while without having to spend $10-20k.

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Originally Posted by MontanaMatt

Has anyone ever swapped instruments with someone? Like for an extended amount of time? ...

... top tier instrument ...

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Yeah, but only with old friends I've known forever, *and* where we know each other well enough to know how we are likely to treat the instruments.

Not just for obvious harmful things such as dropping or scratching, but also for proper climate control and humidity monitoring. I became acquainted with the importance of humidity control back in the day when I had high-quality non-laminate instruments which, unfortunately, I discovered were prone to grotesque cracks in the soundboard if exposed to long periods where the temperature and humidity weren't carefully controlled.

But I wouldn't swap instruments with people I didn't know very well because too many things could go wrong.

Especially past a certain age, such as where I and most of my associates are nowadays (mostly 70s and 80s), it seems like we spend more time going to memorials and funerals than other activities...

So if you loaned someone an instrument and they happened to keel over before you get the instrument back, unless you know the whole family quite well, you might be in the uncomfortable position of haggling with their relatives over "That's my instrument, I loaned it to him, and I'd like to get it back"... um... the relatives have probably heard variants of that dozens of times already by con artists looking for free stuff they're not entitled to. As soon as someone passes on, scam artists can come out of the woodwork claiming ownership of all kinds of things in the shop or back field or music room, that they're not entitled to, I've seen that happen. Some of the claims are legit, some aren't, but if there's any doubt and there's nothing in writing, the claimant usually winds up with nothing - even if the item was actually theirs. Don't count on the widow/widower to be aware of everything that the deceased had going on, as far as musical instrument loans, which friends' cars/trucks were being stored on the property for free (and you know how some collectors/men often are, they don't bother to change vehicle titles over into their name until they're ready to actually drive the vehicle which might be, like, never, in the case of packrat collectors who buy things just because they can), who owned what, etc - a lot of time the widow (or surviving adult children) have no clue about any of that and will just chase anyone off the property who tries to claim ownership of any of it.

So you might end up in the weird position of having a well-meaning relative of the deceased deny you access to your own instrument, unless you could somehow prove that that particular instrument was yours and that you and the deceased had some sort of lending arrangement.

Or... less extreme situations, just involving damage to the instrument - such as the loanee's cat or toddler or grandkid knocks the instrument over and it gets squashed or the peghead breaks off, or the loanee leaves it in a hot car ("It was only for a couple of hours!") :( and the glue melts and resolidifies after the instrument is all warped out of shape, oopsie, of course they didn't mean to do that, but... now what?

• They have it repaired and their repairman does a lousy job that devalues your instrument and then the repair fails again soon afterwards?
• Or you have it repaired at the shop of your choice, and they pay for it?
• Or you have it repaired and you pay for it?
• Or nobody has it repaired and you just do without and buy yourself another mandolin?

Just my 2c. FWIW.

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Originally Posted by MontanaMatt

... My mando is a "keep it for life" instrument, and I don't expect to buy another top tier instrument for another decade, but I'd love to use a different one for a while without having to spend $10-20k.

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Yeah, well at that kind of valuation, I wouldn't consider either loaning *or* being loaned such an instrument. I wouldn't want that kind of responsibility nowadays, and I wouldn't trust an unknown party with that kind of responsibility either.

Although I guess the old saying applies, "Only put at risk what you can afford to lose." If a person can afford to risk the total loss of the item, either financially *or* emotionally, then I suppose taking the risk of loaning it out for something else might be acceptable. Wouldn't be something I'd be interested in though, not at that price range.

I think it's a good idea, if it's an instrument you don't play much. I do think that precautions should be taken, like properly insuring both instruments and putting the whole deal in writing. Other than that, it's a cool idea

Great points JL. I didn't say my idea was a good idea:)
I did put that escrow could/ should be involved in the hypothetical exchange.

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, IMHO. Especially the escrow, toddlers, unexpected death, and don't forget the pawn shop!

My idea of being careful might not be your idea. Some guys know how many scratches are on their cases, let alone their instrument....

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Originally Posted by Jeff Mando

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, IMHO. Especially the escrow, toddlers, unexpected death, and don't forget the pawn shop!

My idea of being careful might not be your idea. Some guys know how many scratches are on their cases, let alone their instrument....

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I totally agree. I doubt that you would find very many, if anyone who owns a “high end” mandolin that would even consider it. I for one, wouldn’t. I get nervous about letting someone play mine in my presence.

Having said all that, we once swapped houses with a family in France for three weeks.
It's not for everybody of course, but it can work to both parties' advantage.

Personally I would only consider it if the other mandolinist lived relatively near and we could get together a little bit and compare as an initial get-together, which I think is quite a nice thing in itself. You will meet another mandolin enthusiast and very likely make a new friend. Also remember that it is an exchange. If the worst happens to your mandolin, then you still have their high end mandolin.

And also remember that the road runs both ways. It could be you who damages their precious instrument .....

JUST TRADE AND MOVE ON AND ON and ON! Unless its a TRUE friend I think its a waste of time and way too many uncertainties that could happen and honestly no one will do this, say I'll play your Gil for awhile you play my Weber-not going to happen!

This is covered in the Forum Guidelines:

- Refrain from using the forum as a market place, ie., a resource for selling, purchasing or trading. Please limit selling, buying and trading activities to the Classifieds section of this web site or other external locations.

We're happy to host this discussion but this is essentially a Classified ad on the Forum. If you want to have that conversation leave out the details of what people are being invited to consider.