The Circular Guitar

A Different Business Model with Elisa Achterberg

What if your dream Strat was never really “yours” – and that’s exactly what makes it sustainable? In this episode of The Circular Guitar I (Glenn) explore how my vintage guitar shop Never Enough Strats could shift from buying and selling used instruments to offering **“guitar-as-a-service”**. My guest is circular finance expert Elisa Achterberg of CISE Network [https://www.cise.network/], who has spent years making circular business models financially viable and investable for banks, investors and companies. Together we test my crazy idea: a subscription for high-end Stratocasters and Telecasters instead of traditional ownership and installment plans. In this conversation we dive into: + How a guitar subscription could work in practice: monthly fee, maintenance included, freedom to swap models, and why that’s different from consumer credit. + Why ownership stays with the provider in true circular models and how that changes incentives for durability, repair and craftsmanship. + The financial pain points: upfront investment in a “library” of guitars, slow and fragmented cashflows, and what happens if a crisis hits and many customers send instruments back at once. + Elisa’s experience designing circular service contracts (for example with Fairphone and subscription models like Swapfiets) and what lessons apply to guitars. + Concepts like churn, product lifetime value, and why in circular models you should celebrate a guitar coming back, because it can start a new life with the next player. + Creative financing options: from banks and impact investors to involving customers, makers and local luthiers as **co-financiers of the guitar pool**. + The ethical side: why I don’t offer “buy now, pay later” on expensive instruments and how circular service could be a fairer way to improve access to quality gear. If you’re curious how circular economy thinking meets great guitar gear, how to finance products that last and circulate, or you’re a maker or musician wondering “could this work in my world?”, this episode is for you. Tune in and join me and Elisa as we take Never Enough Strats [https://neverenoughstrats.com] one step closer to a truly circular business model. You can follow me on: LinkedIn - Glenn van der Burg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennb/] Instagram - glennburg71 [https://www.instagram.com/neverenoughstrats/] And check out my store to buy a guitar in the old fashioned lineair way: NeverEnoughStrats.Com [https://NeverEnoughStrats.Com]

The First Guide with Guido Braam

What if the most iconic electric guitar of all time was already designed to be circular… back in 1954? In this first episode of The Circular Guitar, I – Glenn van der Burg, Dutch radio and podcast host and founder of the online guitar store Never Enough Strats – start my quest to find out whether a Fender Stratocaster can become truly circular. Not just as a durable product, but also in a new, circular business model. My first guide is Guido Braam, a social entrepreneur with a mission to create a more meaningful economy. He co-founded Circle Economy, launched Holland Circular Hotspot, wrote the book “Circular Route”, and now leads Powered by Meaning, a family of companies with purpose at the core of their business. Using my small, very concrete case – buying used guitars, refurbishing them with a guitar tech and selling them on – we explore what a circular business really is and where the opportunities and barriers are for “the circular guitar”. In this episode, we talk about: * What a circular business model is, and how it goes beyond “recycling” or “second-hand”. * How my current used-guitar model already has circular elements, but is still fundamentally linear. * Why the original Stratocaster design is surprisingly modular (bolt-on neck, replaceable parts) and very repair-friendly. * The idea of a “guitar library” or “guitars-as-a-service”: paying for use and variety instead of ownership. * The emotional side of guitar culture: unboxing, vintage mojo, relicking, and always chasing a new sound. * Depreciation, trade-ins and the true cost of switching guitars in a linear model. * The big questions around scale, legal risk, financing a pool of instruments and transporting them sustainably. * The material side: wood, frets, strings, nickel and even the question whether a CO₂-negative or cradle-to-cradle guitar is possible. Guido also points me to my “homework”: talking to circular designers, legal and finance experts in as-a-service models, and entrepreneurs behind circular concepts like lease jeans, swap bikes, sharing platforms and circular headphones. If you love guitars and you are curious how circular economy thinking could change the way we build, use and enjoy them, this episode sets the stage for the whole journey. Can a Stratocaster become truly circular – and would anyone actually want “guitar-as-a-service”? Tune in and join the quest. You can follow me on: LinkedIn - Glenn van der Burg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennb/] Instagram - glennburg71 [https://www.instagram.com/glennburg71/] And check out my store to buy a guitar in the old fashioned lineair way: NeverEnoughStrats.Com [https://neverenoughstrats.com/product-category/in-stock-en/] for Fender Stratocasters NeverEnoughTeles.Com [https://neverenoughteles.com/product-category/in-stock/] for Fender Telecasters

The Start of the Quest

How did I come up with the idea to search for a circular way of offering my guitars? And what can you do to help? Check out this first very short start of the quest for: The Circular Guitar. You can follow me on: LinkedIn - Glenn van der Burg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennb/] Instagram - glennburg71 [https://www.instagram.com/glennburg71/] And check out my store to buy a guitar in the old fashioned lineair way: NeverEnoughStrats.Com [https://NeverEnoughStrats.Com]