An urn for ashes doesn’t simply need to be a container in which you store the cremated remains of a loved one. It can also embody their spirit and personality.
For example, maybe playing guitar was among the great loves of someone in your life who’s now passed on. If so, you may want to store their ashes in a guitar urn.
Jump ahead to these sections:
You have many options from which to choose if so. Guitar-shaped urns come in a range of shapes, sizes, and overall designs.
This blog will cover some of the more popular types. It will also let you know where you can buy guitar urns, helping you find the right urn to celebrate your lost loved one’s passion for music.
Main Types of Guitar-Shaped Cremation Urns
The following aren’t all the types of guitar urns you might find, but they are the most common. One of them may be exactly the type of urn you’ve been looking for.
Display urns
You might wish to display your loved one’s urn somewhere in your home. If you do, consider these options:
1. Traditional guitar urn
When many people picture cremation urns, they picture vase-shaped containers that may come in a range of materials, including ceramic, wood, stone, steel, and various others.
People often select these types of urns for keeping their loved ones’ ashes because they tend to be durable and look natural when on display in a variety of settings. If you think such an urn is right for your needs, but you want the urn to highlight your loved one’s passion for guitars as well, you can find many urns in this shape featuring paintings of guitars.
2. Guitar-shaped urns
Many urn suppliers offer containers for a loved one’s ashes that resemble actual, life-sized guitars. You can display this type of urn in your home on a guitar stand in a special spot, ensuring it serves as a constant reminder of your lost family member or friend’s musical skills.
This is an option particularly worth keeping in mind if you’ve lost two loved ones who played guitar together during life. You could buy two urns of this type and display them as companion urns. Seeing them side-by-side together will suggest the image of an empty stage your lost loved ones are about to perform on together. That could be a comforting thought.
3. Wooden box guitar urns
A wooden box is another traditional urn option worth keeping in mind. You could choose one featuring an illustration of a guitar on its front side, along with accompanying text, or you can purchase one with a small guitar figurine sitting on top of it.
4. Steel box guitar urns
If you’d prefer an urn design that’s both minimalist and modern, consider a polished stainless steel box urn. As with a wooden box urn, you can order one featuring an image of a guitar on its front side.
An urn doesn’t need to make a bold statement. It’s entirely fine to keep a loved one’s ashes in a simple container like this one.
5. Guitar book urns
Book-shaped urns are also somewhat popular because they fit right in with their surroundings when on display on a bookshelf.
Additionally, some book urns also feature images of guitars on their front “covers.” Consider this type of guitar urn if you’re choosing an urn for someone whose love of reading matched their love of music.
6. Guitar case urns
Some guitar urns have the same shape, size, and appearance as an actual guitar. However, others more closely resemble guitar cases.
A guitar case urn is more likely to be primarily one solid color than a guitar-shaped urn. Thus, depending on your preferences, you might think it looks a little more appropriate for something you’ll keep on display in your home.
7. Guitar amp urns
An urn’s shape can also resemble that of a guitar amp. You might prefer this option if you want a display urn that touches on the deceased’s love of music, but has a more basic and traditional shape than some of the styles here.
Cremation jewelry
Cremation jewelry lets you keep your loved one’s ashes with you everywhere and every day. This might be appealing if, for example, you travel often, and don’t have the chance to be home near a display urn as often as you’d like.
Luckily, guitar urns also come in the form of cremation jewelry. Popular designs include:
8. Glass urn necklace
Keeping some of a loved one’s ashes in a necklace pendant allows you to keep part of them with you wherever you go.
You might also want the pendant’s shape to remind you of the deceased’s passions and interests in life. If so, consider storing some of their ashes in a glass necklace pendant shaped like a guitar.
9. Guitar pick charm or pendant
A necklace pendant or charm in the shape of a guitar pick is another option to consider. You may find this shape more appealing because of its simplicity. While a guitar-shaped pendant could draw too much attention to itself, one in the shape of a guitar pick will have a subtler effect.
It’s also worth noting that you don’t necessarily need to wear this type of urn with a piece of jewelry. You could instead keep it with you as a pocket charm. If you do, you’ll simply want to be careful to avoid losing it.
10. Guitar locket urn
Some small guitar-shaped urns serve as lockets or pendants. They’re unique from others in that, along with giving you a portable container in which to store some of your loved one’s remains, they also can include a small picture of the deceased in the spot corresponding to a real acoustic guitar’s soundhole.
Where Can You Buy Guitar-Shaped Urns?
You can buy guitar urns from many different suppliers. These are among your best options:
Funeral homes or crematoriums
Funeral homes and crematoriums often directly sell urns to their customers. If yours does, purchasing an urn from them will save you a lot of time you might otherwise spend looking for a reputable supplier.
That said, it might be difficult to find a funeral home or crematorium offering guitar urns. Sometimes they primarily offer traditional options.
That doesn’t mean there’s no chance your funeral home or crematorium will offer a guitar urn. You simply need to be prepared to look elsewhere if they don’t.
Online retailers
Guitar urns are naturally distinct when compared to traditional designs. That means it might be difficult to find a retailer or supplier in your immediate area offering the specific type of guitar urn you’re looking for.
Luckily, you can expand your options by ordering urns from online retailers. Consider the example of Foreverence. This company makes finding the perfect urn easy by letting customers share their insights, stories, and preferences. They work with you to create three-dimensional models of your custom urn design, tweaking it based on your feedback until you’re completely satisfied with the end product.
Expanding your options by ordering an urn online may also help you more easily find a retailer whose prices are right for your budget. While you don’t want to sacrifice quality in the name of savings, you also don’t want to spend more than you can afford.
Remember this if the question of “How much does an urn cost?” has been weighing on your mind during this process.
Online auctions
Ordering a guitar urn via an online auction platform is another way you might save money while still getting the ideal urn. That said, if you go this route, it’s important to thoroughly vet a seller. An urn is an important purchase, and you need to know you’re buying from someone reliable and trustworthy.
You also need to consider the very nature of an auction. Although some online auction sites allow customers to simply buy items for set purchase prices, if you’re bidding on an urn, there’s a chance someone will outbid you at the last minute, forcing you to quickly seek out other options.
Artists
Many artists are also happy to make custom guitar urns. You might find an artist in your area offering this service, or you could find one on a platform such as Etsy.
Guitar Urns: Keeping Someone’s Music Alive
Again, while there’s nothing wrong with choosing a traditional option when selecting an urn for someone’s ashes, some people prefer unique urns that capture aspects of the deceased’s soul and character.
If you’re looking for an urn to store the ashes of a talented guitarist, the examples here are all options to look into.