Help me build an awesome magical guitar

[Miz_Liz]

Hello all,

I have a character coming up soon that needs a magical item, and I need help building it.

Melina grew up in a musical family, but she never thought she was good enough, skilled as she was. One day she heard the most beautiful guitar strumming she'd ever heard. A gnarled old man at the end of a dark alley was the source of the music. He offered her his guitar in return for using her skill in his name. She accepted, taking the guitar. The strings cut her fingers, spilling her blood on to the guitar, turning it red and sealing the pact.

TLDR: This character is a tomelock 3(homebrew Spirit of Jazz patron) lore bard 6. Because I'm coming in at level 9, I get to have a rare/very rare level magical item, and I want it to be a magical guitar. This is the conduit for all her magic, both via her patron and her skills as a bard. Problem is, I have no idea what to do with it.

Help!

[Floorlock]

I love this story and I love magical instruments. :-)

I've had to make a few similar items in my own games....including a guitar that doubled as a magical Axe.

A lot of the time I wind up looking at some of the best magic items in the game: The Instrument of the Bards.

They are on page 176 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.

Each one of them gives you a few spells that you can cast without expending a spell slot once per day, along with the ability to give targets disadvantage on their saving throw against being charmed by you in the case of using a charm spell....either from the instrument or just when using the instrument as a focus.

Since you're allowed to bring in a Very Rare item...you might as well grab the Anstruth Harp and ask your DM if you can reflavor it to be a guitar. It's not as good as the legendary Ollamh Harp....but, it's still pretty amazing.

Along with its other spells, it also allows castings of Control Weather, Cure Wounds, and Wall of Thorns.

[Vorpalchicken]

Or invent a new instrument of the bards, that rather unsavory one that no one dares talk about... The Ifreann guitar. In addition to the usual instrument powers (which are already awesome- disadvantage versus your charms, fly, invisibility, levitate, protection from evil and good ) the user can cast each once per day, Infernal Calling, Investiture of Flame, and Power Word Pain

Or pick other spells. I selected quirky Xanathar stuff over optimal power stuff.

[Asmotherion]

All spells cast By playing the Guitar as a Spellcasting Focus use Playing as Somatic and Singing as Verbal Components. They cannot be identified as Somatic or Verbal components Prior to Casting the spell.

At-Will: Vicious Mockery (Use a song to intimidate and ridicule someone)
3/Day: Thunderwave (Play some Guitar Solo and do some Solid DAMAGE)
1/Day: Hypnotic Pattern (Play a solo, but this time everyone is enthraled by your performance, and some fireworks come together with it)
1/Day: Counterspell (Play a solo, and steal an other Caster's spotlight)