A stand for securely and gently cradling a stringed instrument such as a guitar. The stand includes a pair of cradling arms and at least one support member both mounted for movement relative to a base member. A user places the guitar on the generally horizontally oriented support member depressing it downward which causes movement of the cradling arms from an outward open position to an inward closed position latterly supporting the body of the stringed instrument. Movement of the two cradling arms is coordinated by providing a single support member or by attaching to support members to a common yoke mounted for vertical movement on the base member. Each stand can be mounted on a separate stabilizing platform, or a plurality of stands can be mounted to adapters along a storage rack.