Solid wood Recording Kings

williamtk2018,

Unless you need the money now.
Just hang on to both guitars, until you are sure you need to sell one, nothing worse than, sellers remorse.
Or take the RK with you, when to go to look at the Eastman, and play them side by side, you never know. 😀

williamtk2018,

The better guitar, is the one that you think is better.

The Eastman is the best. It has a nice tone, neck, and good action right out of the box. It also has a level of polish that the A9M lacks. Makes sense given the price difference.

I like the RK for different reasons. It's a good guitar, though its workmanship isn't as good and it needed some adjustments prior to being able to play well.

Letting the RK go would be ok because I would be able to get something else. Like I said in my OP, I'm very interested in that next level of solid wood RKs in part because they cost less than typical SW guitars, especially on the used market. I would like to hear from people who have them.

I had this kind of dilemma when I needed to sell my Seagull Artist. I had just purchased a Larrivee OM40, as it was the exact kind of guitar I was looking for, given the application. I loved the Seagull, and they were quite similar in tone and feel. I preferred the dread shape and the honey brown top of the Gull. But there was no doubt that the Larrivee produced more clarity without the modern sounding sparkle. Just a lot more practical.

Eventually I decided to sell the Gull to fund a decent bass, because I knew the Gull would not get enough air time at this point in my life. So I sold my entry level Yamaha 4 string bass (which I also loved), and the Gull, to fund an acoustic amp and a German made Warwick Streamer 5 string. The Gull went to a really good home and is being used by a pro muso.

Do I regret it? I'm not sure yet. Maybe. I have still yet to grow into the Warwick. I found the Yamaha much easier to play and get my head around. I may have been happier keeping the Gull. But then again, I haven't given the Warwick enough time, and the acoustic amp is quite useful.

I've gone off on a tangent. The point is, if you can afford to keep the Recording King A9, do so. A good guitar is never wasted.

I haven't owned very many guitars, but feel like I could almost write a book about the ones I have. I'll try not to do that here 😄

My first guitar is a Dean Daytona from around 2003. Solid spruce top, lam mahogany sides/back, mahogany neck. I'm sentimentally attached to it, and It's a pr
good entry level instrument. It spends most of its time on a stand at the SO"s house.

Next at this time is a Seagull S6 from a pawnshop. I was surprised to find it there, dickered on the price, and took it home. I already had an S6, but this one seems like a better one. I had an easier time setting up the one from the pawnshop, and decided to sell the other one on Reverb. I figure if I ever needed or wanted to sell this one, I could at least break even on it, but it's not going anywhere.

Now, I discovered those solid wood RKs at the shop where I'm buying the Eastman. They had a new A9M. I liked it, but it didn't speak to me quite the same as the Eastman. So, I put the Eastman on layaway.

But I remained curious about those RKs, and decided if I could find a used one for the right price, I would get it. The dread came off ebay. It was sold as having a warped neck, and the price was quite low. I took a risk and got it. Its problems seem to have been overstated. I also bought an A9M in OOO size, and it even looks like fun. I don't know how else to describe it. It's a different experience than the dread, and I really like it.

As far as the A9M dread goes, I'm pretty sure I could double my money selling it. If I do this, I would use the $ to get an RK RD-10 or another model higher up. The RD-10 is another all solid wood model that goes cheap in the used market and seems more polished and refined than an A9M. These seem to be a way to have a nice guitar at a cheap guitar price.

So, the Eastman will be my really nice guitar, the Seagull will have its own niche, the OOO will be the go-anywhere guitar, and another RK dread could be the nice guitar saver.

Yeah, you can only play one at a time. In truth, at some point after the Eastman is home, I'll probably thin the herd a bit.

The Dean doesn't really count since it's at the SO's house.

When the living room starts to seem crowded, it means you have a problem. But based on the logic expressed so far in this thread, the solution is to see if someone will pay cash for the couch or recliner, and the money and space could be used for another guitar...