Re: Gibson A9: Wow
There is no one "pac rim" and for that matter there's no one A9. I had a "pac rim" LM-400 that was as playable as any mandolin could physically be and sounded great to me. Would I have been happier spending 2x as much on a used A9? Well probably pretty satisfied if a) I had a thousand dollars in my pocket and b) the one I got was as well set up and in as good a condition as the LM-400 that Robert Fear sent me.
Based on my own experience the odds of a used A9 needing nothing but to be taken out the box, a little fine-tuning and off we go (like my LM-400) are somewhere between "maybe if you're lucky" and "you're dreaming". Call it 1-in-4. And the idea of borrowing money to pay $1,000 for a used mandolin that is going to magically be worth $1,100 a year later is silly. Why not just say "Look around and find a good A9 for $14.95 and you can make a killing by reselling it.
I will say that the one used Gibson I bought was resold for exactly what I had paid for it. Minus of course the cost of a couple times shipping it a few hundred miles and various PayPal fees and what have you. But when I sold that LM-400 I lost maybe two hundred bucks total which is only a bit more overall. As for satisfaction I found that neither the LM-400 or the Gibson were as satisfying as the mandolin that's now my everyday player (neither Gibson or imported). Satisfaction is where you find it, it doesn't come from a nameplate. Or from avoiding the dreaded "pac rim" insult.
The first man who whistled
thought he had a wren in his mouth.
He went around all day
with his lips puckered,
afraid to swallow.
--"The First" by Wendell Berry
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