Bought a 5th Avenue Kingpin

[briandavidyork]

This is my first jazz guitar, so I'm pretty excited. I also took a huge gamble and bought it without ever having played one, but I live in the middle of nowhere, so it's hard to get my hands on interesting guitars. I ended up going for the Kingpin ii cutaway. I got it for under $700, which isn't a steal but seems very very reasonable for a Canadian made guitar with good reviews. I read lots of threads on here while deciding between that and a D'Angelico Exl-1, so thanks for the input!

I'll try and post a video when it arrives.

[J.C.]

This is my first jazz guitar, so I'm pretty excited. I also took a huge gamble and bought it without ever having played one, but I live in the middle of nowhere, so it's hard to get my hands on interesting guitars. I ended up going for the Kingpin ii cutaway. I got it for under $700, which isn't a steal but seems very very reasonable for a Canadian made guitar with good reviews. I read lots of threads on here while deciding between that and a D'Angelico Exl-1, so thanks for the input!

I'll try and post a video when it arrives.

Congrats! I got my first jazz box today as well, so I know how you feel. I'm letting mine acclimate for 24 hours, so right now I'm just staring at the box it came in. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. Post some pics when you can.

[briandavidyork]

Congrats! I got my first jazz box today as well, so I know how you feel. I'm letting mine acclimate for 24 hours, so right now I'm just staring at the box it came in. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. Post some pics when you can.

Nice! What guitar? Please post some pics of yours as well.

[J.C.]

Nice! What guitar? Please post some pics of yours as well.

Eastman AR403CED. Thanks, will do.

[darkwaters]

Enjoy. I’m a big fan of Godin and its offshoots. I have a Simon & Patrick acoustic that I’m quite fond of. I find that they really have great necks that feel perfect, at least for my medium sized hands.

[mr. beaumont]

I've said for a long time that I think the Kingpin is the best budget jazz box out there...I still feel that way. Play the heck out of it!

[himself]

Congrats! I'm letting mine acclimate for 24 hours, so right now I'm just staring at the box it came in. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve.

Unbelievable!

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I'm letting mine acclimate for 24 hours, so right now I'm just staring at the box it came in.

You're wasting a day. When I was a boy we secured strings on the boxes with sheetmetal screws, used a big twig as a bridge, and played them!


Welcome to the community! May your guitar and forum participation bring you the same great joy most of us get from ours.

[James W]

I've said for a long time that I think the Kingpin is the best budget jazz box out there...I still feel that way. Play the heck out of it!

Nice to know.

I have a burgundy one. It became much more playable once I had the action lowered, and while this involved lowering the bridge which means the tip of a screw is sticking out at either end of the bridge, my right hand has now got used to it, with a bit of readjustment and experimentation. I'm on holiday and it's the guitar I take with me, a nice opportunity to get used to it more.

[AllanAllen]

Congrats! I got my first jazz box today as well, so I know how you feel. I'm letting mine acclimate for 24 hours, so right now I'm just staring at the box it came in. I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. Post some pics when you can.

How cold is it outside vs your house? I don't think you need to do that with a new Eastman.

[mr. beaumont]

How cold is it outside vs your house? I don't think you need to do that with a new Eastman.

I think Eastman's had a notoriously thin finish back in the day, but I think they've figured that out...

Someone here, can't remember who, said wait til the box feels like room temperature, then, if it's in a case, wait til the case feels like room temperature.

That always seemed like good advice (and usually takes a lot less than 24 hours)

That said, if J.C. has the patience to wait 24 hours to open a guitar, then he also likely has the patience it takes to learn this music well!

[J.C.]

How cold is it outside vs your house? I don't think you need to do that with a new Eastman.

You're probably right. I've always done it with my Martin acoustics (nitro finish) so I just said what the heck, I can wait a day. The guy told me when he shipped it, it was 22 degrees (Ohio). It's about 60 here (South Carolina).

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I had the action lowered, and while this involved lowering the bridge which means the tip of a screw is sticking out at either end of the bridge, my right hand has now got used to it, with a bit of readjustment and experimentation.

You can fix this with a small cutoff wheel on a rotary tool like a Dremel. Just be careful to cut the screw perpendicular to its axis and dress the cut end with a slight bevel that leaves the thread end intact and readily engaged by the nut.

It goes without saying that you need to remove the bridge to do this safely. I don’t know how easy the bridge screws are to twist out of the base. But whether or not you remove them to cut them, you’ll have to take the saddle off.

[AllanAllen]

That said, if J.C. has the patience to wait 24 hours to open a guitar, then he also likely has the patience it takes to learn this music well!

Very true

[Litterick]

Bravo!

[John A.]

Eastman AR403CED. Thanks, will do.

Eastman doesn't use nitrocellulose lacquer anymore. They now use a polyurethane they call TruTone, so no need to worry about the finish checking due to abrupt temperature changes.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Eastman doesn't use nitrocellulose lacquer anymore. They now use a polyurethane they call TruTone, so no need to worry about the finish checking due to abrupt temperature changes.

I'm not sure we can say that yet. It's a very thin poly finish, and it's only been used by them for about 2 years IIRC - so there's no track record yet. One of my Eastman archtops has it and the other is French polished. I continue to exercise the same care with both - better safe than sorry.