Just wanted to provide an update on The Great Chair Decision: I decided to go with a Pick 'N Glider, relying on the many favorable reviews I read. I was a little anxious about purchasing it, since a chair is a very personal thing, and I couldn't try it out ahead of time. So, I took a leap of faith, ordered it, set it up last night, played for about an hour, and ... I'm loving it. Very, very comfortable. Very conducive to good posture. And very likely to keep me playing longer than I would have sitting on the sofa, slouched over in my usual position.
Aside from those virtues mentioned above, I was momentarily distracted when I opened the box and couldn't find any of the bolts and washers that are necessary to put the chair together, and what immediately came to mind are some of the reviews I read that said that the hardware had likely fallen out of the box during shipment. Then I discovered that the company had already fastened the bolts into the seat assembly, preventing them from floating around loosely in the box. That was a nice, simple fix to what was likely an annoying problem for previous purchasers.
From the time I opened the box, the chair took about five minutes to assemble. The only tool required is a socket wrench (or, really, pretty much any kind of wrench would work) to finish turning the bolts after I hand-tightened them. I just tried to be careful not to over-torque the bolts.
Two negatives: 1) And this one is highly subjective -- is the appearance. The Pick 'N Glider is designed in an early-Americana style ... which really isn't my thing, but I was willing to overlook that in order to get a comfortable chair that I could sit in every day for at least an hour at a time. This chair does that, and does it perfectly. My wife (a non-guitarist) sat in the chair, pronounced it wonderful, then promptly said, "We can reupholster the cushions later." And 2) The base of the chair features two thin strips of wood stapled into it. This confused me, because they're not shown in the illustration and not mentioned in the directions, so I wasn't sure whether to remove them or leave them alone. Were they functional to the operation of the chair or there merely for shipping purposes? Since the wood strips are unfinished and look like no other wood on the chair, in the end, I decided to remove them, which required prying up the staples with a flat screwdriver, then twisting them out with a pair of pliers. I think I made the right choice. The company could save a bit of anxiety by assuming their target audience is as unsure and fumble-fingered as I am.
Given that the many (and very important) positives far outweigh the two minor negatives, I'd rate the Pick 'N Glider a 9 out of 10. And, especially when used with my little foot rest, I feel like I'm in the perfect position for playing the guitar.
