[Hack&Lube]

Any musicians or pianists out there have a good working knowledge of keyboards on the market? I've asked this before but never really had the money to spend on a decent one.

I was wandering through Long & McQuade this afternoon after some Christmas shopping and noticed they had their Eric Johnson Stratocaster selling for $1899 and I thought to myself: "hey, I have an EJ Strat collecting dust in my room, why don't I trade it for an awesome keyboard + a cheaper guitar?"

Is it worth trading in guitars to L&M/Axe, etc. if I took store credit? Or would I get more money selling it myself?

As far as a piano/keyboard goes, I really don't have much knowledge of anything out there as I'm just a beginner. I mainly play improv based on some jazz chord based progressions and can't read sheet music. That said, I want really good sound. The ol' Costco Yamaha synth deal won't cut it anymore as I love a deep reverbing Grand Piano sound and I really want a decent Fender Rhodes piano (including tremelo and overdrive when I hit the keys too hard) type sound. USB Midi is also a must-have.

I was thinking I would just get a high end USB controller but are there any USB controllers out there that have a decent set of weighted keys? Most are plasticky junk with no weight behind them.