Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

[JOLLY]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

These Agiles seem to be getting popular. I better get one before they raise the price.

You're about 5 years too late on that entire statement.

[75lespaul]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

But how long have they been selling $19 Chinese Gibson copies on the Internet? How long have people on this board been raving about them? Ten years? Fifty years? I wonder why the storefront didn't pan out.

Rondo was a brick and mortar store from the 50s until just recently. It was in Hillside NJ on rt 22 and I started going there in 1980. I loved the place. Of course there were no Agile guitars there at the time, but it was a great music store that carried the name brand gear and had a nice used gear selection as well. I stopped going there when I moved out of the area in 1993, but they had good customer service and it was always a friendly place to go. A lot of the neighborhoods that used to support Rondo changed from great middle class neighborhoods into a bunch of ghettos, including my hometown of Irvington, plus a Guitar Center opened just up the road. Closing the store and concentrating on the Agile, SX, Douglass line was probably the best change that they could have made because they weren't going to compete with Guitar Center. They've remodeled themselves quite well. Whether you LIKE what they do or the guitars is purely your opinion I'm not commenting on that. Just trying to answer your question as to what happened to the store.

[IanBallard]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

Just to clarify, the maple top is about the thickness of a heavy guitar pick...but it IS real wood.

The flame or quilt "M" 3100's have a 3/4" regular maple cap with a very thin figured top which, as you said, is real wood and not a photo top like Epis. The other ones have a very thin layer of maple, figured or otherwise, so you're partially correct. Some REAL, EXPENSIVE Gibsons don't offer some of the features of the top-end Agiles, such as ebony boards, real abolone/MOP inlays and such. You could, arguably, compare a top-end Agile with premium pickups to a real Gibson, if you have a really nice amp setup. I mean, consider the difference between a VOS Les Paul '59 replica, topping out at $8k, run through a Roland Cube and a $650 Agile 3100M with a Pearly Gates in the neck and a '78 CS Duncan in the bridge, run through a Soldano SLO-100. That's where the comparison could be validated I suppose.

[Red_Label]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

I mean, consider the difference between a VOS Les Paul '59 replica, topping out at $8k, run through a Roland Cube and a $650 Agile 3100M with a Pearly Gates in the neck and a '78 CS Duncan in the bridge, run through a Soldano SLO-100. That's where the comparison could be validated I suppose.

In that case, the Agile KILLS the Gibson CS. Because the amp makes MUCH more of a difference than the guitar does in an electric, solid body guitar rig.

[IanBallard]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

In that case, the Agile KILLS the Gibson CS. Because the amp makes MUCH more of a difference than the guitar does in an electric, solid body guitar rig.

Which is why if I had $4000 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd invest in a killer amp before I worry about a super-expensive guitar. Although I would like to hear a comparison of those two (hypothetical) guitars run through a top-end amp for a real comparison.

Let's also give props to the neck-through Agile LP's too! The added brightness of the maple/walnut 5-piece will give a very unique character to an already good line of LP-style guitars. A neck-through "M" 3100 might be just what the doctor ordered for those who find traditional LP's a little too "muddy" or lacking definition. I also think the 3200 series is neat too, with the body contours for those that aren't fond of the feel of a LP but like the sound. Agile also makes nice Tele copies and very good metal Super Strat guitars too!

[rjudo]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

Over the years I have owned four Les Pauls and one epi. I also have owned an Agile 3000. The Agile was leaps and bounds better than the epi and it holds its own with the real ones. Granted, none of my Pauls were cutom shop stuff, just plain old off the shelf. All of the Les Pauls were from the '80's and'90's, I have no experience with the newer stuff.

[sbecker67]

Re: Agile 3100 are they better then epiphone lps??

an Agile AL-2000 series or Dauntless will be the same if not slightly better. It will need the same upgrades to pups, pots, etc... that an Epi will

an Agile AL-3000 series will eat an Epi for breakfast and then after a pup swap will look for a Gibson Les Paul Classic/Traditional to pick a fight with

an Agile AL-3000M or 3100M, dollar for dollar, is better than any non custom shop Gibson especially after a pup swap. (unless you get one already with SD for $650.00ish)