Agile GAS?

ginormous

ginormous

Understatmentologist
Should I even bother, or just take an antacid?

Now, the "real" Gibby owners will probably groan and say, "Not another 'it's a really good deal for an LP clone' knucklehead!", but...

Check out the specs, cut and pasted from the page:

Solid mahogany (not a multi-ply!) arch top body
Graph Tec NVS2 bridge with string saver saddles
Triple bound body, and headstock. Single binding on neck.
Gold hardware, including die-cast Grover tuners with 18-1 turning ratio for ultra fine tuning (Model 102-18G)
Two Type V Alnico humbucker pickups for warm, tradional sound
The AL-3100 comes with improved wiring, improved pots (now higher voltage with brass shafts for reduced noise) and an improved pickup selector switch
Two volume and two tone controls, plus a three way pickup selector switch
One piece Mahogany set neck with 13.7" (350mm) radius neck for fast play and adjustable truss rod
Ebony fretboard with 22 Jumbo frets and real Mother-Of-Pearl Trapezodial inlays
A pre-cut graph tec tusq graphite nut is installed
Individually hand filed frets for professional feel and playability
Width of the neck at the nut: 1 5/8"; at the 21st fret: 2 3/16"
Neck taper/thickness at the 1st fret: 21.5 mm; at the 12th fret: 23.5mm
Overall length: 40"; Scale length: 24.7"
Body thickness: 2" at edge; Width at the widest point: 13"
Bridge pole spacing is 3", and the Tail piece pole spacing is 3 1/4"
Actual Weight is only 10 lbs
And the pics?

*production models have the gold knobs, cream pickguard and trim kit.

al3100whitemopgoldhw5.jpg


al3100whitemopgoldhw4.jpg
al3100whitemopgoldhw1.jpg
al3100whitemopgoldhw3.jpg



All for only $429.95?
I could work with this... hmm... :33:
 
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Re: Agile GAS?

1 5/8" nut width ? Hmm, seems a little narrow. Can you get your hands on one of these to actually play one in person ? I've found 1 5/8" to be a little narrow now that i'm older, the extra 1/16" of a 1 11/16" nut width makes a noticeable difference.

Maybe measure the nut width on that (Ibanez ?) 335-style guitar you have, see what that measures.

All the other specs seem fine to me, and a lot of people here say good things about this model, but for us older guys, nut width (oh gawd that's got to bring some wisecracks, surely) can be a dealbreaker.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

And yet, you said it anyway. :no:

Yes, that is an Ibanez Artist Series AS-50. 1981.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

It's worth a look-see, though, ain't it? There's a local dealer who might be able to get his hands on one.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

Oh definitely worth investigating, absolutely. And it depends of playing style ... most Fenders used to have 1 5/8" nuts although they now seem to mostly be 1 11/16". I think 1 5/8" is about as narrow as they come on most regular guitars, and i know a few older guys who find that a little too cramped for some playing, so i think you'd need to get your hands on one to see how it works for you .... unless your Ibanez is 1 5/8" in which case you'd already know how you feel about that width. That extra 1/16" makes a noticeable difference.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

ginormous said:
Not a clue, but I'll get a tape measure and check it.

Uh-oh, wifey's waking up. Gotta go...
:burnout:
Click to expand...

You're gonna get busted:kabong:

You just need a good alibi like "Honey, I'm just holding this for Will,
he'll be here in December to collect it", but then maybe September next year
and by the time February comes around again, she's completely forgotten about it.


hell Reggie, I can help you "substantiate" any purchase mate!

Give my regards to the good lady:friday:
 
Re: Agile GAS?

I just cant get past that lower horn, it just looks wrong.
Why dont you just get a used old Epiphone?
 
Re: Agile GAS?

Ginormous Ive got a used one I'll sell you for 300.00. Its got upgraded pickups and electronics.
I got it off this forum. For the life of me I can't recall who sold it to me.
The Agile 3100 IS a good guitar. Playability is really a strong point, especially if you like large frets and flatter radii.
They are heavey, as has been stated, and they are on the bright side. They are a bit on the tone dead side, so i put different pickups in it to make the best of it.
Nice Root Beer Brown.
 
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Re: Agile GAS?

I have had 2 Agiles in the last couple months. An al-3100 that had some issues with binding, inlays and frets which I ended up sending back reluctantly. It was a wide neck profile 1/ 3/4" at the nut. I had the guitar for about 2 weeks and Rondo took it back no questions asked, emailed me a pre-paid UPS label and even refunded the previous shipping costs. It didnt cost me a dime to try it out. The tone was actually prety thick to my ears. Not bright at all. Maybe even a little on the muddy side. The pickups even sounded pretty good to me. The neck thickness plus the wider profile was perfect for me so I ended up buying another one.

For the second one I decided to keep it simple. I really wasnt digging the tripple ply binding at all on the 3100 and I figured I could do without the ebony since I have an ebony fretboard guitar already, so I go an AL-2000.

Single ply binding on the neck and body and no headstock binding. Rosewood board instead of ebony.

What I noticed from a quality standpoint between the 2 is that there wasnt a difference at all. The extra money you pay gets you the extra stuff, thats pretty much it. Both are really heavy guitars that had a very similar tone characteristic that I rather like with very good harmonic response. If you are into Zakk style pich harmonics, these things really scream.

Between the 2 I actually prefer the 2000. It sustains quite a bit better than the 3100 and Im not sure I really was a fan of the graphite saddle bridge.

The only thing really wrong on the 2000 was the graphite nut was a little off center. They look to be pre slotted nuts and they just shave off the bottom to get the height dialed in. The string spacing was such that the nut had to be off center in order to get tthe distance right between the edge of the E strings and the edge of the fretboard. It would have been an easy fix had I decided to keep the nut, however I replaced it with a bone nut that I made from a blank. I found a place about 40 minutes from me that does all kinds of stuff with ivory from nuts to saddles to binding. 3 bucks for a nut blank wasnt too shabby.

Overall, the agiles compare very favorably to Epiphones. I would say they are on a pretty even plane with the exception of price point. To me, the agiles definitely have that les paul vibe going for them and no, they arent as good as a Gibson.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

I used to own that exact model, in that exact color. They were cheaper back then, though.

I threw a Custom in the bridge and a Distortion in the neck, primarily as a punk and metal machine. It was actually much more versatile that that. With those pickups, it had a very aggressive, naturally pretty compressed sort of sound that worked as well for 80s chorusy cleans as it did for covering Bad Religion.

I sold it after a couple of years, because I had started playing other -- twangier -- guitars almost exclusively, and because I was broke, but I really regret not having it any more. My #1 these days is a Gibson Studio with P-90s, but I still feel the absence of that heavy chunk of mahogany and hot pickups.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

I think the issue the Gibson purists scoff at is the threads where someone compares it to a gibson for less and expects a gibson killer at this price point.

Talking about buying a Lp styled guitar thats affordable, Ive heard great things for years about these. Many feel they got more than they paid for and a few got stinkers, but Kurt has usually handled those fairly.
I prefer a thinner neck , so if you do, give it a go. Id be tempted if I needed another lp type in the stable..
 
Re: Agile GAS?

That particular white Agile was high on my list, but I decided against it because I wanted the wide profile neck.

I personally think that white, black and gold combination is awesome. If it had the wide neck, it would be gone.
 
Re: Agile GAS?

Wifey is gonna let me have some fun, if finances work out in our favor in the next month or so. We've got holiday shopping bills to pay.

Jim, I can't promise anything, so if you're trying to move your brownie go ahead without me. If you have some time to wait, PM me with the details (especially the pups).
 
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