Rondo Custom

baritone

baritone

Well-known member
I have been searching online for reviews, and there seems to be a lot of positive reviews for Agile guitars; however, most of these reviews are from first-time guitar buyers. I don't hear much about Rondo's guitars from experienced players. Since I am a baritone player, there are not a lot of choices for me. Right now, there is an LTD Eclipse with the usual full-black motif, and there is the Hagstrom Viking Baritone, which is more to my liking. Both of them are made in China, and they're more expensive than what you'd expect to pay for MIC guitars. There is also a Fender Blacktop Telecaster Baritone, but it is only available is weird finishes. If I was to buy any of these, I would pour in a bunch more money on upgraded pickups and aesthetic changes.

The custom guitars at Rondo seem to be available with all the features I like. What I've heard is that they keep their costs down by using cheaper cuts of wood. I'm not really picky about "quality" wood because I just can't hear the difference between cheap guitars and expensive guitars.

What I want to know about Agiles n stuff is if they can be set up nicely and if they are known to physically deteriorate. Are there any intermediate- to advanced-level players using these things?

I have been playing for 17 years, and all of my instruments are Korean, and they are serving me well. I have played 4- and 5- figure guitars, and I can't discern anything to warrant the price difference, as long as the cheap guitar can be tweaked and upgraded.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

I would like to see you pull the trigger on one of these, personally. The only thing I don't like about Agiles are the headstock and lazy font choice. There's got to be a downside to these aside from cork-sniffing value. When I pretend-built myself a neck-thru wide necked LP with cheaper pups, stainless frets, maple fretboard, birdseye clear finish...it was still well under $1000. That's like my perfect LP.

EDIT: good lord. I just redid a guitar with the BBR top neck thru with a wide maple neck, stainless frets and cheapo pups and ended up at $554. That's.....a dumb price.
 
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Re: Rondo Custom

they have to be on par with schecter and LTD no? MIK? if thats the case you should be aight? i frequent their page often.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. The majority of Korean guitars I am aware of, regardless of the brand name, are made in the same factory, and, in terms of quality, I consider Squiers, Epiphones, PRS SEs, LTDs, and Schecters to be the same guitars with different specs. On ebay, it looks like the value of my MIK guitars is slowly creeping upward, so that is also encouraging.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

baritone said:
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. The majority of Korean guitars I am aware of, regardless of the brand name, are made in the same factory, and, in terms of quality, I consider Squiers, Epiphones, PRS SEs, LTDs, and Schecters to be the same guitars with different specs. On ebay, it looks like the value of my MIK guitars is slowly creeping upward, so that is also encouraging.
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well idk if i would include squier up in dat, but MIK is never horrid, or so ive gathered. idk, if it feels good, what does it matter, but how will you know until you straddle up, is the big question.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

Ive read quite a few reviews from experienced guys that rate them pretty well too. I dont know about the wood, but most of the cost savings is overseas who knows where build and lack of a big name. Kurt has always been rated high about taking care of you if you get a stinker..
 
Re: Rondo Custom

I'm not new to the guitar. Personally I think that the build quality these days is so good that even the cheaper companies put out a great product. My own 3 electrics - an Epi Jr, an Epi Special, and a Squier Strat - were all dirt cheap but are great playing guitars nonetheless. I've upgraded everything on them though - the PUs, tuners, nut, etc, but they were good quality platforms to start with.

So I would say you're probably good to go if you want to buy & upgrade a Rondo. I've heard they're pretty close to Epis and I would think are pretty well put together from everything I've read.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

stringbender11 said:
I'm not new to the guitar. Personally I think that the build quality these days is so good that even the cheaper companies put out a great product. My own 3 electrics - an Epi Jr, an Epi Special, and a Squier Strat - were all dirt cheap but are great playing guitars nonetheless. I've upgraded everything on them though - the PUs, tuners, nut, etc, but they were good quality platforms to start with.

So I would say you're probably good to go if you want to buy & upgrade a Rondo. I've heard they're pretty close to Epis and I would think are pretty well put together from everything I've read.
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I've heard Agiles being up past Squier quality at the very least, which is absolutely nothing to sneer at. Their LP customs may well beat top end epiphones that aren't Masterbilts. Their cheaper too.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
Re: Rondo Custom

My neighbor has at least 6 Agiles. He and I both have been playing for over 20 years and have both gone through a ton of guitars. The Agiles are no joke, especially the upper tier ones like the AL-3xxx series. I love of his especially his spalted maple model that's gorgeous and sounds kickass as well. Tough to beat for the price. I'd own one but I happen to like the PRS neck shape and size and am quite happy with my 2 SE's and one CE24.
 
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Agile AL-3200 (LP style) here. Just came off a day of recording and gigging with it. It's on par with my MIJ Ibanez from the '80s, which I still own.

The "solid wood" means it's not laminate, which is nothing to sneer at. If it's basswood or alder, instead of eastern hard rock maple or Madagascar ebony, it's still worthy of consideration.
 
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Re: Rondo Custom

JordanM82 said:
My Review of the AL-3100 I had before might help. From someone who has been playing for years and has a couple hundred gigs under his belt.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?235168-Agile-AL-3100-Review
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That was an awesome review, thanks for it. Baritone has been going through the same thing I have, which is a lot of reviews from unqualified players. My other problem is that I just don't SEE any. I'd like to play one before I buy it, ya know?

About the frets, was that an ordered extra, or was it Agile's "jumbo" frets straight from the factory? I wonder if their fret dressing process takes a lot off or something. Did you contact Rondo about your dissatisfaction? I suppose in the end, that would have been a near-impossible fix, unless they were to pay for a refretting for you, which I don't see happening with a >$500 guitar.

It does sound like you ended up with a guitar that's stellar for the price. Every comparison of Epi to Gibson has been that Gibson is a magnitude of quality better. If you're giving the Agile a C+ against a Gibson, that can't be bad. It's like a Kindergartener getting a C+ in 1st grade.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

Yep, that's another thing, Jon; i never met anyone who owns an Agile guitar, so I can't play one to see for myself.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

jon the art guy said:
It does sound like you ended up with a guitar that's stellar for the price. Every comparison of Epi to Gibson has been that Gibson is a magnitude of quality better. If you're giving the Agile a C+ against a Gibson, that can't be bad. It's like a Kindergartener getting a C+ in 1st grade.
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This is exactly the point, value for the purchase is massive. The guitar was a completely solid gigging instrument all around and with upgrades was even better. Getting a 7/10 when compared to an instrument that cost more than 3 times it's price tag is impressive. It's not a Gibson Les Paul but it was close and it wasn't a bad guitar by any stretch.

About the frets, based on my research there was a bit of an anomaly at the time where some guitars that were advertised as jumbo frets were not getting jumbo frets installed. I was not the only one making this complaint, however, Agile appears to have solved this problem and they are getting the right frets now.

Based on my experience, were I in your situation, I wouldn't hesitate to buy... they are worth the $$$ and honestly are probably undervalued for what you get for the $. Go for it.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

baritone said:
Yep, that's another thing, Jon; i never met anyone who owns an Agile guitar, so I can't play one to see for myself.
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My local GC has had a couple of Agiles taken in on trade, so that gave me a chance to play em. Not bad. Comparable to a good EPI and both were heavy and very solid feeling
 
Re: Rondo Custom

I've had my agile al-3100 for a couple years now and I still love it. It's easily comparable to higher end epiphones, I'd say even better but that's mostly because i like some of the specs that are hard to find on epiphones like the ebony fret board. The low action I'm able to get on this guitar still surprises me. I can get lower action on it than I can on my strat and my carvin. The hardware it came with is nothing special but I wouldn't say it's horrible either. With a pickup change and new electronics it really came alive. Customer service is also another great point. Kurt always answered my emails quickly and helped straighten out the few minor issues I had. Overall it's definitely something I'd recommend to others.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

I have an Agile 7-string and it plays waaaaaaaay better than $330 should! That said, it has it's shortcomings. I think it could be better balanced and the finish has some minor flaws. But for the money, I have zero complaints. I would say go for it. I personally think you will be really happy with it.
 
Re: Rondo Custom

I have an 8 string I bought used a few months ago, neck through walnut and maple neck, mahogany body, ebony fretboard. Don't know if I would say that they skimp out on wood, but this was an $800 guitar new. Lower price ranges might have lesser cuts. Previous owner had swapped out the stock pickups for DiMarzio D-Activators, but he did leave the stock ones in his other Agile model which was another 8 string with different woods and possibly bolton. I also had the jack replaced because it crapped out, but I think the wiring job during pickup swap might have been at fault there.

Anyway, the guitar is great. I would have never bought an 8 string in all likely hood; then a co-worker of my pop offered it to me, and said I could try it out for a week or two. I picked it up and after half an hour I knew I would be purchasing it. Neck plays well, little flatter than usual but then again the neck width is huge so we can't use that to compare to a six string. Finish is also very nice, satin on this particular model. It keeps tune amazingly well, to the point of me coming home yesterday morning with it from the shop through light snow and upon taking it out at home later, it was pretty close to being in tune. The Grover tuners are probably a big help with that, but again not sure if the lower priced models have that. Guitar sounds great as well, but since you're probably going to get a whole different set of tonewoods I won't bother saying much.

It sits comfortably with my American Special Tele and USACG Strat, all told. I say go for it!
 
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