Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

[Gearjoneser]

Everytime I go on Ebay, I see all these decent looking budget Gibson clones
for around $350. I know they're all made in Asia, and that they're good for the money, but who here has actual playing experience with these brands?
I never see them in any stores, but they're everywhere on the net.
Has anyone A/B/C'd these brands and can give an overview on quality?
Which are the best? Worst?

 

[Wattage]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

The Jay Tursers are good but they don't get the right body style, trying to stay out of court mostly I guess. Good guitars for the money, my friend owns 2 of them and loves them both.

Agile - no experience but lots of guys here have them so someone will pipe in soon.

Dillion - I loved mine, sold it to butnut who loves it. I had a 56GT copy, excellent guitar. Mine was the correct body shape, they go back and forth I guess depending on Gibsons mood at the time. It needed better electronics (no sweat) and a good setup and it smoked, I had to sell it to finance some other gear and I wanted it to go to someone who would dig it hence it went to butnut. He put up pics of it in the Show your gear thread. Today I played a DC TV Jr. copy from them that just hit the shores that I almost walked out of the store with. Really nice, great neck, good piece of wood (resonant!) Good finish, a little heavy on the poly but not bad at all for a Korean finish. As far as I know most of the Korean production comes from the same plant that does the Tokai stuff so details are pretty good as is the quality. Of the 3 you mentioned that would be my choice but certainly don't discount the Tokai branded stuff either.

 

[54stratlover]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I have tried the dillion prs, and L.P. clones. They aren't to bad. I may buy the dillion '56 L.P. goldtop clone. they are like 400 bones. Neck feels good, body feels solid. Also check out the Japanese gibson clones. they are called Orville. Feel just like a gibson. I think they were contracted by gibson. here is one http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3714871878&category=38086

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3714648719&category=38086

 

[xerxes]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

mmm, orvilles are nice, well look nice at least.

also, everyone who owns an agile that i know loves it

 

[Hoss]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

i have a nephew with a dillion goldtop lp copy...pretty solid guitar...could've used some different tuners...
it had p-90's...they weren't too bad...
the finish and the wood were really nice...smooth neck...the fretboard was above average...overall...pretty good...especially for the money...drop some new pups in...(which we all would no matter what kind of guitar anyways...!!!) and some lockin tuners and your pretty much set...?!

 

[Wattage]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...&category=38086

This would be your better bet of the 2, though nothing wrong with either of them. Orville by Gibson is higher end than the straight Orville, don't know the specifics though. They will generally go used for a few hundred more than the brands GJ is talking about go for new though.

 

[butnut]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

Yup, this baby smokes! :smoker: Watts upgraded to SD Custom P90's, Tonepro bridge, Gibson tuners and the good electronics...how could I refuse? :13: I've owned a real gold top with P90s and a LP Custom, the fit and finish on the Dillion is great and so worth the money. The tones are far out dude!
Dillion gold top...
hehe...I just had to make this a real 'law-suit' copy... :dance:

 

[proxy]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

Tokai is supposed to make awsome les paul clones. They say love rock where it is suppose to be les paul. For several years they made les paul clones except they would sell them as real gibsons, by putting the gibson logo on them and such. My guitar teacher says they are a great alternative to les pauls.

 

[presa_tito]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I have a jay turser serpent lp. I really like it, but the stock pickups sucked. That's why I put emg's in it. A lot cheaper and I like it more than most epiphones. It only cost me $250 new.

 

[martinsixstringcustoms]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I've got an Agile 2500 Double Cut. I'm pretty impressed with it, especially for the money. I have a SD Jazz in the neck and a C5 in the bridge. I also had push/pull tone knobs installed so that I could split the pickups. IMHO, you can't go wrong with these guitars. Fair warning though - You'll most likely need a good setup upon arrival. No big deal though. I had to do that with my 3 real Gibson Les Pauls....

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

Jeremy and I played some Turser's a couple of years ago at NAMM that were surprisingly good....but then again, those were NAMM guitars.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

No experience with the Dillon or Agile, but I played a few Tursers not long ago. I played a Goldtop w/P-90s that was really nice. But I also played a similar guitar & it was a dog....so, they probably suffer from that consistancy problem the lower end makes have.

FWIW everyone around here that has had an Agile seems to love them !




What are you wasting your time on these for? You know you want that '03 MiM Fender Tele WITH MAPLE NECK/FRETBOARD that I have....no cash needed; I'll just take the Matchless. I'll even throw in some picks & a BEER!!! :beerchug:

 

[TwofacePimp]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I love my agile LP2500. For the price, you can't beat it. They do need a little bit of work if you want them to have peak performance, such as a new nut, setup, pickups, wiring, etc. But people do the same thing to their gibsons.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I've come to the conclusion that the Orville's, Agile's, and better Epi's are probably the better ones, followed closely by the rest. The one budget LP that grabs my eye the most, but is $700, is the brand new Joe Perry Signature Epiphone's. Have you guys seen those yet? Of course $3000+ is not in the equation for a Gibson JP sig,
but the finishes on the Epi version is almost as good. Same basic colored flametops.
Also, the neck looks a little better than the average Epi's. Check those out!
If I find a used Tigerseye JP Sig. Epi, I may jump on it. Simply add a nickel C-5/59 set, and a bone nut and perfect setup, and you'd be hard pressed to beat it for that money.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I just got the new Musicians "Friend" catalog & the new Epi Joe Perry is in there.....looks very nice & I'm guessing because it's a "Signature Model", they might have put a little extra effort in making them pretty consistant. That finish looks wild in print...I'd love to see one in person!

 

[tenniso]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

i have a Jay Turser JT136 that i really like alot. i haven't found anything wrong with it yet.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

Just saw the Epi version over the weekend and the finish is duller than the Gibson. I didn't get to play it but the inlays looked a little funky. Overall still a pretty cool piece for Epi to put out, I'll try and get my hands on it if it's there next week.

*** I am talking about the JP Boneyard of course ***

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

The Epi has Burstbucker 1 & 2s in it too.......not a shabby way to start! :13:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...80268/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/518709/

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I have the Agile DC LP and it is very playable. Nice neck, good fret work and great acoustic sustain. The stock pups are not horrible, but I of course changed them out for a C5/Jazz combo. The tuners are pretty good and it stays in tune very well after I cleaned up the nut a bit. I couldn't be happier with it and to top it off, it really looks sharp!

 

[JfromHouston]

Re: Who's played Jay Turser, Dillion, or Agile?

I have an Agile LP2500. It's a nice guitar. Like others have said, toss in some good pups, do a good set-up and your good to go. Much better tuners, toggle, jack and wiring than the Epi. Plus it has a real maple cap as opposed to a thin veneer or fotoflame as on the epi.

I did some comparisons this past week on all three of my single cutaways since this was the first time all have been in tip top shape at the same time. Here are the contestants with stats:

'03 Gibson LP Standard (stock for the moment)
'02 Epi LP (C5/59) (new toggle, wiring, jack, tuners, pups)
'03 Agile LP 2500 (custom custom/jazz) (new tuners, pups)

The two catagories were tone and playability. I know this comparison isn't exactly fair because of the different pups/woods/etc but this was strictly for personal satisfaction so your results/opinions may vary.

Tone:
1. Les Paul
2. Agile
3. Epi

Playabilty:
1. Les Paul
2. Epi
3. Agile

Amp used was a DSL 100 pushing an Avatar open back Celestion (v30/G12H30) loaded cab.

Food for thought...

J