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Agile Guitars


PerryL

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but if it was that much of a let down, why not email or call them up and complain a bit?

because the fault is not theirs...it is the fault of all those kids who gave such glowing reviews on harmony central,and my fault for listening.

but i did get a project out of it,and if i can salvage it into a player,then it was worth the money,to me.

oh by the way...the neck is very decent,and they sell them seperately on the rondo site....so all those people out there looking for a set neck to build a les paul out of...try this...i think you will be pleased.(notice it has no frets though...you would have to cut the slots and fret it yourself...unless you wanted a fretless)

http://www.rondomusic.net/fretlessneck.html

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Wes

Couple questions since you got one, lol

The neck, you said it felt really good? so it should be no problems with it being an ob-longed shape?

also, does yours have inlays on the front?? the one in the link you put up for the fretless does not (which for me, is a bonus, because I hate front inlays)

Anything that you dont like bout the neck say so!!

Thanks

Curtis

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Wes, I think you are being fairly hard on a "low cost" instrument. Nobody said they were perfect, but for the money my basses are fine for what they need to do. They are not Agile, SX which I think are even less expensive. For the money I still think they are a better deal than lower end Fenders for up to 4 times the money.

I didn't experience any of the problems you mentioned. The neck pocket is very tight and the finish came off just like lacquer. So I assumed it was lacquer and it has hardened nicely. The only flaws I had was a few bubbles on the finish behind the neck. 1500 grit took care of them. BTW the neck is still straight after a year of playing.

I still play mine all the time, because I don't have anything else. At least not until I purchase a big enough bandsaw to resaw all my maple I've been hoardiing. :D

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well i just think it is about time someone spoke the reality of the situation,so that the consumer can decide whether or not they are worth the money

someone said they were better quality than epiphone...well they are clearly not.they still are good enough for a beginner,which is fine,if that is what a beginner wants,but this is not an instrument that you can take on stage and stay in tune or sound good with.not the way it comes in the box.work needs to be done ,at the very least new electronics and a better slotting on the nut.can you imagine playing a guitar on stage that every time you pull a bend,the string sticks in the slot and you have to play out of tune the rest of the song?if people want to buy them and rework them,the way that i am doing,then that's great...and i will give another opinion of how it sounds after all the work

but there was no finish on this guitar other than a spray of colored sealer,so there is nothing to have bubbles in,and the neck joint is barely glued at all,because of the monster gaps around it.

i don't know about the quality of fender basses,or sx basses either.this is an lp copy,and a very poor one.i am not being hard,this thing was unplayable for any gigging purposes the way it came

i think the guitar is fine for a beginner,like i said.but i have heard people touting these things like the be all/end all of guitars,which they are not,even in the under $400 price range

the esp f50 is a better guitar for the same price...as are the low end schecters and ibanez guitars.

check it out

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/search?c=6241

(filter by price-$200 to $300 range)

and especially this one and a few others like it

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guit...base_id/115909/

all better guitars for the same money.i promise you they are better guitars.i have played almost all of them at one time or another,and never did a guitar leave such a bad taste in my mouth as this one does

brand spanking new guitar,delivered to my doorstep for under $300,i was excited to see it,couldn't wait to play it.

when i played it i am telling you i was crestfallen.maybe i can make it playable,maybe i will have to give it away to some kid in the neighborhood.we will see.but i am not going to sugarcoat this even one tiny little bit.and i have already given them credit for a decent neck that is worth what you pay for it

by the way this guitar was not made in china.it was made in korea.

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i don't know what you mean by an oblong shape.

i have to say there is nothing that i can SEE that is wrong with the neck.it feels real nice and is very playable

yes mine has inlays.

when i say oblonged, like it isnt warped or anything

Well, i am about to go see how much money I have so I can order the neck, anyone know the conversion from american to canadian dollars these days? its always flip floppin and I can keep it straight (i heard it was something like 35 cents??)

Curtis

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Wes, you're right! I was arguing over a completely different brand and type of guitar.

So, after you do some work on it will it be OK, or just a piece of junk? BTW are you going to leave an appropriate feedback on Harmony Central???

As I stated early on in the thread I have already replaced some parts, and made a new nut. Soon the electronics will be replaced. I have to keep the basses nobody will ever pay for what i'll end up putting into them.B)

:D

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So, after you do some work on it will it be OK, or just a piece of junk?

i think it will be okay.i should be done with the finish by the end of this weekend,then it will need to harden at least a week before buffing(maybe more...not real familiar with the defthane stuff,but it seems to harden quicker than the nitro)

then i need to reassemble it with the new tuners and the emgs and see if the balance is right with the extra weight of the finish on the body and the lighter weight tuners(swamp ash body on an lp with a maple neck is apparently a bad idea.....the body is too light to balance the neck without an upper horn.)

after,of course ,either reslotting the bone nut or installing the graphtech that came with it preslotted at the graphtech factory.

might be great.in which case it would be worth the money if you can get a cheap lp copy and turn it into a super nice lp copy for about $550 total.

the main thing that is really bothersome is the neck joint.that is really almost a no-fix zone for most people

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My AL-3000P arrived Monday, 10/25.

Finish – My finish is excellent, none of the problems described by Wes (westhemann). It looks like multiple coats of ploy to me. When held up at an angle to the light, it is dead smooth; no orange peel, ripple or anything. I’ve gone over it and every flaw I’ve found turned out to be dust, crumb from toast I muched on or one of my many departing head hairs.

Binding, joints, etc. – Properly machined. I can see no gaps or feel any ripples/depressions. I wish I could join that well (but I’m an amateur woodworker and not an pro luthier).

Fretboard – Ebony, tight grain and very smooth. I haven’t worked with a lot of ebony, but I had a really nice stick I ended up selling on ebay (cleaning out garage) and this is as nice and dense as it was.

Fret Wires – Everything looks and feels fine on these, but I don’t know what they are made of or how long they will last.

Obviously, whomever built Wes’s guitar, did not build mine.

We’ll see how it goes.

Rick

PS -

Giving up on building a guitar for now; selling the house and all (almost) of my tools. I’ve been wanting to build a guitar for years; guess I’ll just have to wait ‘till I retire.

There’s an interesting sound clip comparison between the Gibby and the AL-3000 with upgraded pots. You may be supprised at the results;

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums...highlight=agile

Edited by Rick
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yeah i guess that one you bought is considered top of the line for them.

do me a favor and take out the neck pickup to check the neck joint and see if it is tight.i would like to know if the top of the line has better fits..and check the nut slots...it says proffessionally cut on your model....i guess they had jack the ripper cut mine edit mine claims proffessionally cut as well

check out rondo now...they just added a whole page of high end agile guitars!

with duncan pickups,better hardware,and better woods.

makes me wish i had waited

oops...wait...it says seymour DUCAN in all of the descriptions...is that an accident or a deliberate thing?

just checked out that thread you linked to.keep in mind he did swap the pups out.

hopefully mine will turn out to be a decent guitar

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Sometimes you just get a bad guitar. I live in Toronto and there's a store called Steves Music, and they sell the most guitars here mainly squires, fenders, ibanez, gibsons, bc riches, jacksons, and yamahas (no epis. for some reason). I went to try an amp out and I had to use about 5 different guitars because of minor problems I found with them. Sometimes you just get a really poor made piece of garbage. If it was so poor why didn't you just return it and ask for another stateing all the problems? I'm sure they have a return policy.

Since we're on the topic of guitar copys and knockoffs, etc. what about Jay Turser guitars? Has anyone had experience with those?

-Jamie :D

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If it was so poor why didn't you just return it and ask for another stateing all the problems? I'm sure they have a return policy.

i already answered this.i believe these problems are probably quite common on this guitar and most people just don't know enough about guitars to spot the problems

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Hey wes, i have been a long time hater of agile lovers for ages, the so called "harmony central" arses. lol .

They are really uptight about their agiles. I am a forum moderator on ultimate-guitar.com

I liked your review of the agile so much i posted it on UG on this thread. http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showt...threadid=145943 and they are still saying that agile guitars are the best and better then gibsons and stuff. but im trying to prove to them they are just generic korean lego blocks.

rob

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generic korean lego blocks.

yeah that is a pretty good description of the one i have.i tell you what.. a tight neck joint and a little bit of forethought would go a long way on these guitars and would not raise their bottom line

for example.they should swap out those heavy grovers they use for the lighter grover open back tuners(i just got those in from stewmac for mine.they are nice tuners)to help balance the guitar better.

that new page of "high end" agiles take care of most of the hardware problems.duncan pickups and gotoh nickel t.o.m. and tailpiece i bet really clean it up.and those thicker caps can't hurt either.

there are some gibson les pauls that are not very well made as well.for example those that guitar center got in a while back and sold cheap.very poorly constructed.

really,to be fair.if they tightened up that neck joint on the agile and PROPERLY slot the nut,then as far as i am concerned the price is fair,because who minds paying $260 for a guitar which,after a pickup and hardware swap,would actually play,feel,and sound similar(not identical) to a gibson les paul.

i don't hate the agile guitars.for the price they are okay if you aren't too picky.but for pete's sake make a proper neck joint!ANY guitar at ANY price should have tighter tolerances on the neck joint and a properly slotted nut

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  • 1 month later...

Hey guys,

I looked up "agile" to find reviews before I go there this tuesday. One of the guy's in my fraternity is getting a seagull (rondo is the only place around here that sells 'em). And I am probably picking up an AL3000 in honeyburst for myself. Wes, I am assuming you played the swamp ash LP. I played it a while ago at the store and saw the same finish problems as you did (I think i may have even posted a comment to that effect here). And that was the one they had hanging on the wall. I completely agree with you that the finish was ridiculous. However, the rest of the LPs in the store were smooth as glass. I am really curious to see how your's turned out after the refinish and I will post pictures and a review of mine when I get it. Thanks

-Vadim

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That's really odd how that one guitar is having finish problems. Maybe you can tell them about it and they can do something about it. Maybe in the factory when they were making them the guy was on coffee break B).

I am really tempted about buying an Agile guitar. I am looking at the Agile E1, AL-3000, AL-2800, AL-2500, PS-970, and one i'm really leaning forward to is the PS-900. The only thing is they say the PS-900 has a highly figured maple top on a mahogony archtop except i don't see any highly figured maple lol. If I do get the PS-900 i'd replace the cream pickup rings and put gold ones. They did have one Agile i was even more tempted to buy, it was an LP copy, mahogony body with a quilt maple top in a dark red - i should've bought it before they discontinued it ugh. If you can please tell me how the PS-900 plays and feels and if theres any finishing problems on it.

-Jamie :D

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