Agile

The Agile AL-3000 is a Korean-made solid mahogany LP shaped guitar. It includes a maple-top with a triple bound body,and headstock with binding on the neck. The neck is mahogany with an ebony fretboard. The fretboard has distinctive Abalone inlays. The manufacturer claims the the AL-3000 has 22 jumbo frets but they do not seem to be that large. It comes with two Alnico V humbucking pickups which provide a warm traditional tone. I would say they are medium output. The controls are standard LP fare with two volume and two tone controls. The construction has a good solid feel to it. UTILIZATION The AL-3000 has all the same advantages and flaws that every LP has. The thick body and large set-neck heel limit upper fret access but the wide and flat LP style neck provides good playability along most of the neck. The ebony fretboard is a delight even guitars twice as much rarely provide. The tone is classic LP with its medium output pickups and dual tone and volume controls. SOUNDS It provides a classic sound through my Marshall. With the pickups it can become muddy at high gain. With the stock pickups it is best suited for a medium gain classic rock tone. If you are looking for a warm/thick sound this is what you are looking for. There is no single-coil twang to be found here. OVERALL OPINION The ebony fretboard is what sold me on the guitar. I don't know why companies now choose not to use the wood on most guitars. The smooth feel of an ebony fretboard makes playing effortless. I would rate the quality of construction to a step above an Epiphone. Epiphone does not offer a guitar with these features at this price. People should start to look away from the big companies and to these smaller companies. With more and more guitars being made overseas the quality amongst companies has leveled out, and with the quality the same its harder to justify the premium prices for the more established companies.

(Originally written by Shredchris/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Made in Korea. 22 frets. Stop tailpiece / tune-o-matic bridge, 2 volume controls, 2 tone controls, 3-way toggle switch. In short, it's a Les Paul. It has the features of a Les Paul Custom with mahogany body, one-piece mahogany neck and ebony fingerboard. Binding on the body (top and back), the neck and the head. Vintage design, nothing has been modernized so I could give it a lower mark, but it's just not possible... UTILIZATION The neck factory setting is very good: no rattling strings, low action and very stable tuning. Access to the upper frets is marvelous if have fingers 30" long... In other case, it's virtually unplayable from the 19th fret on, like every Les Paul. But we don't buy them for that. The original sound is excellent, the pickups do a good job and provide that special Les Paul sound character. Nevertheless, considering the manufacturing quality, I feel that the guitar could sound better with high-end pickups. But I won't take off points for this reason because the original setup does its job very good (much better than other guitars often equipped with awful pickups). SOUNDS THE LES PAUL sound. The real one. Not a bad copy. The manufacturing quality is nearly comparable to original Gibson models. The quality of this copy reminds me of the old Tokai and Ibanez Lawsuit from the 70's. OVERALL OPINION Time will tell if the guitar gets better with aging but I'm pretty confident. With such a simple design aging often has surprisingly good consequences. Right now the guitar sounds really good and it ought to be better in the future. I will soon order a second one and another one in January. I'm sure that this guitar is an excellent investment and it matches my music taste (and also my budget). It will be difficult to find anything similar in its price range and what's more, it can even compete with guitars four times as expensive... I give it... 10/10!

Agile is a guitar company out of Korea. They make really nice guitars that sell for really low prices. Their main vendor is Rondomusic out of the United States. Rondomusic commissions all sorts of Agiles to be made. These guitars are really popular with people who know good value in the guitar world. These guitars are cheaper than most Epiphones but have quality almost rivaling Gibson. This is a model lots of people have been wanting for a while. This is the Agile 3200. The Agile 3000 is their most popular model and this guitar is that guitar with a few popular changes. The guitar has a mahogany body with a real flamed maple top. There is no veneer on this guy. The set in neck is mahogany and you have your choice between a normal neck profile, a wide neck profile and a slim neck profile the size of an Ibanez Wizard. This example has the normal neck profile. The fretboard is ebony with 22 medium frets. The inlays are the most noticable change on this model since they are mother of pearl. The 3000 has abalone inlays which some people do not like. Up top you get Grover tuners and the electronics are all Agile with two Agile humbuckers and a volume and tone for each pickup along with a 3 way switch. UTILIZATION This guitar has all the real Les Paul feel you would ever want. The body is all solid so there is no chambering or anything like an a true Les Paul. The weight is around 10 pounds. The neck is pretty chunky but not too big. If you want a thinner neck you can get that. The ebony fretboard is great. On this example it was super dark and consistant with no streaks. The factory setup is very nice. The action is nice and low and the posts on the bridge are very low as well which is good. If you have a post sticking up high you tend to get more wobble and intonation problems. Since this is supposed to be an authentic LP copy the tuners are not locking and the bridge is not locking as well. SOUNDS The Agile pickups are surprisingly decent. I have heard of some people buying these and putting them in their Epiphones and whatnot. They are good solid humbuckers. They have good bite. They are general pickups so they are not super specialized for one type of music. The bridge pickup has a good classic rock crunch. The output is pretty hot but not over the top. It can do a bit of metal but it may not have enough clarity and bite for serious metal playing. The neck pickup is pretty good and is very usable. It has the smooth neck pickup tone you want without being overly muddy. OVERALL OPINION I cant say enough about these Agile guitars. The prices on them have gone up a bit but they are still great value for money. This is better than any Epiphone you can buy right now. You arent going to be finding any Epiphones with ebony fretboards and flamed maple tops no matter how hard you look and this guitar has all that for around 300 dollars. Guitars like these show the big companies what really can be done. They show the consumer how much the big companies are ripping you off nowadays. Im sure a lot of them would say its impossible to build a guitar with these features for this price but this guitar is proof of the impossible.

This review is for the single pickup version Intrepid guitar. Made in Korea Ash Body 3 piece maple bolt on neck with 15” radius. Width 2 ¼” at the nut No inlays on the neck. Position markers on the side of the neck only Scale Length: 28.625” 24 Jumbo Frets Cepheus "Alpha" passive pickup with master volume. Cavity has been routed large enough to accommodate additional electronics Cepheus "Bridge 8" Bridge String through body Die-cast Grover sealed tuners model GH305-18 with 18-1 ratio for fine tuning Graphite Nut Polyurethane Finish Neck profile (thickness): 7/8" at the nut and 15/16" at the 12th fret String gauges: .009, .012, .015, .022, .030, .040, .054, .072 UTILIZATION As large as the fretboard is, it is surprisingly easy to play, and it actually sounds pretty good. The hardware is not top-notch, but it is quality designed, and with good materials. The upper fret access is good, and the string spacing is such that I can get my hands all the way to the bottom string with ease. One thing that might throw some people off is the 28.625 inch scale length - it helps a ton with clarity on the low end, but the added length might cause difficulty with people with short fingers or smaller arms. SOUNDS This thing can absolutely djent with the best of them! It has a great, thick rumble, but with the scale length, all chords and notes have a good separation and are well defined. The fact that the body is ash with strung through body, and the neck is maple bolt on, certainly helps the clarity overall. That's actually my favorite wood combination, so I was stoked to get this guitar! The pickup is actually something I would take off and use in something else - as a budget pickup, that surprised the heck out of me. OVERALL OPINION This guitar performs solidly. It can do the Meshuggah, After The Burial, Animals As Leaders-inspired djent metal tones with ease. It may be a bit too different-looking to pass for jazz, and the fact that it doesn't include a neck pickup doesn't help that fact. But, all in all, this is an absolute steal for anyone that wants to be more experimental with their music. I highly recommend this guitar for metal/experimental guitarists.

Agile is a Korean guitar maker that has been making a name for itself in America recently. Its vendor in America is rondomusic and they really listen to their customers. The guitars they put out are high quality and nearly factory direct prices. Because they are not official copies the body design has to be slightly different than the Gibson it is based off of. The lower horn on the guitar is slightly smaller. The AL2000 is the lowest in their line of Les Pauls but the quality is still good. The Agile AL-2000 is a Korean-made solid mahogany LP shaped guitar. It includes a maple-top with a bound body,and neck. The neck is mahogany with an rosewood fretboard. The fretboard has distinctive creme inlays. It has 22 jumbo frets on the rosewood neck. It comes with two ceramic humbucking pickups which provide a nice crisp tone. I would say they are medium output. The controls are standard LP fare with two volume and two tone controls. UTILIZATION The guitar basically plays like a Les Paul does. The neck is a bit bigger than on most modern guitars but it is not super big. In the 50s the necks on Gibson guitars were huge. They were commonly referred to as baseball bat necks. In the 60s Gibson switched to a slimmer profile. This slimmer 60s profile is the most popular neck profile on Gibsons and it is found on most Gibsons and Epiphones today. This guitar has the 60s profile. The upper fret access on this guitar is typical for every Les Paul. Since the body joins the neck at the 17th fret you will have to reach around the body of the guitar to get to frets higher than this. This strong joint helps with tone and sustain but limits upper fret playability greatly. The neck binding on this guitar and generally helps to limit the amount of sharp fret ends you feel when playing. This guitar will give you a real Les Paul feel. SOUNDS This guitar gets some decent rock sounds. The pickups and electronics are not great so you will probably need to do a pickup swap in the future to get the full potential out of the guitar. The pickups are ceramic but they are not very hot. They can also get a bit muddy in the sound. The neck pickup can get a nice smooth sound but with too much gain it can get muddy also. OVERALL OPINION This is a good first guitar for a small Les Paul enthusiast. You can get use to the Les Paul feel without paying big bucks. The quality on this guitar is much much better than an Epiphone of the same price. An Epiphone of the same price wont have any binding and will probably have bolt on neck construction. This is what the real Les Paul feel. This guitar is built the same way as a Les Paul with the same kind of woods. This is what you want if you want a 200 dollar Les Paul.

This is the Agile copy of a Gibson Les Paul Junior. What first hits you is the bright yellow finish. This guitar will get you some looks onstage! Heck, this guitar will even act as a night light or makeshift road flare in times of trouble! I purchased this guitar from Rondo Music in Union NJ. Now I think they are online only somewhere further up the East Coast. Great people to work with. I paid $199 for the guitar brand new. Plays, Feels and sounds like the real thing! Held tune, played great, I just wanted to work on the sound a bit. I upgraded the electronics and put a real deal TV Jones P-90 in this beast. As I mentioned before, I upgraded my electronics. Most buy these guitars to upgrade anyway, I really can't count cheap electronics against them. The stock ones will get the job done, but a few upgrades you'll have your own really great sounding guitar. Strap it on, close your eyes and it's a really expensive guitar. Open your eyes, you realize you didn't sell a kidney to get it! Bolt on neck, solid tuners, very thick, well applied finish. Even frets, decent nuts. No complaints. Awesome guitar! Drop a nicer P-90 in the bridge and you're unstoppable! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I believe I have the model right. It is a glossy black finished guitar with gold hardware and 2 gold humbuckers. Basically a copy of a Gibson Les Paul Custom. I bought this right out of Kurt's shop when he was still at Rondo Music in Union NJ off of Rt. 22. I walked in there, played just about every Les Paul in the store and this one spoke to me. I believe it was $250. The thing plays, feels and sounds like a real Les Paul! While we are being positive, my wallet thanks Agile as well. $250 is much easier to drop than $2500. I will not tell you this guitar is better than the real thing. If I'm honest I'd give it about a 6, but hey I like it. None what so ever. I did replace the cheaper pots, jack and switch in this. To be honest I didn't really even give them much of a chance, but they are a bit puny looking and I thought I'd beef them up with some better quality hardware. Solid. One thing that stands out is the set neck instead of the common bolt on which is used for most of the Les Paul Copies. The finish has held up great, the gold hardware is still gold. The frets are still in great shape and the thing plays in tune. If you are like me and grew up lusting over a Les Paul, but can't seem to merit dropping the big bucks, this guitar will hold you over. I have played shows and recorded with it. No complaints at all. A TON of guitar for your dollar! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I started playing guitar about 3 years ago on my fathers old beat up acoustic I dug out of his basement. Soon after I really got into playing when my fiancee bought me a fender acoustic electric as a birthday gift. I now play every day, sometimes for hours and I've accumulated 3 electric and 3 acoustic guitars and 2 crate amps. Was looking for used gibson les paul standard on ebay and came across Rondo's site on ebay. Paid $320 plus $25 for shipping. It has a beautiful silverburst finish, looks a lot like an 80's LP silverburst. The neck feels nice and the grover tuners do a great job of keeping it in tune. I don't have to tune as much as my epiphone LP. The hi output ceramic pickups sound great. Best LP copy out there, looks and sounds better than any epiphone les paul and for half the price. This guitar is heavy, when I play standing for a long time I feel it in my back. I still love it even though it weighs about 10 pounds. This is a beautiful top quality instrument. The quality of this guitar is easily comparable to a guitar 4 times it's price. If you are not concerned with having gibson or fender on the headstock, then you should get an agile. Great customer service, fast shipping and top notch guitars for less than half the price of other high end quitars. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

got it on Ebay, absolutly new for $250.00 including hardshell case. even still had the protective plastic on the pick guard....even after $30.00 for shipping , that's a Screamin deal! new ones sell for 259.00 minus the 80.00 hardshell case. this is a 2003 model I believe. they changed the body and headstock in late 2004, ( can you say lawsuit? )but kept the basic model # .this one is beautiful... blond maple finish, gold hardware. grover tuners pearl inlay on the neck and (gibson-ish style mustach )head, plays awesome.Great tone and reverb, keeps a tune. and cost a third the cost of most similar copies. what could ask for more? I'm used to playing various Les Paul copies I have collected over the years, all with ultra thin necks. compaired to those the neck feels a bit thick at first, but never having owned a 335 before, this may be standard. it's totaly playable. just different. also I have heard several people swap out the pickups on these for actual Gibson model pups,these sound great for me though, mabe if I was a studio musician I could tell the differance. but they sound fine to me, so, No real negative built like nothing I've ever owned. set neck. awesome fit and finish! blond maple front and back, nice cream colored binding on the body,neck and head. with black and white pin stripe trim. even binding inside the F hole edges.maple neck with rosewood fretboard with pearl inlay on the neck and head stock, all smooth and done right, no bumps or ridges. finish is also smooth high gloss, and flawless. beautiful and awesome! since the changed the body and headstock style in late 2004, unless your real lucky You cant get these anymore. at least not the exact copies... and I would have to my knowledge this is an exact copy of a gibson e335, at least based on what I could research. ( never having owned a e335 ) but these Agile guitars have developed a fast and furious cult following, and I saw one review where an engineer compared all the various measurments and thicknesses of the guitar and declaired this an EXACT copy minus the expensive pickups. It's the best guitar deal I've ever made. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Rondo Music via internet. Paid $250. The finish on the guitar is great. The neck is nicely stain and the inlays are even with no gaps. The tuners are nicely plated. If you covered the headstock it is visually identical to a Les Paul studio. The guitar had a slight neck buzz when it arrived but and adjustment to the truss rod and strings and it was gone. Other than that there is nothing I don't like about this guitar. The guitar has real humbucker pickups that sound great. Being a less expensive guitar, I was afraid it might sound muddy. It doesn't. In fact is sounds better than my friend's Epi LP. The neck action is better than the Strat that I use to have years ago. Bottom line is that the Agile is worth more than the money Rondo Music charges. It is a quality instrument for little $. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I picked this guitar up on Ebay from Rondo Music just like most people have. I paid $300 for it. I was told by a few friends not to risk buying a guitar on line. Find one to play first like in a store. But after reading several reviews, I took the risk anyway. I've had it about 6 months now. It gets played almost daily. It has a great looking finish, and the action is perfect. I have a couple friends with custom Les Pauls that say they feel no difference. And one friend says the neck of the Agile is a little wider near the body. That is fine by me, I have big hands. It plays great. There is nothing to dislike about it. The guitar is flawless. The only thing I think they could improve would be a little better pickup rings. Mine are plastic and don't fit perfectly. But nobody even notices it until I point it out. The new ones I ordered should be here soon. You are not going to find a better guitar for the price of the Agile. Sometimes I feel the need to have a real "Les Paul", but everyone that plays my Agile says I shouldn't waste the money. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Looking through the ebay ads and saw some Agile guitars. I hadn't heard of them before so I did some searches and read a few reviews about them. It's hard to find lefty guitars in the first place, but Agile seems to have a ton of them, and all seem reasonably priced. The Ghost caught my eye, I like the Explorer styling so a quick email to RondoMusic (they seem to be the only distributor) and they had a white lefty in stock. With tax and shipping, it was about $230.00. I wasn't really looking for another guitar, but the price was too good to pass up. The service at Rondo was courteous and prompt and I had the guitar 3 days later. Overall, I like the whole package. The white finish is well done and blemish free. There is a creme colored binding around the body and neck. The neck is smooth and the fret edges are very smooth. The inlays on the neck are done better than the ones on my Les Paul. It plays nicely and has good balance. Plus, given it's size it's reasonably light. The intonation is good , but that too is adjustable if necessary. It's kind of nitpicking to find dislikes but it does have a slight buzz on the low E when I hammer on it, but I'm sure I'll be able to adjust it out. It's not bad enough to worry about right now. The quality of the volume/tone knobs and 3-way switch seems to be pretty suspect but everything works and there's no scratchiness in the pots. I don't know how durable the switch will prove to be over time. The tone knob seems to function more like a warm/bright switch, not too much in the middle, kind of like my Strat...... The pickups sound is what I'll call "thin" but played through an effects processor or a modeling amp will fix you right up. The instrument seems reasonably well made, it has a set neck, grover tuners, 2 humbucker pickups, a three way switch, 2 volume and 1 tone knob. The hardware is chrome and the nut is plastic. Gibson and Jackson need not worry about this guitar cutting into their sales of Explorers and Kellys. The Ghost is not a replacement for mid to high end guitars. But it's not priced like one either. For 200 dollars you get a solid, well built, nuthin' fancy knock around guitar that is easy and fun to play. If you can get past the brand image thing, you can get a good value for your money on this guitar. For those of you with virtuoso abilities, spend the coin and get the high-end custom shop axes, but for the other 99% of us working hacks, the Ghost can be a fun addition to your collection. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com