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tjon901 « An Agile with a great honey sunburst finish »
Published on 05/16/11 at 09:09Agile makes some of the best budget Les Paul copies on the market. These guitars have features that even some Gibsons do not come with. These guitars are made in Korea and their main vendor is Rondo Music. This guitar comes with the classic Les Paul wood combination. It has a mahogany body with a flamed Canadian maple top. The body and headstock have triple binding while the next is bound also. It comes from the factory with Grover tuners. The tuners have an 18-1 ratio to keep you in tune. The guitar features home brand Alnico V pickups which are so good I have heard people will buy the pickups from people second hand. Like any good Les Paul it has two volume and two tone controls with a 3-way toggle switch pickup selector. It features a mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard something not all Gibsons have. The 22 frets on the ebony fretboard are also hand filed so there will be no sharp ends for your hand to get hung up on. It comes from the factory strung up with D'addario strings so its playable right out of the box. Another great feature is the pre-installed aftermarket bridge. It is a Graph Tec NVS2 with string saver saddles. String saver saddles is an upgrade I would recommend to anyone because the sharp points on the Les Paul style bridge can cause wear on strings and in the end cause strings to break. String saver saddles will increase the life and tuning stability of your strings.
UTILIZATION
The ergonomics of this guitar are the same as every Les Paul. The upper frets may be a little hard to reach due to the neck joint. The guitar is solid mahogany with no chambering so it might weight 10 pounds or more. These are all classic hallmarks of the Les Paul design. The hand filed frets are a great touch. Even Gibson nowadays has some trouble with their fretwork. The neck is wide and flat like a Les Paul and that makes it very easy to play and with the ebony fretboard it feels smooth as glass on your fingers.
SOUNDS
This guitar gives a great full Les Paul sound. Many Gibsons today are chambered for lightness. They go in and remove some wood from the inside to make the guitar lighter. Any removal of wood from a guitar will effect the tone. The Agile has the full classic tone that you expect from a Les Paul with a full body of wood. The medium output Alnico V pickups are setup perfectly to give you a classic rock tone. If you are looking to play heavier music you may want to switch the pickups with some aftermarket high output pickups.
OVERALL OPINION
Agile is clearly listening to what people want when they design their guitars. The factory installed aftermarket parts are a huge benefit and something most companies wont do. Grover tuners and D'addario strings along with a string saver bridge. This guitar comes with half your intended upgrades already done. More people should take a look at these small brands before shelling out big dollars for the big name companies. The small companies can make great guitars too and if more people started getting them they could really give the big companies a run for their money. This guitar is a Les Paul no matter what the headstock says and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Les Paul style guitar.
UTILIZATION
The ergonomics of this guitar are the same as every Les Paul. The upper frets may be a little hard to reach due to the neck joint. The guitar is solid mahogany with no chambering so it might weight 10 pounds or more. These are all classic hallmarks of the Les Paul design. The hand filed frets are a great touch. Even Gibson nowadays has some trouble with their fretwork. The neck is wide and flat like a Les Paul and that makes it very easy to play and with the ebony fretboard it feels smooth as glass on your fingers.
SOUNDS
This guitar gives a great full Les Paul sound. Many Gibsons today are chambered for lightness. They go in and remove some wood from the inside to make the guitar lighter. Any removal of wood from a guitar will effect the tone. The Agile has the full classic tone that you expect from a Les Paul with a full body of wood. The medium output Alnico V pickups are setup perfectly to give you a classic rock tone. If you are looking to play heavier music you may want to switch the pickups with some aftermarket high output pickups.
OVERALL OPINION
Agile is clearly listening to what people want when they design their guitars. The factory installed aftermarket parts are a huge benefit and something most companies wont do. Grover tuners and D'addario strings along with a string saver bridge. This guitar comes with half your intended upgrades already done. More people should take a look at these small brands before shelling out big dollars for the big name companies. The small companies can make great guitars too and if more people started getting them they could really give the big companies a run for their money. This guitar is a Les Paul no matter what the headstock says and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a Les Paul style guitar.
