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I just recently acquired an Agile AL-3000M Les Paul style guitar and thought I would write up a detailed review and share my thoughts. I had read a lot of positive comments about Agiles, but never really found an in-depth review. Sorry in advance, as there's gonna be a lot to read, and of course some nice pics. It's really hard to get good pics as the carve doesn't show up well, But I tried.
My Agile AL-3000M is a slightly different variation from the other Agile models. First off, it’s a Natural Spalt, so it’s not a maple cap with a thin flame maple veneer, but more on that in a minute. Second, the trim level is different, having black accoutrements instead of cream and an unbound body.
Build quality and attention to detail are phenomenal on this guitar. The real abalone inlays are stunning and there is minimal visible filler around them. The same goes for the real mother of pearl inlays on the headstock. The multi-ply binding on the headstock is flawless, as is the single binding on the neck. The frets are all perfect, and the individually hand-files ends are all done quite nicely. The ebony is super tightly grained and evenly darkened without much streaking (most likely dyed, but again, done very well.) The 1-piece, quarter sawn mahogany neck is slightly thinner than the Gibson “baseball bat” but is still very substantial and meaty. The neck is straight and the action was set up perfectly. Intonation was also dead on. I didn’t have to make any adjustments, which is a first for me. The body is 2-piece mahogany, and is a very nice light color with extremely attractive (and well matched) wood grain. But where it really shines is the solid ¾” 1-piece spalted maple top. There is no body binding on this guitar, so you can see the spalt running down the edges of the top. It is truly gorgeous! The only flaw I can find is a slightly messy glue seam at the neck/body joint. It’s tight, secure and well-aligned, but someone didn’t fully clean up the excess glue as it squeezed out. It’s minor, and only one edge of the seam, but I still see it and it takes away from the otherwise flawless presentation.
The hardware is all top quality name brand stuff. It has the old standard Grover 18:1 Rotomatic tuners. They are all well aligned and work like they should. I would have liked to have seen some locking tuners on there, and will likely upgrade to the Grover locking tuners (so the screws line up and I won’t have to drill new holes.) The Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop bar tail piece are both locking Graph Tech units, and are truly nice touches. The saddles are nicely notched with no burrs and the strings are perfectly spaced. The knobs are cheap plastic bell knobs and my guitar arrived to me with one knob cracked. I am planning to replace the knobs with black brass knobs with abalone tops to accompany the fretboard inlays. I am using the included Graph Tech TUSQ nut instead of the bone nut, as I just prefer it. I may go for an Earvana compensated nut later on down the line. The pickup rings are just your basic, run-of-the-mill angled black plastic rings. Nothing special here, but no let downs either. The pick guard is triple ply (black/white/black) and aligns to the rings well. I’m not sure if a standard Les Paul guard will fit correctly or not. If not, replacements may be an issue as the guard gets worn. Same with the back cavity covers. The strap buttons are pretty standard, though I did find it a bit disappointing that there were no felt washers on them.
The electronics on the guitar were surprisingly good. The pickups were traditional chrome-covered humbuckers, and were wax potted and 4 wire (so they are coil tappable even!) They sounded surprisingly good for stock pickups. They are very PAF sounding. The pots are Alpha long shaft pots and worked quite well, adjusting evenly and smoothly without crackling. Basic little cheapy tone caps didn’t really do much for the ears though. There is a standard Switchraft STYLE switch in there, which works well, but feels a little sloppy. The tip is threaded crooked too. The wiring was all done VERY nicely, with good solid connections, nice gauge wire and even braided shielding on the long wire running through the cavities to the switch. The cavities are all nicely lines with shielding paint as well. The output jack is unbranded, but actually feels pretty solid and makes a good connection. Overall, the electronics were quite good, but I needed higher output so I replaced them with EMG James Hetfield “Het Set” active pickups and the accompanying EMG solderless wiring system. The cavities provide ample room for everything and no enlarging of the holes or anything like that was needed.
The bottom line is this is a phenomenal guitar, and is by far my favorite guitar that I have owned. If I had one complaint, it would be the weight. The Rondo Music web site says it weighs in at “only” 9.5 pounds, but I think it may be a half pound or so heavier. The 2” thick solid UNCHAMBERED mahogany body probably has a lot to do with that, as can be expected. But the tone and sustain you get from it makes it worth it. I am definitely going to have to put some money into minor upgrades, but I am happy to do it with this one because it’s just plain a good guitar. It’s gorgeous to look at, and a pleasure to play. I know what everyone is going to want to know: “But is it better than a Gibson?” Truthfully, I have never owned a Gibson Les Paul, so I can’t honestly answer that. But I have owned many Epiphones, and I can honestly say that the Agile blows away EVERY Epiphone I have ever seen. I have also owned a Gibson SG Platinum. Is the Agile better? Well, we traded my son’s Epiphone Prophecy SG for the Agile and then I traded the Gibson SG to my son for the Agile, so you decide!
Now on to the pics! I'm sure most of you guys stopped reading and scrolled down here anyway!
My Agile AL-3000M is a slightly different variation from the other Agile models. First off, it’s a Natural Spalt, so it’s not a maple cap with a thin flame maple veneer, but more on that in a minute. Second, the trim level is different, having black accoutrements instead of cream and an unbound body.
Build quality and attention to detail are phenomenal on this guitar. The real abalone inlays are stunning and there is minimal visible filler around them. The same goes for the real mother of pearl inlays on the headstock. The multi-ply binding on the headstock is flawless, as is the single binding on the neck. The frets are all perfect, and the individually hand-files ends are all done quite nicely. The ebony is super tightly grained and evenly darkened without much streaking (most likely dyed, but again, done very well.) The 1-piece, quarter sawn mahogany neck is slightly thinner than the Gibson “baseball bat” but is still very substantial and meaty. The neck is straight and the action was set up perfectly. Intonation was also dead on. I didn’t have to make any adjustments, which is a first for me. The body is 2-piece mahogany, and is a very nice light color with extremely attractive (and well matched) wood grain. But where it really shines is the solid ¾” 1-piece spalted maple top. There is no body binding on this guitar, so you can see the spalt running down the edges of the top. It is truly gorgeous! The only flaw I can find is a slightly messy glue seam at the neck/body joint. It’s tight, secure and well-aligned, but someone didn’t fully clean up the excess glue as it squeezed out. It’s minor, and only one edge of the seam, but I still see it and it takes away from the otherwise flawless presentation.
The hardware is all top quality name brand stuff. It has the old standard Grover 18:1 Rotomatic tuners. They are all well aligned and work like they should. I would have liked to have seen some locking tuners on there, and will likely upgrade to the Grover locking tuners (so the screws line up and I won’t have to drill new holes.) The Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop bar tail piece are both locking Graph Tech units, and are truly nice touches. The saddles are nicely notched with no burrs and the strings are perfectly spaced. The knobs are cheap plastic bell knobs and my guitar arrived to me with one knob cracked. I am planning to replace the knobs with black brass knobs with abalone tops to accompany the fretboard inlays. I am using the included Graph Tech TUSQ nut instead of the bone nut, as I just prefer it. I may go for an Earvana compensated nut later on down the line. The pickup rings are just your basic, run-of-the-mill angled black plastic rings. Nothing special here, but no let downs either. The pick guard is triple ply (black/white/black) and aligns to the rings well. I’m not sure if a standard Les Paul guard will fit correctly or not. If not, replacements may be an issue as the guard gets worn. Same with the back cavity covers. The strap buttons are pretty standard, though I did find it a bit disappointing that there were no felt washers on them.
The electronics on the guitar were surprisingly good. The pickups were traditional chrome-covered humbuckers, and were wax potted and 4 wire (so they are coil tappable even!) They sounded surprisingly good for stock pickups. They are very PAF sounding. The pots are Alpha long shaft pots and worked quite well, adjusting evenly and smoothly without crackling. Basic little cheapy tone caps didn’t really do much for the ears though. There is a standard Switchraft STYLE switch in there, which works well, but feels a little sloppy. The tip is threaded crooked too. The wiring was all done VERY nicely, with good solid connections, nice gauge wire and even braided shielding on the long wire running through the cavities to the switch. The cavities are all nicely lines with shielding paint as well. The output jack is unbranded, but actually feels pretty solid and makes a good connection. Overall, the electronics were quite good, but I needed higher output so I replaced them with EMG James Hetfield “Het Set” active pickups and the accompanying EMG solderless wiring system. The cavities provide ample room for everything and no enlarging of the holes or anything like that was needed.
The bottom line is this is a phenomenal guitar, and is by far my favorite guitar that I have owned. If I had one complaint, it would be the weight. The Rondo Music web site says it weighs in at “only” 9.5 pounds, but I think it may be a half pound or so heavier. The 2” thick solid UNCHAMBERED mahogany body probably has a lot to do with that, as can be expected. But the tone and sustain you get from it makes it worth it. I am definitely going to have to put some money into minor upgrades, but I am happy to do it with this one because it’s just plain a good guitar. It’s gorgeous to look at, and a pleasure to play. I know what everyone is going to want to know: “But is it better than a Gibson?” Truthfully, I have never owned a Gibson Les Paul, so I can’t honestly answer that. But I have owned many Epiphones, and I can honestly say that the Agile blows away EVERY Epiphone I have ever seen. I have also owned a Gibson SG Platinum. Is the Agile better? Well, we traded my son’s Epiphone Prophecy SG for the Agile and then I traded the Gibson SG to my son for the Agile, so you decide!
Now on to the pics! I'm sure most of you guys stopped reading and scrolled down here anyway!
(Don't ask...)
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