Agile AL 3100 Black MOP

Specs as per Rondo Music web/eBay stores:
AGILE 3100 Black MOP (mother of pearl)
By customer request, this upgraded model features Mother-Of-Pearl inlays.
- Solid mahogany (not a multi-ply!) arch top body
- High quality Book-Matched Flame Canadian Maple Top (100% real wood top-not a photo top!)
- Triple bound body, and headstock. Single binding on neck.
- Improved Nickel plate hardware, including Nickel die-cast Grover tuners with 18-1 turning ratio for ultra fine tuning (Model 102-18N)
- Two Type V Alnico humbucker pickups for warm, traditional sound
-The AL-3100 comes with improved wiring (single conductor braided 18 gauge American wire for pickups), improved pots (now higher voltage with brass shafts for reduced noise) and an improved pickup selector switch
- Two volume and two tone controls, plus a three way pickup selector switch
- One piece Mahogany set neck with 13.7??? (350mm) radius neck for fast play and adjustable truss rod
- Ebony fretboard with 22 Jumbo frets and real Mother-Of-Pearl Trapezodial inlays
- The AL-3100 features GHS strings installed at the factory and a professionally cut bone nut
- A pre-cut graphite nut is also included in the bag with the trus rod adjuster for those who prefer graphite
- Individually hand filed frets for professional feel and playability
-Width of the neck at the nut: 1 5/8???; at the 21st fret: 2 3/16???
- Neck taper/thickness at the 1st fret: 21.5 mm; at the 12th fret: 23.5mm
- Overall length: 40???; Scale length: 24.7???
- Body thickness: 2??? at edge; Width at the widest point: 13???
- Bridge pole spacing is 3???, and the Tail piece pole spacing is 3 ?????
- Actual Weight is only 10 lbs

2. Sound: This guitar suites my musical style nicely. I play blues, a little jazz, classic hard rock and rock. I play through a Boss Blues Driver into Johnson J-Station (effects processor) into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe set on clean. Retubed with Chinese Ruby Tubes. I get beautiful cleans, nice grit and powerful distortion. Bright and clean as well as Fat and dirty. I did do a full set-up. I use Dan Erlewine???s methods from ???How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great??? and ???Guitar Players Repair Guide???. The only thing about the sound I don???t like is the tone knobs are too touchy. Once you get them where you like them, it great.

3. Action, Fit, Finish: Set-up better than other new guitars I???ve purchased. Action a little high so no fret buzz. Flaws: I had to turn the E, A & D string bridge saddle around to get those strings intonated properly. Pickup height was adjusted well. The pole pieces were not arched to match the 15 degree radius of the neck. The pointed end of the bridge screws do not line up perfectly to the pin hole on the other side of the saddles causing the screw head ends not to seat properly in the notches for the screws. Slight finish flaws not noticeable with out a perfectionists eye. Inlays on fret board are obviously routed by machine as all corners that come to a point are rounded in the ebony and filled with black filler. Only a trained eye such as mine will notice. (I am a profession custom woodworker). The one thing that will drive me nuts is that the crested inlay below the AGILE logo inlay is slightly tilted top left, bottom right. You only see this when the instrument is in a vertical position such as in a guitar stand. Come on, this is sub-standard and affects my rating in this department. So does the misleading factory/dealer specs. Supposed to have nickel hardware. NOT, its chrome. The ???improved braided wiring??? is only one piece that runs from the pickup selector cavity to the control pot cavity. One would believe that the pickups would have braided leads, but they Do Not. The pickups are wax potted well as I had to remove wax from polepiece screw slots to adjust them. The pickup selector switch is not the ???L??? shaped Gibson style, nor would one of this type fit in the switch cavity. The control and pickup cavities are routed clean and appear to have shielding paint. This is a beautiful guitar for appearance and tone, however, the above mentioned flaws lower my rating and enforce that ???you get what you pay for???.

4. Reliability, Durability: I think this is a solid guitar and would definitely hold up in live play. The bridge needs to be replaced and I will replace the tail piece as well to match finishes. The poly finish is bullet proof. I ordered a black finish so a polishing cloth will be used frequently. Strap buttons are solid and look great however, they are very low profile and all but one of my straps are too thick to get them on. Will replace with Dunlop Straplocks. I think this will be a dependable rock solid instrument one I make the few hardware replacements. Built like a tank! I???d take my chances on using it with no backup. Giving 8 because of the bridge.

5. Customer Support: Kurt at Rondo Music answers emails promptly. I emailed to complain about the chrome vs. nickel hardware. He asked me to send photos, I did and he denied that the hardware was chrome. I contacted a local plating shop for verification and it is true ??? chrome hardware. I then called customer service and the woman would not talk to me about this issue or let me talk to Kurt. She told me the best way to communicate with Kurt is email. So I did. Kurt replied with a rude ???send it back if your not happy with it???. I am happy with it, I was just trying to get to the bottom of the nickel hardware issue. Anyway, they do answer email, that???s what I can say. I don???t know about the warranty and I won???t use it anyway. I do my own work and at this price I could trash it if anything happened to it.

6. I have been playing for years. This is the most recent of many guitar purchases. I could not resist the price after reading so many positive reviews. I probably would not replace it unless I lived near a retailer that carried this model so I could pick one out personally. This is my first mail order and I won???t do it again. I love the finish, the overall looks, the cream colored triple binding is just beaute??? the tone is outstanding. I just can???t believe the tones for the price! I hate the tilted headstock inlay and the crappy bridge. My favorite feature is the Agile logo inlayed in the headstock. A funny name but a beautiful inlay. All in all ??? the tones make it a keeper. I did not want to take a chance with another by exchanging it for nickel hardware. This compares to my Gibson LP Standard plus with Burstbucker Pros (plus = AAA flame top). The tones are so similar its scary. There???s 6 times the difference in retail price! The Agile LP sounds more like the Gibson than my Epiphone LP with Seymour Duncan ???59???s. I chose the model because I???m a Les Paul guy and the black gloss finish with cream binding look elegant. This will be my tuxedo player ??? the black tie affair. I wish it had the nickel hardware, braided pickup leads and a better bridge and tailpiece. I could have purchased the more expensive model in the line. Oh yeah, this is one heavy guitar! I will give an overall rating of 9 based on looks, value and tone.