Agile AL-2000 2TS

Copy of a Gibson Les Paul, 2 hums, 2 tone, 2 volume, pickup selector. This particular model is called 2TS, which is really a vintage tobacco sunburst. A little darker than I expected, but very nice. Une-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece, graphite nut, grover tuners, medium (I think) frets, cream pickguard, pickup rings and pickup selector plate. Large strap buttons. 22 frets, 24 scale, mahogony body (as far as I can tell) and neck. I really cant tell the headstock and body cap wood type. I rate a 10, because this is what I ordered, no matter the condition or features - if I bought this, but they sent me a lp junior, then I'd rate it a one. But it's a 10.

For sound tests, I am using a fender blues junior, texas red. No effects, just some reverb. The stock pickups actual surprised me... I have never bought a guitar where I didn't immediately want to swap pickups. The last few years I have been going for all gfs -- the crunchy pats, fat pats, dream 90s, power rails, 59's, you name it. Now, mind you I havent had a chance to play with this in a full band setting- that comes this weekend... but for now, I can say - I like this. the pickups are around the 8-9k range, standard paf fare... ceramic (I generally dont like ceramic magnets, except where I need extreme power). with the gain turned up, and the volume nailed, the neck pickup actually gave me that slash-meets warren haynes sound, somewhere in between. Some bite, lots of sustain, and that velvety-smooth-fluteyness. Damn. Backed off the volume and added a tad more reverb and got that dark smooth womany "dreams" tone, except with sustain. Oh, let me also say, I dont know if it's the wood or the pickups, but the tone and sustain on this guitar so far is better than any guitar I've owned as of yet. Now, the neck pickup - nailed, it gave me yet again, what i was looking for: dcrunch and sustain, lots of bite... not harsh at all. depending on my pick attack I was able to get the ac/dc sound, the molley hatchet sound, very articulate, good separation, nice slow bloom after the attack, OH, and harmonics jumped out easier than even my bc richs and charvels and ibanezes. I am thinking, hmmm... something is dead-wrong here. I've owned prs's, jacksons, gibsons, fenders... this el-cheapo (and I mean in a dollars sense) is giving me certain sounds, that I have been looking for, that I simply couldn't get with stock expensive guitars (oh, sure, after adding 200$ worth of duncans or dimarzios, or the boutique gfs, I was able to get what I wanted, but NOT stock out of the box). Given, my blues junior is one fo the best amps I've owned (over marshalls, legends, etc), and lends itself to a great tube bloom sound, if the guitar doesnt sound good, neither will the amp.... but my comparisons were all based on this amp. I like this. I MIGHT go ahead and replace the bridge pickup with a gfs fat pat or crunchy, and I MIGHT replace the neck with a gfs dream 90 or a 59, but for now, I dont see any reason to. I will know for sure after I see how this mixes in a live band setting. I'll rate a 9 simply because I have a feeling I might replace the bridge pickup eventually. I like a little more warmth than ceramics can give you.

I am speechless. Okay, after opening the box, taking the guitar out - the guitar really needed a good set up. So I took out all my tools and got ready for some truss-twisting, neck-filing, bridge-intaonating fun. I lowered the bridge, have turn at a time, and retuned and played. Made sure no bottoming out, no buzzing, full bends and no sustain loss. kept lowering... more lowering.. got it to the point where I loved the action, then took it down a tad more. good. Wait. that's it? All the way up the frets. Nice. Disbelief. I eyeballed the fretboard form the bridge... then from the but, down the length.. not a milligram of bowing... and no buzzing. what does this mean?? It means the frets were perfectly level, and the neck was perfectly straight. Holy crap. Just to check again, I ran through a few licks I know I usually have trouble if the neck isnt perfect - 15+ fret e and b string 2-tone bends. It worked. I got nuthing. Also, the intonation, if you can believe it, was dead on. I didnt have to adjust a thing. My test for this, bbeyond the 12-fret harmonics tuning, was to play "sweet child o mine" (hey, dont bash me for saying that!)- if the intonation is off, then I always hear it. Now onto the "fit and finish" - the guitar actually looks pretty good. the ONLY thing I could find AT ALL.. was a slight unevenness on the top, just a very slight ripple, looks like during sanding it just wasnt perfectly smooth while sanding down the archtop. Probably a little noticable under the lights, but doesnt bother me any - the finish itself was excellent. Checked the binding, the routing, the bridge and tail posts, all seemed pretty straight. Also, both cavity covers - the pickup selector and the main control cavity, were foil-insulated. Another thing I noticed, which I have NEVER seen in ANY guitar, was the fact that all the wires in the control cavity were anally laid out and then tied together to make a perfect neat bundle. Also, the pots were all alpha 500k pots, the soldering seemed tight. I am replacing the caps with sprague orange drops, but that's my silly preference :) I give this a 9, because of the slight body ripple. Other than that, no issues at all. Even the frets were decent - standard fare machine milled at this price, not hand filed. But you dont expect that for a 200$ guitar anyway.

Everything seems solid. really, even the strap buttons were big and tight. Tuners seemed stable - they are grovers. the finish seems durable. Very high gloss... weird.. more glossy than I've had before. I'll have to be careful about fingerprints with the stage lightling LOL. I will use this live but I generally have a backup - not because of the guitar, but just in case I break a string or drop the guitar. No worries here.

No clue about service.. havent needed it. However Kurt seems to respond to emails pretty well, dont think there will be an issue. I do wish they have a phone number, as I like to talk rather than email, but eh, so be it.

Good grief. this guitar (so far) is better than my 2002 Korean Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I had that guitar for 5 years, loved it.. but this one actually feels as good in many ways, and in some, better, than after 5 years of breaking in and tweaking the epi. Also, this one cost me $200. the epi cost me 500. I can have two of these for the price. I am already thinking about he goldtop with p90s. I cant wait to use this live. Okay, the personal part: I am 45. Have been playing in professional settings since 1980. I've owned.. um.. maybe 100 guitars or so... Give or take. All kinds. I've worked in music stores, for music instrument manufacturers, and have done recording sessions for *name* people. yeah, I am being vague. Music career didnt really work out.. day job isnt music anymore. Anyway.. I'm not some 12 year old shredder - I understand the nuances and subtleties, the soul of tone, etc - and with that, I must say I LOVE this axe. For the price. I would stand it (so far..) up against any 500$ (new) guitar (I bought a gibby lp custom once for 400$ so that doesnt count LOL). My recommendation, if you care? Buy one. Add a few extra bucks and get the 2500, or the 3000. the higher models add more quality components and bindings, etc. For the extra 100 bucks, I'll probably go for a 2500 goldtop next time. Nevertheless, I am sold on these. Well... and gfs pickups.. which may or may not replace these pickups. Give them a chance before you consider swapping though.. these are pretty nice!