Agile Cool Cat Prestige

This is a Korean made guitar made in 2006 I guess. It has 22 jumbo sized
frets, 2 tones and 2 volumes with a 3 way switch for pickup selection. The whole guitar is flame laminated maple except the finger board which is ebony. This is a big guitar, 17" by 4" acoustic electric with no solid blocks inside. Comes with a beautiful abalone inlays, Grover 18 to 1 tuners and a typical lousy bridge and 2 blaah humbuckers. Mine is a lefty, so no Bigsby. I gave it an 8 as it came from the factory, but with the changes I did to it, its a 9.

The bridge buzzed so I put on a Schaller roller bridge, huge improvement. I hated the pickups so I put on Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates
in the bridge and neck positions, I also changed the pots and put Gibson knobs on it. Now it sounds as great as it looks. Beautiful full bodied rhythmn and a big fat bottom end for rock and roll. I said rock and roll, not rock. Its not a rock guitar but for that old fashioned fat
sound, its great. Being an all maple guitar, its quite bright in all positions. I have a Fender "The Twin" and a Traynor YCV 20, both
all tube amps, again the bottom end through the Twin is amazing. The rating is with the changes I made.

I have a bunch of Japanese guitars, you just can't beat them for action, fit and finish. Having said that, this guitar is quite good. The action is just plain not up to my Japanese guitars but its about the same as my
Gibson Les Paul Studio, which is amazing considering its cost. However the action on my Orville Les Paul Custom blows it out of the water, as it does every guitar I have. The finish, binding, and construction are excellent. The set up from the factory was not great, it buzzed, but I don't care about that as I routinely tweak everything anyway. I also took somebody's advice from these reviews and changed the nut to get wider string spacing, much improved for me as I have big hands.

This guitar seems quite solid to me. Everything is solid and built to last as far as I can see.

I've had no problems at all with this guitar so I can't say anything about customer support other than to say that it came promptly from Rondo Music with no problems.

I've been playing for 17 years, I own an Orville Les Paul Custom, an Orville by Gibson Les Paul Custom, a Gibson Les Paul Studio, a Fender Mexican Strat, a Fender E series Japanese Strat, a Fender Japanese '72 Custom Tele, a Simon and Patrick pro rosewoood, a L'Arrivee DV-03-R,
a Japanese Epiphone Elitist Riviera, and a Japanese Gretsch White Falcon. Those are some mighty good guitars but I find I play this one quite a bit because I just love the fat sound. I refer to it as my "Fat
Cat", because that's what it is. Also, for the price, you can't beat it.
I'm not giving it a 10 because my Orville is a 10 and its just plain better.

The features on this guitar are unbelievable for the price. The ebony
fretboard is as good as any I've played. The abalone inlays are
spectacular. The stock pickups sound great, and I have no desire to
change them. The finish looks much better in person than it does on the
website. The Bigsby tremelo is loads of fun. I should give the guitar a
10, but I dropped it to a 9 since I didn't like the strings and would
have liked the option of buying a better quality case with the guitar.

This is a very tonally flexible instrument. The neck pickup yields nice
mellow traditional hollowbody sounds with the tone cut back, or can be
bright and full. The bridge pickup is bright and clear and blends
perfectly with the neck pickup, or is good on it's own for bright
cutting leads. The guitar can also make some really rich distotion
sounds, but will feedback if cranked too loud. Overall, this is one of
the best sounding guitars I've played. I use mainly Fender amps with
this guitar. I'm currently using D'addario XL 11 guage strings on this,
which sound much better than the factory strings.

Most of the guitars I own have vintage style necks. This guitar has a
very flat fret radius, but I was able to adjust to this quickly. The
setup was perfect right out of the box, and the action is very low. The
workmanship seems excellent, no rough frets, perfect inlays on the
fretboad, and flawless finish. I found one very tiny scuff on the
fingerboard when I was changing the strings, but that's it. The guitar
came with a thin piece of packing foam under the bridge to keep it from
sliding around during transport. I had to remove this, and then get the
bridge back in the same spot. Other than that, the action and intonation
were perfect, and I didn't have to adjust anything.

The guitar feels like it's very solidly built. I've only had it for a
few weeks, but it feels solid enough for regular gigging. The hardware
feels good. It will take a few years to see if the gold finish on the
hardware wears off, or the volume and tone pots wear out. The only
case that was available for this at the store is rather cheap. I
wouldn't use the case for constant gigging.

This was my first time dealing with Rondo Music, but I had an excellent
shopping experience there. The sales staff were quite friendly. They
get you set up with the guitars you want to try, then leave you alone,
and let the instruments sell themselves. Once I picked out the guitar I
liked, the got me a brand new one out of the box, and let me thoroughly
inspect prior to taking it home. I'd gladly do business with the store
again.

I'm completely satisfied with my guitar. I own seven other electrics,
including and EPI Les Paul, a customized strat, and a 69 Guild
hollowbody. This plays and sounds as good as any of my other guitars,
and adds a nice new flavour to my tonal pallet. So far everyone that's
played my guitar, wants to get one for themselves.

Brand new lefty, Korean made jazzbox. I'd ordered a lefty Cool Cat, but when it arrived and I opoened the box, I see and ebony fretboard, abalone inlays, flamed woods, Grovers... so it looks like this is a Prestige or some one-off thing, since they don't offer a lefty Cool Cat Prestige as far as I know. It does not have the Bigsby however. It is beautifully put together. You know the lay out - full hollow body, single cutaway, natural finish, 2 humbuckers...etc.

Very bright sounding guitar - rich, pleasing tones through both my Fender Blues Deluxe and through my Vox Valvetronix. Its a very musical big sound played clean, which is all I do with this guitar. The low end feeds back easily if you're in close proximity to your amp, as you'd expect.

Well set up right out the box, a new stet of flats, and I was good to go...( the original strings were as bad as I'd been lead to believe they'd be after reading a number of reviews here).

Solid built, simply a well-made guitar, period. No worries.

Unknown, Captain.

30 years of service. I also own an American Tele, and an older Korean Epi Sheraton. This one's up there with both of them, believe it or not. In its build, playability, looks and sound.
I'd therefore most definitely replace it if stolen.

If you're contemplating buying one, know that every time I pick mine up,I'm so glad that I treated myself to this piece of gear. Its a real beaut, in every catagory.

Hope this review assissts your decision making process. Cheers.

beautiful guitar with all the bells and whistles of one priced 10x this price tag. Just what I was looking for with only one exception. The string spread at the nut only measures 1.370" as opposed to most of my other guitars measuring around 1.550". Does not sound like much difference but causes lots of string buzz even with my skinny fingers. Great for bar chords I suppose but I finger pick mostly. Good news is the beautiful EBONY fretboard is plenty wide enough to have a luthier file a new nut and install a roller bridge that will also adjust string spread. So, $200 later I have the perfect guitar! If Kurt is reading this, take heed to change the design on future models. Knocking it -2 points for this issue alone. One other thing, this is one HEAVY guitar. I play seated so not a big issue, but just wanted to warn those that weight is an issue.

using a fender blues junior tube amp and a collection of ibanez effects pedals, this thing has a very wide range of sounds. I can make it sound like my best taylor acoustic or like the smoothest of jazz guitars.

Other than the string spread issue mentioned above, this guitar came set up perfect! quality flat wound strings, perfect action and intonation spot on. I am amazed how products this nice sell for such a low price. Spring for the prestige for sure,, not the normal cool cat as this thing has the most beautiful ebony fretboard I have ever seen on any price guitar. binding and everything else is absolutely perfect and beautiful.

finish is bullet proof and thick. no strap button up front. I would definately trust this guitar next time I played Carnegie Hall.

nice company, nice guy, but had no advice or interest in my string spread issue. I was hoping he had a luthier on hand and I could ship it back to him for the remedy. But reality is this guy sell a LOT of guitars and I suppose can't deal with every buyers preferences.

I have been playing for about 35 years and own 6 other guitars, mostly acoustics. I shopped and compared the WORLD via the internet before I bought this guitar and it won hands down with the ebony fretboard and other fine details. No one else came close.

Features covered enough here to get the idea. All the bling-bling on this guitar earns it a 10, but I'll ding it a point for the end pin jack and lack of strap button on the shoulder.

Oh, it would be so much cooler with TV Jones type single coils, but the humbuckers are very functional and sound great.

I really expected this guitar to rattle, but it doesn't. It sound very, very good acoustically. The action is perfect for the gauge of strings. No flaws. A few minorly sharp fret edges, but not real bad. The finish is flawless flamed maple. Unbelieveable.

I can't say at this point. Too new.

Very responsive to emails.

Really now...I'm mean, how can I not give a high rating for a well built, good playing and sounding jazz box that I bought for $400.00? I've been playing since 1970. I have 3 Strats, 2 Teles, a Les Paul, an ES-333, a Carvin...yada yada. I wanted a full sized hollowbody and didn't want to drop the jing for a Setzer or the like. This guitar fits the bill. Again, unbelievable. Based on this purchase, I'd buy another Agile.

2 Alnico humbuckers
flamed maple body and neck
orange finish
gold hardware
"Bigsby"-style whammy
2 vol-2 tone knobs
good tuners-stays in tune
cr?me binding
roller bridge
abalone inlays
heavy gauge D'Addario strings
3 way pickup switch
One flaw in paint - bubbles in paint where neck joins body. Visible only to guitarist. Other than that the finish is very nice. If you look extremely closely, you can see some inconsistencies in the binding, but you gotta look real close. Finish appears to be thick. Very striking loud orange. I think this is the color of Duane Eddy's Gretsch. I read that it always photographed red but was really orange. Tarty WalMart gold (and I mean that in agood way).
Black 3 ply pickguard. A bit roughly cut in spots.
2 piece back-1 side is much more deeply flamed than the other.
Combination input jack and strap "button". Why no neck strap button?? Overall an eye catcher.

I've never played/owned a big jazz hollowbody that this is modeled after, and I'm more familiar with single coil pickups than humbuckers, so I can't compare the sound to the "real" thing. But I love the sound. The pickups are reasonably loud and clear. At 3 on a Deluxe Reverb it begins to growl and breakup in a good way. The bridge pickup cuts and the neck is mellower. Being a hollow body it's prone to feedback, but that's to be expected.
Through a Line 6 Echoplex simulation and the Deluxe reverb, it sounds great. Also have played it on the neck pickup through a Fender Cyber Twin Vibrolux sim with vibrato and a large hall and had instant Duane Eddy.
It suits my need for a Rockabilly guitar. Can also use it for surf, pseudo-jazz noodling, singer song writer. Feels like an acoustic so it works well in low key vocal/guitar settings. I left the heavy gauge flat wound strings on to get a different sound than my other guitars. Because these are heavy gauge I can't do much bending.

Hardware appears solid. 3 way pickup switch is noisy. "Bigsby" is a bit stiff but does the job. Looks like the spacer under the spring is made of cardboard.
Hardware appears solid. 3 way pickup switch is noisy. "Bigsby" is a bit stiff but does the job. Looks like the spacer under the spring is made of cardboard.
Came well set up and intonated. However there was a piece of paper-like material under the bridge which is visible in the pictures on website. (I emailed the company about the paper but never heard back).
The roller bridge was tilted towards the pickups and not flush with the body. I tried to straighten out the roller bridge but only succeeded in messing up the intonation, So I took it to be set up. The guitar tech told me that the screws that attached the metal bridge to the wooden base of the bridge went all the way through and were protruding from the bottom. The piece of paper was preventing these screws from scratching the guitar! He filed the screws down and turned the bridge around. Now it tilts toward the back but it's flush and works. He also added a neck strap button. So for 22 bucks more I got a playable guitar.
It just feels good to play this guitar. Love to pick it up and play it acoustically and look forward to using it live.

Haven't used it yet live except at a jam.
All the hardware seems extremely solid.
The finish is thick polyester so it should last.
I never play without a backup but, if forced to, I would with this guitar.

I ordered it Saturday on the Rondo website and received it on Tuesday.
Emailed them about the piece of paper under the bridge and never heard back.
Quick shipping but no support on my one try.

I've been playing for 40 years and own about 30 other guitars, basses, mandolins, etc. (things with strings).
If this were lost or stolen, I'd want to buy another buy another.
If they made them with P90's I'd probably get one.
The website says Agile guitars are for beginners and novices but I say this guitar is for anybody who wants an inexpensive fun addition to their guitar arsenal. I've bought about 5 guitars which cost between 400 and 500 dollars recently and this is an example of big bang for the bucks.

The version I have sampled is the orange version that looks similar to a Gretsch Nashville. Features are pretty well discussed by now but a few points I will add:

The Bigsby bolts directly to the face of the guitar. This is actually unusual for a totally hollow body guitar. It's more often associated with
ES335 style semihollow guitars. So what does the bolt screw into? My guess is that they bolt into the braces inside the guitar. It seemed solid though. stayed in tune well and the roller bridge is a big plus.

The volume pots are not audio taper. They almost act like a switch that turns the volume on and off more than a taper.

The ebony fingerboard is amazing. Looks almost polished and free of pores. Great inlay job with very colorful abalone too.

Polyester finish. Very nice job. The laminated flame maple top shines through really well.

Alnico humbuckers but very bright and clear. It will feedback but no more so than any other full sized hollowbody electric. You reaaly won't have to swap out the pickups with this guitar.

The neck was backbowed a bit on delivery. This seems to happen a lot with Agiles. Both of my LP2500 guitars had the same problem. But after the rod was adjusted the action was extremely good. Frets were perfectly polished and the fingerboard was really nice. I'm giving it 2 off because I had to adjust the rod...But very nice after that. Another small issue is that the bridge posts seem to enter the wood at a bit of an angle. Cosmetic issue really.

solid end of story

Excellent in my experience.

I'll give it a 9 but for the money it's a 10.

Korean Made
22 Jumbo Frets
Orange tinted Bound Flamed Maple top back & sides
Beautiful Ebony fretboard & jewely grade abolone inlays
Normal 2 pickup 2 vol 2 tone setup
Alnico V Pickups
Roller Bridge & Bigsby licensed tailpiece
For this price point you cannot find a better deal.

The guitar has a wonderful Jazz acoustic tone. Unplugged it reminds my wife of Django type of tone. Plugged in the alnico pickups have a nice humbucking tone. Not too powerful so they still retain bite. I love both PU on, as it gives me of a Gretsch type of tone. With a little dirt dialed in on the amp, you have a Brian Setzer Hot Rod at 1/4 the price (WITH JUMBO FRETS TO BOOT).

OK, I'm a bit biased as I helped Kurt to spec out the features on the Cool Cat Prestiege. The Ebony fretboard is nice and tight, the abolone inlay work is amazing (very little filler). The action is tremendous. The neck has been stable over the past few months, even with the season change. I am extremely impressed with the fit and finish of this guitar. No pits or glue gobs. The binding work is perfect. Nitrocellulose would have been nicer soundwise, but poly will be like diamondplate for gigging and sweat.... A nice even glossy coat. This Korean made guitar stands with the some of the best Japan has to offer. Check this guitar out before you buy a Hot Rod...

As per above its a poly finish, looks very durable
This neck is SOLID, I've had some non-US epiphone semi-hollows where the neck bent like a bamboo fishing pole. This Agile neck is ROCK SOLID
Bigsby, feels as solid as any of my real ones.
Strap button/input jack solid but... my only complaint "it would be nice to have a separate input jack and a top strap button, the traditional acoustic 1 button string tie thing does not work for me."

OK OK OK I used to work at Rondo Music 20 years ago. I have known Kurt and his father from my high school days. Rondo Music stands behind whatever they sell. As a salesman it was my responsibility to fill out the warrantee cards because we knew the customer would never do it. Kurt is always trying to improve his line of guitars, squeezing out the highest quality at moderate price point providing the best value for his customers.

I've been playing for 28 years. I'm lucky enough to own a recording studio with some great equipment. My guitar collection has grown from my first Bob Weir Ibanez model from Rondo to my current collection of 75+ guitars. Gibsons, Epiphones, Fenders, Dean, ESP's(Japanese), 80's Kramers, Ibanez, MusicMans. Is it a sickness?... probably, although I already do admit I have a problem. You will spend 2x to 4x the $$$ on a comprable guitar made by other mfg who also source from Asia. You 'll spend more money without the personal service Rondo can bring to the plate.

This is a 2004 Korean made 17" bout jazz guitar. Its features have been described by other reviews here. The control setup is standard
Gibson, 2 tone, 2 volume and one pickup selector. The pickups are alnico v and are better than expected. The body is flamed maple as is the neck. The top is also flamed maple laminate. The style is Gibson l-5 style. Deep body, big and fairly heavy. The fretboard is ebony and very nicely finished. The bridge is a Tunomatic type which I replaced with a custom intonated ebony 2 post. The tuners are Grover and are excellent. The abalone fret inlays are also very colourful and carefully installed. I ordered the plain tailpiece rather than the Bigsby available at the same price because I intend to use this for Jazz and was worried about slippage with the Bigsby. The neck is a good solid well finished and bound item slightly bulkier than my Les Paul Slim Taper but faster and slimmer than most acoustics. The intonation and string height had to be adjusted on arrival and as others did, I also ditched the strings for .012 to .056 Jazz strings.
I purchased a case with the guitar, as it had to travel from New Jersey to Vancouver, Canada by UPS.

Amplified this sounds thick and rich. Roll off the treble with both pickups active and through my Deluxe reverb it sounds exactly how I want it to. Acoustically it is bright and treble but not loud. The addition of the ebony bridge did help a bit but don't expect big bass from a maple top laminate. There is a noticeable increase in hum when you remove both hands from the strings but not objectionable.It will feedback if you crank the amp.

Action was good but I tweaked it to my preference. The pickups were adjusted fine and other than a little shimming to prevent buzz on the neck pickup I did not touch them. The finish was absolutely flawless and I could not find a single oops anywhere. The blonde flamed maple is bookmatched and bound with not a single flaw. The bridge of course is a floating bridge so must be set when replacing strings. I put on an ebony bridge custom intonated for this guitar by a luthier. We used the tunomatic to set up then transferred the bridge positions to the ebony bridge. This gave slightly more volume and midrange when played acoustically.The nut as received is slightly high and will be lowered about .008 in due time. The electrics are well installed and have not been a problem.

use it on stage and have had no problems. The hardware has lasted for the last six months without problem, except the strings which I replaced as soon as I received the guitar. The finish is bombproof oriental poly something or other. Strap button on lower bout only but installation of heel button not a major job, or If like me, you jazz sitting down you don't need a strap. I would and have gigged without a backup.

Rondo was very helpful in shipping issues and suggestions. I've not had any problems so have not dealt with warranty but they do replace or repair or refund as a company policy. The guitar is guaranteed for one year and has not done anything nasty to make me worry. Very stable construction.

This is the fun part. I've been playing 40 years, have owned tons o' stuff and still do. At last count I had 10 guitars and 3 amplifiers as well as a truckload of effects and P.A. stuff. Ive been around the block a few times. My friend the Luthier who made me the ebony bridge says he found the following by doing an internet search.Hmmmmmm.
A Short History of Luthier Jean Agile.
Jean was born in 1947 in the French town of Mirecourt to a family of workers in the violin industry that has flourished there for so long. He gained his woodworking skills in the time honoured manner, carving scraps of wood on the shop floor at the feet of his father, uncle and two older brothers.But as he grew older, a rebellious streak appeared. Some people whispered that it came from some gypsy blood that had crept into the family some generations back. The family has always denied this with passion. This streak manifested itself in two ways, the first was Jean preferred Jazz and Jazz guitar in particular. This predeliction led him to leave his family by the age of 17 and follow his love of Jazz to the clubs of Paris. He soon found himself in demand helping many impecunious musicians with their guitars. Friends soon found him a garret atelier in Montparnasse in which to pursue his trade. He started to build guitars, but was always aware that most musicians are of limited means, and he built with this in mind. He strove to build quality sounding guitars, but solid and to a price. He succeeded very well and his reputation was established. It is not clear when, but some time in the early 70's he fell passionately in love with a Korean student who was working her way through a degree at the Sorbonne by singing Jazz in clubs at night. Their affair was as hot as the atmosphere in those smoky clubs that they frequented. People still talk with fondness of the public rows they had and how quickly they passionately forgave each other. When she returned to Koeea, he was deeply unhappy and alone. Against all advice from his closest friends, several months later, he followed her to the East. But his path was not direct, for first he stopped in New York and in a small club in Greenich Village he met musicians who befriended him and offered to put him up in their commune in Union, New Jersey. He established deep friendships which were to help him many years later. A VW minibus provided transport to the west coast and he fetched up in Vancouver B.C. Again music enabled him to make friends and he learned through local builders, the quality of B.C. woods for luthiery. From Canada he worked his way across the Pacific on a Refugee ship returning to Seoul Korea.In Seoul he was taken in by his beloved's family and they assisted him in duplicating his Parisian Atelier on a somewhat larger scale. After their marraige Jean undertook to train his wifes six younger brothers to make a true family firm. And although by nature he is reticent to discuss his personal life, we understand that a new generation is learning at his feet.
Well what do you think of that?
I would definitely buy another if lost or stolen, hell at this price who needs an excuse. And the last thing I'd like to share is her name. Pamela... as in Anderson. Big. Blonde. Brassy.

This Cool Cat jazz guitar I purchased must be 2002-2003 model.
20 frets like standard jazz guitar
H/H pickups
Passive electronics
Trapeze tailpeice
Maple body, tobacco sunburst, chrome hardware, 10gauge strings, tuneomatic saddle,roundabout curve.
It came with one strap button, for $1.50 in bought and installed 2nd button.

It suit my music style for 50's rockabilly as well as jazz from the past 5 decades.
I use this with my Peavey Stereo chorus 212. Out of the box the action was like butter, the strings were 10s jazz, and needed replacement because of the 6th string.
Not much to dislike about this guitar if your influences range are similar as mine: Bill Haley, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Norman Brown, Ronnie Jordan, Bucky Pizzarelli...
The pickups and the electronics and depending on your amp and foot pedal settings you can get from bright to warm jazz tones.

The action right out of the box was just right
The pickups adjustment were already set in the right position
It came with a tuneomatic bridge for easier intonation settings.
Only flaws I got were the cheap strings and missing strap button in the neck position.

For live playing... no problem at all, it has withstand some studio rehearsals and I predict is ready for future live gigs.

The finish was well done, the inlays in the 2004 and 2005 models are much better.

I can do a gig without a backup, but since jazz guitars string replacements are not as simple as replacing those on a fender or string thru body... I suggest a back up should you experience string breakage for gigs that requires heavy playing and a lot of solos that requires hard playing.

I purchased this guitar from Rondo Music in NJ, quickly becoming the GO-TO store for great service and high quality alternatives to Epiphones, and other high quality guitars made in the same Korean plant as Epiphones, Ibanez and the other more popular brand made models.
The manager/owner in his 60s I assume , was very nice and very helpful with questions and my other guitar problems I needed to get resolved.

I have been playing on and off now for 25yrs, I own few samicks and Agile copies of Jazz bass, Les Paul, 1968 Yamaha folk guitar and Ibanez AW10 and hand made classical guitar.

I got this unbelievable deal for $199 when I came in to get some screws and toggle switch for my Agile Les Paul copy. This guitar's worth is half the price and NO LONGER COMES IN THE TOBACCO SUNBURST I purchased.
This will certainly become a collector's edition if this is truly so... only time will tell if Rondo makes this colour available again.