Agile Cool Cat Prestige

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.

Agile cool cat supreme. You know the routine by now. Like my other 2800lp less paul copy this guitar is absolutly beautiful. There is no other way to say it. Absolutly perfect. Beautiful wood perfect fit. Purchased from Rondo in N.J.

It fits my style playing perfectly as I mostly play taylor type music. Superior sound as good as my guild. Very quiet no his or hum. Full sound can be made very bright or very mellow just like it's very expensive namesake.

Fit and finish were perfect with one exception. The bottom pickup had some sort of tarnishing or coating of some sort on it that dulled the finish. Used a tiny bit of blue magic metal polish on it and it came out perfect.

too new to tell but I can't immagine it being a problem. Would like to have seen a strap button on the top.

Kurt always gets back to you right a way.

37 years of playing off and on. This guitar looks and feels like it should be worth thousands.

Come on, for the full description go to the Rondo website ! Actually the EBONY fretboard was the exciting thing for me. Very smooth and easy to move on. Dual humbucker Wilkensons with Bigsby tailpeice. Very nice maple top. Had to install straplocks, no biggie. Frets are fine. Locking tuners seem to do the job well but a little touchy, they seem to be getting better as I have had the guitar for several months now.

I am using this with a Peavy classic 30. VERY clean overall sound, I'm not sure there will be enough variation for some critical musicians. If you really want to grind em out, maybe not the best pickups but this IS a Jazzbox ! Bigsby had the reputation for being a tuning problem, well not according to my tuner ! Very surprised ! Overall VERY quiet and again I have to add the dirt if I want to go there. Feedback is amazingly controlable.

Came playable but I have my guitars set up by professionals. Overall finish is very good. I wish there was a washer between wood and the input jack. Neck is also very smooth right out of the box, and very straight. Bridge is good. Pickups havent been touched, work well straight from Rondo. If you really bear down, I could get some buzz from the original set up, but still MORE than acceptable.

Guitar is solid. No toy crap here. Before anyone were to gig with most instruments I cant see why they wouldnt have a guitar tech at least check it. You should never gig with just one instrument ! Changing strings with a Bigsby, not during a set unless your David Blaine. I have gentle moments, however sometimes one can get a little caught up in the moment, so I have beared down on it with very successful results. More expensive models up to $1400.00 seemed more fragile than this guitar.

Actually if you have gone thru the other Cool Cat reviews you will see me there too. Rondo took back the Cool Cat, ONLY because I wanted the Ebony fretboard. EXCELLENT customer care ! Shipped earlier than expected. A JOY to deal with these folks !

I would positively buy another if stolen ! The neck on mine is a joy to play, cant wait to come home to relax with it. When I got it I had to take the Bigsby, but it's been a positive experience. It's pretty quiet, but I wonder if a higher grade wiring set up might improve it some. What is the price of this unit, let's be real. It needs time to set/mellow, without amplification it might "ring" a bit better. I'd rather not name company names I compared it to, but again, all the comparison models were over twice what was paid here.

Bought from Rondo Music in Union, New Jersey, in August 2004 for $399.99, this Agile Cool Cat Prestige model is a 17"-wide by 4" deep (tapered) arched-top jazz guitar featuring natural flame maple top, back and sides, five-ply binding top and bottom, chrome fully-enclosed Grover tuning keys, twin Wilkinson pickups, three-way toggle switch on the upper bout, two tone controls and two volume controls, EBONY fingerboard and the most amazing jewelry-quality rectangular abalone position markers that sparkle like opals with their iridescent blues, greens, reds, pinks and turquoises. I have never seen such magnificent sparkling position markers on any guitar at any price! The Agile logo and corresponding fleur de leis headstock designs seem to be made from lesser perloid but add a nice distinctive touch. The ebony fingerboard is fully bound for an added touch of class. Of special interest are the facts that this guitar comes with only ONE strap button (at the base of the Bigsby-style vibrato tailpiece...and that your 1/4" guitar cable plugs into the guitar at the base of the tailpiece...not on the bottom side of the guitar, as do most arched top electric guitars. This is a bit inconvenient when trying to set your guitar down on the floor against the chair or sofa (as most of us usually do at home!) This is a HEAVY guitar....but I cannot understand why. This guitar has no heavy "tone block" glued down the middle of the inside of the guitar (although there seems to be a smaller wood strip glued down the top of the guitar (into which the two screws from the vibrato baseplate are screwed for stability). The neck is fairly "fat". The fat neck, ebony fingerboard, rectangular block position markers, five-ply binding, bound f-holes, this guitar's 17" body size and its related contruction details are reminiscent of the Gibson L-5CES...but for about $6,700 less! The action of the fingerboard is superior to many guitars I have owned...and required no "tweaking" as it came out of the factory sealed corrugated double-box, as shipped to me from Ronda Music. Another little-noticed upgade is the massive "Roller Bridge" that allows the vibrato arm to raise and lower the guitar strings (pitch) up or down with minimal effort. The vibrato works flawlessly...since the strings "roll" across the rollers...instead of "sawing" across the stationary "points" of a standard tune-o-matic bridge that usually come with Bigsby-style vibrato tailpieces. I bought the guitar without a case...but the guitar came with an extra pre-cut nut and adjustment wrench for the adjustment rod under the single-screw adjustment rod plate on the headstock. Overall construction and finish of this Korean-made guitar was excellent.

I use this Agile Prestige Cool Cat guitar with my Fender Power Chorus amp (1988 or so model) to good effect. I play solo instrumental guitar at local restaurants, private parties, weddings, and corporate functions where soft mellow tones are de rigor...so I never have to test the outer limits of screaching volume. Thus, feedback is never a problem in my style of music with hollow-body guitars. You rockers may find feedback is a bit of a problem at ear-drum-breaking volumes...but I doubt if rockers would be attracted to this guitar becauuse it doesn't come with optional skull-and-crossbone decals, etc. It just looks nice, subdued and professional...and handles the same way and sounds the same way. Nice. As I switch through the various tone-knob and toggle-switch positions -- in conjunction with the tone controls on my amp -- I find this guitar sounding a bit like the Chet Atkins tone of the Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar and/or the Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120...a tone that I love! So, for the money, this guitar offers an inexpensive alternative to the Chet Atkins and/or rockabilly guitar sounds that many of us enjoy hearing from time to time. On my particular Agile Cool Cat Prestige guitar, I noticed that the 5th string volume seemed to be noticably lower than the volume level of the other five strings when all six strings are played sequentially as a single chord. This 5th string volume drop may be corrected by a simple adjustment of the pickup pole piece for this string...or by simply raising the entire pickup up from its position under the strings using the raise/lower adjustment screws at the sides of the pickup baseplate. No big deal.

Action, fit and finish on this natural-finish guitar are really wonderful...as are most of the guitars that are now coming out of Korea now, probably all from the Samick Guitar factory, as I understand it.

In my 45 years of playing guitar, I have never had a problem with reliability or durability with any guitar I have ever owned...no matter how cheap or how expensive. But then, I have never left my guitars out in the rain or slammed them onto a stage floor! I doubt if you would ever have a reliability or dureability problem with one of these Agile guitars. If you did, the integrity of Kurt and his staff at Rondo Music would make it right. These guys know what guitarists want...and they provide it promptly and at a great price that keeps their satisfied customers coming back for different guitar models as the need arises. I plan to buy additional Agile guitars as my need and my finances allow. They are simply a superb value!

Rondo music obviously sells (and deserves to sell) hundreds of guitars during the year and, from what I have seen, these guys will do whatever it takes to put out great values in guitars, and to stand behind their buyers as much as they stand behind their guitars. This is so rereshing in today's business world! Thanks, gang! We musicians appreciate your hard work to bring us great values in guitars!

If you can find a better 17" arched top jazz guitar with (or witchout) a Bigsby style vibrato tailpieces AND WITH AN EBONY FINGERBOARD for under $400 BRAND NEW buy it! This is a "Best Buy!" in my opinion. You may want to consider buying several of these guitars at this price....since they will most likely appreciate in value over the years! This is a real "sleeper" in today's guitar market!

Agile - Cool Cat Prestige
Weight: 30.0 lbs
List Price: $666.66
Sale Price: $399.99

The Cool Cat Prestige has several step up features from the regular Cool Cat. First, the guitar features Canadian maple flame top, back and sides (no flame on the regular Cool Cat). The inlays are real Mother of Pearl (perloid on the Cool Cat). The fingerboard has been upgraded to Ebony (standard rosewood fingerboard on the Cool Cat). The Cool Cat Prestige features a Licenced Bigsby Tailpiece and roller bridge for exceptional tremolo effects.

The Prestige also has upgraded pickups - Wilkinson Alnico type V for exceptional sound! The improved pickups in combination with the ebony fretboard give the guitar a very bright, clean sound.

Standard features on both guitars include: A true jazz hollow body with full body and neck binding, die-cast Grover tuners with 18-1 turn ratio for ultra fine tuning, a gorgeous arch top body, and a 22 jumbo 2.7mm fret set neck with 25 1/4? scale length.

Width of the neck at the nut: 1 5/8", at the 22nd fret 2 3/16". Total length, including strap button: 42". Width of guitar at it's widest point (lower bout) 17". Scale length 25 1/4". Body thickness 3 3/8" at edge.

Features are certainly pretty nice.

I got my Cool Cat Prestige last winter and it's been really cool.

I'm not a jazz guy, I play rock, and it seems to do the trick for me giving me a little bass boost and also giving me the flexibility to screw around with massive amounts of controllable feedback with that gigantic 17 inch hollow-body (deep too). The Bigsby is a fantastic new tool that I've been able to add to my arsenal. It's got locking tuners (that are kind of a pain in the ass) and it seems to do a pretty good job of keeping tune with serious Bigsby use.

I had it set up with 10s which was a mistake. I am looking forward to setting it up with 11's. Tens on that monster is an insult...I made a mistake.

I don't play much lead, but the pickups seem to do me justice very well. If you're a jazz guy I don't think the pu's will be happening for you. The selections are not vastly different.

I paid 399 for it last Nov. If you invest another $200 in it with pickups I think you'll have a great jazz box. Perhaps a very suitable replacement. The quality is certainly there. It's not a toy like the Ibanez. It's got a beautiful finish and it's hefty.

Unfortunaltly, the last time I saw them on Rondo's site was about a month after I bought mine. I don't know if they will re-release them, but for the money they are definently worth it.

It did not come with a rear strap-lock so I had one installed. That was a bit of a drag, but it gave me the opportunity to put on straplocks.

ROCK

The set-up was ok aside from the bizarre barbed-wire strings these things ship with.

I have been screwing around with the pickup positions to get something that I really love. I think I've done ok, but I'm sure different people would want to tweak to taste.

The front and rear tops of the Maple are really very nice and clearly flamed. It's definitely a great looking guitar. No noticeable physical flaws.

I've been playing with this for a shirt while and I feel that it would totally hold up in live situations. I'm going to continute using it. I've even used it in some coffee house's for some vocal/electric guitar stuff. It worked very well.

Rondo seems to want to do everything possible to avoid shit talk about them on the harmony central boards and they do everyting they can to make the customer happy.

They are focused on their bottom line and are generally inflexible to making deals or throwing in free cases, but that'sbeacuse they know they are selling a great product at a great price and if I don't buy it someone else will.

Overall I love the thing. It's great looking and serves my rock n' roll needs. If you are a serious player get ready to have a great guitar that you are going to need to upgrade and tweak to suit to your personal taste.

Rondo has been charging more and more for their stuff lately, but it's still pretty worth it.

This guitar is overpriced about $50.00. $350.00 would be a realy good buy.

New, made in Korea hollow body Arch top. Flame maple top, sides and back. Top is nicely flamed, back and sides are just slightly flamed. Two Wilkinson Alnico hums, licensed Bigsby tremelo w/roller bridge, two volume, two tone knobs, jumbo sized frets, ebony fingerboard, grover locking tuners. All very nice "stuff"

Sound is subjective-what is good to me may not be to anybody else. I replaced the crummy flat wounds it came with for some D'ADarrio XL 9's. These are really too light, but it's all I had at the time. Still, it sounds pretty good to my ears...has a good hollow body thump to it and the pups vary from warm and full (neck) to bright and almost trebly (bridge). Middle position of switch sounds best to me. Plyed through a '68 Fender Princeton reverb.

an added bonus is it sounds pretty good acoustically..clear notes but not overly loud. Coould easily sit on the couch and play it unplugged.

No discernable flaws. Finish is bright and shiny.

as noted above, guitar came with some absolutely horrid flat wounds...had to be some chepies.

After changing strings, guitar plaed nicely right out of the box..no adjustments needed. Bigsby is smooth and warbly (like it should be!)

Will it withstand live playing? I dunno..are ya gonna pull a Pete Townsend with it?

It's built well, but seems very light. I don't gig for a living so I cant say. Seems durable to me.

First time dealing with Rondo Music in NJ...very prompt service, but have'nt had any problems so far.

been playing for 20 years, owned several different axes, some nice, some so-so. This is a good instrument for the money. Not as nice as the Gretsch Tennessee Rose I used to have, but it's about $1000 less.