Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a great guitar, period. Inexpensive, but not "cheap" in looks, construction, playability or sound.
Like everybody else who's bought one, I had to take a blind leap of faith -- the Agiles are only available by mail order, so unless a friend has one you can try, you're going by word of mouth.
And when I was looking into getting an Epiphone LP, the reviews for the Agile AL series stood out. They were fanatical -- I've read maybe two reviews from customers who were disappointed.
The only consistently negative reviews seem to be on Amazon, and if you read them, they seem to be from people who are against the Agiles on principle, not people who've owned them.
The hundreds of others, in forums (one has the initials "UG") and in user reviews (over 50 at a site with the initials "HC"), are more than satisfied customers -- they're thrilled customers. Including myself.
And I knew part of the reason why the second I unboxed mine and picked it up. These are SOLID instruments -- the set-in maple neck, headstock and mahogany body sure feel like one single piece of wood. And the sustain and variety of tones are there to back it up. Even with stock hardware.
And wood is the most important part of a guitar. You can replace all of the hardware, and adjust every screw and the truss rod, but the neck and the body better be good out of the box -- 'cause it's a lot easier to replace the pickups than to replace the neck.
Yes, the AL-3000 may be a better deal for you -- at twice the price (about $600) you're getting a single piece of mahogany instead of three for the body, a mahogany neck to match, a thicker maple top, and an ebony fretboard.
But that by no means rules out the AL-2000 for anybody. The solid 3-piece mahogany body, the maple neck and (thinner) 1/16" maple top, the rosewood fretboard -- not exactly unusual woods for quality instruments.
The Agile AL-2000 feels like it would take ten Pete Townshends to smash one. Read reviews, and the word "tank" will come up over and over.
I found two very small cosmetic flaws: A slight blemish about two inches below the tailpiece, which I have to really look for in the right light, and a tiny gap where the body, neck, binding and pickguard all meet, showing the slightest dollop of filler. A Q-tip and some gold paint would fix it right up, but its even less noticeable than the blemish.
That said, no one has ever accused the Agiles of being ugly. These are beautiful works of craftsmanship -- and there is a huge variety of finish styles available. If I have one regret, it might be that I didn't roll the dice on a bookmatched spalted -- you may get a great one, you may get a good one, you may get a mediocre one, but you will never get one that looks just like anybody else's.
This thing made its way from Korea to New Hampshire to Minneapolis, where the poor thing sat in 45F weather until I got home. No matter what the word of mouth was, I was planning on a pro setup, new strings and probably new pickups out of the box. I mean, it is a $220 guitar.
Unpacked it, waited not-long-enough for it to warm up (C'mon! Would you?), and tuned it. Amazing. Every single string was almost exactly 1/2 step flat. I guess those Grover Tuners that come stock really are all that. And the 1-18 ratio made tuning precise and easy.
Also amazing was the action. Super low and fast, with nary a fret buzz or dead spot to be found. Absolutely astounding was the intonation -- I'm very picky, and my usual method of open/12th harmonic/12th closed in fast triplets usually makes flaws stand out. Nope. Not on a single string.
Even the strings were already decent. 10 to 46s, standard stuff, but I'll keep using those gauges on this guitar. So, that $40 setup I was planning on was already done so well at the shop it was like I'd told them what I wanted.
It plays like a dream. It's heavy for some, but unchambered LPs feel heavy to a lot of folks. And it's beautifully balanced -- I let go, and the headstock doesn't take a dive. It stays right where I left it, with the weight on my center and left shoulder where it belongs. The neck is slightly slim and narrow compared to other LP-style guitars -- maybe a problem for thick fingers, but nice for speed. The jumbo frets, the incredibly smooth finish on the back of the neck, and the solid feel all add up to a musician's instrument.
Finally, and most importantly, the sound is beyond reproach. Nope, I didn't replace those ceramic wax-potted PUPs after all. Les Paul's own sweet, mellow jazz sound; Cream-era Clapton's "weeping woman" tone, Steve Jones' full frontal buzzsaw assault, the history and huge variety of sounds a good LP is famous for -- it's all there.
If you play this guitar with your hands, and listen to it with your ears, you will love it to death. If you look at it for its headstock, and turn your nose up at its price, you are missing out on a true prize, and possibly the best deal on an electric guitar available.
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Agile AL-2000 Gold Hum
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