Bookkeeper's Son
August 1st, 2012, 10:31 AM
So, I guess it's Happy New Friend's Guitar Day. Dave had always wanted a Gibson 335 in red, but he wasn't willing to spend that kind of dough. I got him looking at alternatives, including Agiles. Many months ago, after seeing Frankenfretter's Agile LP, I passed my very positive impression of Agile quality on to Dave, who wanted to pull the trigger on an AS-1000, the 820's slightly more fancy brother. Alas, there were no red ones in stock, so the whole idea just sorta died.
But last week in the local Craigslist, a wine red flame maple AS-820 showed up, and at $250, Dave couldn't pass it up. He got it yesterday, and we jammed last night. The guitar had obviously been played very little and is in excellent condition - just very minor scratches on the guard. The only flaw was very minor - raised finish on the lines of the neck joint, which isn't all that uncommon. Otherwise, the workmanship and finish were perfect. Feature-wise this guitar would compete with the likes of an Epiphone Sheraton II, but at a substantially lower price. I won't go into a full-blown detailed review, but suffice it to say that this guitar looks great, plays beautifully, and sounds sweet. It seems Agile guitars are all that they're cracked up to be, and I wouldn't hesitate a moment to buy one. One thing I was a little dubious of before I saw one in person was the short horns. In the Rondo photos, the body looks kind of weird and disproportionate. But in person, it looks great and not weird at all. It's also quite light - at least a pound lighter than my Dot Studio.
No pics, cuz it's not my guitar, but here's a web page from Rondo (it's an unused page, so the $299 is an old price, as Rondo has no red ones at the moment). The new ones are $369, still a effin bargain.
http://www.rondomusic.com/as820wr.html
http://www.rondomusic.net/photos/electric/as820wr1a.jpg
But last week in the local Craigslist, a wine red flame maple AS-820 showed up, and at $250, Dave couldn't pass it up. He got it yesterday, and we jammed last night. The guitar had obviously been played very little and is in excellent condition - just very minor scratches on the guard. The only flaw was very minor - raised finish on the lines of the neck joint, which isn't all that uncommon. Otherwise, the workmanship and finish were perfect. Feature-wise this guitar would compete with the likes of an Epiphone Sheraton II, but at a substantially lower price. I won't go into a full-blown detailed review, but suffice it to say that this guitar looks great, plays beautifully, and sounds sweet. It seems Agile guitars are all that they're cracked up to be, and I wouldn't hesitate a moment to buy one. One thing I was a little dubious of before I saw one in person was the short horns. In the Rondo photos, the body looks kind of weird and disproportionate. But in person, it looks great and not weird at all. It's also quite light - at least a pound lighter than my Dot Studio.
No pics, cuz it's not my guitar, but here's a web page from Rondo (it's an unused page, so the $299 is an old price, as Rondo has no red ones at the moment). The new ones are $369, still a effin bargain.
http://www.rondomusic.com/as820wr.html
http://www.rondomusic.net/photos/electric/as820wr1a.jpg