As promised, here is more insight into my two newest additions to my growing family. I'll make it relatively brief, as I have company coming, and I'm feeling very, very thirsty.

First, the basic facts: The Epi was purchased for $799.00 through American Musical Supply (I used the link from TheFret so as to kick some love back to our beloved forum). The Agile was purchased from Rondo Music for $299.00. The Epi included a hard case, and I paid $49 for a hard case for the Agile. The Agile was marked down nearly $100 because it's a B-stock, due to a very minute flaw in the finish below the neck tone knob.

Both have AlNiCo pickups; the Epi has the Gibson 57 and 57+ pickups, which are AlNiCo II. The Agile has house-brand pickups which have AlNiCo V magnets. The Epi also has the added feature of Series/Parallel switching for both pickups.

Both have full body and neck binding. The Agile has triple binding, and also has binding on the headstock.

The Epi has a "Faded Cherryburst" finish, and is a plain-top. The Agile has a Cherry Sunburst finish, and has the flame-top. Both are slim profile necks, the Epi being the "60s Neck". The Epi has a 14" fretboard radius, the Agile 13.7". The Agile also has a Graphtech nut and hand filed frets. The Epi has MOP inlay, the Agile abalone. The Epi's inlays are not perfectly straight, and that is very annoying to me. I try not to think about it too much.

The Epi has locking Grover tuners. The Agile has non-locking Grover tuners. The Epi also came with straplocks, something that the Agile could really use.

The Agile came set up better than the Tribute. Both were almost in tune, but the Tribute will need a tad bit of tweaking, as it has some slight fret buzz on the A and D strings. Not bad, but not perfect either. No buzz on the Agile. I don't think it needs any set up at all, as far as I can tell. .

Both guitars sound fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the stock Agile pickups sound. Although they sound similar, the Epi has a bit of an edge over the Agile. I would say that the Agile sounds a bit brighter than the Epi in general, although the neck pickup on the Agile is slightly darker and just a hair muddy. I should point out that the Epi uses Mallory 150 tone caps. No idea what the Agile uses, but I will find out soon enough. More on that later.

The necks feel extremely similar. The Agile has a less pronounced "D" feel to it, but it's not that noticeable. The action feels about the same, and the neck finishes are pretty much identical. The Agile lists the frets as Jumbo, the Epi Medium Jumbo. Perhaps it's just me, but they feel the same to my fingers.

For the money, I'd have to say that the Agile is the better guitar. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret buying the Tribute at all. I love the sound, the feel, the lifetime warranty (which is voided if I add a pickguard. Grrrr...). The sound of the Gibson 57s is amazing. Even if it wouldn't void the warranty, I wouldn't change them. The Agile sounds good, too. That said, I have always wanted a Cherryburst LP with zebra pickups, and seeing as I can't/won't change the pickups in the Epi... I ordered the VEH (Vintage Extra Hot) pickups from Guitar Fetish. In Zebra, of course. I also ordered the "blackout" kit for the Agile from Rondo. I can fulfill my need to tinker with the Agile. I'm one of those people who often can't leave well enough alone, and I have to try and hot rod things. I may also change the caps in the Agile, although I haven't decided that one for sure yet. Stay tuned for that project, I'll post pics as I change things.

Meanwhile, here are some more pics of the two new ladies:



Questions?