Epiphone Tribute Les Paul vs. Agile AL3000 in a battle royale

[Duff]

The way the Tribute locking tuners work is to put the string thru the post hole from the middle line of the guitar, the line going from the middle of the tip of the headstock to the tail pin. Orient the post hole 90 degrees approx from the normal orientation of the string, sideways. Push the string thru towards the outside of the guitar and pull it thru until you have about an inch and a half or so of string going sideways back from the hole toward the mid line, held sideways to the normal string direction, at a right angle to the normal string orientation, pulling the string taught.

Hold the string at about the mid line and turn the tuner button. At first the string will not start to wind, but a cam inside the post will swing into place inside the hole the string is in and push the string against the other side of the hole, clamping it firmly in place. At this point continuing to turn the button will cause the string to wind onto the post.

You only need to wind it like one and a half times around the post. Having only a small length of string wound around the post helps keep the string in tune, especially on Fender style tremolo guitars where each time you apply the whammy bar the string loosens up and then tightens on the post. Each time it loosens and tightens, it takes up slack you can't see in all the winds that are commonly put around a standard post. This tightening up of the slack around the post results in the string being loose and therefore going out of tune, and visa versa.

People use locking tuners on non tremolo guitars as well. Again there is less slack around the post because you only wrap it around one and a half times.

Once you get the hang of it, it makes restringing really fast. And you can usually reuse the strings if you have to take them off for whatever reason, new pickups, etc.

I really like locking tuners and think they are worth the extra money, which can be as high as 80 dollars just for the tuners, as in Fender Locking Tuners, plus minus.

Hope this description helps show how the Tribute locking tuners are strung up and work, approximately. There are even more detailed methods of stringing them where the angle of the post is different for each string on each side of the head, but just having the hole sideways seems to work real well. It takes a few times to get it so you know just how much string to hold back so you don't get too many winds around the post.

[FrankenFretter***]

The way the Tribute locking tuners work is to put the string thru the post hole from the middle line of the guitar, the line going from the middle of the tip of the headstock to the tail pin. Orient the post hole 90 degrees approx from the normal orientation of the string, sideways. Push the string thru towards the outside of the guitar and pull it thru until you have about an inch and a half or so of string going sideways back from the hole toward the mid line, held sideways to the normal string direction, at a right angle to the normal string orientation, pulling the string taught.

Hold the string at about the mid line and turn the tuner button. At first the string will not start to wind, but a cam inside the post will swing into place inside the hole the string is in and push the string against the other side of the hole, clamping it firmly in place. At this point continuing to turn the button will cause the string to wind onto the post.

You only need to wind it like one and a half times around the post. Having only a small length of string wound around the post helps keep the string in tune, especially on Fender style tremolo guitars where each time you apply the whammy bar the string loosens up and then tightens on the post. Each time it loosens and tightens, it takes up slack you can't see in all the winds that are commonly put around a standard post. This tightening up of the slack around the post results in the string being loose and therefore going out of tune, and visa versa.

People use locking tuners on non tremolo guitars as well. Again there is less slack around the post because you only wrap it around one and a half times.

Once you get the hang of it, it makes restringing really fast. And you can usually reuse the strings if you have to take them off for whatever reason, new pickups, etc.

I really like locking tuners and think they are worth the extra money, which can be as high as 80 dollars just for the tuners, as in Fender Locking Tuners, plus minus.

Hope this description helps show how the Tribute locking tuners are strung up and work, approximately. There are even more detailed methods of stringing them where the angle of the post is different for each string on each side of the head, but just having the hole sideways seems to work real well. It takes a few times to get it so you know just how much string to hold back so you don't get too many winds around the post.

Thanks, Duff. Did your Tribute come with instructions on how to use the locking tuners, or did you already have this knowledge? Mine came with no instructions, and they weren't obvious in their usage. Not to me, anyway.

[Tig***]

Thanks, Duff. Did your Tribute come with instructions on how to use the locking tuners, or did you already have this knowledge? Mine came with no instructions, and they weren't obvious in their usage. Not to me, anyway.

Careful, Sean... Real men never read instructions!
What's next, asking for directions? Sheeesh!

[Duff]

Sean, I know about a couple types of locking tuners and these are different from either the Fender locking or Wilkinson locking types.

Actually these are really nice because the locking mechanism works automatically, there is not knob to turn or extra hole to push the string thru; they just work by turning the button and the cam inside the post presses against the string pushing it against the other side of the hole.

I read about them on some site, guitarfetish or the grover site or something. Because that is where I found out about the cam. There might have been a hang tag on the guitar, I can't remember.

Just align the holes sideways to the medial line of the guitar an hold about an inch and a half of string out from the inside side of the hole and start turning the button, it clamps onto the string and the string winds on. Try to get about one and a half turns around the post, not a lot of turns.

[FrankenFretter***]

Careful, Sean... Real men never read instructions!
What's next, asking for directions? Sheeesh!

Yeah, I know. I usually throw the instructions in the garbage as soon as I open the box.

Thanks for the info, Duff. I already changed the strings, and I seem to have done alright. Next time I'll do it in the manner you suggest.

[NWBasser]

So, at last, I'm back from an assignment in BFE and can weigh in here with some impressions after playing the three LPs (Agile, Epi Trib & Standard).

I first grabbed the Agile and was immediately impressed with the hefty feel and stunning looks. For the price, this guitar is pretty amazing. The fretwork was quite good and it was an easy neck to get around on. The tone was fairly close to my Standard and I think would please most ears looking for a Les Paul sound. A very discerning listen revealed a slight lack of refinement in tone as the dynamics weren't as clear as the real deal LP. For the price Sean paid for this thing, it's quite the steal.

Next up was the Tribute. This one wasn't as visually sweet as the Agile and had a position block that wasn't quite aligned correctly. However, it felt just right. In the hands it had that indescribable feel of a quality guitar. It felt like a guitar that you've owned for a long time and fits the hands just right. Then the tone - a real monster! It had the sort of "rip your face off" barking attack of a really good LP and yet still remained composed and smooth after the initial bite. However, and this may be more amph influenced that guitar, the neck p/u didn't have quite the deep thickness of the Standard. It sounded a bit more subdued.

The Standard is mine and I rather like it. I think the p/u's sound quite good and are especially nice at the price point. The fretwork isn't neary as refined as the Tribby and I'd rather not look under the hood of the control cavity. The Standard takes a bit more effort to play cleanly than the Tribute and is fairly comparable to the Agile in this regard. For a backup guitar, a beginner looking for decent tone, a bass player who wants an LP sound on the cheap, the Standard is a solid choice. For what it will cost to bring the frets and overall action to where I'd really like it, I could have gone for a used Gibby Studio. If I were a dedicated guitarist bent on a good-quality main axe, I'd pass on the Standard and go to a Gibby.

Well, there's a bass player's take on the three LPs.

Now Sean needs to post the recorded clips we made!

[FrankenFretter***]

Now Sean needs to post the recorded clips we made!

I tried to upload them to Soundclick, but for some reason it's telling me that they're not MP3 format. I'll have to find another way to get them up here.

[duhvoodooman***]

FWIW, I posted a link to a clip I recorded with my new Agile AL-3000 over in THIS THREAD....