Gibson makes a new product that I like a lot! Stop the presses!
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Cagey
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I actually have one of these in honey burst, and I'd put it up against any Gibson Les Paul Custom. Solid mahogany, ebony fretboard, alnico pickups, excellent triple binding, gorgeous finish, etc. It's a badass guitar. But, I wanna get rid of it. I bought it on a whim, then once I had it I remembered why I've never been a Les Paul collector: for me, playing them is flirting with carpal tunnel syndrome and they're heavy as sin. But, they do have a certain tone to them that you can't seem to get any other way. If anybody's interested, it comes in a flight case and I only want $300.
DangerousR6
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I'd rather have one of these....How about an acrylic SG.... :icon_biggrin:
Cagey
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AGWAN said:
If you're talking about the Agile vs. Gibson, there's nothing funny about it. It's actually quite sad. And it's not less than half of what Gibson charges. In the case of the AL-3000 I've got, you'd have to buy a one of Gibson's Les Paul Customs to even hope to compare the two offerings. I'm not exaggerating, and I'm not making this up. I know guitars. We're talking about a full order of magnitude difference in price, because Gibson wants $3,500 for a Custom if you get it online from a discount house. You'd have to see this thing. It's a fine piece of work.
It's no surprise, though. Everybody cuts out their bodies and necks with CNC machines anymore. You're nuts if you don't. So, it doesn't matter if the CNC machine is sitting in Korea or California. The wood is almost all imported. Gibson doesn't have a private mahogany forest in San Jose, CA. It's called "Honduran" because that's a type now, not a source. They buy the stuff from the far east, where it grows natively. Ebony comes from Africa. Curly maple comes from Canada. Gibson also doesn't have a foundry, so any cast parts are also coming from the far east, so the bridges, tailpieces, tuners... and unless they're stupid, they're not winding their own pickups. It's too labor intensive. Pots, caps, wire, etc, are all from the far east because there aren't any manufacturers of such things here. They might be assembling and finishing the guitars in the US, but that's about it.
Gibson has some tremendous overhead to pay for in management, taxes, American labor, etc. so that accounts for some of their cost. They have even greater expense in paying "stars" to play their instruments in public and profess their love. But, past that, who knows why their stuff costs what it does. It's nice stuff, but it's not worth what they charge for it by any stretch of the imagination.
Cagey
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To be honest, I've never opened up the control cavity to see what they put in there for pots. All I know about them is they work. The pickups are Alnico 5 humbuckers, but they don't put any $.50 cent adjectives on them or make any claims as to who their ancestors are, so I don't know what you'd compare them to. They sound like moderately hot humbuckers. Take 'em or leave 'em; pickups are cheap. But the wood, the construction, the finish, the detail, he quality... yeah. Every bit a Les Paul Custom. If you covered up the headstock on this thing and Gibson's equivalent, you'd likely pick this one before the Gibson to take home at the same price. When it's $400 instead of $3.500? No contest whatsoever. Hands down the Agile is the guitar to buy.
Bear in mind this is an AL-3000. They make cheaper ones. Those are surprisingly nice, too. But, they might have rosewood fretboards instead of ebony, ceramic pickups vs. alnico, less or no binding, glued up bodies vs. one-piece, veneers vs. solid tops, etc. But, they're still nice, and they're even less expensive. ~$300 will buy you a lotta guitar from those guys.
Bear in mind this is an AL-3000. They make cheaper ones. Those are surprisingly nice, too. But, they might have rosewood fretboards instead of ebony, ceramic pickups vs. alnico, less or no binding, glued up bodies vs. one-piece, veneers vs. solid tops, etc. But, they're still nice, and they're even less expensive. ~$300 will buy you a lotta guitar from those guys.
Superlizard
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EDIT: AGWAN beat me to it - I agree with him 100%
Gibson sucks balls and has sucked balls since the Norlin era.
This is a way better deal @ $399.99:
http://www.rondomusic.com/al3010goldp90.html
Gibson sucks balls and has sucked balls since the Norlin era.
This is a way better deal @ $399.99:
http://www.rondomusic.com/al3010goldp90.html
Superlizard
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And I will be getting one of these - guaranteed - and swapping a few parts:
http://www.rondomusic.com/AL3100CSBLEFT.HTML
http://www.rondomusic.com/AL3100CSBLEFT.HTML
Superlizard
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AGWAN said:
Amen bruddah - preachin' to the choir here.
****ing self-entitled righties. :icon_jokercolor:
Cagey
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AGWAN said:
Yep, this BEAUTY is only 79.95!
http://www.rondomusic.com/shadowpinkleft.html
arty07:
Seriously though... If that paintjob was on a 250 dollar Agile AL-2000 on or nicer... I'd totally buy that thing and hot rod it.
Hell, it'd be worth it to grab it for the hardware, and throw the guitar in the fireplace. Or, it'd make an incredible Christmas gift for a budding young niece. I mean, the bloody thing costs less than some Seymour Duncan pickups!
bigguspickus
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AGWAN said:
Wait a minute, if that's a neck-thru, why did they make the heel that way? Tradition? No. :doh:
The correct shape, for everyone here who's lost their minds, is this:
Note the proportions, the shape of the cutaway.
Anywho, it's getting late according to my Molex watch, I should turn off my Sorny laptop and get into my Surta bed.
DangerousR6
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I'm diggn' this.... :headbang1:
