Al 3200 HSBF
Many people believe if you are going to get a Les Paul it has to be a Gibson.
Let’s face it, for most of us the Gibson Les Paul is the Holy Grail of guitars. Heck, if money were no option we would own one too. In fact, we still want to own one someday and probably will.
Unfortunately, at this time with the economy the way it is and everyone having to tighten their belts (us included) buying a Gibson Les Paul seems a little bit of a stretch right now. While it is true that a Gibson Les Paul is the only true Les Paul, for most of us it is hard to justify spending the kind of money it will take to buy a Gibson Les Paul. However, like many other products nowadays, if you are willing to not buy name brand you can often still get a quality product that you will be very happy with and at a very reasonable price! This is definitely the case when looking at the Agile AL series of guitars. The Agile Al guitars are Les Paul style guitars that are great quality at a fraction of the cost for a real Gibson Les Paul. How do we know this? Well we own one! And quite frankly, every time we play this guitar we become happier and happier with it especially when we consider how little we paid for it!
We were just browsing over at Rondomusic’s website and came across something that we thought we should share with those of you considering purchasing a Les Paul. Check out the Agile AL-3200 HSBF. If you are wanting a Gibson Les Paul but can’t afford one than this is a guitar we feel is worth considering. Here are some of the highlight features that made us get really excited about this guitar:
- triple bound, body and headstock binding
- solid mahogany body
- Canadian maple flame top
- nickel die-cast Grover tuners
- neck-thru design with maple/walnut 5 piece neck
- Graph Tech NVS2 bridge with string saddle savers
- type V Alnico humbuckers
- improved wiring
- high voltage pots
- ebony fretboard
- abalone inlays
- hand-filed frets
- professionally cut Graph Tech Nut
- D’addario strings
- jumbo frets
- Body and neck contour for extra comfort
There are a lot of us that have believed for whatever product you want, you have to buy brand X product in order to have the best quality, and we think that is okay. After all it is your hard earned money and you should be able to do with it as you wish! Sometimes, despite your best wishes, when you look at the bank statement and realize that brand X really isn’t financially feasible that it is nice to know that there are other options out there that you can still be incredibly happy with. We think the Agile Al-3200 HSBF potentially could be one of those other options that you would be really happy with for those that can’t afford a real Gibson Les Paul right now. In our opinion the Agile Al-3200 will definitly tied you over until the day comes when you can afford the real deal!
I have an Agile AL-3100 in a cherry sunburst flame finish. The only real difference between a 3000 and a 3100 is abalone inlays on the 3000. The 3100 has real mother of pearl inlays. I have also owned a Gibson Les Paul Studio. The Agile cost $310 dollars used with a case on Ebay, new without a case it’s $399. The LP studio I bought new for $800, it also came with a case. While the Gibson was a fine instrument, it was not as nice as my 3100. The LP studio is a plain jane LP, no binding at all. My 3100 has triple binding around the body, and single binding along the neck and headstock. The sound is very close to my old LP. My 3100 actually plays better than my LP did. The neck is not quite as thick as my LP, the neck on my LP always felt like I was holding on to a baseball bat. Bottom line is you can own a stripped down version of a real LP. Or have two quality Agile guitars for the same price. One thing that was not mentioned in the review, the shape of the Agile is not identical to a Gibson for legal reasons. The horn at the cutaway does not stick out as far as a LP. Some may be put off at first by the shape. But after you play A 3000 or 3100, you won’t notice it. I see LP’s now and the stuck out horn looks strange to me.
Yes I forgot to mention the shape is a bit different than a real Les Paul but honestly I kind of prefer the rounded horn to the pointed one of the Gibson. I keep saying for the price you can’t beat these guitars!