# Guitars that compete with Agile



## tsever02 (Feb 28, 2017)

So, I know there are millions of threads dedicated to Agile's guitars and such. But this is 2017 and more and more guitar brands are available. So this thread is dedicated to guitar brands that put up a fight against Agile. 

I've always been a big Ibanez fan. I still really like them overall, but this weekend I went to guitar center and played with a lot of the guitars, including the new Iron Label guitars, and Idk... They all just felt weak to me...

It could have been that they weren't set up well and guitar center always puts the lightest strings possible on their guitars, but overall, the guitars just felt really light, and the fret boards just felt off, and idk. I love my agile. It's a good guitar. The weight is nice, the wood is beautiful, the tone is killer, stays in tune forever, the fret board is the perfect wideness and thickness, the action is amazing, and it's just great. Both my friend and I agreed that almost all the guitars there at guitar center felt like toys compared to the agile.

So, any guitars that compete with agile that I could look into?


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## MoonJelly (Mar 1, 2017)

Schecter. Especially year-end when they have close-out sales. I bought a Schecter Maus sig 2016 model, for less than $500 new, it was right around Christmas. They definitely have a more beefy feel than Ibanez. You can still find them on the Schecter site for $649, currently. The new 2017 model is more like $1000-1100...

LTD. They make tons of 7's and 8's, you can buy one in almost any price range. Jackson too.


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 1, 2017)

Even in 2017 I still think, as far as options and pricing, no one is really beating Agile at their own game, and that's coming from someone who has been rather critical of them in the past. 

I'd take an Interceptor over a similarly priced Schecter C or LTD M/H/MH. 

Agile are by no means perfect but you're not going to beat the options available and the quality difference is negligible at best compared to import Schecter, LTD, Jackson, Legator, Indo Ibanez, etc.


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## lewis (Mar 1, 2017)

Harley Benton from Thomann.


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## Jeffbro (Mar 1, 2017)

I had an agile interceptor 8, looked decent, fretwork was mediocre, body felt too chunky, neck was the fattest and most uncomfortable thing ever. 24mm thick with big shoulders and jumbo frets... seriously who designs this stuff.


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## bostjan (Mar 1, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Even in 2017 I still think, as far as options and pricing, no one is really beating Agile at their own game, and that's coming from someone who has been rather critical of them in the past.
> 
> I'd take an Interceptor over a similarly priced Schecter C or LTD M/H/MH.
> 
> Agile are by no means perfect but you're not going to beat the options available and the quality difference is negligible at best compared to import Schecter, LTD, Jackson, Legator, Indo Ibanez, etc.



I agree. Prior to Agile, the only company I ever saw doing anything like that was Samick, and the more innovative Samicks were horrible, quality-wise, and not easy to come by, either.



lewis said:


> Harley Benton from Thomann.



Totally different markets, though, really. It's like comparing BBC World News with NPR's version of BBC World News. 



Jeffbro said:


> I had an agile interceptor 8, looked decent, fretwork was mediocre, body felt too chunky, neck was the fattest and most uncomfortable thing ever. 24mm thick with big shoulders and jumbo frets... seriously who designs this stuff.



Hmm. I've only ever owned one Agile, but I've played more than half a dozen of them and they feel more or less the same as an ESP neck profile. Not the thinnest, but on the thin side of average. Maybe you got a dud. I think, unfortunately, duds are common with any budget priced instruments.


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## mnemonic (Mar 1, 2017)

Looks like Agile guitars are still made in South Korea, presumably at the WMI facility (though now I think about it I don't remember where I heard this), just like many other SK-made midrange guitars (schecter, ltd, PRS-SE, etc), so I would assume all of these would be comparable, though with differing specs. And higher prices.


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## TedEH (Mar 1, 2017)

I've never tried an Agile, but I've always imagined them as a sort of budget option. Maybe that's just because of their marketing or something.

I do find though that when I just pick up random stuff in a store, it almost always feels kind of off. It's the bad store setup, the rusty string, the dust from sitting on a hanger untouched for long periods of time, grime from other customers hands when they pick stuff up, etc. etc. It never compares to a new-in-box instrument or something that has your setup and your "feel" already. I find that makes it really hard to buy instruments in store. Or anywhere. Maybe buying instruments is just hard. 

Edit: Knowing Agiles come from WMI makes me more interested in trying one.


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## stevexc (Mar 1, 2017)

I remember hearing that Agile moved away from WMI recently, although I've got no source to back that up.


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## sezna (Mar 1, 2017)

I have an Ibanez S8 (the base one - in my profile pic) and it has pretty bad neck dive. I went to Sam Ash to see what they have, maybe trade up or something, and they had a used Interceptor 8.

I picked it up and my first impression was that it was heavier than any other guitar I have ever held. Weight on par with an eight string Les Paul with a solid metal neck. The action was good and the pickups were okay...but I'd take the ibby 8's over the agile offerings any day.

I think what you may have been interpreting as 'weak' was the pickups? The main downside to the lower end ibby 8's are the pups, swap those out and you've got a mean machine. Also, the s8 in it's coil tap bridge position is suuuuper nice.


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## Jeffbro (Mar 1, 2017)

sezna said:


> I have an Ibanez S8 (the base one - in my profile pic) and it has pretty bad neck dive. I went to Sam Ash to see what they have, maybe trade up or something, and they had a used Interceptor 8.
> 
> I picked it up and my first impression was that it was heavier than any other guitar I have ever held. Weight on par with an eight string Les Paul with a solid metal neck. The action was good and the pickups were okay...but I'd take the ibby 8's over the agile offerings any day.



The interceptor 8 was the bulkiest and worst feeling 8 string I've ever tried. Also mid-high range korean schecters are much better quality.


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## Bearitone (Mar 1, 2017)

What year did you get it? Maybe the neck profiles were bigger or rounder at one point (not sure though)


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## sezna (Mar 1, 2017)

kindsage said:


> What year did you get it? Maybe the neck profiles were bigger or rounder at one point (not sure though)



are you referring to the interceptor 8?


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## Splenetic (Mar 1, 2017)

My Agiles are almost as good as my Korean Schecters and Korean LTD, but waaaay better than the Indo Schecter I had.....which was itself better than I expected tbh.

Haven't tried the 500+ dollar Agiles yet though.


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## thraxil (Mar 1, 2017)

I have an Intrepid Pro 828. Overall good quality for the price, but i would agree on mediocre fretwork and, while the neck on mine isn't thick, it has really big shoulders and is definitely not my favorite.


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## GenghisCoyne (Mar 1, 2017)

lewis said:


> Harley Benton from Thomann.



isnt that the company making those agile versions of agiles?


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## tsever02 (Mar 2, 2017)

TedEH said:


> I've never tried an Agile, but I've always imagined them as a sort of budget option. Maybe that's just because of their marketing or something.
> 
> I do find though that when I just pick up random stuff in a store, it almost always feels kind of off. It's the bad store setup, the rusty string, the dust from sitting on a hanger untouched for long periods of time, grime from other customers hands when they pick stuff up, etc. etc. It never compares to a new-in-box instrument or something that has your setup and your "feel" already. I find that makes it really hard to buy instruments in store. Or anywhere. Maybe buying instruments is just hard.
> 
> Edit: Knowing Agiles come from WMI makes me more interested in trying one.



Yeah, that could be true. I always hear people say they'd never buy a guitar that they never felt first, but to be honest, I never really like the guitars in stores. I totally took a risk with Agile when I decided to shell out the $550 or whatever for the Interceptor Pro. 

And to answer the other question, idk. It is really freaking heavy, and I do prefer the super thin necks of ibanez, but overall, the feel of the Agile is just great. Something about the finish is super smooth and it makes the neck feel awesome. Sometimes just because the neck is a tiny bit thicker than ibanez, and it's a longer neck, it can be harder to reach big chords or do a lot of riffing, but tone wise I just feel like it's amazing and does feel really good. I feel like it feels like a good quality piano, as opposed to an electronic keyboard. Obviously pianos and keyboards are both gonna be really good when you spend thousands, but for low-mid end, I just feel like Agile is definitely the best for the price range. Obviously though, since you're buying directly from the producer, I think there are more cases of duds than with other guitars, but I feel like I got a really good Agile. Stayed in tuning shipping all the way across the US. Pulled it out of the box and only one string was off by a few cents.

Also, these Harley Benton guitars look kinda cool. But they're UK and I'm sure they'd cost a ton to get imported to the US. How do they play and how's the quality.


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 2, 2017)

TedEH said:


> I've never tried an Agile, but I've always imagined them as a sort of budget option. Maybe that's just because of their marketing or something.


 
They are made for those looking for options on a budget, it's not really a secret. 

They don't market either. It's all word of mouth. 



> I do find though that when I just pick up random stuff in a store, it almost always feels kind of off. It's the bad store setup, the rusty string, the dust from sitting on a hanger untouched for long periods of time, grime from other customers hands when they pick stuff up, etc. etc. It never compares to a new-in-box instrument or something that has your setup and your "feel" already. I find that makes it really hard to buy instruments in store. Or anywhere. Maybe buying instruments is just hard.


 
Agile guitars are only sold distributor direct from Rondo Music, it's their premier house brand. If you find one elsewhere it's used. 



> Edit: Knowing Agiles come from WMI makes me more interested in trying one.



I don't know why folks have this opinion of WMI all of a sudden. For nearly decades if you bought a guitar under $1k it was made by either Cortek, Samick or World. They're three very interrelated companies. 

_Now that's some marketing. _


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## TedEH (Mar 2, 2017)

MaxOfMetal said:


> They don't market either. It's all word of mouth.



I'd count word of mouth, their website design, etc. as part of marketing.



MaxOfMetal said:


> I don't know why folks have this opinion of WMI all of a sudden.



I suspect this is because of the video tour Rob Chapman did where they went around WMI and talked to people, etc. Made them look really good to the average person who doesn't know any other factory by name. I've been noticing since then that more headstocks have "made at WMI" or something similar stamped on the back. Dunno if it was there already, but I'm noticing it now.


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 2, 2017)

TedEH said:


> I'd count word of mouth, their website design, etc. as part of marketing.



Website? Have you seen this thing? www.rondomusic.com


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## TedEH (Mar 2, 2017)

^ I never said it was *good*.  And that's my point I guess- it all contributes to the image of the company. When I picture Agile, I see that horrible website in my head, and I hope they don't do as shoddy a job of their actual products.


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 2, 2017)

That's the thing, they don't do anything to them. They don't even check the box before shipping sometimes. That's where the savings come in.


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