# Interceptor 830 Bench Review & M8 Install (LONG:40 pics)



## AVH (Mar 21, 2010)

Hey gang, 

Having originally wanting to get a RGA8 to check out and test, along with a limited budget, I couldn't resist the chance to finally get my hands on an inexpensive, non-custom 30" scale 8 string from Rondo when one suddenly popped-up for sale. So I ordered it along with a hardshell case, and I must say the shipping was swift - three days later it arrived at my shop. 

I also bought back the Lundgren M8 I sold to a friend of mine after I sold my Ibanez 2228, so naturally I was keen to get that put in, but the Agile actually held some pleasant surprises...I also couldn't help but make some comparisons to the Ibanez, and had one available to do a side-by-side with for the article. 

Having owned the 27" RG2228 previously, the opportunity to play and evaluate 4 Ibanez LACS 30.5" scale RG8's & 2 Iceman 8's, Schecter 8's, along with 25yrs of repair/tech work under my belt, I felt confident in being in a position to test this axe out accurately with this previous experience, and have a couple of design suggestions for Kurt @ Rondo.








I was very surprised with the Interceptor headstock design. Very cool.






The pseudo RG-shape is very pleasing, and in fact as you'll see shortly, the exact same outside dimensions as an RG - just a bit thinner and with an arched top like an RGA with slight cutaway bevels. Sharp looking. Nice to have something other than black (Ibanez / LTD) or red (like Schecter) for a change too 






Back view, showing the similar AANJ-type neck join, finished in natural satin poly with only a couple of dust 'pimples', made from what Rondo is calling "Light Mahogany". Well, I'm not sure what this wood is exactly, but it's not mahogany as I've known it to be for years....it looks much more like Alder, with a bolder Ash-like figure, but without the extreme open pore grain that Ash has, which requires tons of filler prior to finish, and is easily seen. Strange. Perhaps Kurt could fill us in on what species it actually is - I'm curious....






Another headstock shot






Headstock rear pic showing the Grover mini's, which are good, reliable machines. I can see why they chose them, they're light, and a guitar with a long scale like this, you want to keep the headstock weight down to avoid the inevitable neck-dive. My only issue with these is the very small size of the stubby buttons - they're hard to grasp easily. Personally, I'll be installing some Hipshot open-gear tuners that I have on order soon.






Neck is fashioned from 3pc maple, and in the example I received, the upper piece (towards the player) is nicely flamed. Bonus. The fingerboard appears to be a nice cut of Indian rosewood with no inlays, save for side dots. Radius is 16" on the 2228, and 15" on the 830. I was very impressed with the fretwork, which were all well seated, crowned nicely, and polished. I saw no dips or humps while sighting the neck, and for this I was grateful. At my shop I work on approx. 30+ guitars per week, most of them cheaper Asian-made, and I unfortunately have to deal with a LOT of bad fret work from many Chinese/Korean instruments, so it was nice to see some attention to the actual playability take precedence over a slick paint job and gaudy inlays. _Extra bonus points for putting two, dual-action truss rods in there! _Good job Rondo 






[Enter RG2228] Ok, Here we see the Interceptor 830 beside the Ibanez RG 2228...and the size difference in the scale is immediately apparent. Oddly, the 830 was actually a bit lighter in weight than the 2228.






And the backs...






Now in case (no pun intended) you were wondering if the 830 would fit into the 2228's swanky case : it does and it doesn't. And this is where we see that the Interceptor's body shape is the _exact_ same dimensions as the RG - it fits like a glove into the molded pocket. 

Now, here's where it doesn't fit:






<sad trombone: wha-whahhh> Because of the 30" scale, I wasn't surprised at this, but thought it would be interesting just to see. 






Here we see the two beasties literally go head-to-head, as it were...






Nut width in the 830 is 2 1/4"






Nut width on the RG2228 is 1/16th narrower at 2 3/16" 






Here is where I will get into angles, and how angles affect tone...the 2228 is a few degrees sharper in break-angle at the nut, which helps increase the downward tension on the nut - creating a stronger, better note and tone. This is especially apparent if you remove the nut lock blocks, and just rely on the strings' own tension (which of course is dependent on gauge, which in this case I'm setting up for 9-70, which I've felt before on 30" scale and have a good idea of what it should feel and sound like). 






Another shot showing the thickness between the two, with the 2228 on top. The actual neck thickness between the two is pretty well matched, although the actual carve differed slightly, and the 2228 was just a bit easier on the hands. This was due to only part of the neck that I felt should have been shaved a bit thinner, and is on what i call the 'shoulders' of the neck (see below), which feel very similar to the neck differences between, say, an Ibanez RG1527 and a RG7321 - I think some of you know what I mean. It makes for just a bit more comfortable and fast feel over extended playing times...










Here's what I thought would be an interesting perspective: differences in the cutaway view. For what it's worth, I had no difficulty in reaching the highest frets on the 830, it plays very well. 






The Ibanez Edge 3FX8 bridge. Lots has been written about this...it's pretty good.






And the Kahler 7228 bridge...admittedly in the past I've never been terribly impressed with Kahler's in general, but I have to admit that after I made the neck angle adjustments (more later) to increase the saddle break angle for a more strident low F string tone, I really appreciate the multitude of adjustability that Kahlers have - much more adjustable that any Floyd type trem...and speaking of trem, yes it works very smoothly, but I've seen enough issues over the years with trying to a keep multi-wound bass string (for the low F) in tune. Count how many bassists (besides Sheehan) are actively using trems...very few, and that's for a reason.

I'll keep it locked as a hardtail, thanks. 


Now, enough comparing..let's do a bit of modding to my tastes:






First, here's the excellent Lundgren M8 going into the bridge position






The M8 next to the very good Cepheus 8 pickups, which were a nice surprise, they're actually really tight and crunchy. Notice the almost identical appearance to the Lundgren...same fiberboard bobbins, flat non-adjustable poles, just the winding-mount holes are different: three for the M8 and two for the Cepheus. Whether this is by accident or design, (I could be wrong) it looks like a clever (and flattering) marketing move for Rondo to directly tear apart and copy the hugely popular (but very expensive) Lundgren M series pickups for use in their 7 & 8 string passive instruments. 






Bottom view, you have to admit, the similarity is uncanny. Let me just say flat out that, although I'm a dedicated Lundgren user for about five years now, these Agile pickups are a very close copy to the Lundgren's, both visually and sonically too - both are very focused and tight sounding for high gain riffage, but the Lundgren still has an edge in transparency, low-end grunt and clarity. But for approx. 1/3 the price, the Cepheus 8 is hard to beat.






Put the pickups on the VOM, and the Cepheus' DC resistance reads 12.03k (kilohms). _Clarification right now:__ DC Resistance is NOT necessarily a measure of overall output volume, which is measured in mV. It's actually more an indicator of tonal response....Google it, I'm too lazy to explain it now!_ But most folks, like myself, like to know these things.






And the crunchmonster M8 clocking in at 13.5k...






The 830's control cavity is very spacious with a thick layer of shield paint. The two Asian-made 500k pots are typical, with a linear taper volume, and a audio taper tone and capacitor. The box style 3-way toggle is adequate, although not a Switchcraft, feels firm enough. A black barrel jack (which will be replaced eventually with a Neutrik Locking jack) completes the layout.






After ripping out the existing pots, the holes for the new CTS pots have to be enlarged with the taper reamer - one of the best and most useful bits in my shop.






The new 1 Meg CTS linear taper volume pot with a .02uf cap for a high-pass filter to retain highs when the volume is rolled off...I've found a 1 meg pot with Lundgren's gives me just a tad more bite to the initial pick attack.






A CTS 500k audio taper push-pull pot with a .022 Sprague Orange Drop cap which will also act as a single-coil tap for both pickups. I will also wire them up as to have the pickups out of phase in the middle position, which sounds funky. 











As the pickups are direct body mount and I don't wish to mod the expensive M8's tab threads, I've modified the mounting screws to spin at the head and accommodate the pickup instead.






I like to have my pickups feel firm and not wobble at all, so I always cut and insert some fairly dense foam in the cavity before mounting the pickup..although unproven, I also believe wobbly pickups help possibly contribute slightly to potential feedback at high volumes. 






Everything rewired back into place 






The M8 in it's new home...






And here's where I was having a small issue with tone on the low F string - by lack of much saddle break angle. The tension was little enough that I could lift the string out of the saddle using only my two fingernails lightly...not enough tension, and it suffered for it tonally. I know how that .70 @ 30" _should_ sound like : "THONNNK" Not: "THUUuuud"  So, to achieve this (NOTE TO KURT), we need to increase the break angle at the saddle by changing the neck pitch with a shim in the pocket.






The neck pocket on the 830 is clean and without any issues, save for the base pitch. I would change that dimension on the company's CNC routers doing this job to correct this for better tone. I chose to insert a 1mm thick shim at the back of the pocket to remedy this...






Here you can see the change in neck angle, as it was originally near parallel with the body face.






And now you can see the change in the saddle break angle (compare to the earlier pic), and the change in the tone was much, much better, with a strident, piano-like ring all the way across all the strings that was the way it should be. 






20 mins later after an intonation workout with the Peterson strobe tuner, and this baby was ready to do some serious chug/djent (sorry) damage. 

IN CONCLUSION: I'm very happy with this guitar for the most part except the neck shoulders, but otherwise these Agile's are EXTREMELY GOOD BANG FOR THE BUCK! And nowhere is any other company making a commercially-made 30" scale 8 string. Period. Thanks for listening Rondo, to all those that wanted such an instrument to sonically emulate those of a certain Scandinavian 30" scale persuasion!


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## Xherion (Mar 21, 2010)

Wow, I haven't read through all of this, but this IS how a review is done. Thank you.


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## xtrustisyoursx (Mar 21, 2010)

I'm with you on that wood. It's seems to be what my Douglas SR-370 is made of. The description says mahogany body, but it definitely looks like ash or alder.


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## Customisbetter (Mar 21, 2010)

BEST THREAD EVER

EDIT

also those guitars were advertised as Ash in the later runs, so im assuming thats what it is...


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## Dave Camarillo (Mar 21, 2010)

So awesome. That helps with a lot of questions I had. Great buy, great thread!


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## Hollowway (Mar 21, 2010)

Amen to the neck shim. Problem is that on the pros (neck thrus) the solution isn't that easy, and the only real solution is to sink the bridge with a bit of a route. I hope Kurt does address this, but it seems that a lot of the people who have received these Kahler 8 Agile's don't seem too bothered by it. Nice review, btw. And thank GOD you used a decent camera with macro enabled for those shots. Much appreciated!!


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## AVH (Mar 21, 2010)

Customisbetter said:


> BEST THREAD EVER
> 
> EDIT
> 
> also those guitars were advertised as Ash in the later runs, so im assuming thats what it is...


 
Thanks very much, I've been wanting to do this for days now, but haven't had the chance...

I'm not 100% convinced that it's Ash, unless it's some other Asian species of Ash, as most of the ash I see is the Amerian Swamp and soft varieties. Take a natural finish Fender (and I've literally seen hundreds of these) made from typical swamp ash - huge open grain pores that require a shitload of filler to achieve a smooth, gloss finish - and you can easily see this in the grain if you look very closely. This is different, it's still tight grained and has the color and appearance of Alder, but has the bolder figure pattern of Ash - very strange, and I would be curious to know exactly what species of wood this is exactly. We should contact Kurt from Rondo to comment into this thread


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## Rick (Mar 21, 2010)

Allen, excellent post. I feel like I learned a little something today. 

I'll send this thread link to him and see what he says.


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## AVH (Mar 21, 2010)

Hollowway said:


> Amen to the neck shim. Problem is that on the pros (neck thrus) the solution isn't that easy, and the only real solution is to sink the bridge with a bit of a route. I hope Kurt does address this, but it seems that a lot of the people who have received these Kahler 8 Agile's don't seem too bothered by it. Nice review, btw. And thank GOD you used a decent camera with macro enabled for those shots. Much appreciated!!


 
Thanks! This is exactly what I was also going to suggest this about those Kahlers, and the only other suggestion to remedy this is indeed to route into the body, which is waaay more problematic for the average user...hence the shim. A bonus aspect in favour of bolt vs. through, etc. Neck-through instruments really need to be thought out waaay in advance about angles and tension, and how they will affect the overall tone with waht hardware they intend to use.


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## TomAwesome (Mar 21, 2010)

Nice post!


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## Galius (Mar 21, 2010)

Wow. Nicely done on the in depth review. Its always hard trying to give reviews to show the all around quality for the value on these so im sure you having played almost all the options will help people realize this.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Mar 21, 2010)

vid / clips.


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## SYLrules88 (Mar 22, 2010)

great information! i wrote down everything you did with the wiring and will try it next time i open up one of my guitars. thanks!


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## Empryrean (Mar 22, 2010)

I feel I should know all these crazy things you did with the caps and such.
Wonderful review sir!


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## BigPhi84 (Mar 22, 2010)

Very nice write-up. Rep +1


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## paintkilz (Mar 22, 2010)

awesome write up! cool to see someone whos seen a fair share of 8s review the agile!


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## MF_Kitten (Mar 22, 2010)

excellent review, and very accurate! you touch on things that i would like to see more people mention, like the little details that really make or break a guitar!

i´m a little surprised at the quality of the frets, as you stated, as Agiles sometimes come with not-so-good fretwork. my Intrepid needed some serious adjustments, and a nut height adjustment, to play properly.

how do you feel that it feels and sounds acoustically compared to the other 8´s you´ve played? i found the intrepid to be a bit dead in the mids, but pretty loud in the high end, acoustically. i had an agile baritone in alder that was really loud in the highs AND mids, which was a nice treat. i think this is where you really notice the differences in quality.

those guitars were supposed to be ash, like the intrepid standards, so i assume that´s what it is. there are maaaaaany species of ash, so this could easily be some lesser known species.

the cepheus pickups i felt like needed a crispy bite to them. they had an okay sound, but they were too "warm and gentle" in the high end to me, and didn´t do the quacky "djenty" sound all that well. sounds okay when you listen to something played through it, but doesn´t have the right "feel" when playing yourself.

they do have some quality control issues with some of their models, like the yellow tobacco-like stains in the finish on some intrepid pro´s, glue around the frets (as well as some glue droplets between frets), fretboard made of two separate pieces glued together (with the joint cleverly hidden at a fret slot. i had this on mine), and random rough spots in the finish. i also had nut height issues and the frets weren´t all that well done. with that said, it was still better than many production guitars i´ve played coming from large brands, which is disturbing, haha!


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## loktide (Mar 22, 2010)

excellent in-depth review, man 

do you think the bridge saddle break angle issue would also be present on the fixed-bridge models?


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## MF_Kitten (Mar 22, 2010)

loktide said:


> excellent in-depth review, man
> 
> do you think the bridge saddle break angle issue would also be present on the fixed-bridge models?



since those are string-through, i highly doubt that.


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## 77zark77 (Mar 22, 2010)

Very nice and usefull review, thanks !

only one question about the pots : 
don't we have to use a linear one for the Ton and an Audio for the Vol ?
(due to the logarythmic appreciation of the volume)

Or is there a particular reason with the 8-string axes ?


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## LordHar (Mar 22, 2010)

Fantastic review! Makes me want to buy one even more now


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## MF_Kitten (Mar 22, 2010)

77zark77 said:


> Very nice and usefull review, thanks !
> 
> only one question about the pots :
> don't we have to use a linear one for the Ton and an Audio for the Vol ?
> ...



you know, i think tone should be linear, while volume should be tapered. that seems to be the more normal thing. it´s also a matter of taste though, since some people would rather have a linear volume too. it´s better for swells etc.


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## AVH (Mar 22, 2010)

I choose to use linear for volume because I'm mostly just a 'crank and go' type of player that doesn't use it that much, but if I do I want the high-pass cap to keep the highs crisp at low volume. The audio taper tone with the fancy Sprague cap I would actually use more in subtle increments to remove slight amounts of top end - particularly when used in single coil mode if I hear a bit too much 'clank' or sizzle, it really helps.

And actually many manufacturers use a lin vol/aud tone combo...this is what was in the Agile when I got it, and another classic example that I get to wire on a regular basis - Gibson Les Pauls also have this combo, as do others.

I'm beginning to agree with you Morten that it's some type of tighter grained Asian Ash species that I'm just not that accustomed to seeing. 

BTW Morten, now we've confirmed it - we're moving to Oslo, not Bergen...I'll be there by Sept 1


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## TomAwesome (Mar 22, 2010)

I think it's probably ash. IIRC, the neck-throughs (Pro) were all maple/mahogany, and the bolt-ons (Standard) were all ash, unless this one was made differently for some reason. Unless this was a one-off of some sort, if the page listed the body wood as mahogany, it may have just been one of the listed spec errors that are all too common on the Rondo site.


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## Sebastian (Mar 22, 2010)

Awesome !
Great pictures


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## AVH (Mar 22, 2010)

Perhaps this thread should be moved or stickied to the new Lutherie/Mod forum...I didn't notice it there when I posted this, or else I would have put it there...


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## 77zark77 (Mar 22, 2010)

Dendroaspis said:


> I choose to use linear for volume because I'm mostly just a 'crank and go' type of player that doesn't use it that much, but if I do I want the high-pass cap to keep the highs crisp at low volume. The audio taper tone with the fancy Sprague cap I would actually use more in subtle increments to remove slight amounts of top end - particularly when used in single coil mode if I hear a bit too much 'clank' or sizzle, it really helps.


 
those are the reasons why ! I've learned a lot ! thanks


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## Aris_T (Mar 22, 2010)

Great review! Thanks for the pics!


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## Ben.Last (Mar 22, 2010)

Great review. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this when I swap the pups on my Intrepid.


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## Ironberry (Mar 22, 2010)

TomAwesome said:


> I think it's probably ash. IIRC, the neck-throughs (Pro) were all maple/mahogany, and the bolt-ons (Standard) were all ash, unless this one was made differently for some reason. Unless this was a one-off of some sort, if the page listed the body wood as mahogany, it may have just been one of the listed spec errors that are all too common on the Rondo site.



Assuming he bought THIS, it should be mahogany. All Interceptor 8 standard models were advertised as mahogany, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was an incorrect spec, as my septor came with a satin finish when it was advertised as a gloss. (I don't care, though. I very much prefer the satin finish.)


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## XeoFLCL (Mar 22, 2010)

I'd also like to know what tonewood this is. I have a Douglas SR370 and it seems to be made of the same thing, the grain looks exactly alike to your interceptor.. Has anyone emailed kurt about this matter?


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## Customisbetter (Mar 22, 2010)

tonewood is lumber that has been dried and is suitable for making guitars.


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## MaKo´s Tethan (Mar 22, 2010)

awesome pics, very informative thread. congrats and thank you.


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## InCasinoOut (Mar 22, 2010)

AWESOME thread. Easily the best Interceptor 8 review/mod thread ever. Learned a lot!

edit: I am really, really, curious about what Meshuggah would say about your Interceptor too...


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## XeoFLCL (Mar 22, 2010)

Customisbetter said:


> tonewood is lumber that has been dried and is suitable for making guitars.


I know that  I mean what TYPE of wood exactly..


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## AVH (Mar 22, 2010)

Ironberry said:


> Assuming he bought THIS, it should be mahogany. All Interceptor 8 standard models were advertised as mahogany, although I wouldn't be surprised if it was an incorrect spec, as my septor came with a satin finish when it was advertised as a gloss. (I don't care, though. I very much prefer the satin finish.)



You assumed correctly, but it's definitely not mahogany - from further research now I'm quite convinced it's Japanese Ash, which is more easily obtained for Korean productions. 



InCasinoOut said:


> AWESOME thread. Easily the best Interceptor 8 review/mod thread ever. Learned a lot!
> 
> edit: I am really, really, curious about what Meshuggah would say about your Interceptor too...



Thanks, and you're welcome guys. I always enjoy sharing the wealth, as it were 

I'm pretty sure Marten and Fredrik would think they're very decently made instruments for the buck, but take my word for it first hand - _*none*_ of the commercially made 8's can hold a candle to their LACS RG8's, those instruments are on another level as far as comfort, playability and tone are concerned, they play like butter.


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## Rick (Mar 22, 2010)

^Totally agree on the LACS part, Dino's feel like fucking heaven. I'd love to actually one through an amp, but that will never happen. 



XeoFLCL said:


> Has anyone emailed kurt about this matter?



I sent Kurt the link to the thread and he said thanks. So maybe he'll pop in and give a word about it, who knows.


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## Customisbetter (Mar 22, 2010)

XeoFLCL said:


> I know that  I mean what TYPE of wood exactly..



there is no "type", you can use whatever you want. every wood sounds different or have some unique character. Sure some woods are better to build with, there there are no rules.


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## InCasinoOut (Mar 23, 2010)

Dendroaspis said:


> Thanks, and you're welcome guys. I always enjoy sharing the wealth, as it were
> 
> I'm pretty sure Marten and Fredrik would think they're very decently made instruments for the buck, but take my word for it first hand - _*none*_ of the commercially made 8's can hold a candle to their LACS RG8's, those instruments are on another level as far as comfort, playability and tone are concerned, they play like butter.



Yeah, I figured as much. From the interviews I've read, it definitely seems that the Meshuggah LACS RGs are EXACTLY what they need and want in a guitar. Can't imagine a production guitar ever getting close, even though 30" Agile's are probably the closest.


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## MF_Kitten (Mar 23, 2010)

Dendroaspis said:


> I'm pretty sure Marten and Fredrik would think they're very decently made instruments for the buck, but take my word for it first hand - _*none*_ of the commercially made 8's can hold a candle to their LACS RG8's, those instruments are on another level as far as comfort, playability and tone are concerned, they play like butter.



what?! you played Meshuggah´s guitars?! THEM´S FIGHTIN´ WORDS!

hahah, just kidding man. i´m sure you got it


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## Lasik124 (Mar 23, 2010)

This is an excellent thread! Thank you sir!


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## Ironbird (Mar 23, 2010)

Awesome thread, even for a 6-stringer like myself! 

Thanks for sharing!


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## BigBaldIan (Mar 23, 2010)

Thanks for the review. If I don't like the stock pickups on the RGA8 I was going to go with Blackouts, but your description of the Cepheus pickups being Lundgrenesque has me intrigued.


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## AVH (Mar 23, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> what?! you played Meshuggah´s guitars?! THEM´S FIGHTIN´ WORDS!
> 
> hahah, just kidding man. i´m sure you got it


 
I know what you talking about  



BigBaldIan said:


> Thanks for the review. If I don't like the stock pickups on the RGA8 I was going to go with Blackouts, but your description of the Cepheus pickups being Lundgrenesque has me intrigued.


 
They are to a point...as MF Kitten said earlier, they're just a tad darker and the M8 has a bit more clarity, but they're still pretty damn good - I was very surprised.


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## MerlinTKD (Mar 27, 2010)

Awesome review dude... makes me feel even _more_ better about my plan to purchase an Agile Pendulum when they come out!


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## Hollowway (Mar 28, 2010)

Customisbetter said:


> there is no "type", you can use whatever you want. every wood sounds different or have some unique character. Sure some woods are better to build with, there there are no rules.



I think he meant that his Douglas was made out of the same wood, which does not appear to be mahogany (although Rondo says it is) and he's wondering what type of wood it really is (sounds from other responses that it might be Japanese Ash?).


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## Werwolf999 (Apr 6, 2010)

Dendroaspis,

Have you had a chance to look at any 828 fixed bridge Agiles to see if they had any of the similar saddle break issues as the 830 you worked on did?

Also, have you had a chance to hear any of Bareknuckle's 8 string pickups?


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## Ben.Last (Apr 7, 2010)

Werwolf999 said:


> Dendroaspis,
> 
> Have you had a chance to look at any 828 fixed bridge Agiles to see if they had any of the similar saddle break issues as the 830 you worked on did?



They don't. The fixed bridge guitars are string-through.


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## Origin (Apr 7, 2010)

Holy shit.

Extremely thorough job dude!  I'm gonna be looking for a 2228 in the near future, so it was really helpful to see one close-up, especially compared to an upper-end Agile model. 

That, and the sad trombone part made me spit water on my monitor. You informed me, entertained me and made me clean my dirty-ass monitor. You sir, are a gentleman.


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## cyril v (Apr 7, 2010)

excellent review man, very in-depth. did you shoot a link to this thread to Kurt? 

i certainly wish there were some guitar techs around my area that are as knowledgeable as you about erg's. every tech i've seen looks at me like i'm completely mental because theres an extra string or baritone scale. i figure their minds will explode if i bring my 8 string to them, lots of them won't even touch my guitars with floyds!


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## Durero (Apr 7, 2010)

Fantastic review


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## jsousa (Apr 7, 2010)

good job w this thread


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## AVH (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks again everyone for the kind words. I'm about to shave the neck on the 830 and have it resprayed with amber tint or a bit darker to match the body's honey-ish color closer.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Apr 8, 2010)

I was interested in getting the 830 Pro (neck through) but the neck angle thing could be an issue. I guess if you get one with a Kahler, you could always sink the cam a bit further, giving you the appropriate break angle.


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## AVH (Apr 8, 2010)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> I was interested in getting the 830 Pro (neck through) but the neck angle thing could be an issue. I guess if you get one with a Kahler, you could always sink the cam a bit further, giving you the appropriate break angle.


 
I really don't know how the neck-through model would be as I haven't seen one yet, but I've seen the Kahler 8 bridge when it just came out previously at the MIAC trade show on one of the Guerilla Guitar 8's, so I suspected that would be a possible issue on some guitars, depending on how they were built from the get-go. It's one reason I like bolt necks for adjustability, and the nice snappy tone you get from a bolt too.

The cam on the Kahler isn't adjustable in the way you're suggesting, but really the only way on a neck-through you'd be able to correct or increase the saddle break angle tesion would be some clever routing of the area, and literally sink the bridge into the guitar slightly.


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## Prydogga (Apr 8, 2010)

Wow, reading through this thread a second time it still is the best NGD/review thread I've ever seen, take note peeps


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## george galatis (Apr 8, 2010)

too epic...awesome review!


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## BrainArt (Apr 8, 2010)

Very cool and informative, thanks!


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## JJ Rodriguez (Apr 8, 2010)

Dendroaspis said:


> I really don't know how the neck-through model would be as I haven't seen one yet, but I've seen the Kahler 8 bridge when it just came out previously at the MIAC trade show on one of the Guerilla Guitar 8's, so I suspected that would be a possible issue on some guitars, depending on how they were built from the get-go. It's one reason I like bolt necks for adjustability, and the nice snappy tone you get from a bolt too.
> 
> The cam on the Kahler isn't adjustable in the way you're suggesting, but really the only way on a neck-through you'd be able to correct or increase the saddle break angle tesion would be some clever routing of the area, and literally sink the bridge into the guitar slightly.



I've seen a video where he raises the cam to reduce the break angle, which apparently helps with the whole bends coming back out of tune issue, so maybe it's a feature on the newer ones? Or perhaps remove the trem, and put a stronger spring on the bottom of the Kahler?


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## rx (Apr 3, 2011)

great thread fo sho


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## burnsfs (Apr 3, 2011)

That took a min to download the page, but was worth it. I def felt like I learned a great deal about guitars!!!!kudos for BEST review of anything!!


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## Splinterhead (Apr 4, 2011)

thanks so much for your in depth review. i definitely learned a lot!


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## Taylor2 (Apr 4, 2011)

Why is everybody necro-bumping threads?


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