Why are Agile guitars so cheap?

I don’t know if you’ve heard of Agile Guitars or not, but if you haven’t you’re missing out. I love American made Gibson guitars (don’t we all?), but not everyone can afford the $2-3,000 price tag that comes with it. Everyone wants the features that come along with it…quality, reliability, tone, looks, playability, etc. Of course there’s an entire industry built around copying these famous guitars – the most notable being the Epiphone brand (which Gibson owns). I’ve already written a post about why I hate Epiphone guitars. Mainly it’s because of the shoddy workmanship and quality. I would gladly pay $500-$600 for an Epiphone Les Paul provided it was wired right and I could gig it out without worrying about something going bad on it. Correct me if I’m wrong – but I think Epiphone’s are made in either China or Taiwan.

I’ve read a great deal about import guitars online and hundreds of reviews. The concensus seems to be that in the area of import (non American made) guitars, the highest quality seems to be coming from Korea. This is where I believe the ESP imports are made that seem to be getting rave reviews. Anyway, Agile guitars are an import ‘copy’ brand made in Korea. It seems at the current time the only retailer in the U.S. for them is Rondo Music on the East Coast. If you read some of the Harmony Central Reviews for Agile Guitars, you’ll find that they seem to score unusually high – primarily between 9 and 10 (out of 10). Reading the reviews you’ll see many comments that talk about the AL-2500, AL-2800, AL-3000, and AL-3100 models all being significantly better than Epiphone Les Paul’s in fit, finish, sound, and overall quality.

They have so many models you have lots of choices, and the upper end models even have Grover Tunes, solid mahogany bodies, and alnico pickups. I have talked to several people in other bands who own an Agile LP and they wouldn’t give it up for the world. Some say that the AL LP copy series are even better than the real thing. These guitars go for $300-$400 (which is a steal for their quality), and Rondo Music sells them on their web site, but also on eBay as well. So when you look on eBay you find both new ones through Rondo, as well as used ones sold by individuals.