*NGD* Belated. Another Agile...? Yes, indeed.

[FrankenFretter]

I bought this used from a member of the Agile forum. It's an AL-2000 that he upgraded with Duncan pickups: JB bridge, and Jazz neck. They're wired for coil splitting through the push/pull volume pots. Now, on with the pr0n:

The first thing I noticed was that the action was a mile high. The original owner had installed, or started to install a trapeze tailpiece, which may be why the bridge was so high. He also started finish dulling, but didn't follow through so there are some visible scratches. The switch tip broke during shipping, but since I'm replacing it with a genuine Switchcraft, no big deal.

As far as the sound and playability, I find that I'm slightly disappointed with the Jazz neck pickup. The JB sounds great, but the Jazz doesn't have that stereotypical LP neck pickup sweetness. I'm hoping that after I replace the tone pots and caps, it'll be more pleasing to my ears. If not, you may see a Duncan Jazz pickup for sale here in a bit. Playability was pretty rough until I monkeyed with the bridge and truss rod. It's still a work in progress, and I noticed that the nut is poorly cut, so I may just replace that as well.

The guitar included the nice Rondo case, the one like ZMAN just purchased, but in black. I'm not as happy with this deal as I thought I'd be, but with some work I think she could still be a winner. I haven't named her yet, because nothing has come to mind at this point. Maybe Agnes or Ethel...

 

[Tig]

Very nice Agile, Sean! I like the wood grain burst.
After you get the tailpiece and action down, try adjusting the neck pickup's height. It is hard to see from the pic's but it appears that the pickups are possibly too close to the strings.

 

[progrmr]

Nice looking guitar - shame about the SD's. What do think about maybe dropping 2 phat cats in there??

My AL-2000 I just got in a trade has 2 GFS fat pats and I'm not crazy about the tone. So I've been taking in some videos of phat cats and the sound pretty sweet. Think they might be better in the SG though.

** sigh ** and the search for the right tone continues

 

[FrankenFretter]

Hey Doug, I did adjust the pickup heights almost immediately after playing it the first time. The rhythm pickup was up too high. The strings aren't hitting the pickups, but there's still a tad bit of buzz on the lower frets, even after all the truss rod tweaking. I raised the bridge up a little, and that helped a bit. I'm not super great at the whole truss rod adjusting thing, but I'm trying.

Programr, I have considered a humbucker sized P90, but I think I can use what I have on hand to remedy the tone situation. I have a bunch of A2 and A4 magnets, as well as plenty of humbuckers around. I may do a JP look with this one, leaving the JB in the bridge, and putting a covered A2 in the neck position.

 

[Eric]

Pretty guitar. Sounds like it's a project guitar, but you probably have enough LPs sitting around to allow for that. It'll be good experience.

Two points:
1. I'd encourage you to keep the Jazz in the neck for a while. I had a similar experience when I got my Godin LG, which has a Jazz pup in the neck position. It just takes some getting used to because it seems to respond a little differently than I was accustomed to. Now, however, I like it. So my two cents is to give it some time and not jump to make any changes.
2. For the truss rod, the thing that helped me make adjustments was to get a super-long ruler, like one of those 14"+ jobbies. I lay that on the fretboard and you can see the gap much more easily than all of the press-on-the-13th-fret techniques that people talk about. I may eventually become practiced enough to use those shortcuts, but for now the ruler is my friend when I need to adjust the truss rod.

 

[FrankenFretter]

Pretty guitar. Sounds like it's a project guitar, but you probably have enough LPs sitting around to allow for that. It'll be good experience.

Two points:
1. I'd encourage you to keep the Jazz in the neck for a while. I had a similar experience when I got my Godin LG, which has a Jazz pup in the neck position. It just takes some getting used to because it seems to respond a little differently than I was accustomed to. Now, however, I like it. So my two cents is to give it some time and not jump to make any changes.
2. For the truss rod, the thing that helped me make adjustments was to get a super-long ruler, like one of those 14"+ jobbies. I lay that on the fretboard and you can see the gap much more easily than all of the press-on-the-13th-fret techniques that people talk about. I may eventually become practiced enough to use those shortcuts, but for now the ruler is my friend when I need to adjust the truss rod.

Thanks, Eric. I will leave the pickups in place for a while, and I'll see if changing the caps and pots helps. The ruler thing is a good idea, I'll have to look for one. Some time this week I'll set the intonation, and maybe that will make a difference as well.

 

[Eric]

What's up with this guitar now? Have you done any work to it? I'm curious as to whether you're going to give a similar treatment to this as you did with your other AL-2000.

 

[FrankenFretter]

Thread sleeping...someone approacheth...I am awakened...who..? Ah, Eric. Of course. Very well, if it is answers you seek, than I shall indulge you.

This gets a bit complex, so pay attention; I have been putting this project off until I finish the Tele project (surprised you haven't brought that up yet!), and the Tele project is not far from complete, but...I can't decide what pickup to put in the neck position. I purchased a Gibson '57 Classic to put in there, but now I have another guitar that I want to put that in (see, I told you it was complex). For this guitar, the one mentioned in this very thread, I have decided I don't want to keep the Duncans. They are great pickups, but not really my style. I'm going to put my GFS VEH zebras in this guitar. I've taken out the A5 magnets in those, and put an A4 in the bridge pup, and an A2 in the neck. I was going to put those in my AL3K, but I like the pickups that I have in there so much, I don't want to do any more swaps in that guitar. So this one gets the zebras, and I'll sell the Duncans. And yes, I do plan on doing something somewhat similar to the Lemon Drop AL2K project, although I'll be keeping the Grover tuners on this one. I think. I will do the Scotchbrite treatment (I actually have already done the sides and back, I just wanted to wait on the front until such time as I can pull the pickups out), swap the pickups and caps. I'll use some fine Russian paper-in-oil caps, probably in an .025 flavor. I may also take on a dress and level for the frets, if I can afford the tools I need. I've never done that kind of work, but it's something I need to learn, because it will be a huge benefit to my somewhat meager skillset.

Now about that other guitar I mentioned; I plan to post a NGD thread soon, but my desktop PC just took a dump on me (Dee, I feel your pain), and I need to re-install Windows. I can use my laptop to post the pics, but I need to move them from Flikr to Picasa since I can't figure out the link dealy on Flikr. Well, I can, but it's easier to use Picasa. This alleged new guitar is another LP type. It's a brand that is new to me, and apparently has been shut down by the big G already. I will say that for the money, it was an incredible deal. My brother, NWBasser, can back me up on this. Ah, but I digress.

In summary, yes I will be working on this project soon, and it will be somewhat similar in nature to my other AL2K. Thanks for asking!

 

[FrankenFretter]

Progress! I spent a few hours yesterday working on this guitar, and it's starting to look and feel really nice. But enough words, here's proof:

This is what the finish looks like after a few passes with the Scotchbrite pad on the mouse sander.

And after the buffing process has begun:

A little more buffing:

Later today, I'll finish the buffing on the top, and get the sides done. I'm pulling the tuners and installing locking tuners, installing a Switchcraft USA switch with Gibson USA amber tip, Alpha A & B pots, and Russian paper-in-oil capacitors. For knobs, I'll be using some amber (not gold) speed knobs. It should have a nice vintage vibe to it. Already it has a nice, comfortable look to it, like a guitar that's been played for years, but well taken care of.

More pics to come!

 

[Tig]

Lookin' good! Warmer is the word that comes to mind.

 

[FrankenFretter]

Lookin' good! Warmer is the word that comes to mind.

That is a very good word for it, Doug. I'm looking forward to playing it when it's done, but I should reveal now that this is going to be going out to a fellow Fretter. I was going to withhold that info for a while, just because I didn't want to kibosh things, but there it is. But whom, you may ask....any guesses?

 

[FrankenFretter]

I got a little bit more work done yesterday, finishing the top, plugging up some holes from where the former owner had installed a trapeze bridge, and removing the tuners. Did a quick mock up to see how it would look with the parts in place:

Not too shabby so far, if I do say so myself. It's getting there, and should be completed in the not-so-distant future. When it's all assembled, I'll work on getting the action and intonation worked out.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Lookin' good!

 

[bcdon]

That looks really nice!

 

[progrmr]

very nicely done!

 

[FrankenFretter]

Thanks guys (and Don)!