New 7 Classical - Agile Renaissance

[Doug Craft]

When I took up 7 string guitars about 5 years ago, I wanted to get both shredders and acoustic guitars that I could play with my old wonky wrists and hands. So, flat tops acoustics with high action are out of the question for my hand strength. I got an Eastman Jazz-16 carved archtop and it has been a wonderful guitar with decent acoustic tone for an archtop - and easy to play. I started out on a classical, I had been looking for a classical 7 string. I decided to pull the trigger and ordered a fan fret/multi scale Agile Renaissance with a hard case from Rondo. Agile has been around a long time and I had heard good things about their instruments, and see their 7 string electrics are popular on this forum.

The guitar arrived in good shape, and it is basically a decent instrument that has a nice acoustic tone. It has a solid spruce top and laminate mahogany back and sides. The fretboard is ebony. I adjusted quickly to the multi scale frets and the large neck and the guitar did pass my intonation and "easy to play" test. I did notice that the edges on the fanned frets were sharp and sticking out enough for me to notice. I figured - where else are you going to find a classical 7 string for $600 and was resigned to having the frets ends dressed by my luthier.

Unfortunately, one of the piezo elements in the bridge pickup was defective. I contacted Rondo and they offered to replace the guitar, but I declined as I thought the basic guitar was a good one, and it would be as much trouble to ship it back as to have it fixed. So I took it to Old Town Picking Parlor Luthiers in Arvada CO to fix the frets and pickup. The guitar now plays great and sounds wonderful with a replacement K&K Pure Mini bridge pickup.

My conclusion is that I like the guitar a lot now, but do not think much of Agile's factory quality control, and it's clear that Rondo does not do much on their end to inspect and test the instruments before shipping them out. I will post some more of my photos later - these are from the Rondo site...

 

[MaxAidingAres]

Are these one made in S. korea? Agile is a direct to consumer brand, no advertisements etc. you get quality specs for a cheaper prices because they focus on word of mouth. I think $600 for a fanned fret multiscale extended range instrument is great even with fret issues. The electronic issue is the only thing i would say is unexpectible. Everything should work for $600. But great fretwork? I wouldnt expect it...

 

[Doug Craft]

Agreed @MaxAidingAres - Agiles are MIK... like I said, I was reasonable in what I expected for the fretwork, etc for a specialty guitar like a classical 7 string.

 

[Chokey Chicken]

To be fair, it's kind of Agile's thing where you get a decent guitar that might need touching up put of the box. It's basically looked at as the end user is the final level of QC. Even still, you get a great guitar for the cash, and so long as you live stateside the return policy is bonkers good. The guy running the show is very accommodating if something goes wrong enough.

Glad it worked out in the end anyway. I really want one of these myself, though probably in a straight scale. Hell, I just want a decent classical in general.

 

[MIL8]

Thanks for the post, i have been thinking of getting one of these myself.

 

[Doug Craft]

The market for 7 string classical guitars is pretty thin - unless your budget is in the thousands. As I said, the Agile is worth its price - but my experience suggests their QA/QC is weak. I have bought several imported guitars at lower prices (Washburn Parlor, Epi Wildkat, Gretsch Pro Jet) that were fully functional and had decent fret work out of the box.

Agile is no longer the only import option like they were in 90s - through they do offer lots of choices for extended range guitars, they should step up their QA/QC game.

 

[Spicypickles]

It’s not a given that their fretwork will be garbage though; my pendulum pro had great fretwork out of the box.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

The market for 7 string classical guitars is pretty thin - unless your budget is in the thousands. As I said, the Agile is worth its price - but my experience suggests their QA/QC is weak. I have bought several imported guitars at lower prices (Washburn Parlor, Epi Wildkat, Gretsch Pro Jet) that were fully functional and had decent fret work out of the box.

Agile is no longer the only import option like they were in 90s - through they do offer lots of choices for extended range guitars, they should step up their QA/QC game.

I think you might be confusing Agile with a different brand. They first started importing re-branded JTs late 99'/early 00'.

Prior to that, pretty much all the mainstream manufacturers were offering South Korean made lines. Heck, both Cort and Samick had their own lines available since the 80's as well.

 

[Doug Craft]

New photos...

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Looks much nicer than the stock pics.

 

[Doug Craft]

The Renaissance has some other nice features - solid spruce top, ebony fretboard, and nice herringbone trim around the top. It's got the bones of a quality guitar.

 

[MIL8]

Hows the pickup system?

 

[Doug Craft]

Hows the pickup system?

The stock piezo pickup was faulty - the D string piezo sensor did not work. My luthier replaced the whole bridge pickup with a K&K True Mini, and wired it into the stock preamp. I have gotten decent sound though my Firehawk FX with Headrush powered speakers. It sounds good to my ears. I need to get my solid rosewood and spruce Alvarez Yairi 6 sting classical and see how it compares with the Agile. The Alvarez has a nice Fishman pickup - but it's 20 years old. Will post something when I make that comparison...

 

[TomParenteau]

I have the steel string version. Do you like the location of the screen? I don't like the contortion I have to do to read the tuner. But I can live with it.

 

[Doug Craft]

I have the steel string version. Do you like the location of the screen? I don't like the contortion I have to do to read the tuner. But I can live with it.

No problem with mine... so far!

 

[walkhard]

sweet

 

[Doug Craft]

OK - I got out my Alvarez Yairi CY122C 6 string classical and compared the Agile with a Kazuo Yairi (solid rosewood back and sides and solid spruce top). I have to say there's not a lot of difference in how the different pickups sound though an FRFR speaker. Of course, the Agile, being a 7, has a richer bottom and a newer preamp. I suppose if you compared the acoustic tone - both guitars having new strings, etc. the Yairi would get the nod from the cork sniffers, but for my purpose - adding acoustic tracks to a mix, there's just not a lot of difference to my ears.

I am definitely impressed with how much richer a 7 sounds compared to a 6 - both acoustic and electric. The sevens rule in my book!