Members Jim_Soloway Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Jim,Many people feel that Gibson's Historic and Fender's Custom Shop models are nothing compared with what Agile is offering.Have you ever thought about making a different guitar that could be made oversees and continuing to make your high end US model? Both operations would take too a lot of energy. I seriously doubt if I could maintain both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Would you license the name to someone like Kurt or Jay to make a low cost model that meets your specifications? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jim_Soloway Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Would you license the name to someone like Kurt or Jay to make a low cost model that meets your specifications? No. At this point it's an option I'd like to hold for use in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I guess it is double edged. Paul Smith is making a lot of capital by having the SE line but it does reduce what people may expect of his guitar. The extra money is very good way to come up with more capital though. Did Charlie Chapman have one of your guitars? I remember before he passed away I thought he had a similar looking one. Great player/guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jim_Soloway Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I guess it is double edged. Paul Smith is making a lot of capital by having the SE line but it does reduce what people may expect of his guitar. The extra money is very good way to come up with more capital though.Did Charlie Chapman have one of your guitars? I remember before he passed away I thought he had a similar looking one. Great player/guy. PRS is a very big company by industry standards and they can dedicate entire teams of people to that effort. Perhaps some day we'll be able to do that as well, but we'd have to be a lot bigger than we are now. And no, I don't know who Charlie Chapman is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mfergel Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 500 a month!!!!! Right now were selling just under 7 a month and I'm ecstatic. (Too bad we can only build five a month (: ) Hey Jim. A buddy of mine fell in love with your guitars at a Collective Soul show a few weeks ago. Joel was playing one of your guitars for most of the show. I pointed him to your site and told him about your guitars based on your postings here. Who knows, maybe another customer...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 That's all nice and good and I like Jim but this thread is about Kurt and Jay teaming up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 this thread still going? the harm is "different". most people dont like different, thats why gibson and fender have been selling the same old thing for 50 years. and why most "new" designs are not too far removed. alot of people are not going to like the harm for one reason or another, just like alot of people done like teles, or strats, or lp's. no big deal. theres enough people who want it to justify kurt making them (they keep selling out). hes actually tried alot of different takes on this. there was the harm 2 solid body flat top with the strat layout. then the harm 3 solid body with the carved top and 3 humbuckers. the harm 1 with a chambered body and flat top and 2 p-90's, and then the harm 3 with 3 mini humbuckers. there have been 12 string versions, models with inlays, models without. etc etc. he has gotton alot of milage from this shape so far. i think the jr would be a great addition. id buy one. im sure alot of others would too. no nitro though on mine. i want an oil finish. no gfs either, rather have a duncan (since theres only one, the price dif will be tiny). later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 If I want a Strat I'll buy a Fender If I want a Les Paul I'll buy a Gibson The Harm is a really, really cool looking guitar. I think Kurt could have a real winner with the Agile brand if he started making some more original designs. Many of the big Asian companies (Ibanez & Yamahahahaha for example) started off making copies of US models and now make original designs. I would like to see Kurt do this as well. If he made one or two guitars that were as cool as the Harm he would really have something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JoeBoy Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Who is Kurt Rondo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Kurt Rondo vs Jay Fetish vs Henry Gibson vs Seymour.....Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 "I would like to see Kurt do this as well. If he made one or two guitars that were as cool as the Harm he would really have something" i think the big thing here goes back to what jim was saying. kurt took a huge risk making a new design. he probably had to commit to hundreds and hundreds of units a year of just that one model, without really knowing how many would sell. doing that again? where would he go? the harm was kinda his rik replacement, the Al-s are his thinly veiled lp replacement. ps series for prs, valkyrie for sg, ghost for explorer etc etc. the harm is obviously the most detached from its inspiration, but not enough that it wouldnt appeal to its intended target. what niche is there for a new model shape that has the potential to sell 100's of units a year? at this point, it might be more a shot in the dark. feature wise, theres lots of things to set him apart, but shape? dunno, sure is alot of money on something that has a high chance of failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I don't know how many Harms he has sold but I know that nothing chanced nothing gained. Agile could actually be an original guitar company if he took some chances instead of just copying everyone. The Harm looks really cool. I guarnatee people here would buy a Nitro harm with factory GFS - especially if it was reliced with extra MOJO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 "Agile could actually be an original guitar company if he took some chances instead of just copying everyone" could also be a bankrupt company. tis a fine line. theres also a fine line on pricing as well. how much are you willing to pay for a guitar sight unseen? right now $699 is the top end agile. dont know how many of these he sells, but i bet the bulk of them are to "old" customers who trust kurt. but theres gotta be a limit. $899? $999? a nitro finished harm jr thats been relic'd is gonna cost alot. possibly as much as gibsons jr which can be tried out in a store. like i said, im not arguing that its wouldnt be great, just that its a far strech to make it profitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members _pete_ Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Kurt really isn't a designer or builder as far as I know.He's more of a middleman/distributor and owns the Agile name.The factory will make some changes per his requests but he has to decide if the changes would be profitable.He was smart enough to get his brand name put on a line of import guitars that can only be sold through his store. It was enough that he could close the family owned mom & pop store (Rondo Music) and go to web based sales exclusively.He took a big risk and it paid off for him. I think he deserves a lot of respect for what he's done. BTW, the Harm was designed by HC forumite, Mighty Coogna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I don't know if he deserves 'respect' He fronted money to an Asian country to make knockoffs of American designs yet points to the fact that his company is 'American Owned' on his website. Kind of makes him seem like a nutberger with a double standard because if he loves America why is he making all his money off Asian products? That Mighty Coonga guy should go to work designing some new models for Kurt. If that guy can design a cool guitar like that he should do some others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Norcal_GIT_r Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 I don't know if he deserves 'respect' nutberger :blah: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Many people feel that Gibson's Historic and Fender's Custom Shop models are nothing compared with what Agile is offering. Nothing personal. FWIW I think Rondo are interested in being a *successful* musical instrument company. Originality might well get in the way of that success, and is not particularly important to it. Strats + Les Pauls DO look great, which is a fine reason to make and sell boatloads with nice finishes and reasonable construction to those who'd rather have them than something less common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 A good starting point might be to offer a couple of Agile LP or Fender knockoffs with a choice of OEM GFS pickups. It would require an additional level of labor--fitting custom ordered pickups in either Korea or the US, but since, like GG pointed out, those are two commonly paired items, it might be a winner. As for the Harm, I was not aware that there were different versions of that guitar (yeah, I'm clueless when it comes to Rondo's line). I'll check 'em out. Maybe the new version awkward looking as the first version. I ran across a really strange looking Fender on ebay yesterday that was made with a leftover 12 string neck and a leftover Duosonic or Jaguar body that was reshaped. I'll see if I can find it. Anyway, maybe an approach Rondo could take would be to resurrect some of those those shapes that are strangely familiar but rare, like the Gibson Moderne or the Rickenbacker F or Capri series, and put a modern spin on them. Martin and Ovation had some interesting designs for electric solid bodies in the '70's. And how about some of those D'Armond, Guild, Teisco, Silvertone, shapes. Yeah, I know that Eastwood does a lot of those, but there are plenty of odd shapes to go around, and some of them are pretty cool. Again, forgive me for not being in touch with Rondo's current lineup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jjpistols Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 BTW, the Harm was designed by HC forumite, Mighty Coogna. nah - he claims the headstock, but reversed WoweeZowee designed the HARM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 "Maybe the new version awkward looking as the first version" all the versions have had the same basic shape. just different configs (hollow, solid, carved top, etc) i dont find them awkward looking, kinda funky. i find rikenbackers awkward. all personal preference i guess. kurts response to the harm jr was "YES!". what that means, i have no idea i updated my harm jr mockup btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mfergel Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Yeah, if you're going to copy a rickenbacker, I prefer it was this one: A smaller headstock, string thru with a tone pros bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Ancient Mariner - I read Agile reviews on HC and many people said that they were pros who ditched their CS Fender and Gibsons after playing Agile. That's not a troll, it's from an HC Review. Go read the reviews on Gibson and Quicksilver that people talk about and call them all trolls. You can't have it both ways. Jeff, I know the guitar you're talking about but the name eludes me. It's a similar guitar to the swinger correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted September 19, 2007 Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 its the baiting that makes you a troll. you ask loaded questions, knowing the answers already, and then pounce on the person you falls for it. its a trend in most every post ive read by you. its annoying. if you dont realize that, then you need to go reread all your threads. alot of people like agiles. so what? some people happen to like them as much or more than their gibsons. so what? didnt you ever watch Bambi when you were a kid? some good advice in that movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GretschGuy Posted September 19, 2007 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2007 Never saw the movie. This thread is about Agile in Nitro. The Harm is a cool design- as I have always said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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