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Wound3rd
08-10-2010, 10:57 AM
Hello again. New here from North Carolina and at the request of a couple of folks I'm posting my equipment. Lessee....where to begin? I guess drums were my first instrument. I still have the first set my parents bought me which was the first kit Pearl ever put out. I think it was made out of something similar to Remo's "acousticon" shells - mystery material in other words. In recent years I have aquired an old Rogers XP set - the one with a tiny bass drum and huge toms with hardware that looks like it came from Home Depot. I rounded it out with various Sabian and Zildjian cymbals. It took me about 40 years to finally get a full kit. When I was drumming in the church orchestra we used Rolands and in the contemporary service I used their Gretsch kit so my drums have rarely been out. I should say here that the rule of thumb for me seems to be - "Buy a certain type of equipment and it ensures that you will then be asked to play a different instrument."

So, after I got all the drum stuff sorted out I was moved to bass. Currently I own a Fender USA P Bass, one of my few "stock" items, a MIM Jazz which I've modded with pups, pickguard, etc., a Brice 5 string bought from Rondo Music, home of cheap guitars and a mongrel I put together using my old Peavey T-40 and a P body. The only amp I have is an old Fender Bassman 10 which used to be the entire sound system for my first band back in 1976. 2 guitars, bass and a vocal mic all through 1 amp. No wonder it sounds ragged. In church I use an inexpensive little Zoom B1 preamp.

Once I bought the expensive P Bass, naturally I ended up on guitar again. Right now I have a couple of "Partscasters" - a Strat with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pups, a Tele with the same, an SX Tele with Duncans from Rondo, a Yamaha Tele-style Pacifica with Duncans and most recently an Agile Les Paul style with Dimarzio's, another Rondo product. I guess I've just never liked off-the-rack instruments and can't resist messing with them. My basement is littered with old parts.

I have a Peavey Classic 50 and a Vox AD 30VT for amps, an old original Whammy pedal, an original Rat, a Bad Monkey and a Digitech delay plus a couple of the Dano Cool Cat pedals but I have succumbed to the modern age and now use a POD XT Live for the worship team. We use no amps on the platform and it really gives me everything I need. I'm very pleased with the tones I get but as always, I tweak and tweeze constantly trying to hone in on the perfect sound. It's really convenient for silent practice by running it to my computer. I guess this means that I can expect to go back to drums at any moment.

So, there you have it. I didn't mention the bagpipes because I haven't yet learned how to blow, finger and squeeze at the same time. I might get them out when I grow up.:rolleyes:

WorshipVanguard
08-10-2010, 01:48 PM
Welcome to TWC!!!! Where in NC are you? I'm in Greensboro. It's always good to see more NC people here at TWC. Also, we have a songwriters group if you're interested. We often use Kompoz.com to layer tracks for our songs, and drums are a hot commodity. :-) So if you're interested in contributing to music collaboration, especially online, we can use additional musicians.

Again, welcome to TWC! I pray you will grow and learn as you continue to use this site. Blessings!

Wound3rd
08-10-2010, 07:25 PM
Welcome to TWC!!!! Where in NC are you? I'm in Greensboro. It's always good to see more NC people here at TWC. Also, we have a songwriters group if you're interested. We often use Kompoz.com to layer tracks for our songs, and drums are a hot commodity. :-) So if you're interested in contributing to music collaboration, especially online, we can use additional musicians.

Again, welcome to TWC! I pray you will grow and learn as you continue to use this site. Blessings!

I'm just down the road in Winston-Salem. I'm afraid I don't know much about doing stuff online. I wrote a ton of music back in the day on an old Teac 4 track cassette. Traded my best guitar to get a new one and then everything goes digital. Just my luck!:rolleyes:

WorshipVanguard
08-10-2010, 10:34 PM
I'm just down the road in Winston-Salem. I'm afraid I don't know much about doing stuff online. I wrote a ton of music back in the day on an old Teac 4 track cassette. Traded my best guitar to get a new one and then everything goes digital. Just my luck!:rolleyes:

Hey hey hey! My church is in Greensboro; I live in Kernersville, smack dab in between the two. That's awesome! Do you have a home church?

I hear ya about the digital. My husband loved his 4 track cassette recorder. He could adjust the faders to his liking. Whereas, he finds difficulty mixing digitally.

I'll send you a private message about the online music collaboration, and we can see if it is something you'd like to venture into.

Again, welcome to TWC! Glad you're here! Blessings!

travisvwright
08-11-2010, 07:11 AM
Tell me some more about your agile? For the last ten years or so I've had an upgraded MIM strat, and am looking to get a set neck dual Humbucker without paying too much for it. How do you like it? What HAD to be changed? What would you have dont differently knowing what you know now? etc.

Wound3rd
08-11-2010, 10:05 PM
Tell me some more about your agile? For the last ten years or so I've had an upgraded MIM strat, and am looking to get a set neck dual Humbucker without paying too much for it. How do you like it? What HAD to be changed? What would you have dont differently knowing what you know now? etc.

Well, the Agiles are made in China. Rondo Music has the rights to sell them in the USA and they're the best of the brands they sell - SX, Douglas, Brice and Agile. I don't know that anything really had to be changed. The guitar came with Duncan-designed pups and they were pretty decent but I'm a tinkerer and had an extra Dimarzio lying around so I bought a neck pup and put them in. Other than that I added straplocks. It's a good, hefty weight, same woods as a Gibson. I've heard people say over time you'll want to change the electronics but so far no problems. It didn't need any fretwork and the bridge seem decent. Grover tuners and a Tusq nut to round it out. The finish is really nice. I've never owned a Les Paul and I'm sure they are finely crafted instruments but I'm not sure they're a couple thousand better. I paid $279 for mine and another $45 for a hardshell case. It's the "Dauntless" model.

There is an Agile forum www.agileguitarforum.com with lots of good info. Many musicians over at Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar Central -- No. 1 in the World (http://www.tdpri.com) are fond of the SX Teles and Rondo Music Home Page (http://www.rondomusic.com) is where you'll find the guitars.

Given that I changed the pups I might have gone with the AL-2000 at $225 which doesn't have the Tusq and just plain ceramic buckers. Otherwise it's essentially the same guitar. But overall, I'm really pleased with the guitar. It's easier to play with the 24 3/4 scale after many years of the Fender scale. Only time will tell how it holds up (I only got it last Christmas) but so far so good. Even if you change the pups, hardware and electronics you still don't have that much invested. They do have more expensive models with $650 being the top price and that one has Duncans and better everything but at that point you might want to look at a used Gibson or hunt for a good Epiphone to compare. Mine was fine right out of the box with a fresh set of strings and a little intonation tweak. I don't think you can go wrong for the price but of course there's probably not a lot of resale value. I'm keeping mine anyway! You might also check out Welcome to Guitarfetish (http://store.guitarfetish.com/) for their Xaviere line. I've heard good things about them but I have never played one. Good hunting!

travisvwright
08-12-2010, 09:01 AM
Thanks for the write-up. There is a lot of exteme emotion regarding Gibson over at TheGearPage. So whenever Agile is discusses it's mostly Gibson lovers Bashing, and Gibson Bashers over praising. It's nice to get a clear review from an actual owner.

Wound3rd
08-12-2010, 01:04 PM
Thanks for the write-up. There is a lot of exteme emotion regarding Gibson over at TheGearPage. So whenever Agile is discusses it's mostly Gibson lovers Bashing, and Gibson Bashers over praising. It's nice to get a clear review from an actual owner.



I've heard that and since I don't own a Gibby I don't really go over there. Plus, many sites are blocked here at work so if I can't access a site on my lunch break then I don't usually bother with it too much. Luckily I can get this one and the Tele Forum, at least for now.

I see you're in Franklin. I've visited the Tartan Museum there and had an excellent kilt made by Matt Newsome, the guy who runs it.

I don't want to make too much of it - I know the Agile isn't a Gibson but it's a fine guitar for me and I'm happy with it, no regrets. Cheers!