Stellar les Paul copy, any one tried these?

[Regis]

Ok, I have GOT to stop visiting this thread. Every time I do I buy another guitar.

This time it's the Stellar Mercury 004, the Jazz box mentioned above. $225, with hardshell case, free shipping.

I assume it will require the same fixups my other two Stellars needed, but that's normal. Will report back when it's delivered and I have it set up right.

[Satamax]

Huh guys, the stellar are getting scarce on the bay as it seems

Anyone have an opinion on theses?

http://cgi.ebay.fr/Electric-Guitar-A...QQcmdZViewItem

[JJGross]

Agile's are very similar the Stellar with the following exceptions:
Stellar = all maple vs. Agile Maple + mahogony
Stellar = squealy stock PUps vs. Agile = usually Wilkinson PUps (very nice)
Stellar = 14:1 no-name tuners vs. Agile = Grover 18:1 tuners
Stellar = cheap but functional HSC vs. Agile = case optional
Stellar = limited finish/hardware options vs. Agile = tons of finish/hardware options

Most of the rest is about the same with some of the more expensive Agiles having much better pots and more finish choices. I play a hotrodded Stellar onstage and it stands up to pretty much anything I've compared it to. A buddy has several Agiles and I've played them too - all very nice guitars. Like the Stellars, they usually require setup out of the box, but usually don't need any HW upgrades since they come a little better appointed stock than the Stellars do.

I've never had to try to get any customer service on my Stellar so I have no idea how that would go. I've heard both good and bad about Agile CS, but it's very lopsided in favor of Agile. Most who ask for help get it right away, including my buddy who has something like 8 Agiles & SX's (he swears by them all). I'm sure how you start out contact has a lot to do with how well it goes for you no matter who you deal with. Starting out by insulting the person you're asking for help from will usually result in you not getting very good results. lol

I heartily recommend Agile or Stellar guitars if you can do a setup and can solder decently. They're both mail order only now so trying one out isn't usually an option. Try hitting craigslist in your area and do a search for Agile. You might find one local that you can put your hands on to try out, maye even get it for a good price. I see them turn up near me about once every couple months.

If I had to compare them to something you can try out at GC or other GeetarMarts, I'd say they're on par with some of the upper end Epiphones in the $600 range. The Agiles are well worth what you get them for, one of the better deals out there by a long shot. Considering that they mostly cost in the $400 range and play like $1000 guitars, it's hard to go wrong with them unless you only have $250 to spend. Even then, their 2000 series is about that much $$$ and still really nice guitars. The best part about buying a well made but low-buck guitar is that you don't have to save for a better one and play nothing in the mean time. You can get it in your hands and play it, upgrading it as you get spare cash.

Cheers,
- JJ

[Satamax]

Thanks a lot JJ.

Well, solder and setup, no wories, i'm primarily a trained guitarmaker, who has given up for general woodworking. And i've been fidling with amps for a good 15 years too I was actualy asking for aq friend from a 4 wheel drive forum who's soo skinned that he can't aford even a LP studio or epi LP's. Well, the shipping is killing us, as we live in france, but neverming 169 dols shipping when the euro is soo strong, we don't care much.

Looking again at the agiles, there's tons of choice, but i wonder, are the quilted and flame maple tops ones are real wood ones, veneer? Or a photofinish?

Thanks again, bye.

Max.

[CitizenCain]

I picked up a Stellar 335 copy off ebay for $99 used. It has some hazing type scratches on the back, like it was dragged over burlap or something. Other than that it's in perfect shape. It looks just like Regis' 335.

Amazingly, I've had the guitar over 6 months and have not madded it yet! That's a record for me Actually, I did replace the bridge with an Epiphone bridge. Even that was better than the cheesey one that came on the guitar. Other than that, it's all stock and it sounds and plays wonderfully!

I recut the nut myself, but it's still the stock nut. No tuning problems using a set of D'Addario 10-46 strings. Simply great guitars.

[Regis]

That Stellar jazz box I bought had problems. The neck needed adjustment and my guitar guy discovered that the truss rod nut was stripped, or at least was non adjustable. Plus the tailpiece was a bit off.

It took me a month to get a refund out of those stellar folks, so I'll be doing no more business with them. They were agonizingly slow in responding to emails, then they sent an incorrectly addressed return sticker, it was bad all around.

[CitizenCain]

Sorry to hear you got the run-around from those guys. I never dealt with them, got mine used.

[galibier_numero_un]

OK ... this madness began as I started traveling on my day job two weeks ago - on the road 4 days/week. Being without something to practice with was going to drive me nuts.

I ended up with this Agile guitar: http://www.rondomusic.com/820.html. It arrives on Thursday, and I'll post some preliminary comments next week.

My first thought was to try to find some sort of light weight acoustic, and this took me to things like the Martin Backpacker. The short scale bugged me, and once you own a good acoustic, everything else seems like a toy. The baby Taylor is about $100 more, but still has a short scale.

The next step ... I found the Traveler guitars. http://www.travelerguitar.com/

We're getting close now. I like the idea of the Escape, and while in St. Louis last week, I played a Speedster at a GC. They didn't have an Escape in stock. The Speedster had a very nice neck ... $379 and you need a case on top of that. I think it comes with a gig bag, but nothing you'd risk to an overhead bin in an airline.

The ah hah experience ... I got to thinking (occasionally, I do that).

I stopped in a couple of music stores last week and played a couple of semi-hollow body Telecasters - 1 was a Tele ("Thin Body" with f-hole), the other was a G&L equivalent. The G&L was very, very nice, but at $1,100, it's expensive enough to care about if something happened to it on the road.

My buddy travels regularly with one of his prized Les Pauls and feels completely comfortable with being able to carry it on. While I don't have quite his risk tolerance, I'm o.k. with a $300 guitar. That was when I circled back to this thread.

So, I explored the semi-hollow body theme, but noted that Regis reports that these Merc 008's are heavy mothers. This, in combination with my known propensity to swap parts, along with Regis' recent experiences pointed me toward the Agile AS-820. Note that the page for the blonde one doesn't state the weight, but the black one (http://www.rondomusic.com/as280blkchhw.html) comes in at 7.5 Lbs.

Cheers,
Thom

[galibier_numero_un]

Some quick first impressions. This all relates to the acoustic/mechanical properties of this guitar, as it's initial reason for being is to be able to have something to play in a hotel room, with my hectic travel schedule.

I only briefly plugged it in to my Mission Aurora amp, and most of my experience is with single coil pickups (Strats), so a period of adjustment is in order. My guess is that the pickups are o.k. to good, but that this guitar is deserving of the very best.

The Grover tuners on this beast are better than the Schallers on my FrankenStrat, as well as the tuners on my Martin HD-28 Herringbone reissue (1976).

The neck, to my eyes is perfect, and one day I'll take the guitar to my luthier for a once over, but other than lowering the action and resetting the intonation with my strobe tuner, it's good to go.

Perhaps the only minor issue I have is that in setting the intonation for a fairly low action (4/64" clearance at the 12th fret on the high E string), the saddle for the D string is as far forward as it can go. The fellow with a preference for a super low action might have a touch of trouble with this string, but for me, it's o.k.

I've never owned a 335 style guitar, and was surprised at how less ergonomic they are to hold than a Strat is. A strap is necessary even when sitting, but this is characteristic of the body shape and my style, and not of the Agile.

I've primarily played it in my hotel room (no amplification), and like most, I consider good acoustic properties to be a prerequisite for a good sounding electric. This guitar certainly passes the test in spades.

I would recommend ordering the $49 hard shell case for this guitar - if only to give it a better chance of arriving safely. I also shipped it 2nd day (FedEx), to minimize rough handling by ground. The outer box serves primarily as a place to affix a shipping label. I would expect (don't know) that if I didn't order the case, that the packing would be more substantial. Either way, at these prices, I'd just consider the $49 case plus the $70 for 2nd day air (New Hampshire to Colorado) to be the price of getting the guitar delivered safely, so add this to the $319 price when you're thinking this through.

While the $49 hard shell case is perfectly adequate for schlepping about, I'm traveling, and I'm concerned about the day when the flight attendant says "sorry sir, we have no room in the overhead luggage compartment - we'll have to put your guitar in with checked baggage".

For this reason, I picked up a TSA approved case from SKB (http://www.americanmusical.com/Item-...m_medium=feed&).

It's a very nice case and was reduced at my local Guitar Center from $135 to $90. I feel much better about this case, and the guitar is worth it. There's the slightest bit of slop in the fit, and I took up the extra space with a strip of 1/2" thick packing foam at the "butt" end of the case. I also rolled up two pieces of foam into "hockey pucks" and put them in two old socks. The two pucks sit in the area of the cutout and the guitar is now a perfect fit in the case. I'll probably Velcro these pieces in place when I get a chance.

So ... All in all, I'm extremely happy with this guitar. I had set fairly medium expectations and they were greatly exceeded. My only "problem" is that I can see getting very attached this guitar, and in traveling with it, I hope it remains unharmed. My buddy tells me to not worry, and that I'll have no problems carrying it on board the plane. So far, I'm 1 for 1 in this regard - heading home tomorrow evening.

Total cost to date was:

Guitar: $319
Case: $49
2nd Day Air: $70
SKB-35 Flight Case: $95

The future? Pickups and a once-over by my luthier. The guitar deserves it.

I want to personally thank Regis for encouraging me to dive into this rabbit hole

Cheers,
Thom

[Regis]

Some quick first impressions. This all relates to the acoustic/mechanical properties of this guitar, as it's initial reason for being is to be able to have something to play in a hotel room, with my hectic travel schedule.

I only briefly plugged it in to my Mission Aurora amp, and most of my experience is with single coil pickups (Strats), so a period of adjustment is in order. My guess is that the pickups are o.k. to good, but that this guitar is deserving of the very best.

The Grover tuners on this beast are better than the Schallers on my FrankenStrat, as well as the tuners on my Martin HD-28 Herringbone reissue (1976).

The neck, to my eyes is perfect, and one day I'll take the guitar to my luthier for a once over, but other than lowering the action and resetting the intonation with my strobe tuner, it's good to go.

Perhaps the only minor issue I have is that in setting the intonation for a fairly low action (4/64" clearance at the 12th fret on the high E string), the saddle for the D string is as far forward as it can go. The fellow with a preference for a super low action might have a touch of trouble with this string, but for me, it's o.k.

I've never owned a 335 style guitar, and was surprised at how less ergonomic they are to hold than a Strat is. A strap is necessary even when sitting, but this is characteristic of the body shape and my style, and not of the Agile.

I've primarily played it in my hotel room (no amplification), and like most, I consider good acoustic properties to be a prerequisite for a good sounding electric. This guitar certainly passes the test in spades.

I would recommend ordering the $49 hard shell case for this guitar - if only to give it a better chance of arriving safely. I also shipped it 2nd day (FedEx), to minimize rough handling by ground. The outer box serves primarily as a place to affix a shipping label. I would expect (don't know) that if I didn't order the case, that the packing would be more substantial. Either way, at these prices, I'd just consider the $49 case plus the $70 for 2nd day air (New Hampshire to Colorado) to be the price of getting the guitar delivered safely, so add this to the $319 price when you're thinking this through.

While the $49 hard shell case is perfectly adequate for schlepping about, I'm traveling, and I'm concerned about the day when the flight attendant says "sorry sir, we have no room in the overhead luggage compartment - we'll have to put your guitar in with checked baggage".

For this reason, I picked up a TSA approved case from SKB (http://www.americanmusical.com/Item-...m_medium=feed&).

It's a very nice case and was reduced at my local Guitar Center from $135 to $90. I feel much better about this case, and the guitar is worth it. There's the slightest bit of slop in the fit, and I took up the extra space with a strip of 1/2" thick packing foam at the "butt" end of the case. I also rolled up two pieces of foam into "hockey pucks" and put them in two old socks. The two pucks sit in the area of the cutout and the guitar is now a perfect fit in the case. I'll probably Velcro these pieces in place when I get a chance.

So ... All in all, I'm extremely happy with this guitar. I had set fairly medium expectations and they were greatly exceeded. My only "problem" is that I can see getting very attached this guitar, and in traveling with it, I hope it remains unharmed. My buddy tells me to not worry, and that I'll have no problems carrying it on board the plane. So far, I'm 1 for 1 in this regard - heading home tomorrow evening.

Total cost to date was:

Guitar: $319
Case: $49
2nd Day Air: $70
SKB-35 Flight Case: $95

The future? Pickups and a once-over by my luthier. The guitar deserves it.

I want to personally thank Regis for encouraging me to dive into this rabbit hole

Cheers,
Thom

Sounds like a good deal. Everyone talks good about Agiles, they seem to be good guitars. You are right about the ergonomics of the 335 shape, I have the same issues with mine. I'm thinking about drilling a hole and adding a strap button on the upper horn so the guitar will hang better with a strap, I don't like having the strap button on the back of the heel.

[John_H]

This really doesn't fit in this Stellar/Agile context, but I ordered one of these yesterday. Epi Dot in a natural finish.

[Piaccino]

Very good guitars for the price.I was compare two whit the original LP.I was surprised of the guitar tone of Stellar les Paul copy.

[galibier_numero_un]

So, I've been messing around with getting this guitar to fit me. I don't think the idea of putting a strap button on the upper horn will work. I've been simulating it and I think it will make the guitar feel more neck heavy.

I think I'm coming to grips with the fact that some guitars just fit your body and playing style (strap length) better than others. If I went on a 3 month pizza binge and gained maybe 30 pounds, it might not poke me in the ribs

Alternatively, I could play with the guitar a bit lower, but that would mandate a change in my already terrible technique.

It may well be that I'm a Strat and Tele guy (maybe Less Paul or SG? Dunno). It's a pity, because I love looking at these 335 style guitars.

Is anyone interested in buying this guitar? I hate to see an instrument go unplayed. I have both the hard case from Rondo music as well as a flight case from SKB (with TSA locks - the new variety). E-mail me from my website below (click the "contact" link), as I sometimes don't check in here all that frequently.

Cheers,
Thom

[galibier_numero_un]

So much for being an alert consumer. I didn't even realize that Rondo Music has a 30 day return policy. What an incredible operation!

After the positive experiences with both them and the workmanship on this AS-820, I just exercised my return option and will parlay the return money into a cherryburst Les Paul (AL-3100).

What a deal!

At the end of this, I'll still have an SKB hardshell case (SKB-35) I picked up for it. If anyone's interested, let me know. It's this one: http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--SKB35

Cheers,
Thom

[GonzaloCobo]

I have a Stellar hollow body electric guitar (same as http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Stellar-Merc...3286.m20.l1116)
It cost me 180 bucks without case. I change nuts and pots. Then I change pickups, put a pair of Rockfield SWV. Plus a hardcase, I invest about 130 bucks.
For $ 310 I have now a beautiful, good sounding and reliable guitar. Neck pickup have a soft and creamy sound, well suited for jazz. Bridge pickup is agressive, full of middles sound, with a tendency to saturate my all valve Traynor. From R´n Roll to garage, this axe rules.
And is a uncommon guitar, no other brand have a model equal. This guitar has a resemblace with the Gibson Les Paul Florentine model, but not is a clone: the Florentine model is semihollow. The Stellar model is hollow.
A handicap in this guitar is the sustain, the lack of mass put this guitar well behind a massive solidbody like a Gibson Les Paul. But your back will to be gratefull to you for the light weight: this guitar is a feather!
By the way, my guitar is not exactly a Stellar, is a "Starsun", same fabric, but bear that name here in Lima - Perú, where I live.
Next upgrade: a set of locking tuners!
Gonzalo