This from an interview with Kurt in which he answer some questions about the history of Agile guitars.
"One of my biggest problems is with delegation, so not only am I working on answering customer order emails today, doing accounting I even went up on the roof today to initiate work on a leak. So time is limited. I think the few articles linked to here already talk about the history of Rondo, at least as far as Agile goes, so I am going to skip that for now. I will address a few other specific questions here:
*In what year were the very first AL models made?
Kurt> I believe it was 1999. We only keep computer records back to through 2006. We may have the paper record, but that sounds like a project for retirement. I hand coded all the original inventory programs on an IBM 5120 back in 1979 so the digital record does exist going back that far somewhere as well.
*Were they even called “AL� in the very beginning?
Kurt> I believe the very first model was the "LP-2000" and "LP-2500" Gibson, however was not impressed by that name.
*How much did the first AL cost?
Kurt> I believe we have them at $199 with some occasional sales in the $159 to $175 range (for A stock) with b stock models in the $99 range.
*What is the specific order in which subsequent models were introduced?
Kurt>There were many models, such as the E1
http://www.rondomusic.com/e1blue.html and the EP-1
http://www.rondomusic.com/ep1acoele.html that came out after that did not sell all the well. So they were discontinued after a while. There are probably 100s of models that we introduced the past 16 years.
*How has the price of the AL changed over the years? Was there ever a point(s) at which it jumped dramatically?
Kurt> I recently saw some records of our Gibson purchases. USA made LPs and SG models in the high $300 to low $400 range. It seems like not all that long ago (mid 80s, early 90s). There are a number of factors relating to the increases which could take several pages to explain. The weaker USD, the higher cost of labor (overseas) the higher cost of oil (for freight costs), and the lack of competition (we used to have about 12 factories competitions for business in Korea, now down to just a few all contributed.
*Has the evolution of the AL line even been an “evolution�? What I mean is, has there been a discernible trend of steady improvement over the years, has the entire thing rolled out in happenstance fashion, or has it actually degenerated?
Kurt> I would like to think so - the first LP-2000 model did not offer an ebony fretboard, or Grover tuners or alnico pickups . The current models offer those improvements, plus improved bridges, tuners, dual action trus rods, graph tech nuts, and coil tapping. None of those features were available on the early models. Soon we will be introducing additional improvements (hint hint).
*In your opinion, what was the high water mark for the AL? In other words, in what year was offered the best quality guitar at the best price?
Kurt> IMO they get better every year. The highest water mark is yet to come. Yes some people like the shape of the guitar prior to the 2002/2003, before headstock and horn change. So those are some of the most highly prized and collectable models. The features and quality of todays models, as far as what's coming off the production line is unquestionably superior. Even considering the higher price.
*What are some of the rarest models of the AL that were ever offered?
Kurt>Probably some models I don't even remember. Over the years we would often get one of a kind samples which we sold out. Those are probably the rarest - quite a few acoustic models.
*When was the first full maple cap model offered?
Kurt> Possibly the 3000M -
*When were Alnico pickups first offered?
Kurt> When the AL-3000 came out.
*For bonus points, name every Agile model designation code ever offered and what features the numbers/letters stood for.
Kurt>That's like a 100 hour project so I am going to pass for now. Possibly one day we will create an archives section on the site and start building up that info."
