"I, like some others here, feel compelled to comment on my experience with Rondo Music and Agile Guitars.
First - Rondo. I have nothing but good things to say about Kurt and the terrific customer service I have received in my dealings with him and the company. Responses have been prompt, and any issues have been resolved above and beyond my expectations. I would not, I will not, hesitate to place another order - in fact I plan to, very soon, which brings me to:
Second - Agile Guitars. I own and currently play a 3100 series LP style (Honey Sunburst, slim neck). The fit, finish, and features of this model compare to those of 4-5x the price. Where can you find a guitar with a flamed maple top, an ebony fretboard, REAL mother-of-pearl (that just about glows in the dark!) inlay, Grover tuning machines, Graphtec Tusq nut, NSV2 bridge, and string-saver saddles for under $500 INCLUDING the case and shipping? My friends, I scour the internet for days looking for great gear at decent prices. The Agile 3000 series is an unbelievable value. I am sorry it took me so long to find out about them. As soon as pre-order opens up again, I fully intend to order a "custom" version of the same guitar I have now. If you have always wanted a Lester, but only have an Epi pocketbook - your money is better spent with Rondo. My 3100 will shame anything Epi makes as-is, and with nothing more than a pickup swap, I truly believe that it could go toe-to-toe with any LP under $3500. You will not find a better deal. I've looked. And if you're not happy with your purchase, Kurt will take care of you. Either exchange or refund - your choice. But if you get one like I've got, you won't be asking for either. You'll be on a soapbox just like me! "

"I just wanted to let all know that Agile guitars are quite possible the best quality guitars for the money. I ordered a blemished Intrepid 9 string neck through guitar without a notion as to what the guitar would feel like, sound like, etc. I just received this beast a few days ago and I cannot put it down. The overall quality is outstanding. I've never played an 8 string (let alone a 9) and I decided what the hell, go big or go home. At first I thought "how am I gonna play this goliath" but because of the neck profile, set up, and overall feel it's been as easy as a 6 string to me. The tone is also incredible. I am a big fan of Meshuggah and I believe the cepheus pickups are modeled after their Lundgrens because I can now match my tone up to theirs almost to a tee. Just awesome. If your thinking about ordering an Agile guitar, but are afraid to buy a guitar you haven't tried.... just do it. It will be well worth it. I work for Guitar Center and I play 3 - 5 thousand dollar guitars all day. I can safely say that the quality on my 900 dollar 9 string is up there with those."

"I have bought 2 guitars and 1 bass from this site. The Douglas was not the best guitar, but it was only $99 and it was worth what I paid for.

However, the Brice 6-string bass and Agile Intrepid Pro 828 Nat MN Trem (which I paid a little more for) were above and beyond in quality. The Agile, especially, was durable (I've banged this thing up badly and it only has one ding to show for it). The Brice and Agile stay in tune very well for a non-locking neck, and the Agile has a Tremolo (albeit a non-floating trem system). The prices were great, the sound was awesome and the action is on par with guitars that typically cost twice as much.

I see a lot of people complaining about customer service. I haven't needed any, so I can't say anything there, but when communicating with the company about requests, Kurt was pretty fast in responding (in a couple hours of emailing)."

"I don't typically do this, but I felt compelled to write and let Rondo know that they once again, provided me with another great guitar. This is the 5th guitar I have ordered from them. Each guitar has been as stated and sounds much better than I had anticipated out of the box, tuned and on the go.
The tuners are strong, and the pick ups wound hot with a very rich sound.Even on the lowest costing model I ordered the first time (the SX Tele.
Two years ago I saw a dated add for a stainless dobro and I wrote and asked if they had anymore in stock. They got back to me right away and put in an order from their supplier and I had one in my hands. Their effort and quality make them a very sound value and I would recommend them and their product to anyone. "

"I can't believe the bad reviews here. A couple of things that Rondo Music is known for: Totally affordable (and playable) guitars & basses and fantastic Customer Service. I've purchased 3 basses and a guitar from Rondo Music and I have never been dissatisfied. The first bass I ever purchased had some issues, so I contacted Kurt at Rondo - they took the bass back without question and I had a perfect replacement in 2 days. Just this past week, I ordered a 6-string bass (at an incredible price) on a Thursday afternoon, and on Sat AM my new bass arrived in great condition - all for just standard shipping rate. The value of the bass far exceeds what I paid for it. I've purchased a few other parts and cases and stuff off the Rondo website, and I have never had an issue -IF I had, I know that resolution would be just a call or email away from being rectified. If you're on the fence about trying Rondo, visit TalkBass.com and search for "Rondo" - players will always give their honest reviews...especially when it comes to customer service."

"Bad customer service.....with an attitude no less......Spend your money elswhere"

"Wow, I can hardly beleive any bad reviews from Rondo. I am now on my 4th purchase from Rondo music. My first order was a for a very cheap pedal case. For what I paid, it was exactly what I paid for. I decided to try again and purchased and Agile 8 string with case. Came very quickly, the guitar was immaculate and set up correctly. I expected cheap electronics, but no, actually pretty decent. No problems, everything intact. My next two orders have gone exactly like I would expect. Fast shipping, everything in place and exactly like I would expect. No worries here. Definitely going back to buy another guitar, and with all of the selection, will be difficult to choose which one. Overall 4 stars because I only give 5 stars when a seller goes out of their way throughout the entire order process. "

"A jocker stupid sales man called Kurt Zentmaier at Rondo music should be sacked!! otherwise the Rondo Music business will collapse! This guy is unrespectful with customers and should learn some morals."

"Great guitar but one inept company when it comes to customer service. I will never buy a product again from these clowns. I ordered my son who happens to be an incredible guitarist an Agile Interceptor pro 725 after he did extensive research on 7-strings. I was his fifth guitar to add to his collection. He is very happy with the guitar quality but talk about making a mole hill out of ant hill.

His grandmother ordered him a case for it for the holidays and it never came. We called and were told that they "canceled the order". No call or email. "We decided not to ship guitar cases separately". After inquiring, I got some of the most sarcastic answers. "I was foolish not to buy them together as the site recommends". Well, first off, I am anything but a fool. Secondly, can't believe they actually said that. Thirdly, no where on the website does it recommend to buy the case at the time of the guitar purchase.

Below is the actual email sent by KURT at Rondo...

Thanks Jeffrey
Sorry I did not receive a previous email.
Yes we are not sending out cases separately currently.
We do always recommend ordering a case with the item.
It was a foolish decision not to buy one at that time I am sorry if this does not qualify as a decent answer and
understand if we
do not hear from you again in the future.

Kurt

What an idiot!!!"

"Very Impressive, had a small problem with my billing and shipping address. Rondo emailed me quickly and informed me of the problem. It was quickly corrected.. Rondo kept in touch with me via email thur the entire process. I em very happy with the service. And will happy shop with them again."

"I had a very frustrating and disappointing experience dealing with Rondo Music and honestly, I can't in good conscience recommend them. I ordered an electric guitar with a plain burl wood top. A couple of weeks later, my guitar arrived (the packing job left much to be desired and the tuning knobs seemed cheap and loose) with a sunburst paint job over the burl top. I was annoyed but took a photo of the guitar and included that in an email with a photograph of the actual guitar I'd ordered and sent it off to customer service, assuming this simple mistake they had made would be fixed promptly. I received an email actually arguing that the guitar I'd photographed was the burl top, completely missing the point that I neither ordered nor wanted a sunburst paint job over that burl--hence the inclusion of the picture of the guitar I'd actually ordered. I was told to return the guitar and that a replacement would be sent. Over a week later, UPS came to pick up the guitar and a week after that I got an email from Rondo restating that the guitar sent to me was burl so there was no issue and instead of replacing the guitar with the one I'd ordered (sans sunburst) I'd be given a refund. Again, they totally missed the point--of course it was burl, but I didn't want the sunburst. How hard is that to understand? All in all I wasted a month dealing with these guys and all I have to show for it are unprofessional and discordant emails and still no guitar. Its funny, reading other reviews, I kind of knew going into it that the guitar would be a joke, but it seemed like the one thing they had going for them was their customer service--not so, I'm afraid. Avoid these guys. You're much better off with a Squire!"

"I purchased a Douglas Hawker NAT from Kurt at Rondo Music. The quality of the guitar is way better than the 169.95 price. If given great wood and hardware, what makes a great guitar great? The craftsman and the quality of the labor start to finish. The quality of the Douglas Hawker NAT guitar can really be seen behind the scenes in places pictures don't show. Under the plastic covers there is quality router cuts and wiring. The tuners and pickups are name brand. When people say you get what you pay for that is not true here. With Rondo Music, you get much more quality for the price no matter what brand guitar you buy. All of that is followed up by the personal service you get from Kurt. Check out YouTube for SX, Douglas and Agile guitar demos and you will be floored by the quality and sound for so little cost. The Douglas cases are top of the line as well for very little cost. If you have thousands of dollars burning holes in your pockets than go blow your money on a Gibson or Fender. If I had that kind of money I would buy several guitars from Rondo and blow the rest of the cash on my wife and kids. "

"Ordered an aluminum pedal case for an excellent price. My order shipped quickly and arrived in great shape. "

"Purchased a twelve-string Les Paul clone, for under $300. I received - VERY quickly - the best < $800 guitar I've ever owned! A very helpful and responsive company. Two of my friends have purchased guitars from them, based on my experience and the quality of product."

"6/25/06 ~15:45PST

Placed order online for a Douglas WOB 826 with 3 Day Select Shipping. Immediately recieved an automated email response. I'll be updating my experience with them over the next couple of days.

6/27/07 ~14:10

Received email from fedex that my bass is in transit. I'm a little puzzled because the website says that it would be going UPS, but Fedex is just fine by me.

6/29/07 14:00ish

Received package. Was double packed per their site. Instrument was slightly out of tune, but then again it did travel across the country...

For the money, this Bass cannot be beat. When I was a semi-working musician, I couldn't purchase a BAD 4 string bass for less than $350. For $225 delivered, this 6 string bass is great. I mostly play on my own, and hope to be doing a few jam sessions here and there with friends.

I strongly recommend Rondo Music. I'll probably order from them again when it's time to purchase a fretless bass :-)

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I'll also be placing a review of the actual product on talkbass.net and harmony-central.com for those of you interested primarily in the product.

"