Aggie the Agile AL2000

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Some of you may be familiar with Aggie, my Agile AL2000 (adopted stray from e.S.G.) cherry burst with P-90s. I just finished doing a few mods on her that have made her somewhat unique. I started off by adding an active preamp with a 3 band EQ.

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Now the four controls that were V/V/T/T are now gain, treble, mid and bass controls. I like this ability to control the the band EQ, however this limited my ability to blend the neck and bridge pups with their separate volume controls. To rectify this I replaced the standard toggle switch with a blender pot often used on bass guitars.

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There is a center detent where both pups meet at 100% volume. Turn the knob clockwise and it start backing off of the bridge volume. Start again at the center detent and roll the knob counter clockwise and it start cutting the volume back on the neck pup.

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I also swapped out the stock Agile ceramic pups with a brand spanking new Tyson Tone Lab 57 Wraptail Pickup Set.

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While I had the jack out I decided to replace the plastic factory jack plate with a shiny new chrome Gibson jack plate.


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Finished all off with a new set of D'Addario 10-46s, adjusted the pup heights and got her all tuned up, but could not play long or loud as we have a guest spending the weekend with us and she is already asleep. I did get to play a few notes on the Mustang 1 at low volume, but tomorrow is a holiday and I've got a Silkyn just begging to let Aggie scream through some tubes!

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Nice work!
Questions

How do you like the Tysons?

How doesnthe blender pot differ feom a normal 500K other then the detent? Is it like a linear pot? I never saw the designation "MN" on a pot before.

What holiday is it tomorrow? I could use one. I know MLK day is Monday.
 
Ahhh ... Tyson Wraptails. Best P90 ever for me.

Two observations.

1 - I don't understand the need for the blender. I can't blend both pups on my LP Special 1, but I can adjust the height of the neck pup, so middle position is sweet with a honking tone. So if you want to switch pups, yo have to roll the knob 300° ?

2 - The monstrous metal knob makes the whole thing look like an afterthought. I'd use one of those, if you don't go back to a toggle. Red or cream would look good.

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3 - I'd be afraid the guitar catch fire with all that foam in the cavities. These pickups are hot hot hot.

EDIT: Your neck pup seem a little high, but it could be the angle of the photo.
 
Last edited:
BGood said:
Ahhh ... Tyson Wraptails. Best P90 ever for me.

Two observations.

1 - I don't understand the need for the blender. I can't blend both pups on my LP Special 1, but I can adjust the height of the neck pup, so middle position is sweet with a honking tone. So if you want to switch pups, yo have to roll the knob 300° ?

2 - The monstrous metal knob makes the whole thing look like an afterthought. I'd use one of those, if you don't go back to a toggle. Red or cream would look good.

P-FTCH-2.jpg

​
3 - I'd be afraid the guitar catch fire with all that foam in the cavities. These pickups are hot hot hot.

EDIT: Your neck pup seem a little high, but it could be the angle of the photo.
Click to expand...

1 - The reason for the addition of the blender pot is because I could. It's a lot easier to roll a switch than to adjust the height and adds a lot more variation of tone than just a switch. It use to have separate volume controls for each pup, but when I added the 3 band active EQ, i lost one of the volume controls.

2 - I had the knob laying in my spare parts pile and it does indeed look like an after thought. I have not decided what knob to replace it with yet, so there she sets. I'm not a big fan of chicken beaks, but my consider using one.

3 - That's the foam that was in it when I got it.

4 - I had not yet adjusted the pup height when those pics were taken. I just wanted to get a picture of the metal jack plate that I put on.
 
That is scary cool work Grant! Frank Zappa did similar on board preamps. End result was a fantastic guitar that only he understood. His stupid ass kid is more like a drunken monkey having sex with the wrong end of a football. Amazing guitar and I am sure you do a fine job of playing it! Thank you for showing it.
 
Not sure how I missed this project from the beginning, but I dig everything about it.
Killer progress Grant. It's got stunning good looks, it's got the bark with the Tyson's and it's got the features with the onboard preamp & blender. Bravo Sir.
 
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