I received it last week and have played with it a bit here and there. Very solid guitar. I immediately would put it up right next to my 2 LTD EC-1000's. The only thing that puts it under those two guitars for me, personally, is that the frets are not extra-jumbo like I'm used to. It also doesn't have the greatest upper fret access and only has 22 frets, but that's not a huge concern for me on an LP type guitar.
As discussed in the other thread, this is definitely just an AL-3100, NOT an MCC as GC had it listed... Although they'll also spelled it Algie, which is likely why no one else snagged it before I did. It came with a hard Gator LP case, shipped for $300, and I'm really happy with what I got for that price.
Someone on the other thread was wondering if the tail piece had flat or domed posts. I added a picture of them below. I'd say they're domed. I'm not sure what the significance of that is, though. The tailpiece itself has some sort of residue or the finish is wearing off, as you can see in the picture.
The back of the neck and the body seem like it's been sanded. Is that typically how AL-3100s are? I dig it.
I haven't pulled the pickups yet to see what's in the guitar, but I suspect that the bridge pickup has been upgraded since the cover is a glossy finish while the neck pickup is satin/matte. The bridge pickup sounds like a JB to me, which is in many of my other guitars. It sounds great in this guitar. The only reason I'd replace it is if I wanted to do something different for the variety's sake, but that's unlikely.
Only upgrades I'd consider doing right now is maybe swapping the neck pickup, putting in coil tapping DPDT pots, and possibly locking tuners if the tuning stability doesn't get better. The strings came super loose on the guitar so I suspect they keep going flat from that. I won't be doing that upgrade any time soon, so I'll just keep an eye on it.
Anyways, thanks for the tip, Slowhand84! I'm really digging this purchase!
.
