Old headstock AL2500 DC

[Friedl]

I just found a blue AL2500 double cut with the old headstock nearby at a good (great by today’s standards) price. I plan to go get it this morning. The page I found for these has some vague wording about ceramic magnet humbuckers having a strong magnetic field, lol. Anyone know if the pickups are ok in these or if they typically need an upgrade? Anything else typically need upgraded on earlier 2500s?

[Friedl]

OK, no one will post without pics, lol. I know, I know.
Pics from the ad:

[mickey]

Well, I didn't post cause I've never owned one. But I've seen a lot of threads where folks were upgrading everything but the body & neck.
Everything about it is cheaper than the 3xxx series. Except (I think) for the Agile standard Grover tuners. No need to upgrade those unless you want some sort of lockers?
Easy to upgrade to a Gotoh bridge, Graf-Tech (pre cut) nut.
If memory serves the standard tone cap is a .047 so that needs to go for a .022.
Also, an easy upgrade to the pots, switch, pups of your choice.
Of course, if you wish to refinish it, you might call that an upgrade

[Friedl]

Of course, if you wish to refinish it, you might call that an upgrade

Haha, IIRC, blue guitars aren’t always well regarded by some folks here. Thanks for the response, and yeah, I’ll probably replace most of those components. I’m just wondering about the pups, but I’ll know soon enough.

[mighty_duck]

There are people who replace all of those components with brand new Gibson's. It's all about taste, and what moves your ears.
There is nothing that needs immediate attention on those ad-2500's. The "string magnetic field" is verbiage in the original product pages for Agiles. Kurt was just describing what a humbucker is.
That said, I like tinkering, and none* of my Agiles are bone stock.

*ETA I take that back. I have a p-90 Harm and AS-1000 that are all original.

[uwmcscott]

Nice looking guitar - congrats! Old headstock is a bonus too.

They are probably close to the same ceramics that came in the 2xxx singlecuts, which as others have mentioned get upgraded often. Having said that i've also seen people praise them for being pretty decent all around pickups. Worst case scenario you don't like them and have a great platform to begin from.

[Friedl]

Oh yeah, I forgot that these were called AD, not AL. Definitely better in person:

The pots are toast. I could clean them, but there’s something wrong with the neck tone control. The neck pup just sounds bad. It’s like it’s low output, but still mud at the same time, which is usually one or the other. The bridge pup sounds great though. Roll the tone down and it’s all vintage-y wool. I have an uncovered zebra alnico 5 epi pickup around here somewhere; I’ll probably throw that in and do the mismatched pickup thing. Neat guitar, though. It’s not heavy - probably under 8 lbs.

[mickey]

OH! Initially, I did not realize it is an AD not an AL!
That is a rather rare bird, especially with the old headstock.
Do a few upgrades and flip it on Reverb for a nice profit!

[LightWingStudios]

I have TWO DCs. Both are stock and sound damn good depending
on what your playing.

One is a Blue Quilt and the other is Flamed Maple Red.

IMO the most underrated guitars Rondo ever sold.

[Partscaster]

Nice buy. I think I saw that recently, perhaps on reverb.
Your home pic looks even better with some good light on it and whitish background.
Nice blue color. Congrats.

[sabasgr68]

Nice grab, @Friedl ! Don´t forget to post pics after PU upgrade. Don´t tell @tobijohn about the mismatched pickups ! Was the hard case included? Enjoy it! HNGD!

[tobijohn]

I've got two of those, one with the original headstock and one with the current one as well as an AD-2000 which is the unbound flat top version. The original pickups in all of them were replaced almost immediately but not because the stocks were necessarily bad, just because that's what I do. IIRC, they were certainly serviceable and I have an original Ghost from back then with the stock ceramics that actually sound great, and I left them alone. my controls are fine but obviously, if the pots are noisy, replace them and you might as well yank the stock box toggle switch as well. The bridges and nuts on all of them were fine too...

[motowntom]

I have one and it's the best guitar I own out of 10. The bridge was replaced with a Fralin, but the neck Pu is only 8.5k and to my ears It's better than a couple "boutique" PU's I have in other guitars, I didn't like the orig. bridge PU at all, but love the stock neck PU. I replaced the bridge with a tone pros, but the orig. was fine. Love mine It will never leave.
Cheers

[Jaymo]

I've got two of those, one with the original headstock and one with the current one as well as an AD-2000 which is the unbound flat top version. The original pickups in all of them were replaced almost immediately but not because the stocks were necessarily bad, just because that's what I do. IIRC, they were certainly serviceable and I have an original Ghost from back then with the stock ceramics that actually sound great, and I left them alone. My controls are fine but obviously, if the pots are noisy, replace them and you might as well yank the stock box toggle switch as well. The bridges and nuts on all of them were fine too...

I believe I have the original pickups out of your AD-2000

[Friedl]

Nice grab, @Friedl ! Don´t forget to post pics after PU upgrade.

Thanks man. Excuse the weird pic, we’re in the middle of moving, and it’s about the best light I have. My wife reminded me that buying a guitar right before a long distance move seems like an odd choice, lol.

That’s an uncovered Probucker bridge pickup in the neck, and along with the new pots and orange drop, it sounds very nice. I thought mixing an alnico bridge pickup in the neck with a ceramic bridge pickup in the bridge might not work, but the output is at very similar levels, and they sound great together.

[tobijohn]

FWIW, the pickguard is not stock but looks good. I personally prefer the look of one and rather than go with the LP style, I had Ryan (@Floridian FX ) cut some for me (for some reason, pictures are reversed when I upload but if you click on it, it will appear properly):

[sabasgr68]

Nice grab, @Friedl ! Don´t forget to post pics after PU upgrade.

Thanks man. Excuse the weird pic, we’re in the middle of moving, and it’s about the best light I have. My wife reminded me that buying a guitar right before a long distance move seems like an odd choice, lol.
068AEFEA-F201-4344-9B52-B6E61B1BA39B.jpeg
That’s an uncovered Probucker bridge pickup in the neck, and along with the new pots and orange drop, it sounds very nice. I thought mixing an alnico bridge pickup in the neck with a ceramic bridge pickup in the bridge might not work, but the output is at very similar levels, and they sound great together.

That´s a nice guitar! Well, wives are right 99% of times, but I think that you´re 1% right in this case: better to carry the guitar with you on this long distance move than to risk the opportunity go by, waiting until you´re all settled down wherever it is you´re going. And you did even have the chance to replace the pickup and pots, and actually tested it to hear how it sounds? You´re the man, dude! (BTW, this was meant to be funny; you´ll see, I´m venezuelan, and what is a joke here I´m not always sure it´s a joke there ). But seriously, taking it with you was a wise move while on the move - pun intended -.

Interesting experiment. I´ve always wondered how a bridge pickup would sound in the neck position. It´s great you like the outcome.

Safe move, my friend!

[sabasgr68]

FWIW, the pickguard is not stock but looks good. I personally prefer the look of one and rather than go with the LP style, I had Ryan (@Floridian FX ) cut some for me (for some reason, pictures are reversed when I upload but if you click on it, it will appear properly):

I believe that´s the best pickguard design for that body shape. They just look so great! Too bad Ryan is not in the business any more...

[Jaymo]

I like that pickguard shape. Would love to see how it looks on a regular LP style guitar.

[honyock]

I like that pickguard shape. Would love to see how it looks on a regular LP style guitar.

Heritage has something close

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[uglyvw]

Nice score. I haven't had one of the dc models, but my old headstock 2500 had the stock buckers in it and they were the only thing i disliked about that guitar. They were 2 wire chrome covered ceramics I believe.