Selling: Douglas (by Agile) Grendel 725

I have a 7-string coming in so this one's up for grabs :-) It's about 2 months old, bag included.

• Selling: Douglas (by Agile) Grendel 725 (7-string, 25.5" scale length)
• Condition: 9/10
• Pickups: TESLA Plasma 7-1 in both positions
• Push-pull coil split (tone knob)
• Capacitor: Sprague Orange Drop
• No reservations/ No trades
• Queries/ confirmation: dark1349@hotmail.com
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station/ Sengkang mrt station (after 8.00PM)
• Price: $399 (final)

Douglas: Grendel (2)

Did the ritual to my Douglas Grendel today. A push-pull coil split switch...

Orange drop capacitor. This pic also shows you the interior appearance of the control cavity; a well-finished affair, I should say.

A pair of Tesla Plasma 7-1 humbuckers. I hear good stuff from this pair in my Schecter Omen 7 & they did well here- more definition, less mush from the 7th (B) string.

After much playing & physical scrutiny, I am giving my Grendel a quick appraisal:

The Douglas Grendel is a cheap guitar, there's no hiding that. But there's also no hiding that it was well made; from one end to the other, it's top notch. It's not a 'wanna be' guitar, it didn't draw inspiration from any particular brand name model out there so you won't feel played out by some false expectations. 

I need to remind potential buyers out there that the neck profile here is the fat & wide type, coupled with a rather flat radius (13.7"), it could be quite a challenge to some of us who are too accustomed to a 6-string. Compounding this experience would be the fact that the manufacturer employed a 'uniform neck profile', meaning- the thickness at the first fret, traveling up to the 12th, only experiences a 0.5mm difference. Please keep this in mind.

Electronics-wise, the Grendel is equipped with budget features so the pickups there are the typical 'get-by' grade, nothing fantastic. In fact, some of us might find it excessively bland across frequencies. One of the pots was extra stiff & I did away with it yesterday.

All in all, the Grendel is arguably a worthy 7-string to own. I wouldn't quite recommend this to players who are starting out with an extra string in their guitar, due to the neck profile. However, if you find skinny necks detestable, this would be a good pick. It's value for money, no doubt about that, it just need a little getting used to.

Douglas: Grendel 725

Greetings everyone, the first day of July; nothing like a fresh start :-)

The other item I acquired from Rondo music was the above 7-string guitar, a Douglas Grendel. It's nothing upper tier material- no flash. Just a simple 7-string with a reverse headstock, two humbuckers, it's even a non-whammy player. I heard good things about Agile guitars from online players & the Rondo guys are the only chaps selling them but I was skeptical with the shipment. I therefore decided to test things out by getting something fundamental for the sake of knowing how things would work out in terms of shipment (Douglas is a sister brand of Agile like Epiphone is to Gibson). The above guitar arrived 8 days after order confirmation. They were quick with the processing, once confirmed, the rest of the wait was about tracking the FedEx shipment. It could have arrived 2 days earlier but there was a hiccup at China hence the 48 additional hours of waiting.

The guitar arrived in tip-top condition & virtually faultless. It was also a lightweight unit despite having more neck material to accommodate the additional string. It's only upon handling that it succumbed to being a budget unit because all the fitting & finish would put many other more known brand name models to shame, really. The first few moments spent with this guitar was actually a physical inspection & I did a thorough end-to-end check. Verdict: IMPRESSED!

Douglas

Some of you might know the Agile brand name- value for money guitars, really. The Septor 7-string you see above is a mere USD330... (SGD421/ MYR1,063)

Recently, the manufacturer launched the Douglas range of guitars which are the more economical interpretation of their Agile models. The Grendel here is USD185 (SGD236/ MYR596). We will soon find out the Douglas QC on offer :-)