The ESP Guitar Company

ok... i find my MH 250NT playing really well and have nice ringin sustain and no tonal inpropertise, and its agathis

Agathis does have tonal properties or else it would not be used in guitars. For that reason, no guitars are made of oak, for example.

Agathis is a softwood, coming from a coniferous tree (spruce, pine, etc), unlike Mahogany which comes from a deciduous tree (hardwood). I am not a botanist, so I really cant say much more. Agathis is often referred to as "commercial grade mahogany" as its tonal properties closely represent those of mahogany but fall short of true mahogany. There are significant differences in the woods as well.

It tends to be a bit on the dull side as far as tone is concerned, but I don't think its awful by any means. I had an M200FM for a short time a year or two ago, it was a really nice guitar for the money, and stock it sounded pretty good. Worse comes to worse, throw EMGs in there, that'll take care of most tone issues since even a plywood guitar can sound good with a set.

I have an agathis agile and it sounds dull as hell to me. I was lucky to get it sold just recently though.

agathis guitars really arent that bad, my ec-100qm is a decent guitar, and im sure with some new pickups itd sound way better.

I have an agathis MH100 and sounded dull with the stock pickups, now with the EMG the sound has improved a lot!

My M-100 is very dull sounding unplugged, with EMG's its improved, but still can't ever dream of holding a candle to my Eclipse. Then again, I only play metal on the ol' M-100, so meh.

I bought my MH100 in 2002 when they were basswood, so I have no personal experience with agathis. But, basswood certainly has poor sustain, especially when combined with a bolt on neck.

I thought my agathis viper 200 sounded good, until I got a mahogany EC, and now I realize it sounds like shit. Although the pickups are different too, so its not a truly fair comparison. But I don't touch the viper at all anymore.

I have owned 3 agathis guitars... and conducted a couple experiments:

I took a Cort M200, and stuck some Duncan designed 102's in it, and tested the sound... even thought there was improvement, the over-all tone was still too weak and thin sounding for me...

My MH250NT sounds really good compared to say... a Schecter C-1 Elite from a tonal perspective, but still a bit thin for high gain metal type stuff.

After getting my MH400NT, I have discovered what all the fuss was over in regard to the active EMG's in mahogany bodied guitars.... I doubt I will ever go back to passives now.

Unfortunately I cannot accurately tell. Comparing a set-thru mahogany and a bolt-on basswood just doesnt work. Now, a neck-thru basswood would be a better comparison, as the neck-thru is really responsible for good sustain.

you think the fact that the agathis now comes in neck thru gives a clue?

^ i agree, some of the basswood ibbys are nothing but sex!

ibanez guitars are sex...but it's like sex with another man.

^phail