Les Paul Telecaster hybrid

It's a Les Paul. It's a Telecaster. It's both!

Above is an Agile AL-2500 TC, which is a combination of Les Paul and Telecaster designs put into one guitar...

...and it's cool.

This is a guitar that neither Fender nor Gibson could ever build, because if either of them did, the guitar community would go absolutely berserk. Both the Fender and Gibson purists would scream bloody murder if either of them "stole" designs from each other.

The AL-2500 TC is a Les Paul with its body shape made of solid mahogany, and that the neck is installed glue-in set neck style.

The AL-2500 TC is a Telecaster everywhere else. The strings mount through the body, the bridge and bridge pickup is total Telecaster, the neck is a P90 style, the knob control area is total Telecaster, and the neck is a 25.5" scale instead of a Gibson 24.75".

The only thing about the guitar that is neither Tele nor Les Paul is the fretboard radius. It's a super-flat 14".

Good guitar? Yes. Good price? Very much so.

Another guitar that "borrows" a design with no apologies...

...is the Jackson Monarkh. Yes, that is the way the model name is spelled and it is not a typo.

I've never liked the design of this guitar. Yeah, it's a good player, and there is a scoop cut in the back for very easy high-fret access. This guitar is a screamer. But I can't get past how much the headstock "argues" with the body. The body is very round and the headstock is very angular. Doesn't work. Not for me, anyway.

I actually really like the headstock design, truth be told. But just not on this guitar.

Are hybrid guitar designs a good idea?

Any hybrid guitar design is a good idea as long as it works. If the guitar does what it's supposed to do and makes for an instrument that's comfortable to play and sounds right, then it's good.

Both guitars above work. Sure, you'll draw the ire of guitar purists and snobs, but who cares? Play what you like.

Of the two above, I like the Agile better because it has single-coil pickups in it, and the headstock design agrees with the body shape a whole lot better.

Published 2018 Jun 6