Excel Guitars, anyone else use them?

[chris hillman]

I love my Excel Superb! Great tone, Everything you need and in a Keyless body. Looking at the new Steels on www.fuzzypsg.com, i'd love to get a second one down the line and get one with the new changer (it can go through 3rd strings).
Am I the only one on here who plays Excel over here? Anyone got the new models? He seems to be making new flight cases that look like a suitcase now too... I think thats a good idea The new steels are pretty pricey though (£2400) before shipping, maybe i'll get a second hand one haha.
Interested to hear peoples thoughts? I guess Williams are the only real competitor in the new keyless market?

Chris

[Ken Byng]

Don't know anyone in the UK who plays one of these guitars. I have a friend in Nashville who has an endorsement with Excel - John Heinrich, who plays steel with Ronnie Milsap. He has a keyed guitar, and absolutely loves it. His guitar is pictured below.

I have heard one or two Excels in the USA, and they had quite a 'metalic' tone. They have a reputation of having great mechanicals and precision parts. Not sure that £2,400 would be classed as expensive. The top manufacturers in the USA are charging $5K -$7K for a D10 and an SD10 for about $1.5K cheaper.

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[Les Wright]

I have had my Universal since 2009. At the time I costed both the Excel and a Williams and the costs were pretty similar. Mine has all the tuning at the changer end but the latest models feature some differences. If you favour keyless BMI also offer this option and there is always Schild but the cost is higher despite being made in europe. I have never had a problem with string breakage despite the 25.5 inch scale.

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Last edited by Les Wright on Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Danny Mitchell]

I guess Williams are the only real competitor in the new keyless market?

Hi Chris,
As the very happy owner of a GFI keyless, I would recommend these guitars to anyone. Albeit from my newbie/inexperienced viewpoint. Why, even that esteemed picker, Mr William Gamble, has endorsed it's qualities on this very forum, and he is known throughout the land as a gentleman of modest taste, integrity and perspicuity
C'mon up to Gartcosh next Tuesday and show us yer Excel

[Danny Mitchell]

Wow! That's a beauty, Les.

Is that the tuning keys at the changer end? Do you need a key/wrench to fine tune? Also, like the little cubby hole for the bar etc. Very cute idea.

[Les Wright]

Danny, the tuning is done with the same key/wrench that fits the nylon tuners on the pull rods. You can't really see it but it is in the cubby hole but is black and has its own little nylon storage dock which it just pushes into to secure it. The allen key is for the string securing screws, all neat, handy and secure.

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[Danny Mitchell]

Thanks Les. Great designing. And, if I'm not mistaken, you could fit two fingers of fine malt whisky in yon cubby hole, too!

[Ken Byng]

Les Wright's Excel has the neatest keyless head of any guitar I've seen.

[Ted Nesbitt]

Over the years I have sold about 6 Excels .... 3 x SD10s, 1 x S10, and 2 x D10s Two of the SD10s were custom
built for Sarah Jory, .... Its now owned by Dave Rowland, Liverpool (Charlie Landsborough Band), and the other
one is owned by Declan O,Hare of the Jimmy Buckley Band Ireland. The other SD10 (4 x 5) went to a player in Italy.
Excel make great guitars ... superb engineering. Doug Jernigan and Norm Hamlet played Excel for years.
I reckon the "Excel Superb" is probably the best Universal on the market today.

[Malcolm]

Agree with Ken about price, that seems like a good price to me compared with a lot of guitars from the States. Never had a try at one, but if Dave Rowlands uses it then it must be good.