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Topic: New Excel at ISGC? |
Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 16 Sep 2021 2:20 pm |
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Many years ago at the ISGC (St Louis), there were three young Japanese men with note pads walking around to all of the steel vendors. They were scouring the mechanics of the guitars that were upside down. They worked the knees and floors while conversing with each other and jotting down notes. I'd bet they were there with Excel and looking to make a better mouse trap. They are very innovative. Excel has come a long way since the very early Fuzzy guitars came out.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Boss 59 Fender pedal for preamp, NDR-5 Atlantic Delay & Reverb, two Quilter 201 amps, 2- 12" Eminence EPS-12C speakers, ShoBud Pedal, 1949 Epiphone D-8. Revelation preamp into a Crown XLS 1002 power amp. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 16 Sep 2021 3:41 pm
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John, the Excel is no harder to work on than any other guitar, with the proviso that everything is very neat and scaled down and you need to acquire some metric tools. The pull rods are 2.5mm dia. and everything is correspondingly finer. The predominant machine screw is 3mm. But I've tinkered with mine a fair bit without any problem.
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Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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John McClung
From:
Olympia WA, USA
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Posted 16 Sep 2021 8:32 pm
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Thanks for the perspective and encouragement, Ian! My buddy in Portland Pete Burak got a uni 12-stringer a little over a year ago, and says the main friction he has with it is the split screws, which he says are in an awkward location under the strings before they pass over the pickup (hope my memory is accurate on that). Is that true with yours, and does it make them harder to access and tweak on a gig if needed?
My main attraction is the 7 raises, 5 lowers on the changer. I routinely need 4 raises, but with 7 I can't see ever running out of raise holes!
I have a big set of Stubbie Allen Wrenches, very handy to get into those close set barrels on bell cranks for sure. Every home mechanic with steels to work on needs a set of them:
https://www.amazon.com/Eklind-17222-Metric-Standard-Double-Ball/dp/B01LHSCAVK/ref=sr_1_9
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E9 INSTRUCTION
▪️ If you want to have an ongoing discussion, please email me, don't use the Forum messaging which I detest! steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 17 Sep 2021 9:28 pm
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| As a guy who played E9 and C6 on D10s for 20 years before switching to an E9/B6 uni, I'll weigh in. Thanx to Greg Leisz for providing me such an instrument long enough to work out whether i really wanted to make the move. After 2 weeks shedding, I took it to my western swing gig and never looked back. Some of my C6 repertoire remained in the origial keys, some I transposed. It was always easy. Never did I obsess over a C6 vs B6 crises. Hats off to Mitsuo for engineering a guitar that will actually switch from E9 to C6 and the pedal changes that go with it - but it seems like going up a hog's ass for a ham sandwich. It's just not that big of a deal to retrain your brain especially since B is more related to E than C when contemplating a unified tuning. |
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J D Sauser
From:
Wellington, Florida
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Posted 18 Sep 2021 1:35 pm
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| John McClung wrote: |
Thanks for the perspective and encouragement, Ian! My buddy in Portland Pete Burak got a uni 12-stringer a little over a year ago, and says the main friction he has with it is the split screws, which he says are in an awkward location under the strings before they pass over the pickup (hope my memory is accurate on that). Is that true with yours, and does it make them harder to access and tweak on a gig if needed?
My main attraction is the 7 raises, 5 lowers on the changer. I routinely need 4 raises, but with 7 I can't see ever running out of raise holes!
I have a big set of Stubbie Allen Wrenches, very handy to get into those close set barrels on bell cranks for sure. Every home mechanic with steels to work on needs a set of them:
https://www.amazon.com/Eklind-17222-Metric-Standard-Double-Ball/dp/B01LHSCAVK/ref=sr_1_9 |
The reason they have that many pull options on the changer scissor actuators is, that the Excel also can run some short changes UNDER the cross shafts. They use them also for R-> levers to skip the inverting mechanism (which IS available).
It lightens up the rodding setup... I think I have 3 changes for 6 pulls running underneath.
I re-setup my Excel which used to belong to Carl Dixon so many times I don't remember. Very "mechanical" guitar... in a very different style (much more compact) somewhat reminiscent of the Crown and Session Sierras.
I think they are GREAT guitars.
... J-D.
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Was it JFK who said: Ask Not What TAB Can Do For You - Rather Ask Yourself "What Would B.B. King Do?"
A Little Mental Health Warning:
Tablature KILLS SKILLS.
The uses of Tablature is addictive and has been linked to reduced musical fertility.
Those who produce Tablature did never use it.
I say it humorously, but I mean it. |
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