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I know, it's not the original, of course. But I had about an hour in our local guitar shop (Wilcutt's Guitar in Lexington, Kentucky) today with this guitar and a Princeton Reverb, no interruptions and no competition with strats playing over-driven pentatonic riffs. The guitar was fresh out of the shipping case and tuned, not set up or really prepped in any way other than tuned.
I was impressed, to say the least. This $1200 +/- instrument is a wonderful guitar for anyone looking for a good 17"x 3" floating-pickup guitar. I think it's a laminate, but it fit and finish were stunning, to say the least, especially given it's a factory-made import. The tone was amazingly even and full, especially given that probably the floating pickup was the WDMusic Kent Armstrong "licensed" model. High notes were nice and fat, not piercing like the screwdriver in the ear.
No doubt, the amp was being very kind to the guitar too, but still I've found guitars I just couldn't dial in regardless of the amp. This guitar just woke up sounding wonderful.
I have Peerless Monarch, which I utterly adore, but this D'A is certainly in the same league. The Peerless has I think a better pickup, and I like the wood pick guard (D'A is not wood). But the D'A EXL-1 was fun to play, sounded great, looked great, and I think will become a very popular choice for folks who want more than the Epiphone Joe Pass or 175 copy (also very nice guitars) but who can't spring for the higher-end.
Especially with a good basic set-up this guitar could be a great choice.Last edited by lawson-stone; 01-19-2016 at 11:15 PM.
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01-19-2016 04:15 PM
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I kinda' thought that this guitar was Peerless made.
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LawsonStone,
Johnny Smith plays a pentatonic run in Round Midnight that Eddie VanHalen would struggle with.. Well maybe not, but you know what I'm saying..
JD
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I think the Epiphone Emperor Regents were Peerless made. Not sure about the replica D'A's.
Originally Posted by jazz.fred
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My D'Angelico (EXS-1DH) guitars just say "Hand crafted in Incheon" and it seems as if a lot of factories are there.
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Same as my experience. So I bought it and am enjoying it. Played many a more expensive archtop from other makers that didn't have the vibe.
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There's an overall similarity in the look and feel of D'A and Peerless, but Peerless nearly (?) always uses spliced necks, and D'A doesn't. Also, at some point I saw a video of the D'A factory, and it was surprisingly small, so I'm guessing D'A <> Peerless. Originally Posted by Joe DeNisco
John
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what is a spliced neck? Originally Posted by John A.
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A neck where the headstock and the rest of the neck are separate pieces glued together, like this: Originally Posted by JazzNote
Some people also call it a scarf joint. It's fairly common on Asian-made guitars.
John
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I'm not sure this is accurate. I have a Peerless Monarch and I'm not sure it has the scarf joint up by the headstock. At least I've not noticed it. I will look at it more closely when I get home. I've also got an Epiphone Broadway that again if it has the spliced neck I've not noticed it. Many of the Japanese, Korean and even Chinese guitars are manifesting higher levels of workmanship than we've been accustomed to seeing. Originally Posted by John A.
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It's not evidence of poor workmanship. It allows for a neck to be made from smaller pieces of wood, and hence is less expensive, but the end result is actually stronger than a single-piece neck (there are a bazillion threads on this subject here). Google "peerless scarf neck" and you'll see tons of references to them having scarf joints, but if yours doesn't that does undercut my guess that Peerless doesn't make D'Angelico. Originally Posted by lawson-stone
John
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thanks for the explanation. I'll have to check into that. My Epiphone neck is stained solid black so I can't find out if it uses the scarf joint or not. When I get home I'll have a look at my Peerless and Loar to see what they have. Originally Posted by John A.
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Some people have a big dislike of the scarf joint but there is nothing wrong with it IMHO and for a mahogany neck, in particular, results in a neck less likely to break at the headstock. One of the best sounding guitars I own, my Rick Turner RN-6, has a scarf joint. I would not avid buying a guitar I otherwise wanted just because it had a neck constructed this way.
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as a lifelong woodworker and luthier I will say a glue joint is stronger than the wood itself,but as for it making a better neck, not true it, will just break on either side not on the joint
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I've had two necks that broke right on the scarf join. (One of them was a new guitar that broke during shipment to me, so it was duly replaced. The other, alas, was long out of warranty.) To me a scarf joint is a sign of cost cutting. I would expect as much on an affordable guitar. I would not accept it on an expensive guitar.
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I just had a look at my Peerless Monarch and yes, it has the scarf joint. I had not noticed, because the wood is so well matched and finished, you really have to look closely to see it. On the other hand, my Loar LH650 clearly has a one-piece neck.
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if it broke on the joint the glue was bad or starved from the joint.
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Jointed necks are very divisive for sure. Many do not know they have one because makers like to use a dark "sunburst" at the heel and neck joint to cover them (usually there are two) up. As was recently noted in this forum Gibson released a pretty high end guitar with a jointed neck and it caused a fusillade of comments, mostly negative.
Until now none of the D'Angelico models have had one.
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I think this probably speaks to there being multiple factors at play in headstock breaks. With Gibbies (and others that copy aspects of their design), it's a one piece neck (causing grain run-out) + a sharp headstock angle + removal of a lot of material because of the truss rod design + (in some eras/models) a skinny neck/narror nut. Keep all of the other factors while substituting a spliced for a one piece neck doesn't still makes for a weaker design than, say, a Martin or Fender neck. Originally Posted by Ghostofachance
FWIW, I had a Samick with a spliced neck for many years, and I never had any issues with it, other than the issues I have with all my guitars because of the steam radiators in my apartment. Anyway, I didn't mean to reignite the scarf-wars. I was only noting that Peerless guitars have them and D'Angelicos don't.
John
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The $2400 Cremona has the scarf joint too. Nothing wrong with a scarf joint. The guitar stays in tune like no other. One of the benefits of buying used Cremona's, quality archtops for less...
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Hi all - I received one of the D'Angelico EXL-1 models today via UPS, and after a few minutes, I discovered that the headstock binding was cracked below the nut in two places on both sides of the headstock, along with another crack a bit farther up the headstock binding. All binding cracks. Talk about being bummed - this is a nice guitar, and I am very impressed with the acoustic tone/volume. Not so happy with the floating bridge - wish it had a bit more offset between the Es, but we'll see. This one's going back, but it will be a bit of time before a replacement arrives. Thinking that this might be shipping damage. There was no packing material under the headstock, and no thin foam under the bridge. And it has roundwounds - would have expected flatwounds on it, but no big deal. One more nit - the nut's gonna need a bit of work, since the strings are already pretty deep into it, and they're still kind of high as it is. We'll see what the next one brings.
Cheers!Last edited by northernbreed; 02-11-2016 at 11:56 PM.
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Wow, sorry about your damaged binding, northernbreed. Doesn't look like shipping damage, but who knows. The nut on mine is actually perfect. It seems that the nut almost always needs attention, even on higher priced guitars. These D'Angelicos definitely do not have a scarf jointed neck.
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One of my Korean D'A's has two hairline finish checks near the nut on either side of the neck. When I got it a guy in here that worked at I think Ibanez... said it was a reasonably common problem caused in shipping. IIRC he said if the git was cared for the risk is low that it will ever give a problem. Thick finishes and rough handling do not go together.
Mine has been perfect for several years and is one of my fave gits. Your problem resembles mine, it's in the finish and IMO it's nothing to worry about.
PS I think most D'As come with round wound strings.
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Winter shipping and temperature fluctuations could cause those finish checks.
I don't know if I am seeing things but the nut does not appear to be in a slot? It appears to be free-floating and possibly held in place by glue to the end of the fretboard. That is a little odd based on my own limited experience.
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Originally Posted by northernbreed
What you have there is a poorly finished nut.
It should look like this....
See how the bottom of the nut fills the slot. Yours has a gap.
The cracks look like cut marks where someone has cut the lacquer around the original nut.
The only time you do this is to replace a broken or worn original fitted nut.
The scores on the binding is poor technique.
This is either a factory second or the store tech f'upped up a basic job.
Not how a new instrument should be.
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