D'angelico EXL1 help!

**withoutasound** · 05-01-2023, 09:51 AM

I've been looking for a archtop lately. The problem is, i mostly play gypsy jazz with a buddy who plays the soprano saxophone. I've been using my dreadnought Guild at it keeps up with the volume.

I found this EXL1 guitar used, would it be able to keep up when used as a acoustic? It has a floating pickup aswell. But sometimes we might play outside. Would a change of strings make it louder? Or is it better to just try and find a selmer copy? I just find them a tad boring.

**ThatRhythmMan** · 05-01-2023, 10:49 AM

There are a lot of archtops that could keep up as acoustic guitars, but the EXL-1 isn’t really intended as an acoustic guitar. It functions generally as one, but is nowhere near the class of a carved top acoustic archtop. There are even both new and vintage ones that aren’t too expensive.

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**John A.** · 05-01-2023, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by withoutasound

I've been looking for a archtop lately. The problem is, i mostly play gypsy jazz with a buddy who plays the soprano saxophone. I've been using my dreadnought Guild at it keeps up with the volume.

I found this EXL1 guitar used, would it be able to keep up when used as a acoustic? It has a floating pickup aswell. But sometimes we might play outside. Would a change of strings make it louder? Or is it better to just try and find a selmer copy? I just find them a tad boring.

The EXL1 can be fairly loud for a laminated top guitar (there's some variation from individual guitar to guitar), but It's not really an acoustic guitar. Your dread is a considerably louder. Round wounds will be a little louder and brighter than flats but probably not enough to make a big difference. Whether it would keep up depends on what you mean by that. I mean you'd hear the guitar more or less as a quiet percussion instrument if you're chunking away on rhythm, but if you want to play melody lines together or comp in a way that the harmony really cuts through, it won't keep up. Your dread would do better, a true acoustic archtop would be louder than a dread for this purpose, and a Selmer style would be loudest of all.

**mr. beaumont** · 05-01-2023, 11:13 AM

Yeah, to get the volume, you're going to need either a dedicated acoustic archtop or a SelMac style. They're a bit of a different sound, in my opinion, and in the times I've hung with the "gypsy jazz" crowd they are pretty prescriptive about what they expect, sound-wise...

While there are acoustic archtop choices that aren't ridiculously expensive, it's much easier to find a SelMac style on a budget that has "the right sound."