D'Angelico Excel Mini DC Semi-hollowbody Review

Very pretty, playable

i recently purchased this guitar from sweetwater, and with a very short wait, got it in "viola." overall, it is a very nice, very pretty and playable guitar. it is way more guitar than my "skill" level dictates, but, hey, who lives forever: you can always die before your "deserve" something. now, i have usually replaced the pickups on guitars with seymour duncan pickups. so,… read more you will be quite surprised to hear/learn that the only thing i don't much care for on this guitar is a growl from the pickups, that is very hard to get rid of. i am very seriously considering replacing the seymour's with another set of seymour's, probably a set of sh-2 and sh-4 "hot rods," which i like very much in an ibanez am93-trs, a guitar very similar in size to the excel mini dc. the only thing really holding me back is the complexity of the circuitry in the excel mini dc because of the "push-pull" pot. the "viola" color is gorgeous. i love the size, and it is a good fit. no complaints re: the guitar & build, and quality is first rate, but the pickups are just very annoying. maybe they will get older and more mellow, like me .... failing that, it's new pickups. john jay p.s. sweetwater is good to deal with, and i really like my personal rep at sweetwater, israel hernandez. he is very helpful, and very very very patient.

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Nearly Flawless Execution meets Superior Tonality

Expectations were high when I cancelled an order for a Gibson SG Modern in lieu of ordering a never-before-played De'Angelico Excel Mini DC. I needed a light-in-weight, mix cutting guitar, something I'd heard semi-hollow-body guitars were known for due to the nature of semi-hollow construction.Absolutely no disappointments here! The finish -- except for minor fitting at the nut/neck… read more intersection (a trait I've seen on many a higher-priced guitar), and a tiny bit of un-smoothed binding on the bottom of one 'f-hole' -- is FLAWLESS!I bought this guitar on 'perceived' sound, that is, what I could hear from demos and reviews on YouTube, etc. I needed something versatile, and bright when mix-cutting was necessary. The De'Angelico delivered. Tones are clear, separate, and full-spectrum in the neck and middle positions. And, though the overall Seymour Duncan 59' tone paired with this guitar leans toward the bright side of things, there is nothing missing in bass and lower mid-range tonality.Topping the sonic prowess of this guitar is a stunning finish which includes -- as far as I can tell -- real mother-of-pearl/abalone inlays, a gorgeous ebony fretboard, beautiful fret work, great art-deco touches, and an headstock that speaks firmly of empire (pun intended) building!So glad that when my sonic needs changed mid-order, Sweetwater and Cliff Hackleman were happy to 'downgrade' my order from the Gibson SG to this stunner!

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Excellent tone and playability

This guitar fits me well. When playing seated, it's comfortable in my lap and stays put without the neck rising or falling. The neck radius fits my hand well, and I like the feel of the ebony fretboard, which is smooth and fast, but I do not care for the gloss finish on the back of the neck. The Seymour Duncan 59 humbuckers are great and I don't have any problems at all getting… read more the tones I want with both a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amp and a Boss Katana MkII 100 Artist modeling amp. In fact, it sounds amazing with my preferred setup. Fit and finish are very good, but it's a bit towards the gaudy side for my liking, especially the truss rod cover and I'm still deciding if I like the larger fretboard inlays. The switch, volume and tone controls have a good feel to them. My only real complaint is with the tuners. They look pretty, but there is free play when reversing direction and the ratio is just off. I will eventually change them out. I am a bit disappointed in that the body is laminated mahogany rather than solid pieces of mahogany, which you might expect at this price point. Overall, I'm happy with the guitar.

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