D'Angelico Excel Mini DC - Vintage Natural with Stopbar Tailpiece Review

D'Angelico Excel Mini DC: THE semi-hollow to complete any guitarist's collection

I've always been partial to semi-hollow guitars and was looking to replace my Epiphone Lucille, which I loved, with something lighter. At 65 and with back issues weight is a key factor for me when standing with a guitar for the duration of a gig or rehearsal. at 7 pounds 1 ounce the D'Angelico is about 2 lbs. lighter than the Lucille. It also has one of the most comfortable necks… read more of all the guitars I've ever played. With the natural finish I chose, this guitar has look reminiscent of a vintage instrument of years past. On to the sound: sporting two humbuckers and a volume, tone and coil tap (built into the volume knob) for each pickup, the guitar suits and genre you can throw at it. At a band rehearsal last night we covered everything from 50's to country, Beatles, T. Rex and more with me on this guitar. My bandmates were more than happy with the tones I was pulling out of this thing! And I wasn't wincing under the weight of the guitar. Kudos to D'Angelico for producing such a fine instrument and thanks as always to Tim Holsinger at Sweetwater for his speedy and always-top-notch service.

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Wonderful guitar..

Got this recently after looking for a smaller body 335 style. Chose this one after playing 3 or 4 others including a smaller bodied Gibson. I found this to one be head and shoulders above the others. Love the coil tapping ability as it greatly adds to its versatility. Quality build, plays like butter and nice and lightweight. Beautiful as well. This ones a keeper. Does all the musical… read more genres I play just fine.. Thanks to my man Greg Baum for finding me this one...

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Best investment I have made in a guitar

I'm a professional composer, songwriter, producer, session guitar player, and play in 2 bands. I have guitars by PRS, Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Fender. I absolutely never write reviews. This guitar is the best thing I have ever bought. Every thing about this is amazing. The legendary history of the brand, the quality of the build, The smaller size of the body, the choice of pickups… read more and hardware, coil splitting, the choices of wood and finish, the craftsmanship and presentation, the details everywhere, the price, the sound, all of it. Sweetwater gave me the best deal ever shoutout Aaron Reginald. I have played Gibson ES 335 and many other guitars of the same quality details and the price is 2500-4000 dollars. I will be able to use this guitar professionally in the studio and stage, and my kids will learn to play on it. This will be hanging in my studio when I'm old still looking incredible and sounding great. All around class. This company and this deal and these people are the best experience I have had buying an instrument. But these before this company prices goes up because they will not keep these this price forever. There is not way. All my love to D'Angelico and sweetwater.

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A beautiful guitar

The fit/finish/detail is flawless. Descended from their jazz archtops, this guitar can provide those same tonalities, and with the coil taps it can quack like a strat/tele. I have a 335 dot reissue with 57 classics, and a PRS Hollowbody 2, and the DC Mini fits right between those two. The PRS I use for C-jazz, the 335 for blues, and when I need to get over into a jazzier mood or… read more if I need to bounce from one mood to another, the D'Angelico is what I use. I had a small semi hollow on my wish list for a couple of years, almost bought a ES356 that I think was a short run from Gibson Custom that was around for a year or two, 57 Classics on those if I remember correctly, but that was a 5000.00 guitar. For less than a third of that, this DC mini a real bargain, more so thanks to a nice deal from Chris. Mine is Vintage Natural, and the tonal range offers several moods that my other semi's just don't get to. A really beautifully built guitar with a big personality, it covers things that my other beauties don't cover. The SD 59's are so different from 57 Classics and 58-15's/piezo, really makes for a nice trio of semi hollows, they each do a different breed of perfection. For the price, this one plays above it's weight. I have found no flaws whatsoever in this guitar, seems like a beautiful bargain, a really good deal . . .

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