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junkyardguy « Standing the Test of Time. »
Published on 04/23/23 at 14:29
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Advanced Users
Strange amp, straight out off the sales floor from a local music store, Excelsior sounds fine at lower volumes (< 1/2) with just about anything with an output jack. Bright switch, volume, tremolo; effective controls which shape the sound well.
It's did particularly well at producing clean tones, bone stock at moderate volumes (1/4 - 1/2) Nice in small bar venues for any genre or instrument; a jack of all trades tube amplifier hence three inputs.
(High) quality MDF cabinet, very (too) heavy with nice hardware i.e. proper tube socket orientation, steel feet, steel preamp chassis, steel power chassis w/ bx armored fly by chassis wire, & steel tube cage...Incredibly good value and a tinkerers gem needless to say.
It does need some work however, for it's more often than not, a lousy sounding amp when turned up (>1/2) or paired with certain insruments / devices
In particular, "hot" outputs. With strong input signals, it CAN "buzz" due to a major design flaw which lies in the speaker baffle. I would recommend building a proper wood cabinet AND uprgading some electronic components while you're at it, however, it can be remedied by disassembling the cabinet.
The speaker cone surround interferes with the speaker baffle cutout, which isn't entirely round. Byremoving some extra material thus creating a round cutout, this design flaw can be completely rectified!
The distortion sounds great once its speaker cone can move freely
At the end of the day, if you're up for the challenge, Excelsior has the potential to evolve from pawnshop "good enough" tube amp, into an impressively reliable workhorse which sounds an awful lot like its distant relative...a 50's Fender Tweed.
It's did particularly well at producing clean tones, bone stock at moderate volumes (1/4 - 1/2) Nice in small bar venues for any genre or instrument; a jack of all trades tube amplifier hence three inputs.
(High) quality MDF cabinet, very (too) heavy with nice hardware i.e. proper tube socket orientation, steel feet, steel preamp chassis, steel power chassis w/ bx armored fly by chassis wire, & steel tube cage...Incredibly good value and a tinkerers gem needless to say.
It does need some work however, for it's more often than not, a lousy sounding amp when turned up (>1/2) or paired with certain insruments / devices
In particular, "hot" outputs. With strong input signals, it CAN "buzz" due to a major design flaw which lies in the speaker baffle. I would recommend building a proper wood cabinet AND uprgading some electronic components while you're at it, however, it can be remedied by disassembling the cabinet.
The speaker cone surround interferes with the speaker baffle cutout, which isn't entirely round. Byremoving some extra material thus creating a round cutout, this design flaw can be completely rectified!
The distortion sounds great once its speaker cone can move freely
At the end of the day, if you're up for the challenge, Excelsior has the potential to evolve from pawnshop "good enough" tube amp, into an impressively reliable workhorse which sounds an awful lot like its distant relative...a 50's Fender Tweed.