Excelsior Amps Current Opinions

[Milspec]

I am delivering mail in a large city 90 minutes away from my home office due to a rash of illnesses leaving them short. On the route today i met a guy having a garage sale and in the back was a Fender Excelsior amplifier.

It is the brown tolex and belonged to his teen kid who gave up on lessons 3 months after starting out. It didn't have a scratch on it and likely very little mileage. I didn't have time to stop and test it out, but I did get his number in case I decided to return tomorrow and make him an offer.

Now I need another amp like I need a second row of teeth, but he was thinking $250 when i last left him so it is tempting. I always liked the looks of them and reviews seem solid enough, but this one is all stock without any of the cool mods that seem to be commonly applied.

More of a gimmick amp, or is there really something there worth owning?

 

[blowtorch]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I'd say it leans somewhat more towards "gimmick"

Mine sits mostly unused. about twice a year I fire it up for 10-15 minutes, and go "oh, yeah, that's right, I have way better sounding stuff"

I think Mike Campbell likes em, so there's that

 

[RodeoTex]

I have a beautiful mint green one that sits on pegs on the wall.
Nothing wrong with it, just nothing special.

 

[CapnCrunch]

They can be made to sound pretty darn good, especially if you have speakers laying around. A good 15 like a legend or a Weber makes a world of difference. I built a cab and put a 2x10 baffle with Fanes in it. People would come up and ask what is that? It can be made to punch above its weight. There is a tone control mod out there also which would help a lot.

 

[Dacious]

I had a mod thread going on mine somewhere. Tone control, intensity and footswitch jack.

1950s alnico jukebox Jensen. Great amp, the cabinet is actually sturdy and the transformers and PCB are both meaty and changes are easy. Some cheap fittings but chassis mounted tube sockets.

Nice swampy trem. I swapped some preamp components for 6G2 values and added a grid blocker, and it was a big gronky, tweedy amp. Really tempted to build a smaller lighter cab for it. Someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it.

Bit like a Tweed Tremolux.

 

[W.L.Weller]

I think 15" speakers are underrated for guitar, and I think at least some of the Excelsiors came with the Eminence Legend 1518.

But I only have that speaker, not the amp, so that's the extent of my "useful" opinion.

 

[CapnCrunch]

I had a mod thread going on mine somewhere. Tone control, intensity and footswitch jack.

1950s alnico jukebox Jensen. Great amp, the cabinet is actually sturdy and the transformers and PCB are both meaty and changes are easy. Some cheap fittings but chassis mounted tube sockets.

Nice swampy trem. I swapped some preamp components for 6G2 values and added a grid blocker, and it was a big gronky, tweedy amp. Really tempted to build a smaller lighter cab for it. Someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it.

Bit like a Tweed Tremolux.

I followed the mods in Dacious' thread as well. Stock, it is kind of rude and brash, maybe like some early Supro's. With the mods to 6g2 pre amp values it is much more like a late tweed or early brown Fender. It has its own thing going on. It is pretty damn good amp with darkish British voiced Fane 10's, I can tell you that.

 

[Dacious]

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/excelsior-reduced-preamp-bias.775641/#post-7972991

Here's my mod thread.

I used the amp at practices and a few gigs - it cut great.

Someone liked it and offered me $100 more than I had into it....

 

[Strato50]

Might be the best amp I own. Got to get them in a good cab with a good speaker. And some JJs. Mine kills at at gigs.

 

[MuddyWolf]

I was into excelsiors and still have mine. But I got into the monoprice 15w because they fit my gigs, or did back when gigs were legal, and the excels have been sitting. I'll get back around to them .

 

[missfortune]

I’ve played over 200 gigs during the past five years, and recorded four albums with mine.
I picked up a second one for backup, but have never needed it. Reliable. Sounds great for what I do.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

The original version in brown tolex that you're looking at is a honky, raspy thing, which you might like or not. This represents it well:


Mine's the Excelsior Pro, with the Eminence 1518 already in it. Got it new five years ago, I think.

The Pro is a much cleaner, more Fendery sound than the original version. Like a big, early Brown/6G2 sound, as others have noted. I think it's great. Once you get that 1518 broken in, it can do subtle and sweet very well. And it can really, really roar when you want it to. Big, chewy cleans. But breaking in that 1518 did take some time.

It takes pedals very well, and the JJ's I put in sweetened it further. Aside from some rattles fixed just by tightening everything down, its guts are stock, though I'm rehousing it in a '50s TV cabinet, mostly just for the old school fun of it. It's been completely reliable. We've used it for harmonica and even vocals. A simple trick is to put the Dark/Bright switch in the middle.

Really touch-sensitive, as you can see in this very good review, from 0:11-1:18 and again at 3:18-3:52.


Put a good 15" speaker in it and you've got a mule that can whisper poetry while hefting the hot sauce barrels....

 

[CapnCrunch]

The original version in brown tolex that you're looking at is a honky, raspy thing, which you might like or not. This represents it well:


Mine's the Excelsior Pro, with the Eminence 1518 already in it. Got it new five years ago, I think.

The Pro is a much cleaner, more Fendery sound than the original version. Like a big, early Brown/6G2 sound, as others have noted. I think it's great. Once you get that 1518 broken in, it can do subtle and sweet very well. And it can really, really roar when you want it to. Big, chewy cleans. But breaking in that 1518 did take some time.

It takes pedals very well, and the JJ's I put in sweetened it further. Aside from some rattles fixed just by tightening everything down, its guts are stock, though I'm rehousing it in a '50s TV cabinet, mostly just for the old school fun of it. It's been completely reliable. We've used it for harmonica and even vocals. A simple trick is to put the Dark/Bright switch in the middle.

Really touch-sensitive, as you can see in this very good review, from 0:11-1:18 and again at 3:18-3:52.


Put a good 15" speaker in it and you've got a mule that can whisper poetry while hefting the hot sauce barrels....

To the OP and any interested, the vids posted here do a very good job at demonstrating the character of this amp (as much as you can on YouTube). They also give a pretty good demonstration of how much speaker choice effects this amp.

You can see that the original speaker in the brown amp, which is not the upgraded Eminence Legend 15 that is in the green Pro amp, has its own voice. It is more focused, and generally has less low end. With better speakers the bright position on the tone switch is not noticeably as bright. With the brown amp, I never run it on bright. I always run it on dark. When I rehoused it and tried other speakers, I sometimes switched it to bright, but usually ran it on dark. Anyway, Mr. Lerch got it right, it does remind me a little of an old Gibson amp. Stock, there is not much Fender in there.

I personally used it in place of an AC15. It is harmonically more interesting to my ear, but cuts equally as well in a band setting. With a boost and/or some drive, it reminds me of some early Jimmy Page/Zeppelin tones especially with a Tele.

 

[CapnCrunch]

I am delivering mail in a large city 90 minutes away from my home office due to a rash of illnesses leaving them short. On the route today i met a guy having a garage sale and in the back was a Fender Excelsior amplifier.

It is the brown tolex and belonged to his teen kid who gave up on lessons 3 months after starting out. It didn't have a scratch on it and likely very little mileage. I didn't have time to stop and test it out, but I did get his number in case I decided to return tomorrow and make him an offer.

Now I need another amp like I need a second row of teeth, but he was thinking $250 when i last left him so it is tempting. I always liked the looks of them and reviews seem solid enough, but this one is all stock without any of the cool mods that seem to be commonly applied.

More of a gimmick amp, or is there really something there worth owning?

One last thought. I don't think $250 is too much for one these in mint condition, however, I would try to convince the seller that $200 is a fairer price, because everyone replaces the speaker. That way you can still be under $300 after you put in a Eminence Legend or a Weber 15. I got mine off Craigslist for $160, in mint, basically un-played condition, but I think I got a pretty great deal.

For around $200, there is a lot of bang for the buck. For instance, I have a Vox AC4 that cost more, and is not even close to being a real amp like the Excelsior is.

 

[Strato50]

I run mine with Vintage 30. In a pine cab. Closed back. It will hang with any amp out there live. I never turn the volume past 2. I found a JAN 5751 in V1 sounds really good.

 

[Milspec]

I appreciate all the replies, it was very educational. I did stop by that house today, but the amp was sold off. I might keep an eye out for another.

 

[W.L.Weller]

If you want my sincere, uninformed opinion, you'd be OK getting an Eminence 1518 in an open-backed cab to use with your 6G2 head.

Unless you already have a 1x15, in which case, disregard...

 

[Dacious]

I really liked the Excelsior and keep my eyes peeled for another cheap.

They're just cheesy enough, but just real enough to love. And lots of modability. But tough too - I was planning a fixed bias mod.

 

[Fearnot]

I remember wanting one, but I already had (have) an old Standel with 6V6s and an Emi 15". Fun amp.

 

[Mike Eskimo]

I for one prefer the original cheap speaker.

Really broken-in.

My buddy has one - all stock with the cheap Chinese light bulb tubes. He played analog synths and circuit-bent noise makers through it for about 4 years - and it Now sounds waaaay better than the Excelsior I had with the Eminence 15”.

$200 is good for one. $175 is even better. Then do the tone pot mod.