Members Edge11 Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 I got the schematics, looks highly modable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DavidMgT Posted April 21, 2012 Members Share Posted April 21, 2012 I am sure it is the same grand construction as the princeton recording amp I once owned - - it was junk. I suspect they have similar $79 DVD player quality components. Also, I made the mistake of impulse buying a Greta this week - huge mistake. The thing sounds horrible. It works better as a decoration than it does an amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edge11 Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 I am sure it is the same grand construction as the princeton recording amp I once owned - - it was junk. I suspect they have similar $79 DVD player quality components. Also, I made the mistake of impulse buying a Greta this week - huge mistake. The thing sounds horrible. It works better as a decoration than it does an amp. It's got typical pcb amp construction gut shots exist. What did you expect from the Greta's 4 inch speaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ej Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 It's got typical pcb amp construction gut shots exist. What did you expect from the Greta's 4 inch speaker you've got hands on a Excelsior schematic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 What did you expect from the Greta's 4 inch speaker +1 The Greta and the Excelsior are both Pawn Shop Series amps--that is true--but the Excelsior's 15" speaker holds much more promise than does the Greta's 4" speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyzsard Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 A FYI post, for fun.Check this out. See that meter on this old Excelsior below ?Hmm :wink:Here is an old dual chassis/15" Sano combo. 5 tubes upper chassis, 5 tubes lower chassis. Sano built Excelsior.Same deal, Accordion, Guitar, Instrument/mic inputs. Plus tremolo, reverb, bass, and treble controls.More here, including a slide show. Click replay at the end of the slide show and it will actually start pt 2.http://www.larryjohnmcnally.com/sano_amps.htmlJust thought it would be fun to see what Fender is shooting for with the Fender Excelsior. The old Sano's were high headroom and the reviews of the Fender seem to indicate it is as well.They're making 'em like they used to, sort of Anyhow, hats off to Fender for their take on an old school design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wyzsard Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 you've got hands on a Excelsior schematic? http://gretschpages.com/forum/other-amps/excelsior-schem/50439/page1/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted April 22, 2012 Members Share Posted April 22, 2012 They're making 'em like they used to, sort of Anyhow, hats off to Fender for their take on an old school design. Great post. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edge11 Posted April 23, 2012 Members Share Posted April 23, 2012 I like this.Fromhttp://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=1203 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 http://c940473.r73.cf2.rackcdn.com/969/fender-excelsior.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SGRocker30 Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 I played one yesterday, and fell in love. Probably the best $300 item available for guitarists at the moment. My buddy was kicking himself for not buying it, and I would have snagged it myself if I hadn't spent all my dough on a Jeff Tweedy SG. I told him to relax though, there's gonna be a million of these things on the used market for a song in 6 months. Then I'll by 2 and run em in stereo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 Those are surprisingly fat traces on those PCB's and it's nice to see the components are a fair size and spread out so the heat dissipates properly. And chassis mounted tube sockets. What's not to like? Well okay, the MDF baffle is a bit annoying but not a deal-breaker. And it does look like a reverb tank could be mounted sideways, like one of those vintage shots shows. Since the circuit is wired to a tone switch, it would be easy as pie replacing that with a more complex tone-stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members msteeln Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Besides a substantial speaker upgrade, what mods can tame the early and harsher breakup aspects so it'll provide a peach fuzzier, more saturated/compressed sweetness that will allow it to sing more than growl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Besides a substantial speaker upgrade, what mods can tame the early and harsher breakup aspects so it'll provide a peach fuzzier, more saturated/compressed sweetness that will allow it to sing more than growl? Changing the tone switch to a proper tone stack would be very easy. And since the preamp and power amp are already separated and connected by a cable, doing an effects loop would be a very simple mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 huge fail on these IMO. I would have bought one if stores had them. Oh well, I got a cox tweed deluxe instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 huge fail on these IMO. I would have bought one if stores had them. Oh well, I got a cox tweed deluxe instead There was a returned Excelsior listed at MF when I looked yesterday if anyone is hungry to try one. For me, I have had one on order for months, but I think I'm going to cancel it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 I found one at a shop the other day and tried it out. The trem was good. The sound was almost dead on to my Champion 600 only louder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 The sound was almost dead on to my Champion 600 only louder. For me, that wouldn't be a good thing. I (I'm not telling anyone else how to feel about this) hated the 600. I had hoped that the Excelsior's 15" speaker would mean more fidelity, but it seems that will not be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cbh5150 Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 FWIW, one of my local GCs just got one in, so they may finally be getting out there for y'all to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 For me, that wouldn't be a good thing. I (I'm not telling anyone else how to feel about this) hated the 600. I had hoped that the Excelsior's 15" speaker would mean more fidelity, but it seems that will not be the case. Trying to be diplomatic. I wasn't especially impressed. The overdriven sound was not pleasant to my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Trying to be diplomatic. I wasn't especially impressed. The overdriven sound was not pleasant to my ears. And I respect your opinion. What did you think of its clean tone(s)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 It was ok, I guess. Like I said, it was a decent fender clean. I guess I was expecting something more off the beaten path, sound wise. The three different inputs changed things very little and the bright/dark switch went from ok to "oh my god, who turned the treble to zero?" I'd take a superchamp x2 over the Excelsior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cobalt Blue Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 It was ok, I guess. Like I said, it was a decent fender clean. I guess I was expecting something more off the beaten path, sound wise. The three different inputs changed things very little and the bright/dark switch went from ok to "oh my god, who turned the treble to zero?"I'd take a superchamp x2 over the Excelsior. I think you saved me 270.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Ya never know, I only tried the one and it might have been a dog. To me, though, the sound just said "cheap." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrawnHeed Posted June 6, 2012 Members Share Posted June 6, 2012 Wow, no one has played one yet, and in the course of a few dozen posts we've gone from the anticipation of absolute sonic perfection to the inevitable realization of obvious limitations. To me, it's an amp that seems to have a great deal of potential, so I'll remain excited (with realistic expectations) until--and hopefully after--I get a chance to actually play one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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