# Fender Excelsior Amps



## irahayes (Nov 25, 2013)

Just bought an Excelsior amp for my new American Standard Strat. Are these Excelsior amps any good? I thought I knew about amps but I guess I don't. 

Thanks,
David


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

What is it about the Excelsior amp that has you asking if they are any good and has you questioning whether or not you know about amps?

Cheers

Dave


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## irahayes (Nov 25, 2013)

Nothing really, I was just wondering if they were any good. I am new to guitar playing and I am buying all this gear and don't really know if what I am buying is any good.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I've been curious about the Excelsiors. It has gotten good reviews all over. You can't go wrong with a 13 watt amp with 2 6v6s and a 15 in speaker. Congrats!!


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Whether it's good depends on what you want out of it...

Did you try it out before you bought it?


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

It's a very interesting amp ,It does that 50's thing quite well .it has a saggy midrangy tone which a more efficient speaker helps with the nasally tone .
some like the stock brown excelsior others like the pro model with the eminence legend speaker.


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## TheRumRunner (Sep 29, 2011)

There is a massive thread on TDRPI regarding the Excelsior, everything (and then some) you need to know...

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-owners-clubs/322527-excelsior-lounge.html

DW


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

TheRumRunner said:


> There is a massive thread on TDRPI regarding the Excelsior, everything (and then some) you need to know..........DW


WOW!...1620 posts as of yesterday !!

The "War & Peace" of amp threads.

Cheers

Dave


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

I have one, the original that first came out..Alot of people modify this amp, The only change i want to make is the tone switch....You only have two choices,dark and bright,,,,, i want a variable tone knob. If i want to play Rockabilly i leave it the way it is, if i want more bottom in and get the heavier classic rock tones , i unhook the speaker and plug it into an extension cabinet with a a celestion G-12, it changes this amp tone completely..


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

In the process of modding one for a customer. Replaced the output tranny with a larger one, upped the power supply capacitance, JJ6V6's and replaced the shitty stock speaker although I'm still not convinced the speaker I replaced it with is the right one for the amp.....Also, a 12AY7 in the first position. So far sounds pretty good.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

I dont mind the shitty stock speaker, i did buy the upgraded speakers everybody seems to like and i heard very little difference, so i took it back out and put the shitty one back in..it


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Great idea for an amp, but maybe not as well executed as Fender should be capable. Nice visual vibe.

Honest tone. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## irahayes (Nov 25, 2013)

So its a shitty amp is the vibe I am getting...haha.

I don't mind, I will go buy another one down the road. I have never even played an electric guitar before if I enjoy it I will buy a Princeton or something. I know they are good.

Its all just toys its a barrel of fun buying stuff.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I wouldn't say it's a shitty amp. Trust me there are a lot of amps far more expensive than that Excelsior that are shitty.


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## corbo (Sep 14, 2012)

great amp for the money , dump the tubes and put good tubes in and it makes a noticeable difference, also did the bitmo mod which brought something extra out of it which i found works well with stock speaker . for the price they sell for good bang for the buck


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

irahayes said:


> So its a shitty amp is the vibe I am getting...haha.
> 
> I don't mind, I will go buy another one down the road. I have never even played an electric guitar before if I enjoy it I will buy a Princeton or something. I know they are good.
> 
> Its all just toys its a barrel of fun buying stuff.



If you like it isn't that all that counts? I wouldn't second guess a purchase because it doesn't measure up to someone else's standards.


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## hardasmum (Apr 23, 2008)

The guitar I reach for 90% of the time is stock and is a third of the price of my others. It wouldn't be other people's first choice but I like it and it inspires me. 

I've written about this before but I think about it a lot. I feel like we spend a lot of time looking for 5% better. Don't get me wrong, I am a victim of this condition as well.

I spend hours researching what the "Best" Tone Bender clone is, hunt the winner down at a fair price, play it for a few weeks and then read a thread about another clone I hadn't considered that everyone online is raving about. I think to myself, "Maybe I got the wrong one because clearly this one I don't have is the one I need."

I hunt down the new pedal. A/B it with my previous purchase and convince myself the new one is a little bit sweeter than the first one I bought. Sell the old one and then see an online demo for another Tone Bender clone. The cycle continues.

Ten years ago I bought a pedal and learned how to use it inside and out. There were no forums or YouTube demos to tempt me otherwise. 

I don't know, I'm rambling now. Point is go play your amp, enjoy it and stop questioning your decision.


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## parkhead (Aug 14, 2009)

Chito said:


> I wouldn't say it's a shitty amp. Trust me there are a lot of amps far more expensive than that Excelsior that are shitty.


well said ... Fender could have hit it out of the park on this one ... there are lots of GREAT Shitty Harmony and supro amps think Jimmy Page Communication Breakdown ...
I think if you sub in a better output transformer and a great speaker you might get there ... but heck why didn't they just copy a crappy amp they never made then
have it made in china to hit the price point 
after pulling this off they would own that end of the market too 

the fact that they introduced the first version ... then quickly discontinued it... then cranked the price $100 for the new versions speaks volumes 
I think they lost money on the first series ... and whoever designed it probably had a great amp ... and feels like he got screwed over 
for example every accordion input in an old amp is 3 to 5 meg impedance... why did they make the accordion input 470k or 47k ... 
they know better (I can't be bothered to look it up even on the interweb) ... accordion players are PISSED 

all in all its still a cool amp and one day I will buy one for $100 and fix it up RIGHT ... I am just a stoopid guitar player 
so why didn't fender with their infinite pool of knowledge do a better job 

end rant mode 

p


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## parkhead (Aug 14, 2009)

Parkheads completely biased and untested advice on how to mod an excelsior for killer tone ( I have not done this only looked at the schematic ) 

change four resistors ....

at the input 
swap 

r28 10meg change to 1meg 
r4 1 meg change to 10meg 


when you plug into the 10 meg accordion input the signal is grounded through the 100k grid stopper resistor of the guitar jack so you are really getting 10meg loaded down by 100k or a 100k impedance input because nothing is plugged into the guitar input jack and the 100k r1 is therefore grounded out 
your accordion input is now 10 meg instead or 100k ... accordions use piezo pickups like acoustic guitars 100k would sound like poo with your accordion, harmonica mic or acoustic guitar 

swapping r28 and r4 should give you a 10 meg input, a 1meg input and a 100k input (a standard guitar amp is 1 meg (to ground) and 68k (to ground) high and low inputs 
harmonica, guitar , and clean guitar .. the accordion input will still be the weakest but the guitar input will now be 10 meg the low input 1 meg and the accordion 100k 
in other words the lables are scrambled but you now have a standard hi and low guitar input and a proper accordion/ harp mic extra high impedance input 


now into the power supply 

r59 is 33k change this to 1k 
R58 is 1k change this to 33k 

the pre amp voltage stays the same but the screens now take the bulk of the voltage drop ... this is more like a harmony or supro amp where the lower voltages at the screens 
contribute to the distortion tones 

if the amp is sounding pretty good or even killer at this point 
sub the output transformer for one with a bigger core and paper interleaving (less buzzy distortion and a bigger sound stage as the hi fi guys like to say) 
sub the speaker for a know good sounding 15 

YMMV I have not tested this but these are the first two things I'd fix before I even went out and found a new speaker 
with any luck these changes would make the factory speaker and OT sound ok 


P


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

There were two at Walter's Music in London on Saturday, one was lightly used, the other new. Tempted.

Peace, Mooh.


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## sadowsky13 (Feb 26, 2007)

If you are new to electric guitar don't worry, that amp is way better than what a lot of people probably started playing electric with. I can only speak of an excelsior pro which I had. The clean was very nice especially with a strat and tele. 13 watts was cool, still a pretty loud amp and the tremolo was very nice. Basically its a cool amp for a cheap price. Really nice for 50's, R&B and country type stuff. I am not one from the school of buy a cheap amp then put all kinds of money into it to replace transformers and such to make it a better amp. the pedals I was running did not sound that great through it.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

Like i said before the only thing i would change is the tone switch...this amp needs reverb also so i use a pedal, but other then that, its a good amp, with classy vintage looks...and if you really want to get away from that fender twangy type tone and want to play heavier classic rock ,hook it up to a Celestion G12..amazing difference, it completely transforms this amp.


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## Rideski (Feb 25, 2009)

I had one for a while and it actually sounded really good but after a few hours use it developed a tube rattle so back to the store it went. In researching it I found that this tube rattle was/is quite common after some use. It had a very cool tone to it though. It kept up well in a full band situation too, therefore it's a cheap gigable amp - if you don't get the rattle.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

Rick31797 said:


> Like i said before the only thing i would change is the tone switch...this amp needs reverb also so i use a pedal, but other then that, its a good amp, with classy vintage looks...and if you really want to get away from that fender twangy type tone and want to play heavier classic rock ,hook it up to a Celestion G12..amazing difference, it completely transforms this amp.


I plugged mine into my 212 cab with WGS Reaper speakers & I was not really empressed


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

copperhead said:


> I plugged mine into my 212 cab with WGS Reaper speakers & I was not really empressed


my cabinet is a 1 x12 with a celestion G12H-100 I perfer the tone i get, alot of bottom end..


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Well after talking about this for over 2 years now, I've finally found a used one. LOL I'm picking it up this weekend. This would fit into the music (50's, 60's 70's) of this new band that I joined in. The original owner has already replaced the speaker with an Eminence Legend as well as replaced the tubes. I'll post a pic when I get it.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

I did the same as many did, replaced the speaker with the Eminence, somebody working at Eminence must have started all this..lol after a few days i put the old speaker back in, i liked it better...mine is still all original and thought about changing the dark/bright switch, and even bought the parts, but decided to just leave it alone...I actually really like running it through a 1 x12 cabt i have... its has more bottom end...


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

From what I have read, the only difference between the Excelsior and the Excelsior Pro is the Eminence Legend speaker and of course the colour of the tolex. That's an extra $100 for the Pro. I wish I could've gotten it tonight or tomorrow before rehearsal but the roads have been bad due to the freezing rain so I have to wait as it is an hour driver from where I live.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Edit.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

I bought mine hoping there would be a ton of mods created for it & thats really not the case i was disapointed there wasn't a Neil young mod or something cause it has the tweed vibe . Stock it has some usable tones for an amp the price of a boutique pedal 
great 40's /50's tone


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## purpleplexi (Nov 5, 2014)

I think it sounds great - Just crank it up to 10.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I think they sound fine when dialed in, and you can't beat the price. The only issue I have with them is the lack of versatility. The aesthetics of the entire line are a bit over the top for me, but it's not a deal breaker.


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