Show me your Excel keyless S12

Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 23 Jul 2022 7:41 pm

I'm still on the search for a keyless S12. The Excel looks interesting to me. Please show me yours and tell what you like or dislike about it.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 24 Jul 2022 5:38 am

Hi Johnny

Glad to see that while you are "retired" your passion still lingers.

Not quite a U-12 but I just purchased an S-10 from Excel. The transaction was very smooth and Mitsuo is responsive to emails and has enough understanding to answer whatever questions you may have.

I have had the steel for a couple of weeks and we are still bonding but up to this point I am very pleased with the guitar.

There is no cabinet drop with this instrument. It is really amazing and there is not really any need to tinker with the tuning once it is set other that a small touch up. Lever action is smooth and most of the throws are reasonable; not too long or short.

Love the weight. Very light. Have heard some people say that it moves around but if you are positioned correctly that is really at a minimum. Of course if you use the vertical with your foot on the floor you can pick up the whole guitar. One thing that I know now is that you can place a rug under the guitar, the guitar becomes much more stable.

My 2 complaints with the guitar. 1. The pedals were very light. Too light for my taste but it is an easy fix to get more resistance for them. 2. The split screws are located in a strange place and it is hard to get to them for adjustment. Other than that I really like the guitar and the tone with Mitsuo's pickup is very good.

While this is not an S-12 some of the things I mentioned would be applicable to the S-12. My suggestion would be to reach out to Greg Cutshaw who also has an entire page on his website devoted to his U-12

Here are a couple of pics of the guitar.

Warmest regards,

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 24 Jul 2022 6:23 am

Greg has the model that transforms entirely from E9 to C6, which is amazing if you prefer to think that way. I have the more conventional B6/E9 version and it is light with very stable tuning. The split screws are awkward, but need little attention like everything else. No pic on this phone - will post later. It's black, so any stock photo would do!

Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 24 Jul 2022 11:57 am

mtulbert wrote:Hi Johnny

Glad to see that while you are "retired" your passion still lingers.

Not quite a U-12 but I just purchased an S-10 from Excel. The transaction was very smooth and Mitsuo is responsive to emails and has enough understanding to answer whatever questions you may have.

I have had the steel for a couple of weeks and we are still bonding but up to this point I am very pleased with the guitar.

There is no cabinet drop with this instrument. It is really amazing and there is not really any need to tinker with the tuning once it is set other that a small touch up. Lever action is smooth and most of the throws are reasonable; not too long or short.

Love the weight. Very light. Have heard some people say that it moves around but if you are positioned correctly that is really at a minimum. Of course if you use the vertical with your foot on the floor you can pick up the whole guitar. One thing that I know now is that you can place a rug under the guitar, the guitar becomes much more stable.

My 2 complaints with the guitar. 1. The pedals were very light. Too light for my taste but it is an easy fix to get more resistance for them. 2. The split screws are located in a strange place and it is hard to get to them for adjustment. Other than that I really like the guitar and the tone with Mitsuo's pickup is very good.

While this is not an S-12 some of the things I mentioned would be applicable to the S-12. My suggestion would be to reach out to Greg Cutshaw who also has an entire page on his website devoted to his U-12

Here are a couple of pics of the guitar.

Warmest regards,

That is a beautiful guitar. Is it his latest model? I didn't see it on his web site. I retired from the
"Music Business " not from playing. I still love to play but don't care to be under any one person's thumb. I really want to promote my D13th tuning. I love my MSA but it's just too big for me to carry in my truck all the time.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 24 Jul 2022 12:37 pm

I'm sure Mitsuo would build you a D13.

My B6/E9 setup is a bit unusual but he made what I asked for without query.

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 24 Jul 2022 1:09 pm

Not exactly….but I have a S-11. 37lbs in the hard case. I put it in a tactical shotgun
padded bag and it’s under 30lbs.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 24 Jul 2022 1:25 pm

Johnny
That is the latest model that Mitsuo builds.

David Ball · Post by **David Ball** » 24 Jul 2022 4:25 pm

I've had a couple of Excel 12's, and they were both great. The only issue I had with them is how tight they are on the underside. I had a hard time making changes to the copedent, or pulls in general. My hands aren't huge, but they are too big to make any changes comfortably.

If you were to get Mitsuo to set the guitar up exactly the way you want it, you can't go wrong. They are super well engineered guitars, but the extreme flexibility they offer in setups comes at the price of room "under the hood."

As was said earlier, they're very light and vertical knee levers can lift them off the ground, but the action is very light, so it's not a big deal. Great guitars.

Dave

Lee Gauthier · Post by **Lee Gauthier** » 24 Jul 2022 10:16 pm

This is my S12 - 25-1/2" scale - currently setup with a variant of your D13 tuning.

Order process was overall smooth for me. Though, there were a few times where my emails were missed and I needed to send a followup to get a response.

The Exstar Superb II is the most recent model. Mitsuo told me the Superb II has a bigger cabinet to enhance the guitars resonance. The other superb II feature is that you tune both the open strings and pedal changes from the changer end. The nut does nothing but anchor the strings. I really like this feature. When I initially ordered Mitsuo told me he could only do the 25 1/2" scale on the superb I, but he ended up redesigning the nut so that it worked with the longer scale. It looks like he used the same new nut design on mtulbert's guitar as well. This thread has some photos of the previous design so you can see why it wouldn't work with the long scale: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... c3f134f844

My only issue with the guitar is that, being so light, I sometimes cause the guitar to move around a bit when operating the vertical knee levers.

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Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 25 Jul 2022 10:23 am

Lee Gauthier wrote:This is my S12 - 25-1/2" scale - currently setup with a variant of your D13 tuning.

Order process was overall smooth for me. Though, there were a few times where my emails were missed and I needed to send a followup to get a response.

The Exstar Superb II is the most recent model. Mitsuo told me the Superb II has a bigger cabinet to enhance the guitars resonance. The other superb II feature is that you tune both the open strings and pedal changes from the changer end. The nut does nothing but anchor the strings. I really like this feature. When I initially ordered Mitsuo told me he could only do the 25 1/2" scale on the superb I, but he ended up redesigning the nut so that it worked with the longer scale. It looks like he used the same new nut design on mtulbert's guitar as well. This thread has some photos of the previous design so you can see why it wouldn't work with the long scale: https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... c3f134f844

My only issue with the guitar is that, being so light, I sometimes cause the guitar to move around a bit when operating the vertical knee levers.

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Lee, that's beautiful. Craftsmanship looks great too. Could you please tell me the length of that guitar with the long scale please?

Lee Gauthier · Post by **Lee Gauthier** » 27 Jul 2022 11:10 pm

Just measured my guitar this evening and the cabinet length is 28 and 3/16th inches.

Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 28 Jul 2022 3:17 pm

Thanks Lee.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 28 Jul 2022 5:00 pm

The scale is 24 1/4"
The lock lever is very precise in switching back and forth between E9 and C6. I recorded all 21 samples below on both tunings without re-tuning any open strings, pedals or knees over a period of two days.
String spacing is 3.37"
Pickup resistance is 21.4 kohms
The main body measures 27.5" by 8.25"
Height from the floor to the strings is 29 3/8"
Height from the floor to the back apron is 25 3/8"
Height from the floor to the bottom of the vertical knee lever is 23 3/4"
Guitar weight is 25.8 pounds (my 12 string Williams keyless weighs 26.9 pounds)
Case weight is 12.1 pounds! (the Williams case weighed 31.1 pounds)
The guitar and the case combined total weight is a minimal 37.9 pounds

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%2012%2 ... yless.html

Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 8 Aug 2022 5:49 pm

Can someone send me Mitsuo's email address please? The one I used on the website must not be a good one. I tried it three weeks ago with no response.
Thanks.

mtulbert · Post by **mtulbert** » 8 Aug 2022 7:07 pm

Johnny,

The email address I used is this
info@fuzzypsg.com

There is a contact form on his website. I think you used this without success. https://fuzzypsg.com/int/contact.html

Hope this helps.

regards,

Mark T.

Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 9 Aug 2022 12:44 pm

Thanks Mark.

Steve Mueller · Post by **Steve Mueller** » 9 Aug 2022 6:57 pm

Greg,
I'd love to get one of those Excel cases for my new S12 Williams but can't seem to figure out how to contact the case manufacturer.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 9 Aug 2022 7:03 pm

No idea who makes the case but the low case weight is due in part to the small size of the guitar. A Williams case would have to be much larger.

Larry Baker · Post by **Larry Baker** » 10 Aug 2022 11:29 am

Johnnie, Bill Stafford in Gulfport, Miss. has a close
relations with Excel guitars.

Dwight Lewis · Post by **Dwight Lewis** » 10 Aug 2022 2:39 pm

.... "where do they these wonderful toys"

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 12 Aug 2022 6:21 am

Good deal here for keyless 12 Mullen steels are so easy too change copeadent .!

Eric Long · Post by **Eric Long** » 12 Aug 2022 9:59 am

Here's my S12 extended E9. I was told this was built for Joe Wright (Thus the W), and has changed hands several times here on the forum. I love it.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 12 Aug 2022 11:00 am

Very nice, Eric. Your knee levers have such a mirrored chrome finish, they're hiding in plain sight. Took me a few minutes to find them all.
Very cool...

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 12 Aug 2022 11:07 am

I hope you get a response, Johnny.

I really wanted an Excel for my upcoming D13th but the lack of communication bothered me.

His delivery time - if it's actually what the website says it is - is the shortest of all the builders.

I'm sorry it didn't work out for me but you may get a speedier reply.

Sonny Jenkins · Post by **Sonny Jenkins** » 12 Aug 2022 4:24 pm

What is the price range of these guitars?

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Show me your Excel keyless S12

Show me your Excel keyless S12

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Excel Keyless S12