New Excel 12 String D13 Keyless Pedal Steel Guitar

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 16 Jan 2023 11:10 am

I just received a new Excel 12 String D13 Keyless Pedal Steel Guitar. It features Johnny Cox's 12 string D13 tuning but with one added knee lever for experimentation. These Excel guitars offer tremendous mechanics, small size, low weight including a low weight case and rival any of the best guitars ever made IMO.

This is the newest model EXSTAR Superb II and I'll post more about the latest features of this model as I discover them or someone tells me! One update I noticed right away is that the open string tuning is accomplished entirely at the changer end. The nut end only retains the string by the string ball and then feeds the string over the string roller.

It took 68 calendar days from order to delivery.

Added 8 sound samples to my web site on 1/24/2023!

Here's a link to a mini-review on my web site:

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%20D13 ... yless.html

Eric Long · Post by **Eric Long** » 16 Jan 2023 12:45 pm

Thats gorgeous!

David Rattray · Post by **David Rattray** » 16 Jan 2023 1:18 pm

Greg that is as good or better sounding than any steel I have yet to hear ...congrats...David...

John Palumbo · Post by **John Palumbo** » 16 Jan 2023 2:09 pm

That's a Beauty, Congrats!

Richard Alderson · Post by **Richard Alderson** » 16 Jan 2023 3:55 pm

Dear Greg - Thanks for transposing D13 to E9/C6th on your copedant chart on the website. Also the price of the Excel is an incredibly good deal for a state of the art brand new pedal steel, not to mention the less than 90 days turnaround. Congratulations !

Mike Vallandigham · Post by **Mike Vallandigham** » 17 Jan 2023 9:33 am

That's a beaut Greg.

I see so many things different from my 2018 - it's a wonder Mitsuo has time to build anything with all the redevelopment he's constantly doing. He has such a drive to improve things - never resting on his laurels - and those laurels are definitely great enough to rest on - but not for Mitsuo.

That's what I love about him and his creations. I'm proud to own my Excels.

I'm convinced there are no two Excels alike - period.

Enjoy your new guitar!

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 17 Jan 2023 10:50 am

I love my EXCEL S-11…but… this MIGHT mean I need a new one!!

Bob Watson · Post by **Bob Watson** » 17 Jan 2023 2:42 pm

That's a beautiful pedal steel guitar Greg. I will be curious to hear how easy it was for you to adapt to the D13 tuning and your assessment of the pros and cons after you've played it for a while. Johnny Cox put a lot of time and effort in coming up with this tuning and it has the benefit of his exceptional musicality and years of experience behind it. I'm thinking that this tuning will be a game changer and I applaud your curiosity and willingness to move forward in its early stages.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 17 Jan 2023 5:26 pm

Thanks for all the kind replies.

After about 2 hours the frustration of adapting to new string grips and the Day setup began to melt away.

As with any new guitar there's a bit of adjusting the knee levers and getting used to a new guitar's feel.

Pedal 4 is amazing by itself and with RKL for some cool Chalker like sounds.

You can view the extra 6th string in the middle of the tuning as something to avoid or you can take the view that the standard E9th tuning has a hole in the middle of it with the missing 6th note string. Same for C6 with the added 9th note string.

For example the B string puts a 6th note in the middle of the D9th setup. That 6th note becomes a 3rd note for the 4 chord and a 9th for a 5 chord and a 5th note for the 2 chord. So more possibilities for chords and scale riffs.

I'd like to do some sound samples and tab of what I'm discovering but frankly it seems so far like most of the standard E9th and C6 stuff is there but there's also new stuff and a few tricks that I've heard Curly and Maurice use. And you can mix it all fluently into one song.

So there's D13, the Excel with 12 string E9th/C6 changeover lever and a D-10. All super capable and as usual one is a lot more limited by their ability than they are by their guitar or copedant.

This stuff is FUN!

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 17 Jan 2023 8:30 pm

Wow super nice steel congratulations.!

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 18 Jan 2023 3:41 am

Greg:

It's most impressive!!

How tricky is it, using the RKV?
I realize that it's your 'experimental' KL, but I think I'd struggle with that.

Your P4 looks good: can you think of a reason for that change NOT to go on LKV? I'm thinking of adding it to my new guitar.

More thoughts, but these are a start.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 18 Jan 2023 5:30 am

RKV is the hardest pedal to activate. That's why it's experimental and not really needed but I do use it with pedals 2 and 3.

Not everyone has the dexterity to use the RKV and not everyone can activate all 8 floor pedals with their left foot and knee inside the left knee levers. The extreme compactness of this guitar make all of this a lot easier.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 18 Jan 2023 6:15 am

I doubt that I could deal with the VP and RKV.

I understand that Bill Rudolph will position my LKs more towards the right so that reaching all seven pedals is easily achievable.

I must say that I wish I had persevered with Mitsuo. I would have had my guitar by now! This is not to demean Williams- I was fully aware of the possible wait and I'm sure I'll be happy with it once it gets here.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 19 Jan 2023 8:03 pm

The Excel is so compact that only a slightly to the right location is needed for the left knees.

I use the LKV a LOT with the 6th pedal so you do need to be able to make that reach.

Having the first string raise on LKL-O has been the first no go for me. I need and you will hear and see a lot of uses for the 1st string full tone raise the the LKL-I knee lever activated at the same time. I moved the first string whole tone raise over to RKV where it's a cinch to operate and changed LKL-O to a half tone raise. Adds a bit of versatility to the tuning! Even if you don't care for the RKV it is extremely useful for trying out new changes. In my case I can now actually use the LKL-O for experimental changes.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 20 Jan 2023 7:06 am

Another thing I discovered about two of my guitars is that my seat was a few inches too low. I tried a few cushions added to my steel seat and the difference in body tension and the improvement in playing was tremendous.

The two best cushions I have found are:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014F ... UTF8&psc=1

https://thecushionlab.com/products/ergo ... at-cushion

These will not compress over time.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 20 Jan 2023 2:27 pm

New copedant as of today. Back to Emmons setup so P1/P3 swapped and LKL-I and RKR swapped, RKL-O high string changed from a full tone to a half tone raise, dropped 3rd string lower on RKV and moved it to a hole tone raise on the first string. Surprisingly, it only took about 75 minutes to do all these changes!

Changes are in yellow and click for a larger picture.

I can supply the source Excel file if you want to roll your own copedant!

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 20 Jan 2023 6:30 pm

Greg, I admire your tenacity and willing attitude to try something new and adapt. I have been using the Jeff Newman E9/B6 with a few extra pulls for many years. I even tune my lap steels to B6 instead of C6 as it's easier to remember.
Your sound samples sound wonderful.

Ross Shafer · Post by **Ross Shafer** » 21 Jan 2023 8:49 am

Awesome guitar, Mitsuo is a genius. Hugely inspirational to my own work. Sure wish I could pump 'em out as quickly as he does! Congrats on the sweet new rig Greg!

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 21 Jan 2023 9:21 am

Thanks Ross. Don't worry, I am not changing my 10 string Sierra order to a 12!

All the top manufacturers seem to have something unique to set them apart. The Excel, especially in a keyless body, has a lot of tight spaces to work on. I am waiting for Mitsuo to send me a list of the latest model changes so I can list them on my site.

The Excel changer has tremendous pitch range with a short stroke but somehow avoids the harder pull force that physics demands. Also the right knee levers accomplish pull reversal by inverting the bell cranks and then threading those pull rods into the crank instead of retaining them with a hard to reach set screw.

Len, I've had good luck with my old school Shure SM-57 in front of the amp recording. I will eventually record a song with this Excel but have been busy installing a couple of pellet stoves in my house and learning 5 string banjo. This Excel sounds identical to my other Excel guitar.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 21 Jan 2023 9:33 am

I've asked Peterson tuners what they suggest I use to tune a D-13 pedal steel. As a start it would be nice to translate the E9th settings to the key of D as a base setting. I can tune pretty good by ear but the Peterson tuners are so much more repeatable and save me a lot time in the studio.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 21 Jan 2023 11:48 am

Edited:

Johnny Cox · Post by **Johnny Cox** » 21 Jan 2023 1:04 pm

Very nice Greg.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 21 Jan 2023 6:52 pm

Here's a few sound samples from my 12 string E9/C6 Excel with changeover lever and the same pickup. Note that all the E9th and C6 sounds here can be easily played on the D-13 tuning including the C6 with chromatic strings on top. Nice thing about D-13 is that both types of sounds are played at the same fret positions.

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%2012% ... rt%201.mp3

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%2012% ... rt%202.mp3

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%2012% ... rt%203.mp3

Here's the above sounds as played on the complete song track:

https://www.gregcutshaw.com/Samples/I%2 ... %20Yet.mp3

I'll be updating my D-13 page over the next few weeks with sound samples and a complete song.

Larry Dering · Post by **Larry Dering** » 22 Jan 2023 5:32 am

Very cool tuning and tones. Nice examples Greg.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 22 Jan 2023 1:29 pm

Greg:

Are you experiencing any issues with 'sympathetic resonance' (for want of a better term) between strings 5 & 6 when your A pedal is engaged and they're both a B note?

I have a precautionary 'raise' on string 5 to negate that but it may not, after all, be necessary.

Same question for Johnny, too, if he'd be so kind.