The Steel Guitar Forum

The Fuzzy web site is way out of date. Forum posts like this, plus reviews on my web site coupled with fast email replies from Mitsuo fill in most of the needed information gaps. It's hard to beat Mitsuo's two month delivery schedule, advanced changer capabilities, compact light design, smooth mechanics lightweight cases and price point.

I would agree that an Excel steel is very tempting, their engineering looks secnd to none. But I would not be comfortable paying a deposit to an octagenarian one-man builder more than 10,000 miles away. I wouldn't hesitate to buy an existing second hand Excel, though, if I needed one more PSG (which I really don't).

Mitsuo has an impeccable track record on honesty, delivery, and quality that rivals any builder in the steel industry. I've had 3 transactions with him that require a deposit and all have gone smoothly.

Mitsuo is not a one man shop, he's not an octogenarian and he's much closer to you than 10,000 miles. He's a genius and any one who's a steel player and appreciates cutting edge technology should get one while they have the chance. I took delivery of an ExStar last March and it is a marvel to behold, play and hear.

memphislim wrote:Mitsuo is not a one man shop, he's not an octogenarian and he's much closer to you than 10,000 miles. He's a genius and any one who's a steel player and appreciates cutting edge technology should get one while they have the chance. I took delivery of an ExStar last March and it is a marvel to behold, play and hear.

The exact reason I took the opportunity to order a RoboStar a few weeks ago. I thank the OP who posted this, as I would have had no idea otherwise.

Mitsuo's design genius has been one of my primary inspirations/influences along my pedal steel design/building path.

His guitars and particularly this Robostar model are the best deals there are and maybe have ever been in the pedal steel market!

Heck I almost ordered one just to have some of his genius around in hopes it might rub-off!

Has anyone else received one of these? Interested in hearing your opinions! Mine is due in 6 weeks.

Where on the string is it breaking?

25.5" scale length?

I have a Superb that had that issue and I seem to recall that it was solved by experimenting with the starting point of the tuning block in relation to the nut. The farther away, or down in your case, from the nut I attached the string and then tuned, the better. That way the windings from the ball end are not so close to the roller nut.

On the other end, that's a lot of wear for a "new" guitar.

It could be the infamous "bad batch of strings" syndrome too. I have great luck with NYXL's by d'addario. Almost never break a string across a wide variety of guitars, keyed and keyless.

Thanks for your post Mike.

The keyless tuner on your Robostar does NOT look as impressive as the one on the earlier guitars posted on here. The finger wear from the strings looks pretty awful and not representative of the two Excel's I've owned in the past. I hope and believe Mitsuo will make this right and that my guitar has the needed improvements to avoid these problems!

I am surprised by the posts..I have had 5 Excels (2 left). And the only issue I’ve had with the 3rd string (.012) breaking was with Live Steel ..Before that COBRA coils , no breakage, and the last years NYXLs..never a breakage.. I hope you get it figured out..These are great guitars.. Larry

Hey Mike, I'm the proud owner of one of Larry's previous Excels and I too can vouch for the NYXL strings on that scale guitar with the same keyless head style that seems to be on your guitar. It does look like there is an unnatural groove on the top of the changer on the Robostar that would seem to easily catch any string you put on there. I have not broken a string on mine since I've had it and you would think that some of them would commit suicide rather than submit to the torture I've been giving them Anyway, I'm sure they will figure it all out with you. Mitsuo was very helpful to me (as well as Larry!) with some of the questions I had and I wasn't even his original customer. Good Luck-

Sorry to hear you're having these issues Mike - my experience has been quite positive overall. I love the blue mica on your guitar

The only small issue I had was noticing a few minor squeaks that I didn't expect in a brand new guitar where I suppose things may have been under-lubricated at the factory but a drop of oil here and there has sorted those out 100% (one bellcrank at the point where the pull rod connects, one pedal, and one cross shaft each got a drop of 3 in 1).

And now I think about it there's a bit of a 'dead' spot in the volume pot that I should mention to Mitsuo so I can get a replacement pot.

Other than that it plays really nice and sounds great - looking forward to hearing how all this gets resolved.

Best,
Stew

Mitsuo has responded to me regarding the keyless tuner changes. He states that the tuner unit itself has not changed but he found a way to mount it under the guitar and make the tuning accessible from the top instead of the side.

Make sure there are no sharp edges at the spot I've indicated in the string hole. That will cut a string.

Also, the more you run the tuner down, the more that edge gets into the string. That's why it breaks 3rd strings, because that string requires a lot of stretching, you HAVE to run that tuner down more than others.

Take a small round file and break the edge where I've shown.
Also, pre stretching problem strings lessens the distance you have to run the tuner down. That keeps that angle in an acceptable range.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with suggestions and helpful ideas.

The decision has been made to ship this guitar to Mitsuo's friend in Mississippi. It could not be shipped back to Mitsuo in Japan, as Japan would charge basically a 50% tariff on it and obviously that wouldn't work out.

Mitsuo's friend will mail a check to me covering my cost and expenses, and work the financial details out between them.

As some folks may know, I have a small repair/buy/sell steel guitar shop in Ohio, and see lots of steel guitars. As I approach 6o years young at the end of the year, I thought the Robostar would be the perfect lightweight guitar to start the next decade of playing gigs with. (When the C6th neck isn't need).

When it arrived and it wasn't "plug and play" I was disappointed as I was hoping for a guitar I could just enjoy. I didn't want to fix it before I could play it, as most guitars I receive are. So long story short the experience made me decide to pass on this guitar, as the logistics of it getting repaired correctly just took the spark and excitement out it for me.

Mitsuo has been very fair to deal with, and I can tell all he does is for the love of pedal steel guitars.

Keep on Pickin'

Mike D

Excel might be excellent. The guitars might be fantastic. But after listening to some nightmare stories from steelers I respect, I would never buy one. I won't go into details in a public forum obviously. But my personal opinion: buy american.

I would not disparage Fuzzy Steel Guitars because they're made in Japan - a country which is known worldwide for top engineering and manufacturing.

Did we all forget about Ron Lashley Jr. and his business model? Take money and NEVER deliver - all while jerking you off for years?

How about Chevrolet? American garbage.

Whatever the reason for the inconsistencies, it's not because they're made in Japan.

I would not be surprised if you could send that guitar to Excel's stateside rep (Steve Sanford - hellova guy) to be put into perfect shape - I bet Mitsuo would even kick back the shipping to do that. Mitsuo ALWAYS makes it right.

Sounds like the decision has been made - which is all good too. Mike D is entitled to be happy with his (large) purchase. Very valid just to move on.

Cheers!

It's too bad Scotty isn't with us anymore.
I was rebuilding an Excel some years ago and Scotty was my mediator.
I needed a couple of new fretboards and I ordered them through Scotty.
I thought I knew the scale length but the Excel fretboards were in metric so different from what I was used to.
Erv

Steve Sanford is now the go to guy for Excel matters. He helped me a lot with m recent ExStar purchase and is a standup guy.

I would love to have one of Mitsuo's Exstar S12s. Greg Cutshaw has a really nice one with my D13th tuning on it.