Jazz Guitar Today Review: D’Angelico Excel Style B

JGT contributor Brad Jeter takes a close look at a very big sounding D’Angelico Excel Style B.

Not that I needed inspiration to start writing this review… but it’s a beautiful, late summer morning, and I am watching Joe Pass from the 1994 concert, “An Evening With Joe Pass”. I have always preferred players such as Joe, Kenny Burrell, and Johnny Smith. I gravitate to what is termed, Old School playing.

Of late, I have become aware of players embracing non-cutaway guitars. For the most part, I have seen older Gibsons (L4, L5) being used by the likes of Frank Vignola. Having never had much experience with these guitars—and honestly, no real desire—my interest has been piqued. 

The tipping point arrived recently and unexpectedly. I was watching some YouTube videos and chanced upon one presented by D’Angelico. It was a demo of the Excel Style B guitar played by Camila Meza. Imagine tires screeching and airbags going off. What just happened? Why haven’t I heard of this fantastic player (first and foremost) and why have I chosen ignorance (yes, I admit it) in regard to the magic of traditional, non-cutaway jazz boxes? 

Phone calls were made, emails exchanged and I soon had in my hands a D’Angelico Excel Style B for review.

You want the spoiler? Sure, here it is: This guitar is most definitely not going back! Period. Full stop. 

So, if there are some of you that are not simply going to take those last few sentences as reason enough, I will now expound on what gets me excited about this guitar.

When you open the case, you are immediately struck by just how beautiful it is. There are two available finishes and this particular example is called Dark Iced Tea Burst. It imparts a classic appearance without being overdone or garish. It compliments the overall aesthetic of an instrument that harkens back to the nascent era of when the guitar—specifically, the amplified guitar—was coming into prominence. John D’Angelico was refining his artistry by the late 1930s and players were paying attention. 

The guitar was still being played primarily as a rhythm instrument and unamplified. Things were beginning to change but a guitarist still expected their instrument to be able to cut it acoustically. 

This is a big-sounding guitar. With my first strums, I was a bit taken aback. Loud, yes, but with richness and a gorgeous midrange.

With further exploration, I realized how dynamic the guitar is. I can’t recall any cutaway I have played that has this type of acoustic output. Loud is one thing but somehow, the Style B maintains its character which D’Angelico aptly describes as woody and warm. Absolutely not advertising hyperbole. Whether using a pick or fingers, it maintains a balanced and full-bodied tone. Dig in a bit and it just gets “more”…no loss of character in sacrifice to volume.

How much is this attributable to no cutaway? I certainly can’t offer up a percentage but I know it is a factor. Both back and top are laminated with the former being a beautiful, book-matched, flamed maple (as well as the sides) and the latter being a tight-grained spruce. I can’t say what the thickness of the sides and back are but the top is approximately 3.5mm (thanks to the calipers I inherited from my dad). Certainly not overly thick by any measure, especially a laminate. The internal top bracing consists of two parallel front-to-back ribs. The attention to detail internally is top-notch. Again, although out of sight, the construction is of a very high quality. The attention to these details contribute greatly to tone and output. 

One other detail that I believe adds to the tone—or possibly better stated: does not impede the tone—is the relatively thin finish. Although not stated in the specifications, I believe it to be some sort of poly and I don’t have any issue with that whatsoever. The days of thick, overbearing poly finishes are thankfully, a thing of the past.

I really like the neck carve on this guitar. It is a 12” radius and a 24.5” scale. D’Angelico describes it as a C-shape and I find it very comfortable. I believe it should accommodate players of all hand sizes and shape.

The fretboard is ebony and it is a very fine piece of ebony. I am not a fan of overly polished natural wood fretboards and D’Angelico puts just enough refinement to this for comfortable finger contact when made and, adds to its visual attractiveness. The inlays are mother-of-pearl and precision placed with little or no evidence of filler. Rounding out this fine neck is a set of the classic Grover Imperial tuners.

The frets are high-quality Jascar wire and are fitted and finished to an exemplary standard. Seriously. This is world-class fretwork. The fret-ends are well dressed and polished all the way up the neck. The 20th fret-ends are as well detailed and dressed as the 1st fret-ends.

The nut is a Graphtech NuBone XL that is 1-11/16” wide and at the other end of the strings, there is a nicely finished floating ebony bridge. It is traditionally compensated and with a wound G-string, the instrument intonates well. I’ll have a bit more to say in just a bit.

The tailpiece is a bespoke D’Angelico stair-step that is both functional and attractive. I had no issue changing strings with this setup.

Speaking of strings, the Style B comes with D’Angelico Electrozinc 12-52 round wounds. Personally, I prefer flat wounds on my jazz boxes and pretty quickly changed over to 12-52 D’Addario Chromes. Again, just a personal preference. 

The DeArmond Rhythm Chief pickup really shines. I really wasn’t expecting how good it is. Plugging the guitar into an early 70s Princeton Reverb was a revelation. Not only did this wonderful pickup transfer all the character and nuance of the guitar but it actually enhanced it in a very natural way. Being an arch top, the tendency is to provide a subtle degree of midrange accentuation in order to be more present in a mix—a degree of cut. This comes through true to form and, there is just enough added emphasis to the low end to make this one of the best sounding, out-of-the-box, jazz guitars I have ever encountered. C’mon Brad. Aren’t you exaggerating a bit? Well, a friend plugged in his very expensive, bespoke, guitar then the D’Angelico. There followed a round of figurative head scratching on his part. His assessment came forth: The D’Agelico sounded better, no question, and at a significant fraction of the cost.

There are a couple of issues that I thought I wound mention. By no means are these defects or distractions, rather, personal preferences of mine. The threaded bridge posts were a bit proud relative to the top of the bridge by about 1.5mm or so. It is easily remedied by a guitar tech or by someone with the experience and proper tools. It took me about 15 minutes to resolve. The other issue was the nut slots on the high E and B strings. They were sitting a bit too high in their respective slots. Again, not a defect, and probably most people wouldn’t notice it but I have always set my nut action so when you depress the string at the second fret, the string just kisses the first fret. 

I love this guitar. It represents a tremendous value, especially at $1699. With this price, you also have a well-made and fitted hard shell case.

On a personal note, I have reached a point where just having guitars hanging on the wall because they are cool is no longer something I pursue or care about. I have made honest appraisals regarding which instruments offer value of being more than just eye candy and an occasional strum or two. I have paired down to essentials: guitars that I want to pick up and play on a daily basis. Few remain and I don’t go looking like I once did. This guitar not only felt right to me immediately, it had that ineffable quality of being more than just an instrument: it inspired me to play more than I had been doing for quite some time. To play with purpose and when done, putting it down with a smile on my face. This is simply the best recommendation that I can offer. If you get a chance to try one of these instruments, I can’t imagine walking away not being impressed.

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