DAngelico Excel SS Soho Amaretto Burst

DAngelico Excel SS Soho Amaretto Burst review

The DAngelico Excel SS Soho Amaretto Burst is a single-cutaway hollowbody guitar with a 635 mm scale, a three-piece maple and walnut neck, and one floating mini humbucker. Its listed price is 1877. The supplied product data gives an availability date of October 2024 and item number 603428. No customer reviews are available, so this assessment is limited to the listed construction and specifications. It cannot establish how the guitar sounds, feels, or performs in use.

Body construction and finish

The guitar is described as a hollowbody with a cutaway, rather than a semi-hollowbody. The detailed specifications identify a laminated spruce top and laminated maple back and sides. One summary field lists the top as "None," which conflicts with the more specific construction description. Buyers should confirm the top material with the seller before purchasing. The available information does not explain the guitar's internal bracing or provide body dimensions.

The Amaretto Burst finish gives the instrument its named appearance, while gold-plated hardware supplies a contrasting metal finish. A five-ply body binding is specified. The pickguard is a five-ply satin Macassar ebony Scalini design. Those details define the visible trim, but the specifications do not identify the finish type or state whether the binding material differs across the body.

Neck, scale, and playing dimensions

The three-piece neck uses maple, walnut, and maple, and has a C-shaped profile. Its 635 mm scale is a compact measurement compared with many full-size electric guitar designs, though scale alone cannot predict string tension or playing comfort. The nut is 43 mm wide and made from Graph Tech TUSQ. The fingerboard is ebony, with 22 frets and split mother-of-pearl block inlays.

These measurements offer useful points of comparison for players choosing a neck, but the supplied data leaves out several practical details. It does not give the fingerboard radius, fret size, neck thickness measurements, string gauge, or factory setup. There is also no information about fret end treatment or the guitar's action. Those omissions make it difficult to judge ergonomics from specifications alone.

Pickup and controls

The listed pickup is a Kent Armstrong Jazzy Joe floating mini humbucker, positioned at the neck. A floating pickup is mounted independently of the guitar's top rather than installed in a conventional pickup route through the body. The specifications identify one pickup and two controls, volume and tone. They do not list a pickup selector, additional pickup positions, or switching options.

This is a deliberately simple signal layout on paper. The single neck pickup and direct volume and tone controls may suit players looking for a straightforward hollowbody setup. However, no output level, magnet type, wiring details, or tonal measurements are provided. Without an independent listening test, it would be misleading to make claims about warmth, clarity, feedback resistance, or suitability for a particular genre.

Hardware and included items

Grover 509 Super Rotomatic locking machine heads are specified. The locking mechanism is a concrete hardware feature, though the product details do not state the bridge model, tailpiece type, or tuning ratio. Tremolo is listed as absent. Gold-plated hardware completes the stated hardware specification, but no information is given about the finish's long-term wear.

The guitar includes a gig bag and does not include a hard case. That distinction matters for transport and storage: the supplied accessory is a bag, not a rigid case. The listing records a sales unit of one piece. Buyers comparing package contents should check whether the seller includes anything beyond the stated gig bag.

What the specifications establish

The Excel SS Soho combines a hollowbody cutaway design, laminated construction, an ebony fingerboard, a floating neck mini humbucker, and locking tuners. Its listed dimensions and hardware make it possible to compare the instrument with other guitars on paper. They do not establish build quality, acoustic volume, pickup response, tuning stability, or comfort. Those questions require a physical inspection or a reliable demonstration.

The conflicting top-material entries are the main specification issue to resolve before ordering. The detailed description says laminated spruce, while a summary field says there is no top. Confirming that point, along with the bridge specification and setup, would give a clearer picture of the instrument. Based strictly on the available data, this is a feature-focused hollowbody with a single floating pickup and a gig bag, but its real-world performance remains unverified.