DAngelico Premier EXL1 Brown Burst

DAngelico Premier EXL1 Brown Burst review

The DAngelico Premier EXL1 Brown Burst is a single-cut hollow-body guitar with a laminated spruce top, flamed maple back and sides, and a floating mini humbucker. At a listed price of $939, it offers a focused set of jazz-oriented features, including a 648 mm scale, a C-shaped maple neck, and an ovangkol fingerboard. It ships with a gig bag, not a hard case.

The Brown Burst finish is an immediate part of its appeal. One long-time jazz guitar player described being drawn to the instrument's appearance at first sight. That same player wanted an archtop with a floating pickup, rather than another guitar fitted with a conventional humbucker. The EXL1 answers that specific brief while keeping its controls simple: one volume knob and one tone knob.

Construction and hardware

The guitar's body is fully hollow, rather than semi-hollow. Its laminated spruce top is paired with flamed maple on the back and sides, while the neck is maple and the fingerboard is ovangkol. The fingerboard has pearloid block inlays and 22 frets. A single-ply binding runs around the body, and the five-ply tortoiseshell pickguard adds a contrasting detail to the burst finish.

Reported impressions of the build are generally positive, with some reservations about refinement. The player compared the Indonesian-made guitar favorably with a Korean-made version, while noting that the latter had more upscale finishing in areas such as the fingerboard, neck construction, and pickup. The player also observed that this model's laminated spruce top appeared thicker than the top on the Korean example, while the flamed maple layer on the back seemed relatively thin. These are observations from one comparison, not measurements of every example.

The hardware includes gold plating, Grover 109 Super Rotomatic tuning machines, a rosewood bridge, and a Graph Tech NuBone XL nut. There is no tremolo. As with other guitars that use a floating bridge, setup and bridge placement matter. In this player's case, a slight neck-to-body alignment offset meant shifting the bridge a little to achieve comfortable playability across the fingerboard.

Feel and setup

The maple neck has a C-shaped profile and a 43 mm nut width. The reviewer found the neck comfortable and reported being able to lower the action after tightening the neck's adjustment rod. Their approximate measurements at the 12th fret were 1.7 mm on the low-string side and 1.6 mm on the high-string side. Those figures describe one guitar's setup, rather than a factory specification or a guaranteed result.

The alignment issue deserves attention when inspecting an individual instrument. It did not prevent the reviewer from getting a playable setup, but it required a small bridge adjustment. Buyers should check that the strings track properly along the fingerboard and that the floating bridge sits in a suitable position. A routine setup may also be useful after purchase, especially if the guitar arrives with different string tension or action than preferred.

Sound and playing character

Unplugged, the EXL1 reportedly sounded bright and somewhat metallic, with strong projection for a guitar built with laminated woods. The reviewer changed to flatwound strings to soften that character. That account suggests the guitar's acoustic voice may benefit from a string choice tailored to the player's taste. It does not establish that every set of strings will produce the same response.

The floating mini humbucker is central to the model's appeal for players seeking a clean, uncluttered pickup arrangement. The available feedback describes a satisfying result for both gypsy jazz and traditional jazz, and the player ultimately preferred the EXL1 to other instruments they had tried. Their overall enthusiasm was tempered by high expectations and some reservations about the sound at first. They also noted that a guitar can take time to settle into its best response.

There is no detailed account of amplifier settings or a range of pickup demonstrations in the supplied feedback, so the tonal assessment is best kept grounded in what was reported: a bright, projecting unplugged voice, a floating mini humbucker, and a strong personal endorsement for jazz playing.

Verdict

The DAngelico Premier EXL1 Brown Burst makes a clear case for players who want a hollow-body archtop with a floating pickup and traditional single-cut styling. Its comfortable C-shaped neck, straightforward controls, and included gig bag add practical value. The reported build is solid overall, though small finishing and alignment details may vary, and the instrument may need setup to suit its owner.

At $939, it is worth considering for a player entering jazz guitar or looking for a dedicated hollow-body. Its bright acoustic character may call for a different string set if a softer response is the goal. Check the neck alignment, bridge position, and action on the specific guitar before committing. For the jazz player who supplied the field report, those caveats did not outweigh the finish, playability, or the instrument's appeal for classic jazz styles.