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LOST EXCELLENTES


mooseguy

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I will do that, thank you Moose! Happy new year.

 

Hi Delorean:

 

Congratulations on this great find-you should contact Peter @hdvd@earthlink.co

This person is the real Excellente historian and should have the shipping records on your guitar

He also has a book coming out on Excellentes which should be very informative.Let me know what you find out.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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Can you confirm that email? Is it hdvd@earthlink.com? hdvd@earthlink.net? Thanks again.

 

The EMail address is hdvd@earthlink.net--Peter'last name is Harman Please ask him when his book is due out and let me know.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

 

If you should want to sell your Epi please let me know

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  • 2 weeks later...

Moose,

It's just this particular Excellente.The sunburst one came to me from a studio on Broadway NYC AND ALL I've EVER HAD DONE IS A PU added with saddle in one piece.The Natural had been stored in a loft strung to tension since 1998.It was almost unplayable,but I tightened the truss rod,put a new saddle in.changed to bone bridge pins,filed down the nut & a couple of frets & it's fine now.It seems to need all the fours ( 54 44 34 24)to drive it. wHAT STRINGS DO YOUR KOREANS LIKE?

CHEERS,

Cap.

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Moose,

It's just this particular Excellente.The sunburst one came to me from a studio on Broadway NYC AND ALL I've EVER HAD DONE IS A PU added with saddle in one piece.The Natural had been stored in a loft strung to tension since 1998.It was almost unplayable,but I tightened the truss rod,put a new saddle in.changed to bone bridge pins,filed down the nut & a couple of frets & it's fine now.It seems to need all the fours ( 54 44 34 24)to drive it. wHAT STRINGS DO YOUR KOREANS LIKE?

CHEERS,

Cap.

 

To answer your question I love changing strings - NOT- Therefore, I haven't experimented with the many various brands and types as so many of the forum members (including yourself) have seemed to have done.I have used D'Addario Phosphor Bronze Mediums for years and occasionally the same brand Bluegrass Medium Lights.Based on your above 4s, you seem to be using lights. If that works for you great. I can't give you a good string comparison between my natural Korean and my sun burst one as I use the latter completely on the electric side. The burst is a noticeably heavier guitar(due to the large stuff inside) and unamplified is not as bright in tone as the natural.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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With you on the Bluegrass gauge,but 17 & 13?-cheese cutters!

 

Are cheese cutters the same as baloney slicers? Is there really that much difference in 16-12

versus 17-13? This differential seems as small as a nit on the nut of a knat. However, if this will help me play an octave faster,I will gladly try it.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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Moose,

You'll be delighted to learn that Martin light mediums have .0165 & .0125.

 

WHADDYA MEAN BALONY!

 

Nitpicker.

 

El Capitano:

 

How could I ever dare question the the knowledge of a true classic cheese slicer.

Please accept my abject apologies as the President of Baloney Slicers International.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you're in the area of Shirley, Massachusetts on Saturday, February 15th, come by The Bull Run around 8pm and feast your eyes on not one but two very rare Epiphone Excellente's (see link below).

 

http://tickets.bullr...?evt=456&c=1

 

As some of you may already, Bruce Arnold, founder of the 60's group Orpheus, used a '64 Excellente exclusively on the band's four albums for MGM. The guitar was custom-ordered through E.U. Wurlitzer and featured a floating P90 pickup (a la Howard Roberts) as well as distinctive rosette.

 

Arnold has reunited Orpheus with original members Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Howie Hersh, Elliot Sherman and Bruce's son, John. Like his father, John also plays an Excellente (see images below), which just happens to be the last of the 100th Anniversary models reissued by Gibson's Montana Division in 1994. Here are some shots of the band during rehearsals last month in Bell Canyon, CA.

 

Orpheus.jpg

 

Rehearsal-1.jpg

 

Rehearsal-2.JPG

 

- Peter

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El Capitan:

 

Thanks for your appreciated heads up about the Orpheus band coming to Bull Run Restaurant-a very nice venue to be playing- Son John Arnold contacted me some time back (at the suggestion of the author of the coming book on Excllentes)to inquire if I would be interested in renting both my original and Bozeman Excellente, subject to their both having pickups, for their coming gig.

As explained to me, neither of their guitars wished to be used due to their value. As explained to John that neither of my Excellentes are so equipped,that ended that phase of the discussion. A most informative conversation between us did continue for some time regarding these instruments in general as John is a really informed owner.This coming performance is to be filmed. Unfortunately

I won't be there as this coming weekend is the best indoor Blue Grass festival of the whole winter on the entire East Coast put on by the Boston Blue Grass Union at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham,MA

National bands from 10 AM to midnight and pickin allowed 24/7 all over this big hotel - ok not in the johns but you sure can hear the music from them. Just made my first string change in 9 months and set to go. A lot of the jamers are as good if not better than the pros.Wish you were with me to enjoy the action and hear some really terrific pickin.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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  • 3 weeks later...

How about other Excellente owners besides me'n'Moose contributing?

El Capitano

 

Until I met you as a fellow Excellente owner, I felt alone and uncared for just like the late Maytag Man. With the more numerous Korean reissues out there, I can't understand why we haven't heard anything from any of these owners. As for owners of the originals and Bozeman reissues, they are so limited in numbers as to be related to the extinct DooDoo bird.Oh well, one can't have everything in life including Lady GAGA.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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Moose,

Is the case for an Excellente grey with a blue interior?

No name or logo?

Thanks.

Cap.

 

The case you describe sure fits the description of an original Excellente case-do you have one you wish to sell-I would be interested.

 

Moose

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Thought you guys might like to see shots from the Orpheus reunion show at Bull Run last month. Bruce ended up playing his son John's custom-order '94 Montana reissue (confirmed to be the last example produced by the division) and John played a new Fender CJ-290CE. Both guitars sounded great but the Montana (equipped with a new L.R. Baggs "Lyric" pickup) had that unmistakable Excellente sound - deep, rich and booming. The other Orpheus members pictured are Elliot Sherman on keyboards, Howie Hersh on bass and the legendary Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums. Fantastic music that is having quite the revival. The reunited group plans a tour including dates in Hawaii, Japan and Europe.

 

Check out the Orpheus Facebook page for more info:

 

http://www.facebook.com/thebostonsound

 

OrpheusBullRun2.jpg

 

OrpheusBullRun1.jpg

 

OrpheusBullRun3.JPG

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I just came across some images online of Bruce playing his original custom-order Wurlitzer / Excellente at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Civic Center in Marin County this past Tuesday. See caption below:

 

"Famed rocker Bruce Arnold, husband of Supervisor Judy Arnold, played a beautiful folk song to start off the March 11 Board of Supervisors meeting. It's part of a monthly series that allows local musicians to set an upbeat tone to the meetings and display their amazing talents."

 

BruceWithExcellente-1.jpg

 

BruceWithExcellente-2.JPG

 

This is without a doubt the most recorded Excellente in history having been used exclusively on all four Orpheus albums as well as Bruce's solo material. It's great to see such a rare instrument in regular use.

 

- Pete

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Excellente

 

Thanks and much appreciation for the Bull Run and other photos of the players and their great Excellentes.Hope they had a good audience as that night sure brought a lot of snow.

To again pose the question -when is your book due out?-all the Excellente fans and owners I know are really exceited about the coming publication.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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  • 2 weeks later...

As only point of interest-

 

The Guernsey Auction of a 250 guitar dealer's collection (Hank Risan) on April 2-3 had a 64 Exellente listed at a just revised starting bid of $90,000 (uped from $10,00) with an estimated range of $90-$110,000. I had my yacht ordered(after I sold my small collection) until I entered my opinion of this offering on the Vintage section of the UMGF Forum(see Hank Risan sale) and, as a consequence, the Excellente has now been withdrawn.The 12 pages of comments on this coming auction makes some very interesting reading.

 

Moose

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