El Degas tele copy

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Sat Jul 13, 2013 9:01 pm

I won on this guitar on Ebay. Know anything about this brand? I was just wondering if it was made by one the companies that made the other japanese guitars I own.

Chris Fleming · Post by **Chris Fleming** » Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:18 pm

Don't know nothing I'm afraid. Nice looking guitar. How'd they play?

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:34 pm

i have seen that headstock, neck plate, and tuner combo before. i know i have, but different name on the headstock..... im thinking it was utter crap, but you may have one with some of the same styled parts but who knows, could be gold.

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:28 am

I had an eldegas as my first electric, plywood junk but it is veeeery entry level

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:56 am

Thanks for the posts! According to the El Degas.com:

"The story of El Degas is that of the company that imported and sold them: El Degas is a "white label" brand name used by company called Beugeleisen & Jacobson (B&J) out of NY, NY. B&J was in the business of importing and distributing musical instruments for the Canada & US markets. El Degas instruments were primarily sold in Canada and the NE United States.

B&J was a musical instrument importer/distributor in New York, NY and was established in 1901 and were very active during the 30's and 40's; but the history of the El Degas brand is much later, late 60's into the early to mid 80's. B&J still exists today (though perhaps in name only) - sometime around the late 70's or early 80's it was acquired by Kaman Music Canada and acted as a distribution division/company. They (or at least the name) have since been acquired by Fender Musical Instruments, and I assume they will perform the same role there.

El Degas instruments (electric & acoustic) were first produced in several Japanese factories during the late 60's - late 70's / early 80's era (estimated), Sometime around the late 70's or early 80's the production moved primarily to Korean manufacturers (I believe this coincided with the Kaman acquisition of Buegeleisen & Jacobson) for the electrics and a mix of Korean and other manufacturing for the acoustics (instruments from Korea, Romania, and Guatemala have been spotted "in the wild"). The instruments went out of production sometime in the 1980s."

Here is an El Degas Telecaster Custom copy

El Degas Bass

Yes,it would be interesting to see your Jazzmaster if you can find any photos.

The El Degas brand was sold mostly in Canada and not alot is known about them The wellspring for The El Degas.com website and forum was this mega thread on the guitarscanada forum. (link)

According to Michael Wright's "Guitar Stories Vol 1" the early 70s El Degas electric guitars were made by Fujigen as "white label" guitars and distributed in Canada and the Northeast USA by B&J,however according to Torch Harrison's extensive list of "Japanese Manufacturers of Made In Japan Badged Electric Guitars from 1960 to 1980" (link) the japanese maker of El Degas guitars is unknown:

"Unknown Maker Badge Names

Unassigned maker badge names are AGS, Alex, Andre, Aquila, Asco, Avon, Axiom, Bradley, Cameo, CG Winner, Clear Sound, CMI, Columbia, Cortley, Crestline, Crown, D. Lewis (?), Danelectro, Dynelectron (some), Diplomat, Dixon, Dorado, El Degas, Exceltro, Encore, Fandel, Garzia, Goya, Grenn, Laguna, LTD, Magnum (?), Maier, Monroe, Marchis, Mark II, Masaaki (?), Matador, Norwood, Palmer, Rodeo, S.G.C., Splender, Stella, Targa, Taro, Voxton by Vox, and Yoshi. Some of these badges are attributed to the importer as the 'maker', which is untrue. It's possible that some of these badges were made by smaller Japanese manufacturers that have faded into history"

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:50 am

I've made for myself some web research about unfamous Japanese brands and Korean guitars the last week, because I found one lot on ebay and wanted to know more about it. So as I understand the majority of Japanese guitars that were produced in the 60's and 70's had plywood body(usually with a sunburst or not transparent finish). During the late 70's and 80's production of lower cost guitars with plywood bodies moved to Korea. The most of the Korean guitars from the 80's were made of plywood, Squier had been producing plywood "solid bodies" till 1995. There was a famous ironic advertisement where Yamaha was comparing Pacifica line with Squiers of that period

Guitar that I found is made of plywood as well, but has quite original appearance for me and cost cheap. If I lived in the US, I would buy it just to try it out.

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 7:12 am

Here it is

ebay

As it is said, I think it is made in the 80's Cort. I haven't fount exactly information about body material, but as I mentioned before most of the MIK guitars of that period were made of plywood. Also overal design is close to Teisco, Kay, etc and yes, to solid body(plywood) Harmonies from the 80's. It seems that neck is made of mahogany.
In common guitar looks classic, but paying $100 for overseas shipping(if owner agrees to ship abroad) is too expensive for this guitar.

westtexasred, sorry for stealing thread

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Sun Jul 14, 2013 9:35 am

Hmm I have a Jazzmaster copy that I thought was a serviceman but the headstock is identical with that plate and tuners (I think), except mine is painted with a fake Fender logo. I don't have it with me but there are pictures somewhere on the net, I'll try and find them. All evidence of who actually made it seems to have been scrubbed, quite literally, and 'Fender' has been scratched onto every bit whoever did it saw necessary.

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:04 pm

Cool! Do you have a photo you could post?

I got my El Degas tele today.

It is listed in the 1973 El Degas catalog as:

"863 solid body guitar.The original solid body design that has been proven for over 20 years, now at an incredibly low price".

List price in 1973 was $150.

This guitar has a beautiful maple neck. The fretboard is birds-eye maple with abalone fretmarkers. There is one big problem, something is wrong with the bridge pickup.The out put is only about 10% what it should be. My friend to said it may have a broken coil or the magnet became demagnetized. I have to sent the pickup out to be fixed.

Update:The ebay seller I bought the guitar from sent me this email:

"Hey I just talked to my guitar tech and we have an original replacement pickup (used) measures 9.6k ohms, in stock for that guitar. I can send it out if you like?"

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 11:08 pm

I got the replacement pickup today. I dropped it off at the shop for my friend to install.

It's bigger than I thought it would be(next to the neck pickup in my Tokai)

A friend on another forum has a tele like mine and he said that the neck and bridge pickups are the same size on his(japanese copy) telecaster.

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:17 am

Sorry, I forgot about this thread, see what you think it is.

Bit of a photo bomb, not the best quality pics either. No idea what you think, and after looking, the tuners on mine don't look as similar to yours as I thought. I'd love to know your thoughts as I know nothing about this guitar's origins. Oh if there's any doubt it says 'Japan' on the neck plate. Though going by the rest I father guitar I don't think it's very concrete, but on the other hand it is the only machined engraving and why would they put 'Made in Japan' on something they're trying to pull off as Fender? Scratch Fender onto something so many times and it makes it one doesn't it?

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:29 am

Yes,it looks like an Ibanez 2365 made around 1971 or 1972. Someone modified to look like a Fender.

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:08 am

Ahh! You can tell it once played well and felt nice, and the pickups sound ok, it has just been completely fucked with. The bridge seems to have been glued down with poly filler or something, and the electrics are a bit shot, but I can't get the scratch plate up because it also seems to have been stuck down and or the screws won't budge. I'll have another look at it next time I'm over at my parents' house, and let you know if I make any progress with it.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:31 pm

that jazzy is a little bit different than the Ibanez. A couple of things stick out immediately: first, the top strap attachment is on the top horn on the Ibanez (could be changed but seems odd to move it from the top) and second, the Ibanez has more block inlay. Could be something as small as being made in a different year but my guess is that it's a different brand made form the same factory.

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:39 pm

You can see on the upper horn where the strap button has been removed, an odd thing to do, yes, but then again the rest of the guitar has been modded a bit oddly. Fair point about the blocks, and probably yeah, different year/odd anomaly, but manufactuers back then often weren't all about mega consistency in parts etc i suppose. Another string tree has also been added, botchedly. I think the rest is too consistent with the Ibanez pic to not be one of those, though.

Peter Bond · Post by **Peter Bond** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:00 pm

[quote="BobArsecake"]Sorry, I forgot about this thread, see what you think it is.

► Show Spoiler

It's a Fender Les Paul as played by Kurt Cobain.

BobArsecake · Post by **BobArsecake** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 8:42 pm

'Ere no mate, it's Kurdt, and b) he only ever played a jag-stand, as made by Kurdt cobalt

. RIP

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:46 am

I got my tele back today. My friend Ted fixed the original bridge pickup(it didn't need to be rewound).Good thing he was able to fix it because the replacement pickup the seller sent is a neck pickup.
A standard tele bridge pickup wont fit in this bridge. He also put in 2 CTS pots and changed the wiring(originally it was wired as both pickups out of phase in the middle position). Put some tele knobs on too.

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:15 am

My friend on the Telecaster forum has an Orlando tele that is very similar to mine. He posted this

"Looks very similar to an Orlando tele copy I resurrected for a customer. Note the pickups are actually the same size."

I had Rose Pickups rewind these pickups as they were dead on arrival. They came out very nice!

[youtube][/youtube]

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:52 am

These are the new pots in my tele

These were the pots that were in it,only one was original.