Korean El Degas Stratocaster

[iamnotcody]

Hey all, was browsing the internet around 1:30AM and starting looking up stuff on El Degas. Why? Because I bought one not even 24 hours ago and wanted some input on it. This guitar is red with a matching headstock and basically is near mint condition. Bought for only $100 Canadian, the guy I bought it off of apparently only bought it ten years prior in "Music City" brand new. Which struck me as being a bit odd. What would music city be doing with this guitar brand new? Used I could see but not new. Especially having a possibly twenty year old guitar in their shop. Maybe the guy I bought it off of has a bad memory or something because he's in his senior age. I'm seventeen so maybe we're just both gone crazy.

Anyway when I was inspecting it before buying. He said he recently had a spring replacement, and had the guitar completely set up professionally a few months ago to sell. First thing I noticed when I saw it was that the headstock and the back of the neck was in matching color with the body. And the only "damage" I saw wasn't anything at all really. A small SMALL bit of paint wear on the corner in the Pic there. And a tiny spot on the back. Other then a few frets being worn in and whatnot. It's near mint. I believe this one is made in Korea, as the neck plate doesn't have "Made In Japan" stamped onto it like my Tele did, not to mention the headstock. I believe this was made late 80's early 90's.

It play's very well. And I love the sound to it. The color is nice and bright "as bright as it needs to be" at least and the finish is amazing. No work at all needs to be done to the guitar. Just pick up and play. I'm not sure if I should keep this or sell it. I mean, compared to others like it whats the rating here? How much is it really worth? Not much I presume. And are they difficult to come by? I know the Made In Japan one's are I've owned one myself already. I live on a Small Island in Canada. I think the guitar is completely original to my knowledge with the possible exception of the nut.

Here's the photo's. Their larger here so you might want to open these in a tab, now because their large photo's you can zoom into them and kinda inspect the guitar a bit for yourself. I believe their in the same order as the one's above for your sake!
http://i.imgur.com/CNKkJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IabLs.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/N3Syl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/N3Syl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HXseo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EutVR.jpg

[Barry]

I think it's safe to say it's an MIK instrument.
The hardware, logo design and general fit and finish would appear to support that. My guess would be late 80's.

As to buying it "new" 10 years ago? Not likely, unless it was NOS (new old stock). That is, it was new stock that was put away and forgotten about until rediscovered much later and put up for sale. Sounds bizarre but it does happen. A fellow (Austrian) member on the Matsumoku guitar board that I belong to discovered a music store in Germany last year that had a quantity of highly sought after NOS Vantage brand guitars made by Matsumoku in the early 80's. So anything's possible!

[iamnotcody]

I think it's safe to say it's an MIK instrument.
The hardware, logo design and general fit and finish would appear to support that. My guess would be late 80's.

As to buying it "new" 10 years ago? Not likely, unless it was NOS (new old stock). That is, it was new stock that was put away and forgotten about until rediscovered much later and put up for sale. Sounds bizarre but it does happen. A fellow (Austrian) member on the Matsumoku guitar board that I belong to discovered a music store in Germany last year that had a quantity of highly sought after NOS Vantage brand guitars made by Matsumoku in the early 80's. So anything's possible!

Agreed with the whole ten years ago thing. But I don't think Music City does the whole "new old stock" kind of thing. Nowadays they carry mostly Schecter & a brand called "Stagg" <-- made in China knockoffs and whatnot. But thanks for sharing your opinion.

[charles]

Barry's hit it all on the head, not much for me to add to it but my agreement... MIK, from the 80's. The guy could have only had found a NOS if it was purchased new. More likely it was a used guitar that had not been played much (or at all) and was like new when he bought it.

I'd say the value of the later MIK strats is lower than the earlier MIJ's due to the fit and finish usually being a little less, and the fact that the hair-metal superstrat style is just not as desirable today. But heck, the 80's are back in full force so you never know when there will be a full revival of the "glorious" hair metal days (I could stand a little hair metal... maybe not a huge revival, though!) ... anyway, I think you did well at $100 for it, in the great condition it is in.

Funny enough, I tried some Stagg guitars while on a trip through Europe in 2006 and thought Stagg felt a lot like the later MIK El Degas guitars. They are similar in the way they are knock-off guitars built overseas - there's no actual tie between the two brands - but it's a similar situation. Brands like Stagg, Agile, etc are doing the same sort of thing B&J did 40 years ago with the El Degas brand. You could say that without brands like El Degas getting away with this stuff all those years ago, the modern knock-offs probably could not exist in the marketplace without being sued out of existence.

[iamnotcody]

Barry's hit it all on the head, not much for me to add to it but my agreement... MIK, from the 80's. The guy could have only had found a NOS if it was purchased new. More likely it was a used guitar that had not been played much (or at all) and was like new when he bought it.

I'd say the value of the later MIK strats is lower than the earlier MIJ's due to the fit and finish usually being a little less, and the fact that the hair-metal superstrat style is just not as desirable today. But heck, the 80's are back in full force so you never know when there will be a full revival of the "glorious" hair metal days (I could stand a little hair metal... maybe not a huge revival, though!) ... anyway, I think you did well at $100 for it, in the great condition it is in.

Funny enough, I tried some Stagg guitars while on a trip through Europe in 2006 and thought Stagg felt a lot like the later MIK El Degas guitars. They are similar in the way they are knock-off guitars built overseas - there's no actual tie between the two brands - but it's a similar situation. Brands like Stagg, Agile, etc are doing the same sort of thing B&J did 40 years ago with the El Degas brand. You could say that without brands like El Degas getting away with this stuff all those years ago, the modern knock-offs probably could not exist in the marketplace without being sued out of existence.

Well put, well put indeed. I have tried a lot of the Stagg stuff myself as I work at Music City, and I have to say the quality is pretty horrid. Rarely do I pick up a Stagg guitar without it needing something done to it to make it playable.

[electricb]

I am bumping this thread just because I used to have the black version of this guitar. I purchased it brand new from Steve's Music in Toronto in 1994 (actually my parents did). So these were kicking around Canada in reputable music stores at least until then. I learned on this guitar and generally found it to be a piece of crap. The electronics were junk and I could never get it set up properly without buzzing. Knowing what I know now, it could have used a fret level and crown, but at the time I just struggled through it. The work would have cost more than the guitar, even if I could have afforded it. I played the crap out of it and ended up giving it away on Kijiji for free in 2010 to someone who gave it to their kid for Christmas.

On the other hand, it had a nice fat neck and now anything else feels uncomfortable. Go figure...

[charles]

I am bumping this thread just because I used to have the black version of this guitar. I purchased it brand new from Steve's Music in Toronto in 1994 (actually my parents did). So these were kicking around Canada in reputable music stores at least until then. I learned on this guitar and generally found it to be a piece of crap. The electronics were junk and I could never get it set up properly without buzzing. Knowing what I know now, it could have used a fret level and crown, but at the time I just struggled through it. The work would have cost more than the guitar, even if I could have afforded it. I played the crap out of it and ended up giving it away on Kijiji for free in 2010 to someone who gave it to their kid for Christmas.

On the other hand, it had a nice fat neck and now anything else feels uncomfortable. Go figure...

That is wild - I did not think these were around so late.

I also have found the MIK strats to be lacking. Some of the other MIK models are not bad, though (I have a nice set neck SG copy, set neck LP copy, and a set neck Ric copy all MIK that are pretty nice).