My Degas Les Paul. Any information?

[zepic]

I recently purchased a El Degas LP off ebay. I don't have extensive knowledge of guitars. I simply play just to play. I realize that it is dinged up real good, and is not mint condition (missing truss cover, needs new tuners,etc...) However, Im not really into shiny new guitars, I like the personality that comes with an old beater. The seller swears by the sound, and thats what im interested in. Any information would be good. Thank you.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... SA:CA:1123

[charles]

Made in Japan, probably mid 70's. Not much more info to come by other than that.

Missing truss rod cover would have been a 3-screw cover like this


Watch when buying replacement parts - these Asian guitars use the metric system so many US-model replacement parts are not a perfect fit.

[zepic]

Thanks charles for the help! I will keep my heads up on the size of my truss head cover. If I were wanting to change out the pickups to get the most vintage LP sound possible, are their any certain pickups you would look for. Or are the originals a classic sound in themselves, from your experiences. Also, I noticed a lot of old Les Pauls, ie Jimmy Page edition, have pick ups that look like a double stratocaster style pickups. Is that what mine would be just with a cover over them, or is it something completely different.

[charles]

Thanks charles for the help! I will keep my heads up on the size of my truss head cover. If I were wanting to change out the pickups to get the most vintage LP sound possible, are their any certain pickups you would look for. Or are the originals a classic sound in themselves, from your experiences.

In my opinion, just about any pickup can sound different.

My experience has often been that the stock pickups are usually very passable - giving them 25-30+ years to mellow out has been a great thing in most cases, and they sound sweet. What I'd do is give yourself a chance to play and hear the current pickups before immediately looking to replace them. Let your hears do the deciding.

[Barry]

Hello zepic and welcome herre.
I think you'll find that this is going to be a solid little rocker that you've bought!
I agree with Charles, don't rush to replace the pups. Many ED's from this era were made to very high quality standards including the electronics. If the back of the pups has any identification stamped on it let us know, eh? I suspect, but cannot confirm, that at least some of the ED's were manufactured by the amazing Matsumoku company who made some of the nicest sounding humbuckers and single coils that you'd ever want to have. If there is an MMK45 or something similar on the back that would confirm it.

Regardless, clean 'er up and play 'er loud!

[zepic]

Thank You Barry and Charles! You were both very helpful. I have been playing for 7 years now, and the only electric I have had is a fender strat that my uncle gave to me. So I never had a reason to research guitars and different sounds. I am just starting to get into understanding the mechanics and diff sounds of diff guitars as I was searching for my first LP, and I appreciate all the info. I will let you know if it is stamped when I get it, as it hasnt been delivered yet.

[charles]

First thing you'll probably notice about the Lp is the scale length - it is a shorter scale than the Strat (24.75" as opposed to 25.5" if I remember correctly).

Personally even with larger hands I like the LP scale length quite a bit.

Hope the guitar serves you well.

[Barry]

First thing you'll probably notice about the Lp is the scale length - it is a shorter scale than the Strat (24.75" as opposed to 25.5" if I remember correctly).
Personally even with larger hands I like the LP scale length quite a bit..

Me too.
Yeah, the one thing you'll find with guitar setups and adjustments is that even seemingly small differences can dramatically affect things like intonation, action, and string choice. The G-scale strings are under less tension so you tend to get a more mellow sound, and you can also use a heavier gauge string.

I have both F-scale (25-1/2") and G-scale (23-3/4") guitars and don't consciously think much about the differences when I play but it does subtly affect your approach. I find my self playing differently on each. As I write this I've just been playing for about an hour on my Parker Hornet, a G-scale guitar, and it was very comfortable and smooth. I found myself doing a lot of ballads and bluesy/jazzy stuff. When I pick up the F-scale I tend to get a bit raunchier and rockier!