Could someone please give me info on this El Degas Bass?

[navymomgr]

My brother bought this El Degas bass guitar used when he was in high school (sometime between 1970 and 1974). I know that it hasn't been played since he passed away in 1978, but as far as I know it is still in good working order (I don't have an amp to test it unfortunately) It has been sitting in its original case in a closet at my sister's until I inherited it last week. I would like to know if it's worth it to attempt to sell it and if so, what a reasonable asking price would be.

Here are some pics:

[charles]

HI navymomgr, and welcome.

What you have there is a copy of a Gibson EB short-scale bass.

Looks to be in pretty good condition, but let us know how the frets and electronics are.

I notice that compared to the El Degas EB bass copy I own, yours uses a slightly different bridge, formerly had a cover mid-way between the pickups (rather than over the bridge as in mine), and uses a toggle switch for the pickups rather than a 3-position chicken-head knob selector. These may have been modifications your brother made, though; I cannot be sure.

It may be worth selling it if you do not use it. The asking price of these is usually not huge, as it is a bolt on copy of a set-neck instrument. I can't exactly remember what I paid for mine but I believe it was in the $200 range. That price may go up or down depending on a buyer's motivation, whether the bolt on neck puts them off, and the fact that you do not come across this particular model too often.

[navymomgr]

I know that my brother never modified the guitar. I'll be taking it over to a local shop next week to have them check to see if it works.

I also found these bits in the case- would the silver thing be the cover you're referring to? (Sorry, although I'm a composer, I'm guitar illiterate lol)

[charles]

Yup, that's the missing cover on the right. The other is a (broken) instrument cable.

[navymomgr]

All right, I took it down to a local guitar shop and the guy there pugged it into an amp for me. Unfortunately, nothing happened, so I suppose the electronics aren't working.
So now my question is this- If I want to sell it, what wold be a fair price to ask for it? Or is it even worth the effort to try to sell it?

[charles]

Someone may be wanting one of those but without knowing the extent of the electronics problem (could be as simple as resoldering one wire to an output jack or as serious as needing an entire re-wire and new pickups, or anywhere in-between) you might get some pretty low offers.

I would figure that in good playing condition that should fetch anywhere between $150-400 so you might only get 50-150 for it now, and it will take a buyer motivated enough to take on the electronics problem.