My el degas explorer

andreww · Post by **andreww** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:33 am

Just found this group and thought I'd join the party. My el degas was purchased new in the early 1980s from a small guitar shop that I used to frequent in Port Credit, Ontario. Its a copy of a black Gibson Explorer, and is very faithful to the original except for the inlaid "el degas" logo on the headstock. It features twin split coil Dimarzio pickups, with the extra small toggle switch for splitting the coils. It came with a beautiful form fitting hardshell case. The guitar is all original, and still plays beautifully!

Here's the genuine Gibson, I'll shoot some pics of mine if you are all interested!

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:17 am

Here's the genuine Gibson, I'll shoot some pics of mine if you are all interested!

Well, yeah...that's kinda the point of the forum, ya know?
The Gibson is nice but it ain't no El Degas!

Post by **charles** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:17 am

OH HELL YES I WANT TO SEE PICS OF YOUR EXPLORER!!!!

... oh boy, excuse me...

I've been wanting an Explorer copy for a long time... you lucky devil you!

andreww · Post by **andreww** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:47 am

Well, here she is...

Dimarzio split coil pickups...

Extra toggle to split the coils...

Made in Japan. Anybody got any idea what kind of tuning pegs these are?

I assume this is a serial number of some sort? Any info would be appreciated!

Nicely inlaid el degas logo... (excuse the dust! Black is a bitch to keep clean :p )

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:17 am

Andrewwwwww!
Sweeeeeet!!
You are truly a chosen one...and a lucky bugger!

Good luck with the serial number, it seems like they're mostly meaningless decoration on most El Degas instruments.
BTW, I assume those aren't the original pups? If not do you still have the originals? And the most important question...how's she play?

I hear ya about trying to keep black guitars clean. If you haven't already seen my post about scratch remover, you might find it helpful in reducing some of the mild abrasions and it puts on a good hard shine which will help keep the dirt from sticking so much:
http://www.eldegas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39

Thanks for the post!

andreww · Post by **andreww** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:54 am

Actually everything is original, exactly the way I bought it almost 30 years ago. The only thing that has been replaced was the plastic plate on the input jack which got broken by a careless friend. The Guitar plays fantastically. The action is perfect, strings are nice and low with no fret buzz anywhere. Plays in tune from top to bottom, and I've never felt the need to replace the heads as it stays in tune, even with extreme string bending. With the split coils I can produce a broad range of sound, from clean to distorted, without the need for effects. For the past 10 years I've pretty much played it straight through my amp with no pedals, which I think has helped me improve as a player.

I'll definitely check out your scratch removal post, its probably about time that I strip this one right down and give everything a good polish.

andreww · Post by **andreww** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:23 am

BTW, the Explorer was purchased at a small guitar store in Port Credit, Ontario that was run by a guy that was really plugged-in to the guitar world back then. A young Rik Emmett was the store's premiere player back then, The store owner was an early fan of Jackson guitars and forged some kind of partnership with them that included a deal with Rik. Anyway, El Degas guitars were featured prominently as they were probably the only "knock-off" instruments out there that were worth stocking. Believe me, there were some pretty pathetic guitars out there back then. As I recall, El Degas also produced a Flying V model, which was equally as nice as mine, but I always found them to be tough to hold in position while playing. As I was a big Ace Frehley fan, and he had been using explorers periodically, I chose my black one. A while later I remember pining over another rare El Degas, that to this day I regret not buying. It was an SG 12/6 double neck, exactly like the one used by another of my heros, Alex Lifeson.

Anyway, I still consider this to be one of the best purchases I've ever made. BTW, I christened her with the name "Jackie", as she was purchased right after the breakup with my first true love of the same name. This guitar made one of the tougher times of my life a little easier!

Post by **charles** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:49 am

Great looking guitar.

The high-end copies from that era of El Degas like yours had the nice (Abalone?) inlaid logo, set necks, and stock Dimarzios.... not too shabby!

Thanks so much for sharing.

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:25 am

Wow, the stories you hear in this forum are like taking a trip back in time.
Jackson guitars...Rik Emmitt...um, Port Credit?!

Actually there are still some decent music stores along the Lakeshore, LA Music being one of the biggest with a decent selection.

And hey, a lot of guitar players have sentimental attachments to their instruments and even name them. I have only ever named one, my Ovation 1983 Collectors Edition, "Nellie", after my late Aunt Nell who left me some money in her will which allowed me to buy the guitar. I think about her every time I take it out of the case.

I think that music making is as much an emotional commitment as anything else (if you're doing it right) and inevitably there is a love interest tangled up in there as well most times. And when you reach a *ahem* certain age, memories come strongly flooding back whenever you strap on one of your guitars. So, remember Jackie fondly (the bitch), and rest in comfort with the knowledge that she's probably fat and ugly now, but the El Degas is still young and beautiful!

Post by **charles** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:47 am

I name my guitars, too.

Black Les Paul...
The 335...
Red Precision....
and so on. The names are easier to remember this way.

andreww · Post by **andreww** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:52 am

Barry wrote:Wow, the stories you hear in this forum are like taking a trip back in time.
Jackson guitars...Rik Emmitt...um, Port Credit?!

Sorry, my mistake, it was actually Dean guitars, not Jackson that he was hooked up with. My memory is a bit sketchy after all these years. I don't forget some of the amazing guitars that went through that place though. One in particular was Ric Emmett's personal Framus Akkerman hollow body cherry sunburst electric guitar. As I recall it was given to Ric's brother as a gift but he was forced to sell it due to a divorce. I used to love to hear the behind the scenes stuff about guys like Eddie Van Halen, who showed up to a Kramer event at about 11:00 AM pissed to the gills. That store certainly holds a lot of fond memories for me. I got my parents to buy my first guitar there, a bad white Les Paul copy which I still have. I remember sitting in there for hours as a little kid, just practicing, because I didn't have a real guitar or amp at home. The guys there never made me feel uncomfortable or dissuaded in any way. Great memories.

Barry · Post by **Barry** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:36 pm

Never mind Andreww, it's the memories and warm fuzzies that are the important thing, eh?

I dunno, sounds like I might go *ahem* a bit further back in time than you (I'm an old fart)...but the memories are still similar. Growing up mainly in Scarborough (East end Toronto) where every second kid was walking down the street with a cardboard guitar case, there were always accommodating music stores, true local "guitar heroes" (before that awful computer thing!), generous people, and mystical music makers of all sorts.

And you're quite right when you say that there wasn't a lot of decent guitar stock to choose from at the time either. Seems to me you had either high end stuff like Fender and Gibson or rubbish instruments that needed vise grips to make a barre chord.

I guess that actually worked in my favour, in a sense. I had an awful acoustic from Sears as one of my first guitars (vise grips not included). Then I picked up my first electric guitar, a Kay, from a local second hand shop, and it was OK. But I couldn't afford a decent guitar, so I rented a few in order to play a few gigs in my late 'teens.

When I finally did buy, it was a brand new 1964 Gibson ES-330.
It cost a mind blowing $410!
I still have it.

Since there wasn't much else around I guess you could say I was "forced" to buy it. I'd like to think that I had incredible insight at age 19 but the truth is otherwise. Only later did I come to appreciate it fully, just like my El Degas. And I was influenced at the time by the likes of Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Chet Atkins, etc., who all played beautiful thin line acoustic-electrics. Those dudes definitely did not play Les Paul's or Tele's! So that was the guitar for me!

I have similar experiences even in later years when I bought other guitars and gear, all of which I still have. Mostly just dumb luck that I picked up the stuff that I did, when I did. I must have a guitar angel on my shoulder!

Cheers!
http://legend.barryeames.com/guitars.html