Mandolins, Banjos and Amps, Oh My!

[Barry]

Well it's official. I have no life.

I spend wa-a-a-y too much time online these days looking, searching, hoping for that big El Degas score to come my way like so many here have done.
So far, ziltch. Nada. Nothing. Bugger all.
Only Charles seems to have the Royal Jelly...and the Royal purse full of loonies with which to buy, buy buy!

But...I have found a few interesting items that you might enjoy. If you've read through these forums you'll know that El Degas not only made guitars but a range of fine instruments and electronics as well. And they appear to be even more elusive to find than Waldo in a Walmart.
Check out these pix I grabbed from some currently running ads around the 'net (I have cropped, sharpened and enhanced):

BANJOS



MANDOLINS
2 Point A Style *

*Description of the A style Mandolin by the Seller:

This is a Vintage late 1970's Top of the line El Degas. It is a two point "A" style mandolin, having a fine grain natural spruce top. Select rosewood back and sides. mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. and a rosewood bridge.
It has F style sound holes . The mandolin body and neck is ivoroid bound, which has turned a true ivory color over time. It has white ivory button style tuners with silver posts and a silver tail piece and cover. The head stock front is high gloss black having the El Degas & Motif in mother of pearl and abalone.
The condition is very good to excellent. There is not a scratch on it. It has been well taken care of. POWERFUL sound WITH a rich bottom end and clear highs. The neck is very straight and there is absolutely no Buzzing played from 1st position to 4th. The bridge has been adjusted to give the mandolin a med low action and its very easy on the fingers to play and the intonation is perfect (bridge placement adjusted by harmonics) The mandolin once had an attached pick guard. which many remove and discard. I have installed a custom cut clear Mylar pick guard to protect the top from pick marks, for no extra charge. The sound compares to any $1000 mandolin out there.

A Sunburst Example -Style/Model Unknown



AMPLIFIER!
I had no idea they even made these, and this whole El Degas gear looks like it just came from the factory.


And of course, have a look at Geo's Ukelele too:
viewtopic.php?t=57

[charles]

He he I have some of those photos on my hard drive already, waiting for me to put the model info together for the main site.

Nice and informative post Barry.

[Barry]

I can't help but wonder sometimes if it was simply the cheesy name El Degas that put off potential buyers back in the day.

Maybe if they called it Charles and put the logo in a Gibson-like script it might be ranked up there with the likes of Greco, and the rest of the sought after clones today.

Hmmm...

[charles]

"El Degas" was likely chosen as the name because spanish-sounding brand names for guitars were one vehicle used by the Japanese instruments of the 60's & 70's to try to add credibility to their product... (see: Ibanez)

I'd say the reason the guitars were not huge like Greco, Burny, Orville, et.al. is that it seems they were brought in mainly for the Canadian market, which is of course 1/10th the size of the American market. Also, there was such a flood of guitar makes during the 60s-80's of all different quality levels that it seems the real cream of the crop rose to the top.

As much as I like El Degas instruments I have to admit that if you put a low-level El Degas copy (which may or may not include such things as a plywood body, bolt on neck, varations from the original specs, etc) against the likes of some of the other brands that seemingly only catered to those wanting high-level copies with closer specs to the originals, it can be easy to discount El Degas as a lesser brand. It's when you come to the higher-level copies El Degas offered that you're really talking in terms of apples-to-apples.

[Barry]

Um, right...
...it's a joke, ya'know?

[charles]