Hi chaps...

[corsair]

Hi gang from far away NZ; now I don't have an elDegas and probably never will, sadly - they look very nice! - but a Westone forum member Barry has a dead ringer for a Matsumoku Westone and I'm intrigued!

What do we know about the manufacturer?

[Barry]

Hi John...nice of you to drop by matey!
This is a relatively quiet forum compared to the asylums you normally frequent
but you'll find Charles to be a very knowledgeable and helpful fellow. I'm sure he'll be along soon to say, "hi".

Meantime have a look around, especially at Charles' stuff!
And keep yer eyes peeled now fer El Degas...you never know where they'll show up!

[Frenchy]

Hi Corsair... you really get around .... dont you.... !

Hi Barry, Thank you for letting me know about this site... I will see if I can dig up pics of my El Degas....

P.

[Barry]

Hey Pierre! Great to have you here too!
You'll perhaps find a few more things of interest here than John since you're already an el Degas "convert".
We'll have to work on him a bit and make him a believer!
El Degas is probably rarer than hen's teeth in New Zealand so we'll have to cut him some slack. Maybe even send him a guitar to cement the conversion.

[Frenchy]

El Degas is probably rarer than hen's teeth in New Zealand

I dont know Barry, based on his say so, he's got dogs with 2 tails....

Seeing as he might become a fellow Canadian shortly... These might be right up his alley...

P.

[Barry]

...he might become a fellow Canadian shortly...

Great! That means he can find his own el Degas!

[corsair]

Maybe even send him a guitar to cement the conversion.

See, now you're talking; who should I send my postal address to?

[Barry]

...What do we know about the manufacturer?

Hey John, I don't know if Charles has lost you and Pierre amid all our banter.
He's a busy guy but usually gets around to saying "hi"...eventually.
Don't you Charles?
Charles??
Two new guys. Fresh meat!

Hmmm...meantime I'll to try an answer yer query:
Most new members usually ask one of two questions:
1) When was my guitar made / who made it?
2) What's it worth?

Usually, we're outa luck answering #1 intelligently.
There just isn't a whole lot of information on el Degas. We know the name of the company who imported the instruments, to Canada primarily, and white labeled them under the el Degas brand, but we have no definitive info about them, or who they bought the instruments from!

Charles has a pretty fine eye in ferreting out the MIJ's from the MIK's and maybe establishing a manufacturing date range. But that's about as far as anyone can go. Only recently, have I been trying to find a link between many of the best MIJ models and Matsumoku. Many of us (Charles and Pierre included) have had the sneaking suspicion that much of the original product originated there, but it's all circumstantial and inferential evidence only. Nothing that would hold up in court!
Bloody frustrating!

The best I can suggest for now 'ole buddy is for you to read through the posts in your "spare time" (ha ha). You'll find more details on the history here and there in answer to other queries. As you get familiar with the el Degas products, see if your Uncle Mats sense starts to tingle.
With your experience with Westone and Vantage in particular I'm sure some details will jump right out at you if they're there, particularly on the basses.
We'd really appreciate your take on all this (Pierre too, but he's already convinced I think!)

(Oh yeah, the answer to #2 is: Whatever someone is willing to pay for it! But these do tend to go rather cheaply compared to Uncle Mats' stuff.)

[charles]

Thanks for dropping in, Westone forumites Sorry it took me a couple of days to see this thread.

I'd say that I definitely believe a good portion of the (espec. the mid 70's) MIJ El Degas models were Matsumoku - they seem to have some of the tell-tale signs that so many Interwebbers know better than I do.

However I'm NOT convinced the Westone-esque guitar Barry has been talking about lately is Matsumoku... the El Degas logo style definitely points towards the later MIK models El Degas was putting out nearer to the end of the line of the brand. But hey! I could be wrong!

I'd really appreciate your insight on some of the models I and others have posted on this forum. I swear that the main site will be completed with more in-depth model info... some day... soon-ish maybe?

[Barry]

...I'm NOT convinced the Westone-esque guitar Barry has been talking about lately is Matsumoku...the El Degas logo style definitely points towards the later MIK models...

Nobody really knows of course, but if you read the Westone post I was speculating that it likely could have been assembled in Korea out of surplus Japanese (Mats) parts which seems quite possible. That would make it a "Mats" only in the sense that some key parts may have originated in Japan. The overall design, particularly the neck and body style are strongly suggestive of Westone, however, there were changes made to the electronics layout, presumably in the interests of cost savings. Probably fit and finish would not be up to standards either.
If, as you say, the El Degas logo style is MIK, then that pretty much clinches it I guess...so in that sense this one ain't no Mats!
(But we'll keep looking)

[corsair]

The overall design, particularly the neck and body style are strongly suggestive of Westone, however, there were changes made to the electronics layout, presumably in the interests of cost savings. Probably fit and finish would not be up to standards either.

I have what may be a Westone built in Korea from MIJ parts - no-one really knows!! - and the fit and finish are certainly NOT second rate; in fact my Clippers are a very well built guitar indeed as were a lot of the early MIK guitars!
That elDegas that Barry missed out on may well have been one of those; that neck just screamed "Westone" and the body was similar to the super strat Challenger/Corsair/Spectrum II's that Matt was designing at that stage....