Let's Play

[elDave]

A couple of weeks ago I picked up this MIK 'Les Play' at the local hock shop, it needed new strings and good cleaning.









Its in nice shape, plays well and is suprisingly heavy for a laminate body.

I know it's an "El Degas only" forum but I also included a pic of the electric guitar portion of my "collection". Some of these might be cousins.



From left to right;

MIK El Degas LP (best of the bunch )

MIJ Granada LP (best value. $70.00 including OHSC! )

MIJ Raven LP (best argument against laminate bodies )

MII Yamastrat (because everyone needs a $50.00 pseudostrat )

Dave

[charles]

COOL COLLECTION

I also have a Let's Play model. They are later MIK models.
Too bad the trade off for the set neck construction is the laminate body.

[Barry]

Hi elDave! Thanks for the pix!
That's a gorgeous LP. I'm currently on the lookout for an El Degas (or Matsumoku) replacement for my Epiphone LP Studio, and I hope I'm lucky enough to find something as nice as this!

The Granada should also be a really good copy, no? From what I know a lot of them were made by Matsumoku, and should be terrific!

[elDave]

Hi elDave! Thanks for the pix!
That's a gorgeous LP. I'm currently on the lookout for an El Degas (or Matsumoku) replacement for my Epiphone LP Studio, and I hope I'm lucky enough to find something as nice as this!

The Granada should also be a really good copy, no? From what I know a lot of them were made by Matsumoku, and should be terrific!

Yes the Granada is a solid guitar. I can't say for sure if it was made by Matsumoku, it has a lot of similarities to an old Ibanez copy. I added the missing switch plate, it's the wrong colour. Some of the gold has worn off of the Pups bridge etc., just like a Gibson that gets played.





It has a serial number on the neck plate starting with 76 so I thought that might be the year of manufacture but the one in this ad starts with 01 so probably not.

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z159491871

Here's another one.

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z159713979

Dave

[Barry]

Thanks for the pix and the links.
You have a real pretty axe there.
Both the ads are nice guitars but a bit pricey....especially considering what you paid for yours!

[charles]

I don't think I could bring myself to pay $400 for a bolt-on LP copy...

[Barry]

...It has a serial number on the neck plate starting with 76 so I thought that might be the year of manufacture but the one in this ad starts with 01 so probably not....

IF (big IF) these are Matsumoku's then the generally accepted dating for these is the first digit indicates the year. So "0" = 1980, "1" = 1981, etc. The "76" would not be 1976, but 1987. (Mats instruments were MIJ from about 1980 to '87, and some may have been made in the late 70's. They were then continued in Korea until about 1991.) Does any of this square with he age of the guitar as you know it?

FWIW, Ibanez and El Degas are similar in the sense that they are both "white labels" for a variety of instrument manufacturers. Neither one actually has/had a plant of its own, so it is possible your Ibanez was made by the same manufacturer.