eldegas bass guitar

[Wet..Paint]

hey guys, was trying to sell my bass guitar i had for quite a few years now, it was given to me by my dad... and i know nothing about it... but from talkin to people who have came to look at it, it seems to be only worth around 200 bucks, so im gonna keep it for that.. so can anyone tell me anything about what i have? im probably gonna end up painting something cool on it (i paint cars at an autobody shop for a living) and hangin it on the wall...

anyways, heres some pics, all i know is that it was made in japan..

[charles]

That's a copy of a Fender Precision bass. Under the pickup cover may or may not be Dimarzio pickups (quite often these had them). I love it when they still have the pickup and bridge covers on them.

I have two El Degas Precision bass copies and I like them very much - I find Precision-style basses very playable and great-sounding.

The going rate for these tends to be about $100 - 200 depending on condition.

If you do end up painting it, please post some 'after' pics

[Barry]

Hi wet and welcome.
Charles is the bass expert and he's told you how good your instrument is. As he says the resale value isn't that great. That's mainly because the brand is only known to a relative small number of happy collectors and so doesn't command the higher prices of the big names. Good for buyers, not so much for sellers!

From a collector's point of view you appear to have a complete original instrument, and it would be a shame to "customize" it because it would then be virtually worthless. My advice is, if you just want something to hang on the wall, pick up any old interesting looking guitar off Kijiji or Craigslist and go nuts. Keep your Dad's bass as it is. I have a feeling you might regret it later if you deface it.

[charles]

The lack of value on the Precision model has as much or more to do with the ease of finding all manner of Precision (real and copy) basses at every price point and configuration in the bass word, as it does with it being an off-brand. Just the way it is - the Precision is arguably the most widely-available (and most used) bass style.

Personally, I don't see as much of a problem with customization and modification as Barry - I defretted my second ED Precision copy and took much of the resale value with it, but it now serves to scratch my defretted bass itch. The only thing that makes me sad is instruments that might never be played just hanging on the wall (though when you have as many as I do, you kind of feel that it can be that way ) But, whatever floats your boat! I think a hot-rod paint job would look pretty neat.