eldegas.com

Ok , so I am still waiting for the gold keystone tuners from GFS but I wanted to get started getting my baby back to the way she was when I got it in '84.
I removed the Dimarzio and installed a GFS Crunch PAT. Ironically the resistance on them were very close. The 20 something year old Dimarzio was 13.5K and the GFS was 12K.
They gave me a new plastic ring with the pickup but I decided to re-use the old metal one with all the wear and tear marks on it
I also replaced the tone pot with a push/pull and tapped the new coil. I doubt I really needed that but since the cost of a new pot was $10 and I had the whole thing apart - why not.

Anyways, back together , plugged it in and I like what I hear. Not as crunchy as the Dimarzio which is what I was after. Still not as mellow as the neck pickup but very close to what I remember it used to be like.
Next is the tuners and I cannot find for the life of me someone in Ottawa can can print/paint/screen me the logo back on??? Maybe it's too small a job but nobody seems interested.








Hey on a side note - here is a picture of the bridge with.....OMG writing on it Typo and ALL LOL. You think this is original . So unlike El Degas to put anything on there guitars

VERY nice my friend...Out of curiosity, how are the stock pups? I am looking to buy one, and seems like almost EVERYONE changes the bridge pickup to a "zebra" style, uncovered humbucker...Like you did...

Nice work!

the original bridge pickup ended up in a land fill sometime around 1989. I don't feel to bad though as it was shot - This GFS crunchy PAT is very similar to what was in it, a little built more crunch/treble. And that pickup is only $26!!!!!!! The original neck pickup is awesome. Compared to a new $900 Epiphone , well there is no comparison , the neck pup is unbelievable. I should record it and post it but then you would all find out how poorly I play.

mikedem wrote:the original bridge pickup ended up in a land fill sometime around 1989. I don't feel to bad though as it was shot - This GFS crunchy PAT is very similar to what was in it, a little built more crunch/treble. And that pickup is only $26!!!!!!! The original neck pickup is awesome. Compared to a new $900 Epiphone , well there is no comparison , the neck pup is unbelievable. I should record it and post it but then you would all find out how poorly I play.

Haha, oh no dude, I don't critisize playing...Not at all...If you would like to, that would be great!

I'm the last guy to criticize playing - if I posted a clip you'd all say "and you have so many guitars.... why?"

I wouldn't sweat the logo too much - you know what you have, and "El Degas" isn't exactly seen as a prestige name in the guitar world... when it's recognized at all!

charles wrote:I'm the last guy to criticize playing - if I posted a clip you'd all say "and you have so many guitars.... why?"

I wouldn't sweat the logo too much - you know what you have, and "El Degas" isn't exactly seen as a prestige name in the guitar world... when it's recognized at all!

I know , but when I get something in my head.......well you know how it is.

I definitely understand - I'm not sure how the guy did my ED decal on my black Tele Custom. I believe it was a waterslide decal but I do not know if he printed it himself with something you can just buy at Staples or if he farmed it out to a printer.

Ok , decided to try and record via my Digitech RP-150 and give you an idea of how these pickups sound.
Again - excuse the playing , I was just trying to record some sound. Funny how when you press the record button you all of a sudden forget everything
I didn't edit anything so it's raw....

GFS Crunchy PAT bridge blues tone - http://www.MegaShare.com/1648956
GFS Crunchy PAT bridge heavy 80's- http://www.MegaShare.com/1648963
GFS Crunchy PAT coil tapped bridge - http://www.MegaShare.com/1648967
GFS Crunchy PAT crunch - http://www.MegaShare.com/1648969
GFS Crunchy PAT bridge clean - http://www.MegaShare.com/1648970

and the original neck pickup
Original eldegas neck clean - http://www.MegaShare.com/1648974
orig eldegas neck blues tone - http://www.MegaShare.com/1648975

Thanks for sharing!

The crunch tone sounds pretty darn nice.

I'm pretty happy with it. I actually like the tapped sound now too. If you use that blues tone you can get a nice SRV sound with a LP.

mikedem wrote: I also replaced the tone pot with a push/pull and tapped the new coil.

nice fix-up - I'm currently upgrading an old MIJ LP with push-pulls - where did you get yours from?

The dpdt 500k pots I recently picked up are from Alpha - their diameters are a bit skinnier than the original mounting holes
(stop snickering )

It's been a real pain in the arse to source parts - for instance I've had to cannabilize/hybridize 500k dpdt's with 1Meg Audio mini pots (9mm shafts) just to get the set up I'm looking for.

Where have you been looking for parts?

Between GuitarFetish (GFS), AllParts, WD Music, AZ Guitar Parts, and Guitar Parts Resource, I usually find everything I need.

charles wrote:Where have you been looking for parts?

Between GuitarFetish (GFS), AllParts, WD Music, AZ Guitar Parts, and Guitar Parts Resource, I usually find everything I need.

Mostly I've been going direct thru Mouser and Alpha - to avoid the middle man and save cost (most of the providers above get their stuff from Alpha or Mouser).
However, to get the right shaft length/resistance/etc I had to buy off of ebay, and even then it was an Alpha product that wasn't in their catalogue (weird?)
here's a fewo websites I've found for good electronic parts, reliable service and cheap prices

http://www.tedweber.com/

http://www.mouser.com/

http://www.action-electronics.com/index.htm

Stewmac, GFS, Allparts don't carry 1Meg dpdt pots - even Mouser doesn't have 'em.
AZ guitar looks like they have the kind of dpdt pots I'm looking for, physical dimension wise - but still only up to 500K ohm.
GPR has 1meg'rs but solid shaft only, and it's too short to begin with. (a good candidate for cannabilization, tho )

here's an exploded pic of what I've had to do to rebuild 'em (clearly there's no 'warranty' by doing this )
I bought 1Meg Audio mini pots and 500K dpdt (mini) pots, pulled them apart and just switched the resisters around.

(for the record - A1M = Audio taper, 1 Mega Ohm, B1M = Linear taper, 1 Mega Ohm)

You're definitely more electronically-minded than I am, for sure. Hats off to you.

charles wrote:You're definitely more electronically-minded than I am, for sure. Hats off to you.

..I dunno - ya know what they say about a 1000 monkeys at 1000 typewriters over a 1000 years (or some sum there-of)
sooner or later one will knock out the complete works of Shakespeare, by accident

I may be a monkey, but I'm no Bill Shakespeare that's for sure

In case anyone wants to repeat this (mis)adventure -
just take a jewelers flat head screw driver and pry up the metal taps on both sides of the pot housing. I usually pry the dpdt switch off first.
Pull the shaft upward (ie switch the dpdt up) & push back gently
baddabing - it slides apart. (& Keep some bandaids handy )

Interestingly - the brush element (the white piece in the middle) of these potentiometers is double sided - one could easily pop in another resister element for a stereo effect

Update: my apologies for thread-jacking - I'm way off the topic. my bad!