eldegas.com

Hello,

I have here a El Degas F190 that I have had for at least 10 years and do not know much about it, I purchased it off of craig's list. Any information would be appreciated

Thanks
Ryan



Charles aka cucky[/img]

The F- models from El Degas are early MIJ (Made in Japan) copies of Martin acoustics. The MT- prefix replaced the F- prefix on the Martin copies at some point.

Thanks Charles for the quick response, very interesting love the great sound of these guitars

Nice find...will have to keep my eyes open for one of these.

I have an acoustic model 190 manufactured June 1973 it plays and sounds great. Is this model a copy of a Martin maybe? I have been unable to find out information on this model. A value for this model would be greatly appreciated. I saw a model 180 on E-Bay asking $700 I know I didn't pay near that in the early 80's. Thanks for any help

You can see in my earlier post, you are indeed correct that these are copies of Martin acoustics.

I think the $700 eBay price you've seen is out to lunch. Value on these guitars is hard to peg down sometimes - the brand is not well known or highly regarded like other MIJ labels of that era, and these guitars are now ~40 years old so the condition can be all over the place. F- and MT- models tend to be priced anywhere between $100-500 but it's the more "deluxe" models (from what I have seen, this is made up of a sub-set of MT- models) that have more intricate inlay work and better fit & finish that command the higher selling prices. The F- models tend to be a bit more plain in comparison to these ones, but are a bit older. Your mileage will vary.

Ryan9921 wrote:Hello,

I have here a El Degas F190 that I have had for at least 10 years and do not know much about it, I purchased it off of craig's list. Any information would be appreciated

Thanks
Ryan



Charles aka cucky[/img]

Very nice. I have a basic Martin and yours is very similar.