Dad's elDegas

[Stndbck]

Hi all... my Dad owns a guitar that has the el Degas imprint on the head and label. He bought it back in the 70's. It is a dreadnought style acoustic. If I post some pics, can someone give me any ideas on what it might be worth? It has not been played for years.

[charles]

Definitely post some pics and we'll give you an opinion on it.

[Barry]

It's interesting to see so many new forum members lately who have been given or have inherited their El Degas from Fathers, Uncles, Grandads, etc.
The first reaction always seems to be, "what's it worth?". Then, once they understand the quality and the history of the instrument it's even nicer to see that so many are keeping it rather than selling.

This brand has been an integral part of a lot of players' lives, who like me, bought it as a cheap knock about guitar, then realized later just how special they were. It's comforting to think that many have now become family heirlooms. Great quality, great value, and now great memories.

(Geez Charles, I'm getting old.)

[charles]

(Geez Charles, I'm getting old.)

You said it, not me!

[mikedem]

there does seem to be a lot of El Degas's popping up lately. 3 at least on the used sites in the past while. I wonder if people are finding them stored away and then googling them and find this site and then realize they have something good on their hands?

[charles]

Hard to say - a year ago there were lots on the used sites, and even the last few months have led to a fair amount - the recession has been hitting some folks and they have been selling what they can

Ebb and flow.

[mikedem]

true but now when you google El Degas there is a lot of links to this site where in the past it was a bit of a black hole.

[charles]

true but now when you google El Degas there is a lot of links to this site where in the past it was a bit of a black hole.

Yup, but that was the goal for the site. Of course that goal had me actually having the rest of the site done as well but this forum was a great start.

It's also why I try not to talk the guitars up too much. In my travels I've come across some great EDs, some okay but playable EDs, and some really crappy EDs. They are not all generally superb, nor are they all generally lemons. I've just been fortunate to have been able to whittle my stable down to the ones I like the best (or plan to put a good amount of work into ).

I'll bet there will be a good crop of El Degas for sale in the used market in the future. The 70's MIJ market in general experienced a real "bloom" of demand in the last couple of years and supply followed... now the supply has slowed but I bet the future will have some of these folks sending these guitars to new homes when the next big thing crops up or they get their hands on some really nice newer guitars and have to lighten the load.