Les Paul Custom Copy

[Commy]

Greetings,

I just joined the group in that yesterday I purchased a black El Degas Les Paul Custom guitar at a Goodwill store in London Ontario. I payed $120.00 for it and immediately brought it to a luthier to be tweaked from top to bottom. It says 'Made in Japan' on the neck plate. There was no date or model number evident upon removing said plate. Further investigation into El Degas has informed me that there is not a great deal of information re. the company and the guitars that were manufactured by it.

Based on what I have learned via the net my model was possibly manufactured in the early to mid 70's. Upon the luthier taking the neck off he was amazed at how well constructed the guitar is.

I'm thrilled about my purchase and can't wait to get it back after being set up.

If anyone can inform me as to any further history/information on my new axe it would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Commy

[Barry]

Hi Commy and welcome here.
Sounds like you picked up a good quality LP copy and yes, the better quality El Degas's were made in Japan, some possibly by Matsumoku. The El Degas brand was a "white label" and the instruments sold under that label were sourced from more than one supplier, and later on from more than one country. The better quality instruments were made in the 70's and were of Japanese origin. Your luthier confirmed as much.
Speaking of which, why was the neck removed in the first place?? Was there something wrong?

Spend some time searching the posts here for more examples, pictures and info.
Meantime let's see some pictures!

[Commy]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for the response and welcome.

The luthier noticed a slight bend in the neck and said that he was going to apply some heat in an attempt to straighten the neck. He said he wanted to do this before working the truss rod.

I appreciate your sharing the information about the guitar.

Can you tell me more about Matsumoku?

I will post some photos upon the return of the new axe.

Thanks again,

Commy

[Barry]

By "bend" I presume you mean a twist in the neck? That's not good, but depending on how bad it is, it's not fatal. If you mean a curve or bow, then perhaps the neck has taken a set over time from too much tension in a poorly controlled humidity condition. In that case yes, gentle steaming will normally restore moisture to the wood and allow it to flex easily when the truss rod is adjusted.

As I said, the manufacture of el Degas instruments and the quality varied quite a bit, and it's pure speculation on our part as to who made the "good" MIJ copies. Some of the LP's in particular look very much like they could have been made by Matsumoku, others possibly by Fuji Gen Gakki.

Matsumoku and it's associated companies has a reputation for making outstanding instruments. Originally they were copies of American classics, but later, the Westone and Aria Pro II lines developed many original and innovative designs. Mats also produced Univox and Electra and even Epiphone at one point. You can read a lot about Mats guitars in several places on the 'net but you'll find the most accurate information at http://www.westone.info and http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html

[charles]

Hopefully the neck issues will be solved by your luthier. You paid roughly the "going rate" for a bolt-on LP copy in my opinion. They tend to be in the 150-250 range most of the time. If it becomes a good little player then it's definitely a good buy.

As Barry has linked there are some great sites for Matsumoku info - not all ED guitars were made by them, but certainly some were.