El Degas ES copy

[LastChancers]

I bought this last summer and probably paid a bit more than I should have. But it plays like a dream and I love it. Charles, I think you posted a pic of one exactly like this.

[charles]

Yeah that looks just like mine (edit: except mine is missing the lovely pickguard). Enjoy it!

[Barry]

A very nice copy of my Gibson ES330TD which you can compare here: http://www.eldegas.com/forum/viewtopic. ... t=30#p1762.
It looks like someone has replaced the original single coil P90's with humbuckers and added a coil split. Not necessarily a bad thing but it's not the original design. I'd get rid of those knobs and put a nice set of vintage Gibson gold high hats. She'd look much Better.

[LastChancers]

Charles, thanks for all your great advice, man. And yeah, I will definetely enjoy it. Barry that is a beautiful Gibson ES-330. You should be proud. I will for sure try to replace the knobs eventually. I'm afraid I procrastinate quite a bit on these things. The guy I bought it from seemed the suggest everything was original. So the coil splitting feature being a modification is something I didn't know. Interesting.

Btw, I think this ED is more likely an ES 335 copy though because it's got that solid block center. This is what differentiates it from a 330, right? Well, whatever it is I am really digging playing it.

D.

[charles]

Actually, the Dimarzio Super Distortions and coil splitter are original. They starting doing that to pretty much all the ED's for a while. I don't know why they did it on these semi-hollows Blame Ace Frehely!

[Barry]

...Btw, I think this ED is more likely an ES 335 copy though because it's got that solid block center. This is what differentiates it from a 330, right?...

For the most part, yes. However, it should be a full solid centre not a "tone block" under the bridge area. It is somewhat unusual to see a trapeze instead of a solid stop bar on a solid core guitar, but Gibson did in fact produce that variation briefly. Most 335's have the solid stop bar, which makes sense when you think about it. Must have been an economy issue to go with a trapeze tail.

[Barry]

Geez I don't know about the coil split Charles.
I know they did that on a lot of the ED's as you say, but looking at the wiring through the F hole it looks very much like an after market mod to me, i.e., very messy connections and two distinctly different kinds of wiring. I'll concede that the Dimarzio humbuckers may be original since they were popping them into a lot of the models, but then I wonder why they were not covered? And white? Doesn't fit the style of the guitar.

[charles]

My 335 copy's wiring looks just as messy.

The cream Dimarzios stick out likea sore thumb and in my opinion are way too hot for this style of guitar... which is why mine will be making an exodus in the near future

[Barry]

...The cream Dimarzios stick out likea sore thumb and in my opinion are way too hot for this style of guitar...

That's what I was thinking too. More appropriate on an LP. Get some P90's on that thing!