Can someone tell me some info about my El Degas bass?

[Necrobassist9]

Hi guys, im new here and i have an old El Degas bass. The problem is i have no information about it since it has no serial number to be seen or found ( i have taken the neck off before) and i would just like to know some information about it, like what years it may have been made from and its model etc.. my dad bought it for me 5 years ago (from a pawn store) as my first instrument and i fell in love with it and playing music, and have since acquired three guitars and another two basses and a drum kit as well. I have no info on this bass at all and any would be great! Thanks guys, the link is here and goes to my photo bucket album of this bass. http://s1057.photobucket.com/albums/t389/Necrobassist9 thank you for your time and i hope to gain some information on my first bass! I play death metal and for a non brand name bass it holds up very well to my style of playing.

[charles]

Hey there, your bass is a later 80's MIK (Made in Korea) model that emulates a Fender P-J bass (both Precision & Jazz pickups).

Interesting that it has two Jazz style pickups in the bridge position - that bass must really have a lot of growl in the bridge pup position!

El Degas instruments in the 80's are well-suited to metal - they were conceived in the glam-metal/hair-metal days but they are well suited to any metal, in my opinion.

Thanks for sharing!

[Necrobassist9]

Thanks a lot charles! I enjoy your forum and enjoy that you took the time to reply to my post with info and yes you are quite right it has a mean tone when put throuh the right amplifiers, i find that i have to crank the volume for this bass more then my others but thats not a big deal. It is also pretty cool to learn that my first bass is older than i am haha. I sold it to a pawnshop about a year ago to finance for a bc rich warbeast, and just several months ago i ran into my bass in the same pawn shop, i know its the same bass due to the fact that i put my silver jackson knobs on it. ( dont worry im never gonna sell her again )When i got it back i was compelled to find some info out about it and i thank you for telling its where abouts and its model. I noticed a lot of the other similar basses i have seen of this model only have the middle pick ups and not the bridge pick ups, is this an uncommon trait? Also i was wondering if its common for El Degas to produce guitars with no serial numbers? Even on low low quality guitars i have found serial numbers. Thanks a lot guys!

[Necrobassist9]

And as for El Degas making great guitars for metal i would have to agree, ive never played another El Degas but my buddy has a Washburn bass (similar specs) and it plays no where near the quality as my El Degas, i learned my first sweeps and arpeggios on this bass and ever since then ive been pre dominantly playing death metal. Although i was in a jazz band for sometime this was the bass i played with them since my Warbeast doesnt look as natural playing in a jazz band and also the El Degas has a bit more “pop“ to its sound where as my Warbeast is pure bottom end. Either way its an amazing bass and im glad its back safe and sound with me. Thank you all for your time ( i know im rambling on but i cant help spewing my thought about music and instruments)

[charles]

Your configuration isn't totally uncommon, but you do often find that there do tend to be more straight Precision-copy basses out there. When you get to the later 80s MIK models the configurations were more in line with the hair-metal and shredder configurations so you see more Superstrats and P-J basses when in the 70's it was more about straight-up Strats and Precision basses and Les Pauls (there were a mix of all of them in the 80's but the consumer really was demanding the pointy hair-metal stuff).

Even when El Degas did use serial numbers (on the earlier MIJ models) they don't really mean anything. There is no surviving info on the serial numbering so we aren't able to glean any info from them. I'm speculating here, but I think the parent companies behind El Degas flew a bit fast and loose because it was all about getting the product in and on the shelves and moving some product.

[Necrobassist9]

Well thanks a lot for all the info Charles! Its nice to know at least a bit of history about it, it does make sense that they were aiming for the hair metal sound in the 80‘s, nearly every other guitar company went through the same phase. And with no records of them being produced theres no real way to know how many were made in a certain period of time. ( i would assume) Anyways its been a great bass to me, and i will keep my eye out for any other El Degas guitars or basses i can find. Thanks for all the info and your time, i will come back for more if i have any further questions or info!

[charles]

Glad to help