My El Degas CL-41

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dta721
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Joined: Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:45 am

My El Degas CL-41

Post by dta721 »

I recently got a CL-41, classical guitar, see photos attached.
https://imgur.com/GeEt56g
https://imgur.com/reP5yih
https://imgur.com/atoz5gm
https://imgur.com/IHyX5DP
https://i.imgur.com/mx9yW7F.jpg

Can anyone provide info on this guitar? E.g. when made or on sale in Canada. as shown "distributed by B&J"? Is the soundboard (top) solid or laminated? What are the woods used for back, sides and neck?

When I bought it, the action was very low that procduces buzzes all over, especially at the 12th fret. Replace with a higher saddle, most buzzes are gone. I am not sure if the current strings are old or just not good, the treble sounds very decent, however bass is not as loud.

Any thoughts?
Thx
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charles
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Re: My El Degas CL-41

Post by charles »

That's a later MIK (Made in Korea) model, likely from the 80's or there abouts.

B&J is B&J Music of NYC; they had the guitars built by manufacturers in Asia and imported them for sale in North America. They were later bought out by Kamen Music in Canada. I think now they are owned by another company and still exist as a musical instrument distribution company. (edit: appears they are owned by "Jam Industries": http://bjmusic.ca/en/about/)

If I had to guess I'd say the top is likely a laminate, but I can't say definitively.

The sides and back appear to be mahogany?

This is a classical guitar so I am not too surprised to hear it does not have a large bass presence. However, I know next to nothing about classical guitars and classical guitar playing so I don't know if that is perfectly normal or not.
I started ElDegas.com many years ago to help celebrate and inform about El Degas instruments. It all started with a used Ric 4000 bass copy I bought in circa 2000.

El Degas stable as of 03/2022: 42 :shock: (13 bass, 26 electric, 3 acoustic)
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Barry
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Re: My El Degas CL-41

Post by Barry »

dta721 wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:04 am ...I am not sure if the current strings are old or just not good, the treble sounds very decent, however bass is not as loud.

Any thoughts?
Thx
Strings on any guitar need replacing at regular interval, but classical bass strings (E-A-D) are normally silver wound and they tarnish very quickly and go dead. Bass response is likely very minimal to begin with, but you might want to replace the set to restore the available frequency range. Don't expect a booming bottom end on a classical guitar.
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