Acoustic El Degas made in Japan

[Yumadakota]

I don't seem to be able to find any information on my guitar. I purchased it in 1976. The label inside shows model MT14R made in Japan. Model does not show on any search.

[charles]

MT models are copies of Martin acoustics.
I don't have any images of an MT14 in my archives so I'm not sure which model it replicates.

[Yumadakota]

Am I able to post a photo of my guitar?

[charles]

Yes, you first need to host your photos at an image hosting site such as Imgur or Flicker then post IMG tags in your post. (there is a handy img tag button in the post editor to help with this when you are making a post)

[Yumadakota]

[charles]

I had to monkey around a bit but managed to get the img tags working. Thanks for the photos!

With the MT series we've seen some of them as sort-of 1:1 copies of a specific Martin acoustics of the era; and some that are more "general" copies of the aesthetics and features of the Martin acoustics of the era. In this case I would make a guess that this is possibly a copy of the D-28 (dot fretboard inlays, single centre binding down the back of the guitar).

[Barry]

That's in beautiful condition and I'll bet sounds fantastic!

[Yumadakota]

Would anyone have an idea of worth on this guitar? I think I had paid about $100.00 cdn in 1976.

[charles]

Would anyone have an idea of worth on this guitar? I think I had paid about $100.00 cdn in 1976.

That is a question that becomes harder and harder to answer as time marches on.

The instruments are now getting into the 40-50 year old so the question of condition and wear becomes more and more of a variable. When you add things like the state of the economy and size of the used musical instrument market in your region, whether there are other similar models available (both, other El Degas MT's and other alternatives), etc, etc... it gets pretty tough for me here in my corner of the world to advise a price having never laid hands on your guitar.

In the end you have to ask what you think the item is worth, and hope there's someone out there willing to pay it. One day you might have someone see or strum the guitar and be willing to plonk down $600, and on another day you might have someone complain about it having only dot inlays and not be willing to budge over $150!