El Degas Telecaster Custom

[dancadera]

Hey y'all! First time poster.

Took a chance on this ElDegas Telecaster this weekend. The original 70's Fender Tele is one of my huge wants due to it being Daniel Ash from Bauhaus go-to during their peak years (I also am rockin' the Ash style H|H amp). I know it's not a typical popular Tele but weird instruments for weird players right?

I read everything I could on this forum, and what I could find online about it. As seems typical with this brand, very little info. I'm in Canada, the guy who sold it to me said the thing about how it was made in Japan by Ibanez. Reading here it seems like there was no way to know that for sure. The Ibanez Teles in this style have string guides in back, which this doesn't. There's only one string tree on the head which also doesn't match with Ibanez or Greco.

The owner swapped out the tuning keys for fenders and swapped in a Suhr vintage bridge pickup. Not sure what year exactly, saw it listed in the '79 catalog but it was just a thumbnail. Wasn't in the 1980.

Any info anyone has beyond that, I'd love to hear or your impressions of this guitar if you've had experience. I have to say I personally really like it a lot in my limited time with it. I wonder how it would compare to and actual Fender Tele of the time as they were supposedly going through a cost cutting cheapening at Fender themselves.

Thanks!

[Barry]

Hello and welcome here. Nice to see another Canuck!

I don't have any direct experience with the Tele versions except to note that "Ibanez" is a brand name not a manufacturer.
The Ibanez name belongs to Hoshino Gakki of Japan who would have been the builder if in fact this can be attributed to them in the first place (not corroborated as far as I know).

From your reading in this Forum you are no doubt aware that el Degas was a "fluid" private white label that originally filled it's orders from various Japanese makers of the day the identity of which is tenuous at best.

We have tentatively identified Greco, Chusin, and even Matsumoku as very likely contributors but alas, no coherent serial numbering has been discovered that would accurately date the instruments much less confirm the maker. So it's a toss up.
But it's safe to say that the MIJ el Degas instruments are, generally speaking, excellent quality, as are the Korean versions.

It looks like you attempted to post an image but I am not seeing anything. Pictures might help narrow it down for someone with better knowledge about the Tele's than I.

Meantime it looks like the changes made to her are good ones, and more important, you like the way it plays and sounds!
In the end that's all that matters eh?

[dancadera]

Thanks Barry! Appreciate the response, I fixed that broken image.

The strangest thing about this guitar is that there aren't any string guides in the back as where what MIJ images I could find all seemed to have them. I couldn't find all the ones you listed though.

[Barry]

I'm not sure what you mean by "string guides in the back".
I assume that you are referring to the back of the head stock?

In any case there would not be anything like a string guide there, the strings are on the other side eh?!

I think what you're describing is a simple clamping bar which holds 2 hex head wrenches by means of thumb screws, a larger one for the truss rod adjustment and a smaller one for the saddles.

It was very common for many builders to include this nice feature for a period of time. Matsumoku for example did this in the late 70's to early 80's on many of their brands, especially Aria Pro II and Westone.
Have a look at my Westone Spectrum SX :

Sloppy owners quickly lost the wrenches however leaving just the bar, and increasing labour costs forced builders to discontinue including them. I don't think focusing on this element is helpful in trying to identify what you have. It really is an incidental detail.

The back of the guitar is not very helpful for anyone trying to identify this instrument. How about some front views and closeups? No guarantees but that will give folks a better chance to comment.

[Barry]

Ah-h-h, just saw the updated image in your first post, thanks.
That looks to be in beautiful shape! And it has the ash tray bridge cover too! Sweet.

I'm not a Fender expert but I would say this looks to be a copy of the Tele Custom? The neck pup is a wide range design which should give you really nice tonal options. And I'm assuming the bridge replacement is top notch too!

Now, as a further comment on your reference to "string guides" on the back, did you mean the string ferrules on the back of the body?
That would be a string thru bridge design as opposed to a top loading bridge. Those are I guess, technically, guides through the body to the bridge, but their purpose is to anchor the strings and create greater downward pull on the bridge which in turn can improve sustain.

This feature is generally found on more "deluxe" builds as more labour and parts are required. Personally, for my playing I don't find a tremendous difference between the two. But then I'm not a lead player. YMMV.

Again I would say that this would not necessarily be an identifying feature linked to any one manufacturer, and so again great to have, but incidental.

[dancadera]

Now, as a further comment on your reference to "string guides" on the back, did you mean the string ferrules on the back of the body?
That would be a string thru bridge design as opposed to a top loading bridge. Those are I guess, technically, guides through the body to the bridge, but their purpose is to anchor the strings and create greater downward pull on the bridge which in turn can improve sustain.

Yeah, sorry I didn't know what that was called exactly and the dude who sold it to me called it a string guide. My bad. String ferrules is what I was referring to (learn something everyday!)

The only reason I bring it up was if there was one particular manufacturer didn't have them it could have been a clue as to who the manufacturer might have been.