Some El Degas history

Talk about and show off your El Degas instruments here.
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charles
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Some El Degas history

Post by charles »

Not sure if I posted this before, it's some info I've sent to those who've asked. Seems like a good sticky post for those interested in some history of the brand. The info presented is gathered from many sources and is believed true... but just about all the info on the guitar brand itself is pretty much lost to time and has to be gleaned bit-by-bit by those of us who love these instruments. Here goes:

The story of El Degas is that of the company that imported and sold them: El Degas is a "white label" brand name used by company called Beugeleisen & Jacobson (B&J) out of NY, NY. B&J was in the business of importing and distributing musical instruments for the Canada & US markets. El Degas instruments were primarily sold in Canada and the NE United States.

B&J was a musical instrument importer/distributor in New York, NY and was established in 1901 and were very active during the 30's and 40's; but the history of the El Degas brand is much later, late 60's into the early to mid 80's. B&J still exists today (though perhaps in name only) - sometime around the late 70's or early 80's it was acquired by Kaman Music Canada and acted as a distribution division/company. They (or at least the name) have since been acquired by Fender Musical Instruments, and I assume they will perform the same role there.

El Degas instruments (electric & acoustic) were first produced in several Japanese factories during the late 60's - late 70's / early 80's era (estimated), Sometime around the late 70's or early 80's the production moved primarily to Korean manufacturers (I believe this coincided with the Kaman acquisition of B&J) for the electrics and a mix of Korean and other manufacturing for the acoustics (instruments from Korea, Romania, and Guatemala have been spotted "in the wild"). The instruments went out of production sometime in the 1980s. In addition to electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses, other instruments were produced such as banjos, mandolins... even a few ukeleles.
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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