El Degas Studio - Good?

[fuzzy]

Well, here I come to the only reputable source of El Degas information, with some questions about a late 70's El Degas Studio. I can't seem to find any concrete info on it, so hopefully you guys can help.

A gentleman in my town has a "late 70's El Degas Studio" in "spectacular shape, near new", and he would be willing to sell it to me. Now, he has sent me some pictures of the guitar, but I won't post his (not my pictures to post) so I will give you a Google image so you know what I'm looking at:



Now, from what tidbits I can find, it's supposed to be MIJ, maple/ash body, decent pickups (Dimarzio's?), with decent pots and switches. So if anybody can clarify that info, that would be awesome. Are they a desirable ED? I couldnt find any posted on here. From what I hear, they play quite nice. In any case, I will be going to look at it; any chance to finally add a second ED to my collection is a good chance indeed, and will report back whether I buy it or not.

He is asking me to give him an offer. I imagine 400 would be a decent offer IF it's as mint as he says, and if the OHSC is good as well.

Thanks guys

[charles]

I think they are really neat. However, do be aware there are a few different levels of quality in this model - I've seen bolt-on and neck-thru versions of the 6-string.

I had a bolt-on where I think it was all maple with the different woods being faked with selective stain coverage. My current neck-thru has the different body woods, which appears to be, from wing to wing: ash-maple-walnut-maple-ash.

As a general opinion, I think 70's Dimarzio Super Distortions are neat pickups that are well-suited for some scenarios, but are sometimes too hot for what I want to do with them. They have a LOT of output.

Unfortunately, the neck-thru I own of this model is not played hardly at all, because I need to put pickups in it (a casualty of me having so many guitars is that stuff like that sometimes gets ignored ). The action is sublime - super low and feels really smooth & slinky. I really need to get it up and running. I think the neck-thru model is worth owning, but remember these are 30-40 years old so your mileage may vary.

Let us know if you end up buying it!

[Barry]

Should be a good little player, with a typical Japanese quality build (Greco?). I don't think you'd go too far wrong if you pick it up.

[fuzzy]

Sadly, the deal did not come through! Such a shame, as I really fell in love with the design. Oh well, until next time! Thanks for the help, fellas!

[charles]

Sad to hear that. Hopefully you'll find another for sale in the future - they do seem to come up for sale here and there.