El-Degas Les Paul

i just bought an el degas les paul....200.00 bucks at a local pawn shop.tobacco sunburst.2 humbuckers,and a coil tap on the bridge pu....it says made in japan on the plate,,,bolt on.......i was,nt sure about the bolt on neck, sound wise,,,but it blows me away

sounds creamy and smooth at low volume,,crank it and honks with the best,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

action is a bit hi but that is easy to adjust,,finish is cool,,,plain and simple,,,tobacco sun burst

i haven,t used at a gig yet,,but i,m sure it cut it o.k.,,,i play a lot of slide guitar and it will be great...

i.ve been playing for many years and i think i will buy another when i find one,,,ti,s not the holy grail of guitars but for 200.00,,,it is a very good guitar.....shame on gibson for chargeing sooooooo much.....but these and others are out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!! rock on!!!!!!

My guitAR WAS MADE IN 1978, jAPAN, RUNS GREAT, FEATURE ARE PRETTY GOOD

This is the only electric guitar I own and it runs great, the sound on it is awsome especially with boss metal zone in marshall amp, Those are pretty goood for stock pickups of the age they are

The guitar body job is just wearing out ther are scartches evrywhere dents quite easily the white trim is yellowing over time

I own quite a bit of other guitars and this is the one that plays best but for the smouthness of the neck it isn't the best If you can find one get one black ones are quite nice looking

Made in Korea, I purchased my El Degas Les Paul replica about 5 years ago. I bought it for 100 bucks Canadian from my brother in law who just quit playing in a punk band.....Body, Black with white pinstriping aroung the edges(pinstriping is yellowing slowly with age. Dual humbuckers ( have removed the neck pickup and replaced it with a Semour Duncan _George Lynch screamin demon. I like the original pickups i was just looking for different tone.The duncan works great on those slow arpeggio licks and i love the overdrive feel of the original in the bridge placment. IN fact I use the original pickup more than the duncan, it seems to have more clarity or high end . Both pickups have independent tone and volume. Action is great .Body is almost immaculate with a couple of small chips on the back. Very reliable, no tremolo or locking nuts....never goes out of tune. Hardware has a brass aged colour, I am going to clean all the metalwork up later.Solid Mahogony body and neck.No bolt on here ! EL DEGAS LOGO AND GIBSON ARTWORK on headstock rosewood fretboard. with 22 frets. IF you do a google search of Les Paul Guitar and select images you will see the black guitar in front of a marshall. The only diff is mine says El DegaS...the logo is identical This guitar just feels great, I have owned many guitars, Cort Srtat , Unkown Flying V, BC Rich WORLOCK, I have a Yamaha RGX603s, HONDO SG ,3 unkown LES PAUL LIKE crappers ,etc etc...point is, THis has been the best guitar Ive played yet. Great sustain, its got lots of weight,minimal noise, Ive done some resoldering nothing major. I will keep this AX till the day i die. I suspect these are colectors items as it has great history and sounds as good as a "real" gibson....does anyone have any idea what year this model is ?

Influences, 70's early 80's metal scene, sabbath ,priest, maiden,scorpions etc.

I use a MArshall G50RCD , Korg Toneworks AX1500G effects board, Marshall compressor pedal. BOSS chorus ,Boss Heavy Metal ,BOSS Chorus DELAY.

Minimal noise, slight stativk sound when adjusting volume.

VERY FULL tones, especially with the Duncan Pickup slapped in, I still gave the original pickup and metalwork so dont get mad.

This buppy works great in regular tuning or drop D, whatever your poison this puppy delivers. Great action, Great sustain

Action is great, Pickups are solid and work great ,routing fine harware oxidized jack connector was loose replaced screw. all is good

with stands live playing. Hardware great, finish is good, strap buttons are solid, dependable, I wouldnt use any guitar at a live gig without a backup, But its very reliable if thats what you mean.

no dealings with the EL DEGAS

been playing 17 years, own westbury bass yamaha keyboard dear semi acoustic and a yamaha rgx 603,

Could never replace this guitar.

I love that it stays in tune and sings like an angel.
I hate that I dont have 2 of them

Favoutite feature, Solid body through neck mahogony 1 piece great sustain
Was fate that i stumbled apon this.

This black beauty was made in the early 1980's, probably Japan. It has the usual amount of frets, however, no wear. this guitar was babied by previous owner, whom, i'm told is a guitar tech. The body is mahogany and weighs a blue bloody ton. The electronics were replaced with Ibanes dimarzio dual sound humbuckers and a splittter switch added for even more virsitility of sound. Still has the brass bridge and nut. The nut was custom made to give that sideways eight sustain. (infinity and beyond) The finish is black with white 3 pinstripe binding. The tuning heads are gold plated replacements. Of course the guitar is a Les Paul custom two pick up El Degas I bought in Toronto Canada for $495.00 cdn. The neck is like the club you would expect from a Gibson and commands fast playing, whether you can or not. It came with a chincy case of cardboard that I immediatly replaced with a hardshell case for $65.00 cdn. This baby rocks.

Since I am a drummer at heart, this guitar suits me perfectly for those intricate speedy rhythms that I do. I can't turn my amp past 1/2 of 1 on the upper settting of the pick up selector (lead) but the rhythm settting is way low. When I use the splittter switch, i get a tapping static sound that is hardly noticeable at louder volumes. Because of the nature of the electronics, I get a great set of sounds, from superbly clean to get down raunchy. This guitar can beat up any real Gibson any day dude. The one thing I don't like about it, is I can't play as gast as the neck wants me to. oooh la la !

I'm sure the factory set it up fine, but the previous owner made this baby his own. I can't explain the magic in this guitar, but I can feel it. The bottom cutaway had a small section of exposed wood, which is why I know it's mahogany. The head stock had wear around the top front. My friend Woody filled in the damage to protect the wood from moisture and give it that all black look it had when it left the factory. The area around the pick ups is raised, as the wood must have been carved that way to give it the true custom look. The action is like cutttting through butta'.

This baby does it all. Live, studio, rehearsal, you name it. I would however use a back up because I can't change strings fast enough if I break one. This thing is a tank.

I think if I took it to Ibanez, they might help me, for a fee. Perhaps it is not well known that the El Degas company was sued by Gibson because their copies were so good, Gibson couldn't stand the competition, or, the potential thereof. Maybe I should take it to Gibson if I need something done. Perhaps they will give me a discount on repairs for the recouping of legal fees for the company they closed down. (non of the above statements may be true, but it makes a good story)

I have been playing approx. 25 years. I own a fender deluxe 85 amp, ibanez acoustic , epiphone strat , sparling and maurice trainor yvm 10 4 channel mixer, 5 piece pearl drum kit circa 1975, tamma floor tom, lp percussion bongos, cb percussion tenor tom, slingerland snare drum, westbury snare drum , adc 16 band equalizer, the list goes on. If it were stolen, I doubt I could find another, so I'd have to bite the dust and probably would have to settle for a gibson. oh well. I love the look man. OOOOOOHHHHHH, it's indescribable. shiny and pretty. I compared it to other guitars , such as fenders,i don't like the sound or the necks. I tried the epiphone version, pleeecchhhhh. I chose this one because it is the bently of the guitar copy world. Could not find anything that even came close. Not even for $5000.00 dollars U.S. funds. This baby kicks ass !!!!! I wish this guitar had a third pick up just so I could have 2 times infinity of sound and fun. Besides that little nagging voice that tells me you guys don't believe me, theres not much more to tell realy, except that, if you find an El Degas Les Paul copy in the mud someday, treat it with love and it will love you back.

Bought used in 1973 for $100.
Solid body Dark Chocolate Brown with White (cream) piping.
2 Pick ups not identified, solid black encased.
phase shifter.
Tune-O-Matic Bridge.
Non-locking tuners.
gig-bag

Love the sound!
Blues is crisp.
Used an old SEARS SILVERTONE tube amp 500 watts.
MONSTER SOUND.
Now using Korg amp.

Action fast and easy.
Fret board is now worn which speeds the action more

Solid!

Novice player when purchased.
Played off and on for 20 years.

This is an El Degas Goldtop Les Paul. The chrome neck plate on the back says "made in Japan" and l am guessing that it is from the late 70's. lt has 2 Humbuckers in it with a coil tap. Now l did buy this used, but it has Dimarzios in it. As far as l know they used their own pick ups in their guitars. As everyone else has said in the review, the body woods are unknown. Rating for features is based on the way l got it with the modifications.

l had on of these in High School 10 years ago. l missed the sound and have been looking for another and lucked upon one on Ebay. l play through a Fender Twin "Red Knob" 1988 and use a POD 2.0 and a Grunge pedal for effects. l also own a Fender Telecaster Plus 1996 and a Fender Heavy Metal Strat 1990 and l have a Larrivee D- 03 acoustic.

With the Dimarzios in the Lp l can get some not bad sounds, but where this guitar really shines is when it is run through the Grunge pedal and the POD. l can duplicate a Zakk Wylde or Pantera sound with ease. She screams and sustains. lf you are into Metallica or really heavy shit, grab this. You can also get a perfect Slash- GnR solo sound on the neck position. As said before, the sound isnt to great for clean, my Tele takes care of all of my clean work and classic rock, but if you want to sound like Dimebag for under $400 grab one of these and make sure you change the pick ups with some Duncan JB's or some Dimarzio Super distortin. l rate the guitar for sound for what l use it for and that is metal and solos.

Everything is great except that the binding on the neck is shrinking a little. Built good by nips for only pennies an hour

l would always bring a back up to a gig, this guitar cant cover everything that l play, but it could take a few spills, lt is pretty solid

They were sued out of business by Gibson in the mid - late 80's . Which is too bad. 1 - because this company came incredibly close to the Gibson sound and feel with out having Gibson fuck you up the ass by charging you $2500 and up for a LP. l have owned a Gibson LP before and it did sound better clean, but cant touch the El degas distorted. Thanks to Gibson, we cant contact El Degas for further comment

l am still looking to buy a few more El Degas LP's, in the Burgandy, so if you have one for sale in good shape feel free to contact me
emmonschris@hotmail.com

I haven't the slightest idea when or where this guitar was made, but by all acounts on this site it has to be around 20-25 years old. I got it used for a good price and it is my first electric guitar. Haven't figured out if it is a solid top or not, but i think so, i plan on taking it apart in the summer. It has 4 knobs, 2 for volume, 2 for tone, a switch with 3 positions, 2 humbuckers, pearl (plastic) inlays on the kneck, the little gibson thing on the head with the ugly el degas titling. I don't know what kind of wood it is but it is heavy and of good quality, I plan on stripping it down to original colour because soemone stained it an ugly burgandy brown. Tuners are just standard. This guitar deserves a good makeover, and after its long life most certainly some upgrades.

The humbuckers on mine are pretty much garbage, but this guitar is excellent for alternative/metal, anything richer and i pick up my acoustic. The sound on this guitar is full and of good quality for a copy but if anything the pickups need a good replacing.

Excellent copy, I love it when somebody says "wow that is a gibson!" before they see the el degas name on the head. Previous owners haven't taken any care to it and i must of removed about an inch of fingerprints off of it but it is most definitly salvagable.

Just got it, very sturdy, by its looks it has been through alot.

n/a

Hey it plays, it plays well... despite the fact i thinkit is quite ugly that is nothing that can't be fixed with some clean up work. While I plan on keeping this one forever it is most definitly worth it, plus where else can you get a rich counterfeit story in a guitar?

If anyone could help me with identifying more about this guitar please send me an e-mail and i'll gladly send you a pic of it...

This guitar is about 25 years old, probably made in korea. If Korea is a world leader in anything, its not guitars, its briefs. nice cotton tighty whities - my favorite. wearing one as i speak. I should know b/c I was born there.

Standard features found on a les paul custom. It has this small toggle switch. Could be a coil splitter for the bridge pickup. But since I only use the neck pickup, I don't mind not knowing. The finish is superb.

I have two guitars, stock american strat and this one. Since I really like to solo on the neck pickup (trying to get a fat Santana'ish tone) the strat doesn't really cut it at times. These pickups, whatever they are, have no subtlety to them, IMHO they only sound good maxed to get a really driven sound. I don't see why anyone would even try to get a sweet clean sound from this guitar. The bass booms overpowering the higher strings. I only use this guitar distorted. This guitar can scream pretty good, just never ask it to gently weep or whisper (I only ask that from my strat and the latter from my wife)

Fret work is mediocre and the fingerboard construction is noticeably imperfect but sustain and overall sound is unaffected so who cares. The feel is nice - the neck lends itself to playability. Intonation was messed up, the twelve fret was almost a semitone off, but this was easliy remedied by adjusting the bridge. Electronics never have given me a problem. I don't really dabble in changing pickups and pots, etc to get a killer sound. if the guitar sounds decent, that's fine with me, ie the pickups are okay and so are the supporting pans and wires. However, the tuners are messed up. They have to be tightened ferociously in order to stay in tune. but then again I hear the same complaint by actual les paul owners. I like the brass nut.

never had a problem with it. I dropped it a few times - the floor got the worst of it.

Never needed to deal with them

If this guitar was lost or stolen, I would actually be glad in a sense. Not that I hate this guitar or I like losing things but it would help justify to my wife that i needed to buy a replacement guitar. I would buy an epiphone casino. In any case, if you can't afford a real les paul, this is the next best thing for the money - if you can find one.

Made in Korea, circa 1975. 22 semi-round frets, true Gibson Style Arch Top with two volume and two tone controls, and three-way pickup toggle up top. Two stock (unbranded) pickups. Can't be sure of the woods used, but it's solid (and heavy) like the Original Gibson Les Paul standard. All chrome hardware, burgundy finish with cream bindings. It has an after-factory mini-toggle between the top two knobs. I haven't torn open the electronics, but this switch sounds like a phase reverse for the bridge pickup.

The stock tuners are pretty worn, and feel like they went untouched for years before I picked it up, but once I set the intonation, it stays in tune surprizingly well. It is not noticeably noisy, though with my Rocktron Rampage amp, which has a built-in gain-riding circuit, the pickups can exhibit microphonic feedback even at moderate levels(more to do with the amp than this guitar.) It faithfully reproduces the familiar tones and characteristic sound of the Les Paul.

I got it used, and I had to do some basic setup on it when I got it, but it plays clean and looks beautiful.

Have gigged with it, and it appears to be reliable. As far as durability... it was in near-pristine shape when I bought it, except for a little seperation of the binding from the body along the upper inside curvature (less than a quarter of an inch of the binding had a gap between binding and body.) Otherwise, apart from the usual buckle scratches on the backside, the clearcoated burgundy finish still looks beautiful and nearly flawless. Holds a nice shine. Not bad for a 26-year old guitar.

The company is gone now, to the best of my knowledge. This is the "lawsuit" Les Paul, with identical headstock and design, and my guess is that Gibson sued them into the ground. Glad this one came off the factory floor before the doors closed!

I've been playing guitar for twenty four years, but only a couple of years ago made my foray into the electric amplified arena. I would be heartbroken if this guitar vanished... I absolutely love playing it, and I love the tone. For a guitar that looks and feels like a genuine Gibson Les Paul, but only cost a tenth of the price, there's no question--I lucked-out. Great axe. I'll be playing it for a long time to come. I did see one scathing review further up on this board, but the author gave zero specifics and clearly wasn't interested in a fair evaluation. My advice: if you can get your hands on one of these baby's for under $250, BUY IT. There will be no more made, ever. They'll go down in rock & roll history as the swetest lawsuit Les Paul knock-off ever produced.

Japanese made, 22 frets, solid top. humbucking pick-ups. maple neck. nice black finish. perfect les paul imitation(2 volume knobs and 2 tone knobs) non-locking tuning. pretty nice neck.

i love it. i play rock, alternative, whatever i want with this baby, and its all good. nice tone. pretty much the same as a gibson.

i got it used, so its got that "worn-in" look we all love. controls are in pretty good shape.

very reliable. solid. it should last awhile.

6 month warranty. i wish it was longer...

this guitar is an exact les paul copy. ive used both, and this is almost the same, except for the word gibson on it. it feels nice, and plays nice too.

korean les paul copy, closed back tuners and all gold hardware
glued in neck

lucked into one of their higher end models thru private sale, (as high end as anything korean gets) .very versatile - sounds, plays and weighs like the real thing, though pickups have been doctored.

finish crack at neck glue joint, more cosmetic blemish than anything though. built to last - 20 somethin years old and never needed any serious repair

keeps her tune, plays well - very reliable. the neck looks like it wouldn't take much of a beating, though

check out b&j music, a canadian distributer - very hard to find any other info on

in the 13 years i've been at this - this is the best guitar i've owned for the money. funny thing is - i've seen many other degas lp copys that were, at best, expensive pieces of firewood. the necks were lousy, pickups were junk - great for the beginner.
they did make a higher end model though...those are the ones to go after.

lotzs of toys
custome model, came with brass nut, all gold hardware, and p/u phase shift... mah. body with maple top

sounds as heavy as it weighs......
lots of tone and sustain.....

awesome action...

GET ONE

I bought this guitar a year ago from the other guitarist in our band, he told me he had picked it up in a pawn shop some years ago for about $300. I liked the feel of the neck, but it looked like crap because he had painted it with black latex paint and a 2in. brush, you could see the brush strokes, it was bad. So I bought ut from him for what turned out to be about $90. I took a piant removing gun (heat gun) to it, cleaned it up, redid the entire guitar from top to bottom. When I got to the electronics, I was not impressed at all, it had some Maxch (which I never heard of) pick-ups, a crappy switch, a crappy jack, really old capacitors, and bad solder joints. So I replaced the Maxch pick-ups with a DiMarzio PAF Pro (Neck), and a DiMarzio Tone Zone (Bridge), replaced the pots with brand new ones, new switch, new jack, new wires, and new capacitors. I also bought black Gibson replacement knobs. I tried Gibson replacement pick-up rings, but they did not fit, so with a little sand paper and a polishing cloth, the old ones look good as new (yes you can use sand paper on plastic). The guitar is a little heavier than the average Les Paul, but the wood is very strong and sturdy. The neck has an awesome feel to it. The frets are going to need to be replaced soon, they are worn pretty bad. The tuners look just like the old vintage Les Paul tuners, but unfortunatley, they do not hold a tune very well, so they will be replaced also. I found a manufacture date of 1974 when i was working on the guts, I believe it was probably made in Japan. I give it a 7 for features, it is a good "fix-er-upper" for someone like me who enjoys to customize.

Before I replaced everything I played it just to see what it sounded like, I already knew I was going to be customizing it, but what the hell? It actually did not sound bad, dipite what I found when I opened it up (read above), it had a decent sound to it. However, I am very picky when it comes to even my cheapest guitar, so I had to use Dimarzios, now ir sounds like a champ. For rating stock purposes, I would give it a 5, it has a good sound, but the electronics suck. Get a soldering iron and get busy!

I like a low action, i adjust it until I get fret buzz, then adjust out until the exact spot the buzz is gone, as low as i can get. This guitar has very old and worn frets so I was able to adjust very low, and I love it. The solos you can kick out with this thing are amazing. The neck is not quite as silky as my Yamaha Pacifica 112 (best neck I ever played), but it is very clean and smooth, very comparible to the real deal Les Paul. I took it down to original finish, which is very nice and in great shape. The top needed some work so I had to go all the way to the wood on the top, then repaint, but the original finish is very well done. It gets an 8 here, I love playing this guitar.

This thing would survive anything. Very solid, very sturdy. I would play an outdoor festival and stage dive with this thing and not have to worry. No back-up required. However, I usually play out with about 3 guitars, but that is because of sound, not dependability. This is a definate 10!

I never even heard of El Degas until I got that nasty latex paint off.

I have been playing for 13 years. I have several other guitars to include my prized Martin acoustic (talk about love). I really do like this guitar, it is like buying a Pinto and making it a Mustang. You can find these things cheap, rebuild it for almost nothing, and have a very dependable guitar that you do not have to protect with your life because you paid 2 or 3 grand for it. I love to customize, and this was perfect. Go get one!

1970's I beleive, korean made, bolt-on neck,Laminated top i was told, but who knows.Basic les paul setup. Looks exactly like a les paul custom- diamond inlay on headstock, gold hardware, elegant binding. Plywood body, cream finish. "clover" tuners. Nice, round, very comfortable neck.Pearl block inlays on rosewood fretboard.Came with a case, but that wont matter to you since i bought it used. Extremely heavy! plywood is heavier than mahogany but find a cheap guitar sometime and try it- its got a good, punchy sound and its damn durable!

Sounds good to me!I play punk rock, ska, and blues through a fender super 60 head(all tube) on a crate 212 celestion cab.Pickups are hot enough to drive my amp. The sound on the lead pickup doesnt have a whole lot of focus- if you strum a power chord on the top 3 strings and try to pick some high notes over it, you cant hear the high notes. Thats ok because you've got to replace the pickups on guitars like these(obscure used korean made guitars found dirt cheap on a rack) to get a good sound.The sound on all three positions is good however, i love the sound in the middle-very well rounded. i beleive when i put new pickups in this, it will prove to be a smart buy.

Plays fine in my opinion. My other guitar was a squire strat. the strat has a wider string scale i think, the les paul neck is round, not too fat. Its killin me that io cant seem to figure out which one has a fatter neck, but this neck is rounder. The action fit and finish are all perfect, but thats thanks to crackerbox. Perfect fretwork, great sturdy neck joint, can be described as bolt on but in the position of a set neck(deep cavity cut into the body where the neck is set in). The top is subtly figured but not as much as a real les paul.

This gutiar doesnt seem like it will be a problem. It has good, sturdy hardware,Nice durable finish,plus its laminate construction, making it extra durable. Has plastic saddles, so i expect the strings to live long.

this company is very out of business. companies like this come and go though.

A great guitar for the price. with new pickups it could go up against a les paul during a jam session(or maybe even with the current pickups). If it were stolen i'd never be able to find another, but i would be very pissed off.If you ever see one of these, buy it. What the hell?

its made in japan/22 frets/2 volumes/2 tone nobs/rythm duo treble switch/ H/H flamed top/ les paul look/tune o matic bridge features just like any les paul...cept theres no nut locking and the parts arnt great quality

is got an ok sound too it...i found that there was too much hum from the original pickups so i replaced the bridge pickup with a dimarzio super distortion...sounds fine now..i cant really say since i replaced a pickup

aweful action...a bit of a warp on the neck...cant be fixed threw truss rod adjustment...but with higher action it can be rid of...the finish is starting to chip but i bought it at a pawn shop so i dont know how old it is...doesnt keep in tune great either

its reliable...its the axe i use most often...besides a loose output slot and loose tuning nobs i dunno how else it would fail on me

never delt with them since i bought it at a pawn shop

i like it...its a pretty good guitar if u replace the pickups with good ones...and mayb tinker it a bit on the neck or replace the tuning nobs and chord jack...my friend said if i replace the pickups it would be valued at 500 bucks so i think thats a bargain from what i paid