L6S copy & other brand names used by ...

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Author Message Jon Aley Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    I just won an El Degas L6S copy on Ebay from a guy in Canada, and I was wondering if anyone knows if this is an Ibanez made guitar. I don't know of any other company that was crazy enough to copy an L6S, so I'm guessing it's Ibanez. Was El Degas a Canadian name, or maybe one of the Starfield-Ventura-Mann type names that Ibanez might have used to sneak stuff through customs when Gibson was on their back during the lawsuit years? I welcome any info I can get on this guitar. Thanks in advance to all who respond. Jon Aley JohnS Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    Jon: I don't know if this is the same el Degas but, it's listed in Guitar Stories Vol.1 as a brand name used by Buegeleisen & Jacobson (New York). St. George and Winston are other brand names used by this distributor/importer. I doesn't say which factory in Japan would have supplied the guitars. mike g. Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    Jon, I have a Gibson L6S AND an Ibanez L6S and they are both very cool as far as players go. I was wondering how "close" a copy yours is . Does it have the correct pickguard with the rotary switch? Is it a set neck? Is the headstock like the Gibson "open book" style? Lastly,how light in weight is yours? I haven't seen too many of these floating around since they didn't sell well from the start but I like both of them. Mike G. Jon Aley Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    Mike & John, Thanks for the info. The guitar is taking a while to get through customs etc. so I will report back about it when I receive it. -Jon Jon Aley Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    Mike & John, It arrived. It's OK, but doesn't hold a match to my PF300. I did confirm that this guitar was made in the Ibanez factory by the guy who runs thge vintage ibanez website. It has beautiful birdseye maple. The action needed help - the neck was shimmed too high and I brought everything down by unshimming the neck. Pickups sound pretty good, but that darn 6-way tone selector thingy has no position that ever turns off the neck position pickup. The guitar is very light, and the neck is straight and plays well. One setting sounds just like the guy in Devo (I think Bob 1 - Mothersbaugh - used it). What an obnoxious, nasally tone, but it was perfect for doing devo and that's the real reason I bought it. I was wondering how "close" a copy yours is . ***Looks identical to me except that is has a bolt on. Beautiful wood. Cheesy tuners - not the good ibanez star tuners of that era. Does it have the correct pickguard with the rotary switch? ***I'm not sure here. There's a 6-way switch there, but it is anchored to the Pickguard (I think Gibbies anchored it on the body and left a hole in their pickguard for it to go through) Is it a set neck? No, it's a bolt on Is the headstock like the Gibson "open book" style? Yes Incidentally, a local guy was selling another L6S copy on Ebay which I just picked up with the name Carlo Robelli on it (a longtime Sam Ash house brand, so Ibanez probably made her too). This one has a set neck that plays like the best LP junior neck from about 1960 - smooth, very low profile. Unfortunately its been heavily modified: Dimarzios, a 3-way mini switch in place of the Varitone, NO pickguard - and the other one doesn't fit it. This guitar is better quality overall than the first one, but the first one looks more authentic. I will gig with this one, no doubt as its a nice axe and very comfy and sounds good. Mike - Is your Ibanez L6S as nice as your Gibson? Just curious. Looking forward to hearing from you guys again. Jon mike g. Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    JON, I'll have to get back to you about how the Ibanez compares to the Gibson L6S. I'm still awaiting arrival of a few more for a better comparison. I currently have 2 of each and the results are not conclusive enough to give a fair evaluation. They also had early Bill Lawrence pickups on the Gibsons. I will say that these are very cool guitars and I can't figure out why they didn't sell more (even with Carlos Santana was endorsing them back in the mid 70's) Will update you in a few more weeks as to the pros and cons of each. Mike G. tim gueguen Posted on Friday, October 08, 2004 - 11:03 am:    El Degas instruments seem to have been primarily sold in Canada. They used to be fairly common used up here, altho' I don't see many these days. Maniac (Maniac) Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2002 - 12:27 am:    Hello again, This is WAY LATE but... I sold one of the Ibanez L6S's to a very cool guy from Toronto who drove 8 hours to get it. Now that man was on a mission ! He emailed me when he got home: "I'm home, the guitar is so good, I'm gonna be sick. Thanx a billion for giving it up, you beautiful man you. I don't see how you could have given it up" This guy is a pro player who also builds his own guitars ad in fact, he plans to build his own copy based on the Ibanez ! (You should have seen the Gibson Les Paul copy he showed me....that he made from scratch, aged and all with a big fat neck) The guitar was very,very clean and the only issue needing attention was the 6 way rotary switch that he repaired promptly by re-seating the little ball bearing on the switch. This guitar had "Super humbuckers" and really screamed. To you guys in Toronto, keep your eyes and ears open as this guitar may become available when he is done making his.....The tonal choices from it are very neat indeed. Mike G. Johns (Johns) Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2002 - 11:47 am:    Mike: "you beautiful man you" Hmmm...you're loved in 2 countries. Does this gentleman have a website where we can see his creations? Russellw (Russellw) Posted on Monday, February 11, 2002 - 1:57 am:    Hi Guys - I've just added a 2451 L6S copy to my collection - set neck, 2 super 70's - manufactured in 1977 and in pretty good condition. Awesome range of sounds from the rotary switch and an amazingly fast neck. So far I'm impressed - only non original item is a mini toggle isolation switch which I can live with. Will post a pic when I get around to taking one.

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