Brad
New member
Well, I know this is not what you asked for, but -
I have a DeArmond bass (pilot) so I will just comment on my experience with their craftsmanship.
I am a guitar player and I usually will record my own bass parts because my bass player now lives out of state. As a guitar player, I would love to own a Ricky 4001 as a bass - that bass is built for a guitar players' hands. Anyway, I got the DeArmond because it seemed like a pretty well put together instrument for the price. And it has Fender/Guild somewhere in the name, though it is probably comparable to Squiers and Epiphones. I have been pleased with the DeArmond's performance and feel. Really a solid instrument for the price. Sorry this is not exactly what you asked for, but I can only imagine that their quality crosses over to their guitars.
Brad
I have a DeArmond bass (pilot) so I will just comment on my experience with their craftsmanship.
I am a guitar player and I usually will record my own bass parts because my bass player now lives out of state. As a guitar player, I would love to own a Ricky 4001 as a bass - that bass is built for a guitar players' hands. Anyway, I got the DeArmond because it seemed like a pretty well put together instrument for the price. And it has Fender/Guild somewhere in the name, though it is probably comparable to Squiers and Epiphones. I have been pleased with the DeArmond's performance and feel. Really a solid instrument for the price. Sorry this is not exactly what you asked for, but I can only imagine that their quality crosses over to their guitars.
Brad
hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
Buy a used Guild or Fender for the same price you would spend for a new DeArmond.
getuhgrip
Bring Back Transfat!
A guy I work with has one, and a semi-hollow. The 155 sounds kinda like an Epi Dot but a little fuller, less twangy. Prettier peice, too, I think. The semi-hollow Starfire sounded and played like a Casino. I don't have a need for a bluesy guitar, but I had fun playing a Starfire(?) with the vibrato at a pawnshop last month.
faithmonster
New member
neat l'il axe.
I have a De Armond Ashbory - it's a really cool little bass- 18"
scale, silicone rubber strings, and sound like you won't believe.
De Armonds are well made guitars too- I'd love to own a Starfire.
Faithmonster
I have a De Armond Ashbory - it's a really cool little bass- 18"
scale, silicone rubber strings, and sound like you won't believe.
De Armonds are well made guitars too- I'd love to own a Starfire.
Faithmonster
O
Organ Grinder
New member
I own a hollowbody Starfire Special and I friggin' love it! Guild is not worth the money for the quality you get out of the D'Armond. It sounds great thru a Fender Deluxe amp, and is the perfect rythm guitar for my band (the other guitarist plays a strat). I also own a strat and hardly ever play it any more. The Special is euipped with single coil pickups, but the hollow body warms up the tone very nicely.
FYI, Sam Ash is running a blowout on this very fine guitar - $299. (I paid over $600 for mine). Print the page and run, don't walk, to Guitar Center, where you will make some sales guy very unhappy.
FYI, Sam Ash is running a blowout on this very fine guitar - $299. (I paid over $600 for mine). Print the page and run, don't walk, to Guitar Center, where you will make some sales guy very unhappy.
amonte
New member
more guitar for your $'s
I have to side with orgran grinder here...for the money you can't touch the DeArmond. I see where some might think that a used Guild or Fender would get you there, but you can't get a used Guild for a few hundred bucks...
I see these things in the store all the time. They always start out with high tags, but for some reason people shy away from them. If you are thinking of getting one, hit the internet sites because guitar center will always match price. I bought an M75-T last year from GC - it was tagged at $550 and I brought it home for $350. Monday I picked up a Starfire Special that was tagged at $660 for $300! It was a steal and I can honestly say that it's my favorite guitar right now. You can't even get one on Ebay for 3 bills...and you certainly can't get a used Guild...I suppose if you have the cash for, I don't know, a 1952 Fender NoCaster Relic, then a DeArmond would be a step down. But personally, I think they are unmatched in quality, workmanship and sound for the dollar.
Both the Starfire Special and the M75-T have the DeArmond 2K pickups (which Fender also offers on their Tele Sonic model telecaster) - they are great for getting a crunch sound at the bridge. Both pickups together give you a Gretsch-type tone (in my opinion) and the neck pickup gives you a warm jazz tone. When I plug this thing into a POD (set to a 65 Vox AC 30) and then into the power amp in of my Fender Deluxe, it's like time travel.
I have to side with orgran grinder here...for the money you can't touch the DeArmond. I see where some might think that a used Guild or Fender would get you there, but you can't get a used Guild for a few hundred bucks...
I see these things in the store all the time. They always start out with high tags, but for some reason people shy away from them. If you are thinking of getting one, hit the internet sites because guitar center will always match price. I bought an M75-T last year from GC - it was tagged at $550 and I brought it home for $350. Monday I picked up a Starfire Special that was tagged at $660 for $300! It was a steal and I can honestly say that it's my favorite guitar right now. You can't even get one on Ebay for 3 bills...and you certainly can't get a used Guild...I suppose if you have the cash for, I don't know, a 1952 Fender NoCaster Relic, then a DeArmond would be a step down. But personally, I think they are unmatched in quality, workmanship and sound for the dollar.
Both the Starfire Special and the M75-T have the DeArmond 2K pickups (which Fender also offers on their Tele Sonic model telecaster) - they are great for getting a crunch sound at the bridge. Both pickups together give you a Gretsch-type tone (in my opinion) and the neck pickup gives you a warm jazz tone. When I plug this thing into a POD (set to a 65 Vox AC 30) and then into the power amp in of my Fender Deluxe, it's like time travel.
bongolation
New member
I've been buying and selling quality guitars for over thirty years.
The top-of-the-line DeArmonds that are being closed-out at GC and Sam Ash are superb instruments. You may read about my experiences with them on the DeArmond/Guild forum at the Fender discussion site, extensively posted under the name, "Sorehand."
The top-of-the-line DeArmonds are much better than the lower-priced models and are even produced at different factories indifferent countries. The most expensive ones are produced by Cort in Korea and wired at Fender in Corona, where most of the problems occur, such as the utterly brainless use of .022mfd capacitors on the 500K tone controls and some reported crossed wiring.
The M-77T I have is possibly the finest guitar I've ever owned and I've owned between two and three hundred, almost all Gibsons and Fenders, over the years. It's a _great_ guitar. It's what I always hoped a Les Paul would be but never was in the many examples of that guitar I've played.
I am somewhat less enthusiastic about the X-155, which is not to say that it is a bad guitar; it's not, but it doesn't get the jazzy tone one would expect from a box like this, largely due to the use of the otherwise excellent DeArmond humbucking pickups. Putting a .047mfd cap on the tone controls helps quite a bit, but the DeArmond 2K pickups would have been better choices, in my opinion.
At some of the loss-leader prices that have turned up in the past couple of months, these DeArmonds were definitely deals of a lifetime.
The top-of-the-line DeArmonds that are being closed-out at GC and Sam Ash are superb instruments. You may read about my experiences with them on the DeArmond/Guild forum at the Fender discussion site, extensively posted under the name, "Sorehand."
The top-of-the-line DeArmonds are much better than the lower-priced models and are even produced at different factories indifferent countries. The most expensive ones are produced by Cort in Korea and wired at Fender in Corona, where most of the problems occur, such as the utterly brainless use of .022mfd capacitors on the 500K tone controls and some reported crossed wiring.
The M-77T I have is possibly the finest guitar I've ever owned and I've owned between two and three hundred, almost all Gibsons and Fenders, over the years. It's a _great_ guitar. It's what I always hoped a Les Paul would be but never was in the many examples of that guitar I've played.
I am somewhat less enthusiastic about the X-155, which is not to say that it is a bad guitar; it's not, but it doesn't get the jazzy tone one would expect from a box like this, largely due to the use of the otherwise excellent DeArmond humbucking pickups. Putting a .047mfd cap on the tone controls helps quite a bit, but the DeArmond 2K pickups would have been better choices, in my opinion.
At some of the loss-leader prices that have turned up in the past couple of months, these DeArmonds were definitely deals of a lifetime.
bongolation
New member
bongolation said:
Addendum:
The Fender list prices on the DeArmonds are not out of line, nor are they hyped-up, but the below-cost dumping of the high-end models through discount chains are _really_ something.
To be specific, last Memorial Day I went to an invitation-only early morning sale at Guitar Center and got the $1000 M-77T for $199.99 and the $1099 X-155 for $240.00, in matching black. Both of these instruments had _perfect_ QC, with the exception of the poor choice of tone capacitors made at Fender. These had been selling at the standard GC 60% of list up through the day before. SamAsh.Com's sale on the DeArmonds is almost as good, though I do not believe they have these particular models.
There is another national GC sale on Wednesday morning. If you got the invitation, show up early. You may see some deals again.
hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
Mass produced $1000.00 guitars for $199.00. That says it all. The message is: Don't buy DeArmond.
hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
Bongolation is a conspiring, shithead trying to create an imaginary market for old, shitty, fucked up, worthless guitars.
Don't buy DeArmond. Don't pay any more than $1000.00 for an old guitar.
Don't buy DeArmond. Don't pay any more than $1000.00 for an old guitar.
amonte
New member
you lost me with that one...
not sure what that last post meant. So you have a problem with getting a quality guitar at a good price? What exactly is your problem with these guitars? First you say don't buy DeArmond, then you say don't buy any guitar for over a $1000. OK - you find me a hollowbody guitar as good as the Starfire Special for 3 bills.
Or maybe you work for Epiphone?
not sure what that last post meant. So you have a problem with getting a quality guitar at a good price? What exactly is your problem with these guitars? First you say don't buy DeArmond, then you say don't buy any guitar for over a $1000. OK - you find me a hollowbody guitar as good as the Starfire Special for 3 bills.
Or maybe you work for Epiphone?
bongolation
New member
hixmix said:
What brought this incoherent rant on?
I don't set the market for anything and I don't even sell guitars anymore. Nobody has been more vocal about the idiocy of current astronomical prices for vintage instruments than I have.
I _do_ know guitars, however, and the top-of-the line DeArmonds being closed out now due to DeArmond's coming demise are exceptional values.
Get a grip or sober up or whatever.
hixmix
Halibut, North Dakota
I was just being a shithead. I'd just hate to go out and scarf up a two hundred dollar DeArmond and have it be worth only one hundred next week.
getuhgrip
Bring Back Transfat!
Troublemaker! Hix, take yur sorry ass to Texarkana and start walkin' down hwy59 and think about how onery you been. Don't stop til ya git ta Houston, don't hitch-hike and don't talk ta nobody! That'll fix ya!