DeArmond Jet Star Special Bass

This is just a great bass. I was suprised when I started to play it. At first it seemed like it was designed mainly for a weird look, but no. It has a great sound. As the others said, It has a split pickup on it, which in my opinion gets great sound. It has one volume and one tone, what more do you need with a single split pickup, Right? Im not to sure of the wood because i got it second hand and it is completely finished, so i can;t tell the wood. All I know is that it has a nice tone. It has a glossy black finish, over the whole thing, body, neck and the headstock! Good look, and smoother play. I like the weird body shape, it stands out from the rest, and it is also functional. It ads to the tone and sustain. My friends say it looks like they gave a drunk guy a block of wood and a hack saw, great huh. I love it!!!!(can't say that enough) I like the feel of the neck, it is thin, smooth, and long. Even though it isn't a short scale I can play faster on it than my short scale, since it has such a low action and a smooth neck.

The sound is great, wonderful, terrific, need I say more, ok I will. This bass can do it all. I am in a punk band, a praise and worship band ( softer contemporary), my schools jazz band, and I also play a little rock. It sounds great for all of them, just a little tone adjustment, usualy just needed on the bass itself. It can get a nice punchy tone, deep, or it can just be there. I am particular fond of the brightness of it, with the hint of the deepness pulling in. It has basically no extra noise, just the noise you want, amasing for simple splits. It does great everywhere, I have never had a problem with it. I have not altered it in anyway, and I still love it.

Im not sure of the factory setup, I am the second owner of this bass, which just shows what quality it is, 2 owners and not a single problem, wow what a bass. It has no flaws in it. It is perfect. It has great action, nice and low, but not so low it buzzes when you hit hard. Everything on it is easily adjusted, so the very few times I have adjusted it (I made a very big change in strings, went from light to heavy, but now I use ernie balls on it, they work great!) Even though the neck is only held on by four bolts, it still has a very solid sound, nice sustain, and no other problems that are tipical of four bolts. Like I keep saying, I was/am amased with this bass.

This thing is built like a rock, it can take a hit, and keep on going. First off, like I said before I am at least the second owner of this fine instrument, and when I got it it was perfect, no dents, or big chunks missing, but it was dirty so I polished it up. When I did this, with furnature polish I might ad, It was perfect, no scratches or anything on the body or neck. The only blemish was only noticable if you looked for it, a very small dent on the head stock. When I say small I mean small, look at my commas, yeah that samll. anyway. I have knocked it over a couple of times, and I have hit the drums a few times, and I think it must have the hardest paint I have ever seen. It still has almost no scratches, and the most of the ones that are on it can be polished out. The only big blem now is a chunk of paint has been taken out of the bottom. Somebody was walking through my room and it got knocked over on to a large point piece of metal, and like I said, killer paint job. It hit in a couple of places, but the only spot the chiped was the first place it hit, and it didn't even get through the primer!(it fell about 3 inches!!!) The neck has no wear on it and I have alot of playing time on this thing. I'd expect to have faded spots and horrible looking scratches everywhere. The strap buttons are solid, I have never even needed to tighten them. I have only adjust the truss one or two times, like I said big string changes, but the neck has not twisted at all(some do when you adjust the truss). I have used this on a couple of gigs, and never needed a backup. It is never dying, and i love it.

Never had to deal with it. I have no idea about the warranty or anything of the such. Even if I did I wouldn't need to use it, like I said, never dying. It is built to last so I don't need costumer support.

I have been playing for 3 years. I started out on a fender jazz bass. Now I have an agile acoustic, very comparable feel with an acustic look and sound, and an ESP LTD B-105, 5 string, its a very good bass, but I like my De Armond better if you haven't figured that out yet. I run it through my Fender BXR100 or an old Haynes Jazz king, the haynes was originaly a guitar amp, but has been rewired and can handle both now. I also run it through an elcheapo pa system, and a pretty good pa at church, depending on the building. Or a yamaha pa at school. It sounds good through them all, since it has such great tone. If anything ever happend to it, I would try to find another, but I have never run across one, and I am always look ing just to see what it is worth. I love the sound, feel, playability and the look of it. the only thing i don't like about it is that i like it so much, it makes me feel bad for buying an LTD and not using it very much. The only time I use it is when I can't get to the De Armond or when I need the low b, even though it is a great bass too. I just love this bass, and so do all my friends. I have a couple of friends who have ofered to trade for ESP LTD B-104, a fender jazz bass, p bass, and many others, everybody loves it. They can't keep their hands off of it.

Umm, the date stamp under the neck says 1997, I bought it new in '99 from an independant music store, so I probably paid too much for it. <p>34" scale, 21 frets, mahogany (?) body (a bit on the heavy side). <p>The neck is somewhere between a Jazz and Precision at the nut, 1/4" narrower at the 21st fret than Fenders. Probably maple. Beautiful light rosewood fretboard. Wide-low frets. <p>Fender-style bridge with barrel-type saddles, old guild cursive "G" style bridge plate. Cheap tuners (to be expected). <p>Tried-and-true P-bass pickup, single volume and tone. <p>Gloss black finish, matching neck and headstock. Unique body style, based on the original Guild Jetstar, similar to the mythical Fender Musiclander. Gibson-style 2+2 headstock.

This bass (well, my particular one at least) goes through roundwound strings like nobody's business-- after two weeks, it sounds like the strings have been on for years. So about four months ago I put flats on it, and I couldn't be happier. Full, warm sound, very "woody". The flats give it a nice mean growl. Higher output than stock Fender pickups, and better tone colors. Not really suited for slapping, but I don't play that way anyhow. <p>As one might expect with a passive pickup, this thing hums if you even look at it from the wrong angle, but as long as you're touching the guitar (which you should be while you're playing it...) the noise isn't a problem.

Typical import bass flaws, nothing fatal. A couple rough or worn frets, action too high, a loose pot, but anyone who knows anything about guitars and has a screwdriver should be able to fix it. The finish was consistent and void of any large scratches.

I've gigged a few times with this bass, and no major problems yet. Seems like it would hold up as long as you don't throw it around, which I wouldn't suggest for any bass anyway. I use a locking strap, and the buttons hold fairly well (i still tighten them before a gig, of course). Naturally, I always try to have a backup "just incase" at any gig.

Standard FMIC warranty, but anything that would go out I'd probably just upgrade anyway. Haven't had to call yet.

If you can find one on Ebay or somewhere (used, there's no more DeArmond, thanks to Fender), it's worth the hundred bucks (if that) for a first or backup bass.

This thing was made @ 1999, Indonesia, standard tuners, solid body mahogany and neck, bolt on neck, LONG neck ( I also have a JetStar Special Guitar); gloss black finish, jumbo frets, gumby-style body, Fender P-style pickups, one VOL one TONE, dot markers

I consider myself a guitarist first, bassist second. In many ways I'm a better bass player than guitarist. Go figure. I can slap/pull/solo/etc with the best of 'em on this thing. No fancy amps, no pedals. Nathan East, look out; Stanley Clarke, I don't have your speed but I've been in your territory. The P pickups have a better tone range than a Fender - I have a Fender and it's muddy; Nice long neck, bright sound, wish it had better tuners, but basses notably are'nt as challenging as guitars.

Finish is standard gloss black. Fit seems fine. As opposed to DeArmond guitars, the bridge setup seems tyo be FINE. Little creak in the neck - probably because it's 4ft long.

I don't gig without backup. Finish good, strap buttons OK, I have played it live, and it sounds like it has active electronics. This bass would NOT withstand torture; I could not/would not spank it for more than a few cuts. Thats why I want a Warwick.

Fender is nearby. So far, so good.

It sounds great; typical DeArmond knockoff quality; you can't beat this with a stick. Not much to hate on something this cheap. I can sound like Jaco for very little money. I'm primarily a guitarist, taught both guitar and bass for 15+ years. I still want my Warwick, but this will do for now.

I guess that is the moral to this story - If you can play, and I mean play, this will do for now.