DeArmond Jetstar Special

Probably 1999, made in Indonesia; solid-body mahogany body and neck, solid black; guild stop tailpiece; 22 frets and a LONG thin neck. No case or gig bag. The neck is so long I picked up a $20 gigbag for a BASS (the neck is too long for a standard guitar bag. Two De Armond humbuckers and and 1 Vol 1 Tone control. Bolt on neck.Very basic.

I play mostly jazz, but like to branch with Jeff Beck, Santana, etc. Not screaming loud, but loud, fast, taste and two-handed speed. This guitar knocked me out. The neck is long and feels WAY better than any Strat or Tele I've ever played. I would put the neck on par with my ES-335 except it's LONGER. Pickups sound very good and have punch, and the surprising thing is the tone of the body/neck allows the pickups to actually sound like a semi-hollow...I couldn't believe it.I play it through a solid state amp and p.a., and it will blow you away.

The setups were awful. Pickups were too low, the bridge was o.k., but the saddles (typical DeArmond) were way off. Could'nt tune the guitar.A couple of hours and many four-letter words later, it tunes.

The finish is basic gloss black (no big whoop)...no pick guard ( do yourself a favor. Get a one or two ply adhesive back pickguard for any acoustic -black- and custom cut your own. I did and it it looks like it came with the guitar!!!!! Kind of shaped like an SG guard).The bridge height was a little low, but good. Strings are 9's and OK for this type of Guitar

As with all DeArmonds, cheap hardware. Great pickups. Would'nt play without backup. Strap buttons good. New machine heads are in the future. Again, Typical DeArmond

I live near Fender HQ and have the receipt. No problem so far.

Been playing 20+ years, own Gibsons, Ibanez, other De Armonds, Epiphone; played professionally and taught for 15+ years.

For the price, this guitar plays and sounds better than guitars 10 times the cost. If you can play ( a good player can make a piece of junk sound expensive) you can't beat it. I have other DeArmonds and can say similar things about them. For the price, I'd like to get another one.

Great starter guitar for my son, but I love it. There is nothing special about the guitars features, it's your standard starter guitar, but way way better than the garbage we used to play in the early 70's when I started learning how to play.

A lot of people say these sound great, but only the mid range sounded good. Bass was not bad, about 75% of the what I expected, treble was terrible on ours, no high end worth mentioning.

We bought a pair of Duncan Performer "Buckshot" pickups at GC, they are on sale this month for $29.95, and they made a world of difference. Only the neck pickup is on sale, we bought two and put neck pickups in both the neck and bridge position. Because neck pickups are not quite as sensitive, we mounted the bridge pickup with the screw poles toward the neck vs toward the bridge. These Buckshots are pretty loud, and the neck pickup in the bridge position way outperforms the original pickup that it replaced.

Paid $130 for the guitar on eBay, plus 2 times $29.95 for the pickups, and in all honesty, the guitar sounds like an $800 guitar with the upgrade.

Feels a little like a Les Paul, more like a Gibson 335 feel to me. The gumby shape is way too cool, but not as ergonomic as a strat, but everyone has a strat or two, like us. We wanted something different, something to make a statement, but not junk. We found just that. I would like a heavier guage set of strings on the guitar, but for my son who is learning, I'd like him to have at least a year of the lighter strings.

I feels solid, almost too solid, like playing a chunk of plywood, or a slab of a tree. I always wanted an SG, this one comes real close with the upgraded pickups.

The pods are not that great, but for the price, we were not ripped off. I'd eventually like to replace the pods and tuners, but they work, and that's all that matters for now.

It's Fender/Guild, I'm not worried about support.

I have to give it a 10, after all, we have an $800 guitar for just over $200 with the cost of the replacement pickups. I wish I started off on a guitar like "gumby", my son can't complain. BTW, ours is red transparent, green transparent would be a better "gumby" color, maybe we should rename it to "bleeding gumby."

This is a update on my first review now that Ive had this guitar for a while. It`s made from agathis which is a type of mahogony. The tuners are cheap but if you put the strings on properly and strech them they stay in tune just fine.

Unbeleivable for such a cheap guitar.

Ok I`ve got 8 guitars right now and I`ve owned one of every thing in the 32 years Ive been playing.The only reason I bought this guitar is that I`ve always loved the shape.For what I paid for it I figured I`d put some better oickups in it and use it for slide or laughs.After I got it home put decent strings on it and set it up I coulnt believe it . I mesure everything when I set up guitars and this cheap thing set up better than alot of pauls and strats i`ve set up. I`ve got the high E at 3/64th at the 17th fret and 1/16th on the low E with no relief and this dude does`nt fret out any where on the neck and I bend the heck out of strings. I sat around playing this a few days after I bought it and I loved it so much I kept waiting for the neck to fall off it was so much fun to play. I`m going to start looking for one of the set neck one if this plays this nice.

Seems sturdy now only time will tell.

I`ve been playing since 69. I`ve owned Fenders Gibsons Ibanez Martins Ovations and all sorts of cheap pawn shop junk.I only buy cheap well made junk now. It`s alot more fun freaking out people at jams when I show up with my junk and I sound better than they do.Les Pauls sure sound nice but if you know how to play so does a DeArmond Jet Star Special.You can make any rig sound cool if you know how to play.

I think the body is mahogony but no one eles seems to think so.All the other features are listed below. Mines the cherry finish.Scale is 24 3/4

cant beleive how good these pick ups sound for such a cheap guitar.I own seven cheap guitars and usually thats the one thing that you miss ,decent pickups but these sound fine.The tuning heads are cheap but no worse than the crap they put on vintage Fenders and Gibsons now. There was a reason whe all put grovers on our guitars in the sixties and seventys.

The acton on this Guitar was great.I pride my self on setting up guitars but the only thing I`ll be doing to this is polishing the frets. The frets were protruding from the neck a little but thats the case all the time in Colorado cause its so dry.Clean that up in a few minutes.

Icant say cause I havent had it long enough.Seems like you could row a boat with it then play it.

So i walks into guitar center like I do 3 times a week on my breaks( I drive a truck ) looking for a good deal.THey have a dano 12 string for$159 and its the nice Mosrite shaped one.I had just bought a U3 at this same guitar center for $119 so I figured I better not bring another Dano home or my wife will hit me with it. I look over a few feet away and heres this jet star brand new with a $59 price tag. I ask to play it figuring its a peice of garbage but loving the shape(I`m old enough to remember the Electric Mud album in fact I still have it)I play and I cant belive what a nice little guitar it is .I know its no paul reed smith but it plays in tune looks totaly bitchen and sounds good for $59 freaken dollar.So check this out , as I`m leaving I ask the sales man for a bag or box to put this thing in since I`m in my truck. The guy behind the counter says "this gig bags been sitting here for three days and its not ours .Do you want " Sures says I with the sales man smurking at me because I just got a playable guitar and a gigh bag for $60. Is this a great contry or what.

I believe this is a discontinued model. DeArmond's 2000 price list showed it with a list price of $299. I bought it on eBay for $102.50 including a gig bag. Mine is jet black with a bolt on neck. Made in Indonesia. There are almost no features - one P-style pickup, one volume control, one tone control. The body shape looks like the Jet Star guitars - sort of like Gumby. 34" scale, which is standard but seems awfully large to me. I am a guitarist and this is my first bass.

My style is rock. It suits the style OK. The low E string is a bit muddy, but the sound is not bad at all for a bass in this price range. If I were any more serious as a bassist, I would get a bass with both P and J pickups for a little more versatility. My rating reflects its sound overall - it can't compete with basses at three times the price, but for what it is, it's quite good. I've been using the bass amp settings on a Johnson J-Station, which really give you a lot of control over the sound, so a lot of the bass's own limits can be gotten around.

I have a couple of DeArmond guitars, and have found the workmanship to be excellent. I expected nothing different here, and I wasn't surprised. Fine by any standard, and simply outstanding for the price. Action was set well, and the bass was even very close to being in tune out of the box.

My DeArmond guitars have been very solid. The only problem I'd have with using this bass in a live situation is that I'd probably never be good enough to play it live. I would play it without a backup only because I don't have another bass.

Good information on their Web site, although they're slow to update it. I've had very good dealings with DeArmond.

I'm a guitarist. I don't own another bass, but a bunch of guitars (Route 101, Parker, and Fender being my favorites of the ones I own). I've been playing bass, let's see....about two weeks. It's strictly a second instrument for me, so I didn't want to spend a fortune on a bass. (Also, it's the same shape as my Jet Star guitar, so maybe my wife won't notice a new instrument - so far so good). I like DeArmonds a lot, and about the only other option in this price range was a Rogue, and the Rogue wah/volume pedal may be the worst piece of equipment I've eever bought. It's suited my purposes fine. If I ever get good at bass, I'll upgrade, but I'd have no problem using this as a backup.

Made in Indonesia. Don't know when. Bought it new, though I suspect it was a customer return. Two open humbuckers. Black. Lousy tuners, which were covered but not sealed. Did not stay in tune. Replaced tuners. Tuneomatic bridge and stop tailpiece. Body and neck woods are anybody's guess. Appears to be a rosewood fretboard, but could be something else. A single tone, a single volume knob. A three-way switch.

Sound wise, this axe shines. Period. Great tones and sustain. Must be the way the neck is fastened to the body, and the engineering (translation: Very Tight Fit). I bought it because of the sound. Fender has put some great pickups on this one. Lots of variation for humbuckers. I was expecting some mud. Not so. With proper adjusting this thing is fantastic. I know sound. I know what I like/need. A look/hear no further proposition for me.

Had to file a couple frets, and the nut edges. Had to file off some sharp fret edges. Tweaked the truss rod. Lowered the action and it is a great player now. Adjusted/balanced the pickups. Flaws? Of course there are some. This thing is cheap. Nothing to deter a purchase, for the price.

Fender makes it. It is solid body. Nuff said.

Don't need no stinkin' customer support. I knew what I was getting into when I bought this.

DeArmond has discontinued manufacturing this. So this is it. The tones are class... actually, a joy to/for my particular set of ears. The neck is now class.
What Could they have done? That's a loaded question for a guitar this cheap. IF you know sound, and IF you can do a decent setup, THEN this can be a fine axe that you can take and play anywhere, and share a stage with anyone (once you replace those crap tuners).
How long have I been playing? Longer than the age of some of the fathers of kids who post analysis at this site. What kinds of guitars have I had? Big names, small names, no names.
It is my number two guitar. When I want a big sound that has a thing all its own, I use this.
This is a guitar I will die with. Have one other. The rest will come and go.
Fender really makes some great guitars. With the Dearmond line, and the really great pickups they put on them, the territory covered has greatly expanded. And the prices are great. Shame on Gretsch for such high prices on non-u.s.a. goods. Fender is coming after you, Gretsch. They just nicked some of your potential business with this little gem in the rough, and left me enough money to buy some more.... lots more.
I decline from a number rating. You figure it out.

Two nice-sounding humbuckers. 22 frets on a bolt-on neck. Mine is black. No pickguard, which is good.. it accomodated a solid body Bigsby style whammy very nicely. Believe it is Korean made. The body is nicely contoured, solid, and light. It was a little neck heavy until I put on the whammy. That extra weight balanced it out. The body shape? Go look at the DeArmond web page. They don't list this model, just the set-neck Jetstar. The body shapes are the same. Looks better on the player, horizontally, than vertically in a stand.

I was originally thinking of getting a set-neck guitar with humbuckers. I considered the Fender Toronado, which is a bolt-on. It was a short step from there to opening my mind up to the possibility that there might be a bolt-on out there that would do the job. This guitar was a pleasant surprise. I think it sounds very nice. I can do nearly anything on it, with eq and effects. Jazz, psycho/rockabilly, blues. Even some country chicken picking. I use a solid state amp. The pickups are somewhere between Fender bright and Gibson dark. This guitar has found its own special niche in my arsenal. I really like the sound. Exceptional sustain for what it is, believe it or not, and to my ears, great tone.

The frets were overall surprisingly nice. I wouldn't bother with something that had sharp fret edges along the sides of the neck. I did have to do a little filing on two frets to get it where I like it. The nut was cut fine. Had to sand smooth the two edges of the nut. The neck is a bit peculiar in one respect... straight on the treble string side, a slight bow on the bass side. It actually works in its favor, action wise... Would have been a bust if it was the other way around. This neck thing, while luckily in its favor, does show the overall price category this fits into. The pickups were already adjusted fine. Usually I tweak. Didn't have to. The action, after the filing and adjusting the bridge, is now great. The finish is not that thick, but it will suffice. Though it is now a fine player, I can't give it a 9 or 10, because I had to put some work into it. However, some guitars costing more would take more work to bring to this. The tuners, while nothing special, are doing the job. I got it to where I need it to be, action wise. The pickups sound fine. The finish is adequate. That is all I ask. From a money/time/effort/results standpoint, it has worked out fine.

I don't forsee a problem with this guitar. I would play it out. Fully intend to, IF I score a steady club/bar gig. I don't generally use backups. Keep strings fresh. Bust a string, change a string. A "concert" might be a different story. But for bar work? No backup.

Haven't had to contact Fender/DeArmond about this guitar.

Been playing over 30 years. Currently have three other electric guitars. Final analysis: It is an inexpensive guitar that fits what I was looking for at the time, which was a combination of sound and something a little different in terms of body shape. If I could find another, as good, for the same price, I would buy it again. Somebody into more expensive guitars might not be interested. I am very satisfied with the overall playability, sound, and vibe of this guitar. One thing good about the global economy from a guitar consumer view is the level of quality for money paid. Fender/DeArmond appears to be doing a fine job in getting something decent enough into the hands of paupers. If I found another in a shop that I could play, and it was as good as this one, I'd snag it. The addition of a Bigsby kicked it up a notch, and the thing is growing on me.

Solid body. Black. 22 frets. Bolt on neck. Two open humbuckers. Three way switch. One tone knob, that actually does do something. One volume knob. Made in Indonesia. Don't know what year. Decent tuners. A body design that looks like it was inspired by an LSD fan.

Sound. Now here is where it gets mighty strange... I was in the market for a set neck solid body with humbuckers. Musicians Friend had a sale on Jet Stars. I saw this Jetstar Special at a GC. Plugged it in, not thinking it would be much, but maybe it would give me some idea of what a set neck Jet Star would be like... Was I surprised. I had been thinking about a Hamer set neck solid body job for about 4 bills. A fellow brought one into the room. The JS Special kicked the hell out of it in both sustain and tone departments. The fellow ditched the Hamer and got on the DeArmond. He remarked that it sounded like a piano. I later tried a Yamaha. Same story. I use some distortion, slap back, compression and reverb, through a small amp. Play blues and rockabilly. I usually use a whammy. I won't be putting one on this guitar. Has enough sound without it. The notes hold just fine... This thing sounds like what I wish I would have been able to find in the first place... to my ears, that is... Very clear and sharp, yet with body.... Sounds like a description of a wine or some such.. I figure that this particular individual guitar must be an aberration... I doubt I would get so lucky trying to pick up another JS Special... To my ears, it is a ten. It is a stroke of good fortune to find this thing, and for so cheap. Still, I'll give it an official nine.

I dropped the action at the store, and measured. It was where I usually like them. Action is very nice. The nut was cut right. It is possible that someone had spent a little time on it before I got to it. I give it an 8 for action. The neck-to-body fit is tight. Give it an 8. The finish is fine for the price. I can see, after really looking for it, that the guitar body is made of three pieces of wood, with a nice large center piece. Give it a 6 for finish, considering price category. The body is light. And the contour is just right. It is a comfortable guitar (for me).

It is built fine. I don't jump around. I take care of my equipment. Don't foresee any problems here. Still, as it hasn't yet stood the test of time, I'll have to pass on a number.

Well, DeArmond is part of the Fender family. I have a Fender. Fender is lousy, lately, in the customer service department. My own experience, at least. Still, they make some damn fine guitars at good prices.... Rather than wax negative on Fender, I'll pass... Still think that Fender is Great, and this DeArmond is a gem...

I've been playing since the early sixties. I've had my share of nice guitars. Before I got this one, I was thinking about what guitar I had run across, with the best sound, to my ears. It was in '72... someone brought over a Gretsch hollow body, with a single cutaway, and one pickup on it. Put it through my Twin Reverb. That guitar/amp combination was IT. I tried like hell to buy it off the guy. He wouldn't part with it. Now, it gets strange again. Guess what? This Jetstar Special nails it. Down to the way it plays/sounds in the hands. With the effects/amp I use, it is a dead ringer. I know damn well this is just a One Off, and I happened to stumble on it.
It would

1999, made in Indonesia. You can read about the neck and woods in the existing review, the factual part of it is accurate. It is a double humbucker guitar with bolt-on neck. No pickguard, one master tone and one volume for both pick-ups. with a 3-way selector switch in between. Unusual body style based on an early 60's Guild electric design. Comes in a reddish clear finish, the pictures of which look ugly, or gloss black (which I got). No accessories included besides an Allen wrench, I subsequently got a hardshell case for it (costs ~$100) which is probably worth it, as you won't find any that will fit due to the weird shape.

I play punk rock and roll, the old school kind like Clash, Pistols, Ramones, etc. I also play in church every Sunday (but don't tell anyone or my cred will be shot), obviously in a totally different style. For gigging I play through my '68 Fender Super Reverb and at church I play through a small Crate solid state they keep there. For distortion I use a cheap analog pedal. Generally no other effects, just a volume pedal.
It gets kind of a one-dimensional Les Paul/double humbucker sound, not horrid but nothing special either.

The action and pickups were set up fine. The intonation needs some tweaking, but I have played it both gigging and in church with no problem. Comes in a reddish clear finish, the pictures of which look ugly, or gloss black (which I got). The finish on mine had a small flaw (I got it mailorder) on the upper contour (small paint bubble or glob) and the fretwork and neck were a little rough. For the small price it wasn't worth sending back for these small flaws. The tuners are not great, there is some slippage, but I found that when I got a case for the guitar, it stayed in tune much better, so a bit of that is from bumps from using a gig bag. The last time I played it I had tuned it for a show 2 days earlier, at which I didn't play it, then put it in the case. When I took it out it needed only minimal adjustment to get back in tune.

The guitar will withstand live playing. At a no-pressure small gig I did I played it as my main axe as an experiment and it did fine, though you do need to watch the tuning. The strap buttons are solid, but due to the unusual shape it's easy to pull the strap off if you wear a guitar low slung. At a big show I ended up using it when I broke a string on my main guitar, and with some jumping around, the stap came off the upper bout button 3 times! So buy/make strap locks for it if you do a high energy set. The hardware so far is OK, in general I would not use this as my main guitar for a big show, but it is fine for no-pressure shows or as a backup for big shows.

Haven't dealt with Guild/Fender, but I believe it had a 5-year warranty.

I've been playing since the 70's and in bands since the early 80's, basically non-commercial fun cover bands to begin and now bands that do all originals pretty much exclusively. I have a bunch of other guitars, a Fender California Fat Tele, an old Japanese Squier '53 Reissue Tele, an original early-60's Fender Duo-Sonic (American, not the reissue Mexican ones they started up a few years back), a crappy Korean Squier Stratocaster, an old Japanese Squier P-bass, and a '72 Ovation Breadwinner (solidbody electric).
The thing I like most about the guitar is the distinctive shape. In gloss black it really looks great, I've had many many people already come up to me and comment how cool it looks. The worst thing is the tuners, I may eventually replace them, though they're passable for now.
If it were lost or stolen I would definitely get another one, they are cheap, play OK, and look great.
Basically a good looking decent cheap guitar. The guy who said his was a "piece of #%!*" got a lemon (and paid too much as well!). I considered getting a Danelectro instead, but I didn't have a double-humbucker guitar, and the Danos are all single-coil, plus more expensive (except for the one pickup models). A good guitar to expand your arsenal, but probably you should spend more and get the more expensive Jet Star if you want this body style for your main axe.
PS, if you want to see some photos of the guitar in action, I have some on my bandpage, in the photos section: http://www.geocities.com/bkrashpad

Alright, this is brand new DeArmond Jetstar Special guitar, made in Indonesia. It's a bolt neck, with 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard, but I'm not really sure of the body or neck woods. It's got two humbuckers, non-locking tuners and a Guild style stop tailpiece. The shape of the guitar is kinda like a melted SG, or an old coffee table outta the Sixties. It didn't come with a case or gigbag.

I played this guitar through a variety of amps, mainly a Marshall JCM 900 halfstack and my Fender Blues Junior tube amp, and quite frankly I considered the sound to be horrible. The neck humbucker is very muddy sounding when pushing distortion, and sounded very dull and one dimensional clean. The bridge pickup wasn't any better. That is, when I could switch to it (the toggle switch is very flimsy and wouldn't stay in the bridge position). The bridge pickup sounded very muddy as well and didn't cut through on leads at all. I realize it's a cheap guitar, but c'mon, it should have a reasonably good sound of some sorts.

If you could rate into the negatives, this would be the area to do it for this guitar. I'm not even sure where to begin. The low E and A strings buzzed horribly when i first got it, and I had to adjust truss rod and raise the action just to get it to sound right (still buzzed when you hit it hard). The tuners are pieces of crap and wouldn't stay in tune at all. The toggle switch is what pushed me over the edge, however. It absolutely refused to be in any position other than the middle position. The stickers on the knobs for the volume and tone controls came off quickly, and the pots were noisy. There. I know it's alot of complaining but the thing was a PIECE OF S*@#!!

Don't make me laugh...

I don't think the company could help this guitar. DeArmond is a subsidiary of Guild (who makes fabulous guitars), which is now owned by Fender (who makes the best guitars in the world, in my opinion. Needless to say, I was very disappointed that this guitar is linked to them in any way.

I've been playing guitar for about 6 years now, and I've owned my share of guitars. Some were great, some were crap. This guitar doesn't fit in either of those categories. It's far beyond crap. if it were stolen (which it can't since I returned it) I would dance a friggin jig.