DeArmond M-55

this guitar was made by Fender in the late 90s/early 00s with the DeArmond name, it was to be like the Epiphone for Guild... at that time, almost every music store in this area had at least 3 DeAmonds in stock, but, I've never seen another M-55 in person, and I rarely see them on E-Bay, the neck has a 'strat" feel to it, but painted, it has one bridge humbucking pick-up, one volume and one tone control (the guitar was so dusty when I got it, that I had to have the pots cleaned as soon as I bought it) it has this look of a chubby Les Paul Jr. but a bolt-on neck and a longer scale, it's very simple, straight forward rock guitar. I paid 50 dollars for the guitar new (it was thrown in with a deal with case for my telecaster)

I play bluesy lo-fi jazz rock (Marc Ribot meets the Black Keys), and it has become my go to guitar, it's not noisy (other than the pot problem at first) the pick-up that came with the guitar had a very good humbucker rock tone and until recently did not change the pick-up, but I recently changed the pick-up ( with a Eastwood Airline remake humbucker sized single coil) and the tone now is amazing lo-fi/cheap garage rock tone... I use this guitar plugged into my Fender Reverb Deluxe Reissue and a Smokey Cigarette pack amp. I also use a few different distortion pedals (a big muff and a Maxon overdrive) a delay (line 6 echo park) and a Crybaby Wah (for Compression). this Guitar (even when it had the original pick-up) never disappointed, just a straight/no thrills rock machine, the neck is so comfortable, and it totally takes the abuse, there hasn't been a jam session, recording session, gig, or rehearsal tha I haven't taken it to

the set-up when i got was spot on, the bridge is very Rickenbacher, meaning it has an adjusto matic bridge with a harp like floating end, so it's very easy to adjust, it had a dusty pot problem at first but that problem is no longer. the pick-up adjusted very easily, I replaced the pick-up recently just because i wanted a different sound, the first pick up worked very well, finish wise, the thing is a beauty, I've worn places on the finish from picks and keys (I sometimes use an old house key instead of a pick for tone reasons) I used to have a Shepherd Fairy "Andre the Giant has a Posse" sticker, so it has a little bit of residue from that,, but the thing looks amazing, like a Harmony/Airline guitar from the 50s

I use this guitar all the time, and I'm like an anvil, so it's very Reliable, like I said, I changed the pick-up in it only for tone, the original humbucker did an amazing job, I did change out the volume and tone knobs just for a simpler look (I replaced the originals with tele style chrome knob) I also replaced the strap buttons with strap locks and have never had a problem, I have used this guitar as my main guitar for about 5 years now (my other main guitar is fender telecaster, and that's just a different tone)

do they exist anymore?

AMAZING, a tight simple amazing work horse

It's a small guitar and light. Just right.

I play mostly classic rock. I used this at gigs, small bars mostly, and it sounds great. I use a Roland 120. It actually the best playing guitar I have.

I rest my little finger where the pick guard shold be and have worm through he finish.

Seems very reliable. No problems. I have a gig bag, but ofter just toss it in the back seat for the trunk.

Don't know.

This is a good little guitar that can be use professionally.

I was just passing time in my local guitar shop (Knight Music in Scarborough) and picked up an M55 which happened to be in the second hand section. Without any power I was struck by the quality of the neck - jumbo frets but so smooth. Powered into a Fender Amp the sound was no let down. Just a single bridge humbucker but a crisp yet mellow sound - all my other guitars are set to bridge pick-ups permanently on anyway. At just ??80 I couldn't resist and there have been no regrets. It's my cheapest guitar and yet I reach for it time after time.
Maybe the sustain is little limiting but apart from that it switches from rhythm to lead riffs so smoothly. Give this guitar to any blindfolded player and I'm sure they will tell you it's a quality piece of gear. If anyone has experience of fitting an alternative pickup, to give better sustain I would like to know.

I own 2 of these guitars, Funky metalic blue and creamy yellow. First off, get rid of the tuners, pickup, pots and tail piece because they're garbage. I put grover tuners on mine, as well as CTS 500k pots, and a hot 15k pickup. I also put a trapeze tail piece on both of my M-55's for extra sustain and tone. NOW it sounds like a rippin' Les Paul Jr. for a 1/4 of the price!!! Seriously, these little guitars rock!

The neck is wide and thin like a '60 Les Paul. This guitar is a joy to play.

With some of the crappy components changed these guitars kick ass!! Rips it up like a LP Jr., no shit!!

Excellent neck and playability, this guitar cooks!!

This baby keeps a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

Never tried.

I own a bunch of Les Pauls and Strats, also a '78 Gibson L6S and a '60 Gibson Melody Maker. This guitar sounds and plays great. What a well built guitar considering it was built in Indonesia. Components on the guitar are crap, but the guitar itself is really well built. Comes in real cool colors too, such as seafoam green and ruby red, black, yellow and blue. I am trying to find a green and red one. These guitars are getting REAL hard to find now. Made in the early 90's I believe for a short period of time. Not made anymore, unfortunately.

Slab body. Desert yellow finish. Single Humbucker. I removed the tone knob and installed a varitone switch to mixed results. Sounds great with heavy strings tuned down to C#. Currently strung with SIT 12s.

I like loud and aggressive music and my M-55 hasn't let me down. I'm currently playing it through a Zoom 505 and a Peavey Backstage. Thinking about changing the pickup and getting a new neck. The varitone switch gives me six diferent tones, of which I prefer about four or so. Again, with heavy set of strings and Drop D tuning, this guitar sounds like a mack truck.

What can I say, it's a $100 guitar. It's covered in stickers...

A dent here, a scratch here, it has held up rather well.

Don't know, don't care.

Great starter electric, good back up, something I will hold on to for awhile.

Indonesian made with 22 frets. Laquered finish in an interesting cream colour. Not the nicest colour but the laquer seems to have held up me battering it around a bit and hasn't suffered any dents or dings.
Apparently the body is made from agathis according to other reviews of the product though I didn't know this before. It has one volume and one tone control that seem to work fine. Its a les paul style body that has decent weight and seems pretty solid. Not many features in all but then it is just a solid beast that that does have some nice qualities.

I mostly play rock and metal and it sounds great in this respect. I instantly replaced the crappy strings that came with it for some thicker strings that sound great and have seemed to sort out the detuning problems a treat. The single humbucker seems to be a very decent pickup, especially compared with other cheap guitars and it really is great for heavy distorted stuff. As for clean it does sound clean and there isn't any fuzz even when played through quite a cheap amp. There are better guitars clean but its fine for its price range and I couldn't fault the heavier sounds on this baby.

I think the action is my favourite part of this guitar. It's quite a low action and is very responsive to even quite little amounts of finger pressure even with the heavy strings I've put on it. I'm giving it a 9 as I really think its one of the easiest guitars to play that I know (this might be as its also my first guitar ad i'm used to it but other friends who use very expensive guitars have also said its very nice to play). I suppose I should deduct a couple of points for the slightly lame tuning pegs but now that I've put some heavier strings on it I haven't really had a problem with this at all.

Other people have said that the finish is a bit dodgy but in the 3 years of using and abusing this guitar it hasn't suffered any dents or scratches and it seems like a bit of an axe. I did have a problem with the socket for the lead that needed resoldering though and the socket is a bit dodgy in general I'd say. Apart from that I really would say this is quite a solid well made piece of kit.

Haven't needed em so far and if I did I would have no idea how to get in touch.

I've been playing about 5 years now on and off. I'm just starting gigging and am going to use this without backup as I can't afford another electric at the moment! I have a couple of acoustic guitars which I might sell to get a different sounding electric for the more cleaner sounds. Just bought a zoom 505 II though it hasn't arrived yet so yet to test it with the dearmond.
What I love about it I have already said (action, heavy sound etc...). I don't really hate anything about it though it does have some flaws which have already been mentioned. I've played alot of cheap guitars since buying it looking for an upgrade but I think I'nm gonna have to spend quite alot of cash to get a guitar that plays better than this for my musical styles so will leave it for now.
If it got stolen I would buy another one with my current cash situation otherwise I'd spend a couple of hundred quid and get something better. As an overall rating for the guitar I was going to put 7 but seeing as the ratings are based on value for money then as I could probably pick one up for 60 quid odd I'm giving it a 10 as it wipes the floor with all the cheap guitars I've played.

Indonesian made, 22 frets, 1 volume 1 tone, 1 passive humbucker, fixed bridge, wierdy creamy finish

used through a marshall jcm 900, distorts very nicely, plays alright clean as well, fairly bright sound. not too noisy, pickup is pretty damn good.

the action is not bad, fairly major problem with the input socket but get some decent spring loaded washers and it can be sorted

its been dropped kicked and bashed all over and iv never really had a problem with it

never had to deal with them, i bought it second hand and havnt even thought about contacting them, but im not even sure how much the company exists cos i cant even get the website last time i tried

if your a beginner (like i was when i got it) i couldnt think of a much better guitar. No tremelo to put me out of tune, no cheap nasty pickups thrown in, just a solid guitar with very little features. The sound is good enough to use for just about anything, i would strongly reccomend this guitar if you could get it for around the price i did

I agree with the other reviews - about the details, scale length & all that. I got a gig bag at the store that was made for something else, and it's a little tight, but at least it keeps it covered.

Well, I play all different styles, and hardly gigged at all this year. It's a rippin' humbucker, and after I got used to having it around, decided that I liked it a lot. It's all about the pickup, it's very responsive, and the guitar itself is sort of a surrogate for a really good deal on a Gibson Melody Maker in the 70's that I couldn't afford. It's more responsive and warmer in tone than my Chinese Epiphone LP JR., and less responsive than my Gretsch Jet Junior, but I keep that in an A tuning for slide. I play through Class A, A/B, and solid state amps - turn it up til it compresses a little and gets warm.

I really like the paint on it - very smooth, sort of a very slightly greenish off-white, like milk in green tea. I like it better than the Antique White on my Squier Tele. It has a jungle feel to me - goes with the green of the gig bag and a sort of bamboo hue. It plays well, a little high action, maybe - I rarely mess with guitar action if I don't have to - It's not bad. It sounds and plays like a very well-behaved cheap guitar - it's bratty, but in an engaging way. Volume pot works well on the tone, the tone pot is smooth, and balanced. I like to play it - the neck is comfortable and the high notes aren't too bad to reach. I LOVE the Guild cut-out in the back - makes it seem a lot classier - not just a board.

The tone controls for some reason split off, like a hangnail around the metal insert in the knob. Other than that, it seems to be pretty good. I would not use it on a gig without a backup, but I think you could get by with it if you had to - I mean, this is an entry level axe here, and it sounds decent.

Non-existent. Fender killed these puppies off as fast as they could.

Played 38 years. I had paid off a DeArmond M-75 that I put in lay-away, and a few months later, I decided, screw it, for $149, I might as well grab this junior - no one else seemed to want it. I even asked if some kid had his heart set on it, and no one did. I'd keep the M-55 over the Epi LP Jr., but the Gretsch Jet Jr. with the P-90 is so wonderful for slide that it is the topper in this $150 category. I love that this is a cheap little board guitar that gives a real nod to the jazz boxes with the extended tailpiece and wide shoulders. I like playing it - it's unique, and sounds pretty good. I'm giving it a 7 because it is not a fantastic instrument, but I like it a lot, and am glad I got it - would've kicked myself later if I hadn't!

I think this is from 3 years ago and it is indonesian. I saw it in a pawn shop and liked the simple lines and 50's rip off les paul look. It has 22 frets and is in transparent red. The previous owner used a plectrum and this has scratched the finish a little, however I only use my fingers and so am not too fussed about the dodgy finish. It has one humbucker and single tone and volume controls, which are both smooth and responsive. It has got a tune-o-matic bridge and the delightful tuners mentioned by other reviewers, which are a bit crappy but nothing that cannot be handled. As features go I think it does well and would actually prefer to have the tone removed as I never use it.

I tend to play new-wave and punk style music and I find this guitar ideal for both. The pickup sounds good both mildly overdriven and distorted and sounds bright and clear with fairly good reponse and variability. The volume control cleans it up nicely and I find that it works well for lo-fi lead lines and textures when multi-tracking. I do not play slide much but I have been well impressed by the slide potential of this guitar. It gives a really dirty slide sound which can be used for rhythm or lead. I also think that for the money this guitar has really good sustain.

Strings were a bit high but intonation and set-up were otherwise good ( mine was second hand). For some reason I have always slammed the strings with my fingers rather than a plectrum and if anyone else does the same I would strongly recommend playing over the pickup. The combination of the high string set up and shiny finish near the neck make it quite easy to slice yourself really badly.

This guitar looks like it will stand anything. I have been really impressed with the build and it just feels heavy and solid. I have really bought it as a backup, but would be happy to play it for the whole gig. The simple controls are ideal for people who just like to get on with the job, but I would recommend some straplocks to prevent serious foot injuries during more violent gigs.

Pawn shop customer support, your joking aren't you?

I have been playing for ten years but must apologise for my lack of knowledge about guitars etc. I have not got a clue what my guitars are made of or what electronics are on board. I usually give a guitar two minutes to get me excited and if it does its got the job! My other guitars include a nineties gibson sg standard ( for which this guitar provides a really good backup), an eighties fender strat with a whammy and odd looking pickups, a westfield acoustic and bass a peavy predator ( i think) and a telecaster copy. I play quite a lot of gigs and just need simple reliable stuff which will consistently sound good and loud. There is nothing worse than thrashing your guitar and getting a whimper, this De Armond does the job really well and I would gladly have paid double for it.

Gloss black body and neck, single bridge humbucker with volume and tone controls. Bare bones, cheapo axe. I particularly like the shape and contours of the body. Guild designed the M-series back in the mid-50?s to compete with the Les Paul. In the mid-80?s Guild made solid body versions of the guitar and called the ?Bluesbird?. They came with 3 single coils set up like a Strat. (Nice guitars) I bought my M-55 six months ago for $100.00 at Guitar Center because it had some scratches on the back. I bought it primarily as a project guitar and planned on making it into a solid body resophonic / electric. I was going to unbolt the neck and then mill out the face of the body for the resonator cone. However, I ran into dimensional issues after I bought it. I didn?t factor in the nice relief milled away on the back by the upper bout. The depth of the cavity needed for the cone would most likely break through the back of the guitar at the relief. Oh, well. Despite this unfortunate set back I still enjoy the guitar very much. I use it solely as my ?electric slide axe? and tuned to an open D tuning. The thin neck is excellent for slide work and the slightly higher action actually improves slide playability. I have to agree with the other reviews that the tuners are the worst feature of the guitar however I am using medium gauge acoustic strings on it so it stays in tune better.

The foreign-made pickup is quite hot and sounds great either clean or when distorted. It sounds awesome when you combine distortion with a slide. Low noise as well. Even though I was very pleased with the pickup, I opted to change it for a Carvin M22T with a coil splitter. I had it hanging around from another project so I tried it out. The pickup and ring screwed right into the existing holes. Now I have more tonal variety to choose from.

I immediately cut off the inferior strings from the factory and put acoustic strings on it. I also adjusted the neck a bit and then set-up the intonation. The adjustable bridge allows you to set-up some real nice action. As for fit, when replacing strings, the ball on the end of strings gets tightly jammed into the holes in the tailpiece. It is a bear to get the strings out. I have to use needle nose pliers to push out the strings. I know it?s only a $160 guitar but you should be able to change the strings. As for the finish, it looks deep and great but the low cost lacquer DeArmond chose scratches quite easily as opposed to other quality finished guitars. I have put a lot of pick scratches into the finish over the last six months.

I expect that ?beginner type? players (who usually end up buying these low cost guitars) will get frustrated with the reliability that the M-55 being able stay in tune. The combination of cheap strings and lousy tuners that come on the M-55 will make for a frustrating time. I suggest using #10 strings at a minimum and maybe changing the tuners to a set of Grover Rotomatics for 30 some bucks. Just doing this will take the M-55 a long ways. Just fill the screw holes with the screws from the original tuners. It?s fairly durable but I am guessing the neck should be tweaked every six months or so. Durability of the finish is suspect, expect pick scratches in the finish.

Not really sure. DeArmond is a division of Fender/Guild. Fender customer service group in Phoenix I hear is so-so.

The M-55 is not a quality instrument by any means, especially when compared to my other guitars. I own four Guilds. A mid 60?s thin-line hollow body electric, an DCE-5 acoustic-electric, a rare mid 80?s T-250 ?Tele? copy with active EMG?s and my favorite, a Starfire IV. I play these and the M-55 through a vintage Carvin tube head with 4-10?s and an array of effects pedals. Despite not being a quality axe I love playing this guitar, especially during a live gig. I love the shape and feel. It is very light and allows me to throw it around quite easily when moving the slide up and down the neck. I enjoy the guitar so much I want to have more fun with it. Even though I only spent $100 bucks on it I?m considering buying a Bigsby tremolo tailpiece and bolting that onto the body to add some more tonal fun. It would at least let me get rid of the frustrating tailpiece issue. If I go for the Bigsby I will most likely change the tuners and then repaint and refinish the guitar with some quality lacquer finishes. If you bought one of these M-55?s and are not sure what to do with it because of tuning problems, throw on a set of medium gauge acoustic strings, tune it to an open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D), put a brass slide on your pinky and crank up the distortion channel. It has a great Allman Brothers type wail to it!