DeArmond M-73

Made in 2000 most likely in Korea. 22 frets, carved maple top, chambered body. Two gold-tone DeArmond humbuckers, gunmetal finish, Les Paul Copy, stop-bar tailpiece, two volume, two tone, chrome die-cast tuners, rosewood neck with "mother of toliet seat" inlays. Neck is a little fat.

I play rock, grunge, and chicago blues/electric blues. this guitar suits that style fine, as i haven't found a style it won't play in. it is very versatile. depending on your effects and tweaking your volume/tone and the 3-way selector switch, yu can get any sound you want. I use a Crate GFX-30 and DOD VGS50. This guitar can play clean and pretty with a little chorus and blues valve, or it can outright scream. The tonal qualities are very good. The more I play this guitar, the more I like it, and it seems that i am always discovering something new and diffrent that i didn't know it was capable of. i think the sounds yu get from this guitar are only limited by your effects and talent. the neck is a little wide for my short fingers, and that takes some getting used to. i would not recommend this guitar for any metal shredders out there. the neck is not the fastest in the world. it is also pretty heavy, so if you play live you may want to consider that if you have to stand up with it.

The action was fine from the factory, as it was set up by Fender in the U.S. The action is low and no twanging or buzzing going on. the neck pickup looks a little low, but it looks intentional, and as i am no luthier, i don't intend to mess with it. when you need more highs, just turn up the ol tone knob and you will be fine. the electronics and hardware and controls all seem fine. i willl jst throw in that when i got it, there was about a square inch area on the back where the finish is cracked badly. i tried to return it and get another that was cherry, but this was a discontinued item, so i decided to keep the axe. what the hell, it was on the back anyway, and it's a crack in the finish, not the wood. i figure it will save me the worry of dinging it myself. as an added note, i got an S-73 from DeArmond also, and the first one i got had a pickup that didn't work. i sent it back and got an identical model with a nice glob of glue under the clear lacquer. so i guess i am saying the craftsmanship is not altogether perfect. as long as i am being critical, the imitation mother-of-pearl DeArmnd logo on the headstock has a shiny letter or two, and the rest are dull. i don't really know what's up with that, or care, but i thought someone else might. basically what you've got here is a guitar that sounds and plays liek a guitar costing at least $1000 more, so you gotta expect there to be a drawback or two. IMO, the block inlays look really cheesy, but better than no inlays. they are some kind of glued-on plastic i guess to look like abalone, but on the first one, there is little bubbles where they didnt get the air out when they glued it on. you really have to look, but it's there.

this guitar will withstand live playing. the question is whether the user will withstand holding it up for two or three hours. it's a little heavy. the hardware and electronics and body are solid. the finish isn't going anywhere, and there's a pick guard to protect against those with no motor control. this guitar is nails. iwouldn't have any trouble playing without a backup.

when i had to return my S-73 i got a new one back real quickly from musicians friend, no problem. no shipping to pay, nada. so i would say they are pretty good. it has a lifetme warranty. of course, if that's through DeArmond, i don't really know what it's worth, as they are out of the guitar business now.

i've been playing for ten years. i own the S-73 i mentioned earlier and an epi les paul copy, and a yamaha acoustic. i wish i had asked "is there gonna be a big dent in it where some a-hole creamed it?" if it were stolen or lost, i would kill the thief very slowly. then take my guitar back. i love the sounds this guitar produces and the low action. it can dowright scream and it can sound really full and pretty. if it weren't for the slightly slower neck, i wuld need only one guitar. i use the S-73 when i want to play a little faster. favorite feature: the gold-tone humbuckers, no doubt. if yu haven't heard these pick-ups before, you are missing out. DeArmond has been making them since the 50's and that's for good reason. this guitar is almost an exact replica of a Gibson Les Paul (i forget the model) right down to the gunmetal finish. incidentally, the gibson goes for about 2 grand. i'll bet this guitar coudl hang with it, sound-wise. it jsut doesn't have all the fancy appoitnments the high end guitar would have. these guitars are no longer made, but DeArmonds (the higher-end ones anyway) are some of the finest guitars ever made. if you have the opportunity, get one. you won't be disappointed. my 10 is based on a combinatin of the overall quality and playability combined with the ridiculous price i paid for it.