DeArmond Starfire

New De Armond Starfire - hollow body, two big pickups each with separate vol and tone knobs, CHROME hardware, toggle switch for neck pickup/bridge pickup/or both- so you can mix the pickups any which way you want - unique tailpeice, but I removes the pickguard.
nice photo at http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ex/shop/home/010226230226211018117046783432?bigpid=510814
think of it withouth the zig-zaggy pickguard.

Every amp I've used, this guitar sounds great (Big Marshal Tube Stack, '65 Fender Band Master, Fender M-80, Rocktron something-or-other)
Run it througha tube mic pre-amp staight into tape multi track and it sounds just like the soundtrack to DEADMAN (Johnny Cash did the whole soundtrack with just guitar and that's all)
This guiatr sounds like that. Rent that movie and listen to the music the whole way through.
Plus you can fuck with the tailpeice and make some crazy sounds.

I put heavy gauge strings on and tune it down 5 notes usually, and this guitar can handle it and sound like it is going to kick you in the teeth. Using a Big Muff intensifies this effect. And yes, it looks nice, too. looks better if you take off the pick-guard.

Never screws up, never braks strings (heavy gauge might contribute to this) never any problems for 2 years of staight road use.

never needed

For 500 bucks you get a 1500 guitar. bam.

Brand new made in Korea with USA-made DeArmond brand bass humbucking pickups, inspected and set up at Fender USA (DeArmond makes some Guild reissues and Fender owns Guild to my understanding). This is a remake of the old Guild Starfire played by Jack Cassady of the Jefferson Airplane. Big, ES-style hollowbody with two f-holes, two humbuckers w/3 way switch, two vol & two tone controls, hefty chrome Guild bridge, nice tuners as far as I can tell, rosewood fretboard w/dot inlays, bound fretboard and body, nice pearl DeArmond logo inlay on headstock. I bought black but they are available in cherry and vintage burst also. I give it a 10 for features because it has everything it needs, no contemporary bullshit, and you can get a good variety of tones.

This sounds incredible. Punchy, warm, deep, everything a good hollowbody bass should have.

This came from Musician's Friend and I imagine it sat in their warehouse for a good six months before I got it so the neck was not as straight as it should have been, but that's easily corrected with a twist to the truss rod. Action is great, neck smooth and easy to play. Electronics were flawless. Cosmetics were very nice, as I have seen from the Korean Epiphones (although almost every Epi I've played new in stores has had electronic problems). Beautiful finish and detail. Some very fine scratches here and there, but it's a black finish and shows everything. It would be impossible to construct an instrument with a black gloss finish absolutely flawless. Don't buy black if you're the type to obsess about these things.

Had it only a few days, we'll see.

Never called them.

I've been playing guitar and bass for over 15 years, I own two basses and 12 guitars, mostly vintage stuff. I've played other hollow body basses such as Fender Coronado, Vox teardrop, Gibson EB3, and this beats them all. I got an incredible close-out price from Musician's Friend (they had two left and I took one), and they sent it with a very nice Guild soft case which I wasn't expecting. These list at $1000, sell new for around $650, and I got it for $300. For this price and quality I'd consider this the best deal on any instrument I've had.

Bought used in 1999, blond finish, Harp Tail piece, maple laminate top sides and back, beautiful BTW, maple neck with ebony fret board, dual dearmond humbuckers, 3 way switch w/2 vol and 2 tone controls, these are made overseas and imported and set up here by fender.

I was looking for a great blues/jazz guitar and this guitar was my finale choice, I compared the epi dot, the yamaha, and the ibanez and this guitar was better than all of them, better than a 335? not hardly! but then I didn't have a couple of thou to spend either. This guitar can really wail with no feedback, and you can get a really great smooth jazz sound out of it, the deamond pickups is what seperates it from the others, they all played great, but none came close to the great sounds of this guitar! I give it a 9 only because it is not a 335!

Fit and finish was perfect on this guitar, and believe me, with the figured maple on this axe, it is a real head turner, and the action, intonation and neck are great!

This guitar is solid as a rock with the solid center block in the body and the thru neck construction!

well, it's fender, and as far as customer support goes, forget it, they don't have any, except through e-mail on thier web page.

I have been playing off and on for 30 years, but a little over a year ago started taking it up serious again, I went through many guitars, as you will see my name alot here...lol...and came down to owning 2 electric guitars that covered all the styles of music I care to play and those are my ASAT Deluxe, and this DeArmond Starfire, try one, you won't be disappointed, and if I ever lost this on, Yes, I would buy another in a Heartbeat!

'99 DeArmond Starfire, basically the Korean import version of the Guild Starfire IV. I got this a year ago to augment my '93 Hamer T-51 Tele. Basic 335-style semihollow features: two "Gold-Tone" humbuckers, twin volume and tone knobs, tune-o-matic style bridge with Guild-style harp tailpiece and stairstep pickguard, maple neck with dot inlays, maple body in flawless cherry finish with nicely done cream binding. No bells and whistles, just a good looking, good sounding guitar. Initially I strung with Ernie Ball 10s, but have since put on D'Addario flat-wound 11s.

Well, I'm pretty much a traditionalist. I was looking for a basic 335-style guitar to play jazz, blues and some rock on, that would'nt burn too big a hole in my wallet. After comparison shopping with Epiphone Dot, Washburn, and other import semihollows of similar ilk, I selected the DeArmond because it seemed better built and was the only one that really had a sonic personality. It provides a solid meat-and-potatoes 335 sound: moderate output, full humbucker sound, nice sustain and dynamics, a bit brighter than other 335-style axes but not lacking in warmth. The Gold-Tones, while not vintage PAFs, certainly more than hold there own against more expensive makes, and are definitely clearer and punchier sounding than those on the Epiphone Dot and other imports. They are also reasonably quiet, even around TV or PC. I didn't feel the need to replace them with Duncan '59s or other aftermarket pickups, which was a big selling point for me.

Played through Ibanez TS-5 Tube Screamer at various settings and inexpensive Fender solid-state 1-12" combo w/reverb, overview of basic tones is as follows: neck pickup has a good warm sound, not tubby or flat sounding. With tone knob down about halfway and volume backed off a little, it provides a quite servicable if not authoritative jazz tone in the Grant Green/Kenny Burrell tradition. With controls on full you can get a decent Claptonesque Cream/Blind Faith lead sound. Both pickups, very impressive sound--bright but not lacking in depth, nice roundness to sound, good for blues leads, Dickey Betts Allman-style lines, R&B/Funk chording. Good jangle there too if that's what you require. Sweep of volume and tone controls isn't particularly even, so it can be tough (but not impossible) to mix tone of each pickup; I prefer both on full when in this position. Bridge pickup, again a pretty impressive sound for an import guitar. Back tone knob off just a bit for punchy '70s rock lead sound, full on for agressive blues tone a la Freddie King/Son Seals. Also good Alvin Lee "I'm Goin' Home"-style lead sound, and decent for medium-overdrive power chords.

Not the greatest setup out of the box (no real surprise there) but with a little setup work playability and intonation good if not spectacular. Overall very decent worknamship, to me signifigantly better than other imports. Nut, bridge, and other hardware are not top-shelf, but good quality for this price range. Grover-style tuners work OK but are not the greatest, I'll no doubt replace them at some point in the future. Volume and tone knobs are cheap but do the job alright.

Fretwork is more than decent, although the 5th fret has been lifting a bit as of late. But I can't really fault DeArmond's workmanship for this, as the climate of the area in which I live (DC Metro) is brutal on guitars: cold damp winters, hot humid summers. Of course, this problem might be compounded by the fret not being properly seated in the first place, but this really isn't too big a deal.

I play the DeArmond primarily around the house, but I've used it at a few club shows and jam sessions and it has fared well. The finish is the best I've seen on a Korean import and indeed better than many Guilds and Gibsons, and the chrome hardware and strap buttons, while not the greatest, are decent. The guitar is neck heavy, but that goes with the territory. I don't gig very often and when I do rarely bring a backup. In short, while certainly not as durable as my T-51 Tele (which is a rock), with a little TLC that all set-neck guitars require,the Starfire is a solid enough instrument and quite able to hold its own on any stage. I would even venture to say that I would prefer taking the DeArmond to a bar or club over a $3000 genuine 335.

Never dealt with them, although Fender (which controls Guild and DeArmond) has a less than stellar reputaion in this area.

I've been playing twenty years now, since the Ronald Reagan era, and have played in all sorts of bands and situations over the years. Lately I've been getting into the jazz side of things more and more, and sometimes I wish I had gotten a full hollow-body like the DeArmond X-155, although the feedback problems with such a guitar would probably be unworkable, considering what stage work I do remains pretty much loud rock. Maybe if the Starfire falls out of my hands by hook or crook I will get a hollow-body, who knows. But I must confess that, while the Hamer T-51 Tele remains my bread-and-butter axe, I really enjoy the DeArmond Starfire, especially for those late evening times when I just want to play some Wes Montgomery-style chords or mellow blues riffs. The DeArmond is not the ultimate in its class, but it doesn't claim to be. It is what it is: a functional 335 type guitar with good tone, handsome looks, and decent build quality. That's really all I was looking for, so I'm satisfied.

This is an update on my previous update !
I've borrowed a digital camera and now have pics of the bigsby tremolo fitted to my Starfire. So if anyone is thinking of doing the same thing and would like to see how it looks 'post-op' then feel free to contact me.

This guitar is a semi-hollow guild copy, made in korea. It features 2 Dearmond humbuckers. Mine is finished in transparent crimson red. Volume and tone controls for each pickup and a 3 way selector. Binding on the outer body. Case was included.

I play this guitar through a Fender Deluxe 112. I have played other guitars through this amp (Tele, Strat)and never cared for the sound of them. I thought maybe it was just the amp. The Starfire set me straight on that! This guitar sounds great. It has a real nice blues tone to it. The semi-hollow body and the Dearmond pickups really make this a keeper.

Guitar was set up fine. No adjustments were needed. Fit and finish are exelent. Everything was put together well. This guitar is beautiful.

Guitar is only a few weeks old, so I can only say it feels rock solid so far.

Have'nt had a need for them yet.

I've been playing for about 8 years now. I've owned 8 different guitars. All types and brands. I now have 2 guitars. This Dearmond and a Guild F4ce. I would'nt trade either of them. Ever! The Starfire is the best sounding electric guitar I've ever owned.

This is an update on my previous post.
Well I did it ! I bought a DeArmond bigsby from the importer and I'm happy to say that it screwed straight on. It needed an extra two screws on the top of the body but that was it.
I am so chuffed with this modification that I have to increase the score for this category to a 9.

I'm still playing the same mix of 1960's pop through to electric blues but I also bought a new amp.
The amp is a Tech 21 Trademark 60 combo which for a solid state amp sounds great. There is also a Marshall Vibrotrem in the loop as well which satisfies my 'jangly' guitar cravings too. I've got into REM recently and this set up works for me in emulating some of Peter Bucks sounds.
The bigsby is as subtle as you might expect but I was pleasantly surprised by the range, both up and down, of this great device. It doesn't affect me when I'm strumming merrily away either so I'm happy with the best of both worlds.

With the bigsby fitted the guitar just looks complete. The action hasn't changed as far as I can tell, at least it still feels the same to my fretting hand.
I think my only gripe would be that re-stringing is a little more fiddly trying to get the string ends over the little pins on the bigsby but that's it.

Since the mod I've been playing this guitar an awful lot and am very happy with it's tuning stability. Okay the bigsby is only subtle but has caused me no problems at all.

Still no need to contact them.

My guitar is just great. It sounds great, it looks great and it plays great. I'm very happy with the new bigsby and would recommend this modification to anyone.

I bought it around Easter this year so I suppose it was made 98 or 99. It is a Korean made semi-acoustic guitar, a modern take on the classic Guild Starfire. They are apparently set up and inspected by Fender in California but mine had a set up at the shop where I bought it from.
The set maple neck has 22 medium frets on a rosewood fretboard. Mine is a vintage honey colour topped off with a laminated top.
Two DeArmond humbuckers are controlled via indvidual tone and volume pots and a 3 way switch. The strings are held in a "D" shaped harp tailpiece, going over a tunamatic style bridge and anchored by some unbranded tuners.
I didn't get any extra's with this guitar but I got it for what I consider a good price and a fair trade in on a Regal RD-45 resonator.

When I play electric guitar I tend to play a mixture of 1960's pop through to some electric blues.
I put it through a solid state Vox Lead 60 amp with no effects at all. I just add a little reverb from the amp then try and use the amp for my sounds. I tend to stick to a bright clean rythmn and a crunchy lead and that does me for most of my playing.
I used to play a Gibson SG and although I liked the guitar it didn't really suit my style. This DeArmond sounded perfect for me right from the start. The neck pickup has some beautiful lead sounds for my slow blues numbers and the bridge gives me some sparkling arpeggio's. I get a great rythmn sound with both pickups on together. Noise from the pickups has not been a problem though my amp is on it's last legs, a Laney LC30 is on the cards for Christmas time.
It won't do metal or hard rock but then again I don't play those styles.

The finish of the bodywork and neck was a superb gloss straight from the box. The dot markers on the fingerboard show a little filler but this blends nicely into the rosewood anyway. All the frets ends are smooth and tidy.
One gripe is the body edging inside the cutaways close to the neck where there is a bit of bleed. There are also a few wires which are hanging loose which can be seen through the lower f-hole. I wouldn't be too concerned about this but I can see that other wiring is neatly cable tied away.
The action when I played it in the shop was a bit too low for me though that was remedied in the set-up.
I also admit that in the first few weeks of ownership I knocked it off it's stand and it landed on the G-string tuner which rewarded me with a nasty buzz all along the string. I sorted this by removing the tuner on the next change of strings and re-attaching it. Since then I have had no problems.

Till now the guitar has only been played at home and for a few jams with like minded friends. I'm looking for a band in the New Year where I intend to use the Starfire in a more appropriate setting.
It's a strong guitar but I'm not overly keen on the harp tailpiece. I'm intending to install a bigsby in the next few months for that vintage vibe, hopefully without losing it's tuning stability.
I also play a lot of acoustic guitar so I guess my Takamine will be a likely back up for gigs.

I haven't had any problems needing to involve DeArmond...I mean Fender.

I've just turned 30 and I've been playing for about 5 years now. I've been in a folk rock band and now I'm playing acoustic guitar and looking after the vocals in a duo with my wife on flute - very ballady don't you know !
Strings wise I also own a Takamine EG-332C, an old beat up Hohner 12-string and a Gremlin A-style mandolin. I'm also beating up on an Irish bhodran and shaking a tambourine when the mood takes me.
Ampwise I play through a Vox Lead 60 and a little 5-watt JHS practice amp.
I've always wanted a semi and I love the look of this guitar. The Starfire shape is more appealing to me than the more common Epiphones (can you believe the size of their headstocks ?). The best feature is the excellent DeArmond pickups and the worst feature is that harp tailpiece.
If you want anymore info then feel free to e-mail me. If you live in the Cambridgeshire are and want to jam then get in touch.