DeArmond X-135

These guitars were released in 1999 and the DeArmond line was discontinued not long after that. DeArmond was a division of the Guild Guitar Company, which was taken over by Fender.

The guitar has 20 frets and my model is the all natural Maple.
The X-135 has one DeArmond pickup, located at the neck,
in the style of a Jazz guitar.

The guitar has a glossy clear finish that seems quite thick.
The body is a Venetian style cutaway, which is 'rounded', as opposed to the pointed Florentine cutaway style.
The body is very large.

The bridge has height adjustable turning wheels. The saddle is compensated.. but not defined very sharply.
The tailpiece is harp shaped, as on the Guild guitars.
The guitar has nice enclosed-gear chrome tuners.

I play mostly originals, in a sort of folk or rock style..
but I'm trying to learn Jazz.. and this guitar is ideal for that.
Currently, I only have a crappy small amp.
I hope to upgrade in the near future.
I put Stainless flatwound 12's on the guitar and it sounds nice.
I'm sure it would sound great with a decent amp.

The action was already nice and close on this used guitar.
You can fly around the neck with ease, especially with flatwounds.
I'm not sure if the pickup should be adjusted?
I'll experiment further when I get a decent amp.
The guitar is built like a solid piece of furniture.
The guitar was advertised as 'near mint' and I would say
that it is at least that good.

The guitar seems rock solid, with a thick finish.
This guitar should last generations, with the proper care.

The company is no longer in business,
which should increase it's value as a collectable, considering what a fine piece of craftmanship it is. I hope I can keep mine in pristine condition.

I've been playing for 35 years and I still suck.
I own a Samick lw-015 Dreadnought and a couple of old Kay archtops,
that I am restoring and customizing.

I lucked out when I bought this guitar. I knew nothing about them and bought it on impulse when it appeared on the 'Buy it Now' list at eBay. Since then I've researched the guitar and judging by the reviews it has received and the solid quality and beauty of the guitar itself, I couldn't be happier with it.

Normally, I'd only give a 9, even if I found no flaws with a guitar, as I did with the review of my Samick..
but this is such an extroardinary specimen of Luthier craftmanship,
that I'm giving it a full 10.

Bought this hollow-body archtop about a year ago at LeoCaerts in Belgium. A single cutaway, 20 frets, one American-made DeArmond Goldtone (dual coil) Humbucking pickup at the neck position. The body has laminated maple top, back and sides, in natural color, and a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard (radius 12"), and rosewood sadle and bridge. The bridge can be adjusted at treble and bass side (like on a Gibson). Cream colored body binding, two f-holes, and pearl "dot" inlays. One volume and one tone control, die-cast chrome machine heads, and a rosewood bridge with DeArmond's "harp" style tailpiece. I play with flatwound strings of gauge 11. or 12 and usually with the backside (round side) of a heavy pick (like Stevie Ray Vaughan used to play) for heavier music, occasionally with a light pick for strumming parts. The guitar looks great and it's always on display in my living room. Of my seven guitars, it's the one I now play the most often
at home.

I'm not a jazz purist, but I enjoy playing jazz on it and got me
more interested in the style. On my Line 6 AX2 i prefer models Roland JC120 and Fender twin reverb for jazz. I play lots of blues and rock on fender stratocasters. Incredible bending like on strats is not possible with this guitar, although with 11. you can easily raise the top to strings with to bars, which is enough for most blues and rock. It also plays nice unplugged; it has a very pleasing and even accoustic sound, a balanced response (not too bassy, a disadvantage of many accoustic guitars). On a clean amp setting, it sounds interesting when strumming cords, different than on a real accoustic, not as boomy and less sustain, but I like the sound. It sits good in a mix. Turn the treble down for warm jazz on a clean amp, and up for boxy rock tones (cfr. early Beatles) with a litte more gain on the amp. On higher gains, you can also play raw blues with lot's of sustain (in the direction of a Gibson ES335, although that one is unbeatable in sustain and sound). It's not noisy at all, having a humbucker, but on high gain settings you have to watch out for feedback (like for any hollow body guitar I suppose).

I raised the bridge on the bass side just a little 'cause my heavy playing style otherwise tends to generate rattle. Now the notes sound
very clean. I left the pickup at its height. I could not detect any flaws besides a little drop of glue on one of the frets, which I removed after my first string replacement.

After a year of playing it at home and taking it back and
forth to the studio in a gig bag, it is still free form damage.
I take good care of it: it's a hollow body guitar, not a strat or tele.

DeArmond has stopped its production. I had the last one in the shop,
and probably also the last one available in Belgium.

Playing guitar for about 20 years. My first was a German made Telstar
electric i bought for 10 euro (probably made around the year 1968).
I also have two Fender strats, one maple neck for crispy blues and
funk, and another rosewood neck fitted with thick frets and heavy gauged, tuned down a half step, for blues; one Gibson ES335 which I
left intact for Santana like solos, jazz, or blues, one spanish classic acoustic and one Simon&Patrick rosewood pro accoustic.
I have owned a Martin backpacker (nice, but I hardly played),
an A6 (brand name now slips my mind) which i returned after having
too much trouble with rattling strings, and a rock style guitar with
flooting bridge (not for my style, i prefer fixed bridges). I have owned a fender twin reverb (regret i sold it), and currently use Line6 AX2 (now very cheap but still excellent for an allround workhorse), Line 6 delay modeler, and a Bosch multieffects processor. I always wanted to have a jazz box, I did compare with Epiphone models, but just fell in love with this one. And it's not only a jazz box, it's a good altenative for an accoustic (less volume, but sweet sound) and has also some rock and blues in it. It's the guitar I play most at home to practise and create some new stuff.

Korean made Guild copy from 1999, I buy it new in 2000 in a Brussels music shop for only 455 US$ with gigbag. It was only one sunburst model in the shop and I think that these one was hanging on the wall for some months before I buy it.
Just one pick-up (USA made DeArmond)tone and volume controls, that's all and enough to suit my style (blues & jazz).
I was looking for a ''jazz box'' but can't afford a Gibson or Guild, and after a short moment of hesitation, my choise was made between the X 135 and an Epiphone Regent !

The sound is deep and clean, I play it through a Fender Performer 1000 amp for jazz gigs and an old Fender Super Reverb (1975) for blues. Naturally, like all hollow bodied models, you must be careful with ''feedback'' problems while playing at some highter volumes, but it's not a hard rock guitar !

All was ready to play, low action with no ''buzz'', pick-up at the right level, nothing special to say about that, exept that's maybe a shop set-up in place of a factory set-up. No problems with the finish, a little bit dusty from a lon exposition in the shop, while cleaning it it appear to be in mint condition.

While playing this guitar mostly in a sitting position in jazz clubs, I think I can play it for years without any damage.
While performing at some blues festivals, roadhouses, bikers run, I use either a Fender Stratocaster or a Gibson Les Paul Junior.
I use this guitar without a backup, I change the strings after 5/6 gigs, I have no problems (since now) with broken strings.

I don't know, I've heard that this model is no more in production, but while having my Fender Stratocaster since 1968, and never had to call or use Fender'services, I think I'll be the same for this product.

I play guitar since 1961, and I've had a lot of guitars, more than twenty... but while I had not too much money to spend for it, I always had to sell one to buy another, since a few years, I don't sell anything, and I'm now a sort of collector, with seven guitars and a five strings banjo at home... + the two Fender amps and a 30 W Laney combo as practice amp, or for use in very small clubs.
I can't tell you why I've buy this guitar, a sort of appeal, maybe, I've never had a real jazz guitar before, and wanted to try one, I realy don't regret it. My other guitars are : Fender Stratocaster (buy in 1968) - a 2001 sunburst Les Paul Junior (single cutaway) - a Gordon Smith GS II (English made ''a la Les Paul'', with two real hot humbucking pick-ups) - a Danelectro U2 (reedition 2000) - a folk Ibanez Wildwood from 1973 and last a Hohner Dobro copy.
If this guitar was stolen, I'll buy the same if I find another one, but I'm not into Squier guitars, and I certainly not change this DeArmond for a X 155 Squier. I will maybe look for an Epiphone Regent or Broadway, or sell some other guitars (like in the past) to buy a Gibson !

this is the Korean made 1999 Guild copy - blonde maple top with the single neck US made vintage sounding DeArmond humbucker. it didn't come with a hard case but I happened to have an old tattered one from my last archtop and the X-135 fit perfectly snug in there! great sensitive grover tuners, modern strap lock butts, great feeling neck and shiny finish! i may have liked to have box inlays instead of dots on the fretboard - but that was extra also.

i play a mix of jazzy lo-fi folk alt-country trip-hop pop indie-rock (whew) and the versatility of the X-135 is perfect for that. the X-155 may have been a better choice with the added bridge pickup - more options... but they didn't have one in blonde and it seemed so much heavier and $65 more - so i opted for the single. i plug it into a VOX Cambridge Twin (yes it's solid state - i can't afford a $1500 AC-30 just yet) i have noticed alot of feedback if the mids or lows are set too high on the amp - but that's expected from a hollow body guitar. The tone control knob is invaluable - turn it down and it allows for a fat rich jazzy tone - or crank it up for a bright crisp twang. i particularly like to add a touch of tremelo for a truly vintage 60's sound. this guitar's pickup is so much better and more authentic than any other humbucker in it's price range.

played great right off the showroom floor! no set-up necessary... and it's still holding up 6 months later with the same strings! if need be - it would be easy to set up yourself with it's adjustable bridge. there are a few tiny aesthetic flaws... the neck bracing looks half-assed and there's a couple small globs of laquer finish on the neck. the boning in the f-holes is a tad shoddy - but these details are all so minor and unaffecting that they are easily outshined by this instrument's good points. in twenty years (and yes i'll still be playing this guitar then) there will be plenty more battle scars that will only add character!

sure i've played it live... holds it's tune just fine. no need for a back up - i haven't even broke a string on this one in 6 months! the hardware ought to last decades - the grovers are quite sturdy and the bridge and tailpiece are economical but hardy. the finish is bound to wear off eventually - but what guitar's finish is everlasting? modern strap butts are ready for locks if you got 'em. very dependable indeed... i wouldn't trust my Danelectro U-2 at a gig (loses it's tune very easily) but the DeArmond is faithful to no end!

never had to deal with it... but the warranty seems solid enough.

i've played for about 15 years - strats and telecasters mostly... lots of cheap copies too. but i bought my first archtop in 1994 and never looked back. i love the boxy tone of a jazz guitar - and the versatility to play so many styles with a hollowbody electric. plus the look of f-holes... so classy! i hate round hole acoustics now - something ugly about them - but that's my weird opinion. i tried several guitars before i bought this one... Gretsch, Gibson, Guild, Epiphone, Ibanez, Washburn and some vintage Silvertones, Harmony's and Kay's - but most were out of my price range or just played lousy - then i saw this baby (the only one in the store) and played it for two hours in the shop before realizing i'd better just buy it and take it home before they kicked me out! i'm thinking about adding a Bigsby tailpiece for that occasional retro-wobble. if my DeArmond was lost or stolen i'd almost certainly buy the very same instrument again... i only hope they don't catch on and raise the price!