DeArmond Starfire Special

dreadnut

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Finding myself without enough shekels to buy a Guild Starfire a few years ago, I purchased a new red DeArmond Starfire Special, basically modeled after the Guild Starfire III. It's a '98, "Crafted in Korea", with the white single coil DeArmond pu's. It is one sweet guitar, excellent workmanship and playability, its a real blues machine. I know they were only made for a while, and the production was moved out of Korea at one point. The market price on DeArmonds dropped for a while, now it seems to be back up there. I'm basing this on what I'm seeing on e-bay. Apparently the Korean buillt Starfires are more desireable. Hans or someone, could you comment please?
 

dreadnut

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Finding myself without enough shekels to buy a Guild Starfire a few years ago, I purchased a new red DeArmond Starfire Special, basically modeled after the Guild Starfire III. It's a '98, "Crafted in Korea", with the white single coil DeArmond pu's. It is one sweet guitar, excellent workmanship and playability, its a real blues machine. I know they were only made for a while, and the production was moved out of Korea at one point. The market price on DeArmonds dropped for a while, now it seems to be back up there. I'm basing this on what I'm seeing on e-bay. Apparently the Korean buillt Starfires are more desireable. Hans or someone, could you comment please?
 

dklsplace

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Based on droves of players with hands on experience, particularly while the blow-out was taking place, the Korean DeArmonds were the best of the bunch. And the earliest production that actually had the Guild name on the truss rod covers were said to be the best of the best.

If I remember the press correctly...they had originally said the DeArmonds were built to the same specs using the same materials as the Guild guitars that they were modeled after. Once production started moving around & price points changed to move product, all bets were off.

I never played any of the Indonesian ones, but quite a few of the Korean models. All quite nice as I recall.
 

dklsplace

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Based on droves of players with hands on experience, particularly while the blow-out was taking place, the Korean DeArmonds were the best of the bunch. And the earliest production that actually had the Guild name on the truss rod covers were said to be the best of the best.

If I remember the press correctly...they had originally said the DeArmonds were built to the same specs using the same materials as the Guild guitars that they were modeled after. Once production started moving around & price points changed to move product, all bets were off.

I never played any of the Indonesian ones, but quite a few of the Korean models. All quite nice as I recall.
 

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Just bought a used red Guild DeArmond Starfire Special....made in Korea.
It's really nice...luithier-wise, it's very very close in quality and craftsmanship to the Guild Starfire III my friend has. However, the USA DeArmond pick-ups on this guitar seem muddy and not as clear as the pick-ups on the Guild Starfire III. My Epiphone Elitist Byrdland and Elitist Les Paul Custom guitars are really great and on par with the Guild Starfire III.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of the muddy sound of the DeArmond Starfire special and bring it up to par with the others. Adjustments ??? or replacements???

(I agree that the Japan made Epiphone Elitist Series Electrics are much better than the USA top-of-the-line Gibsons....hands down!.....FAR BETTER QUALITY CONTROL......and that the GUILDS are also better than any Gibson, save for maybe an original Gibson Byrdland.....if you have 6 to 10K to get one)
 

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Just bought a used red Guild DeArmond Starfire Special....made in Korea.
It's really nice...luithier-wise, it's very very close in quality and craftsmanship to the Guild Starfire III my friend has. However, the USA DeArmond pick-ups on this guitar seem muddy and not as clear as the pick-ups on the Guild Starfire III. My Epiphone Elitist Byrdland and Elitist Les Paul Custom guitars are really great and on par with the Guild Starfire III.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of the muddy sound of the DeArmond Starfire special and bring it up to par with the others. Adjustments ??? or replacements???

(I agree that the Japan made Epiphone Elitist Series Electrics are much better than the USA top-of-the-line Gibsons....hands down!.....FAR BETTER QUALITY CONTROL......and that the GUILDS are also better than any Gibson, save for maybe an original Gibson Byrdland.....if you have 6 to 10K to get one)
 

dklsplace

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Any suggestions on how to get rid of the muddy sound of the DeArmond Starfire special and bring it up to par with the others. Adjustments ??? or replacements???

Do you know what value pots & caps are on it?
 

dklsplace

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Any suggestions on how to get rid of the muddy sound of the DeArmond Starfire special and bring it up to par with the others. Adjustments ??? or replacements???

Do you know what value pots & caps are on it?
 

HoboKen

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My used Red Korean DeArmond Starfire Special looks to have the original dynasonic Chromew/white style USA Made DeArmond 2K single coil pick-ups. Some very minor pitting on the exposed metal top parts.

HoboKen:
F-212 Hoboken
JF-55-12 Westerly
JF-30 Westerly
DV-72 Westerly
DV-52 Westerly
S-100 Westerly
Martin 000D-1R Bethlehem
Epi. Texan Kakamazoo
Epi. Elitist Byrdland Japan/Nashville
Epi Elitist L.P. Custom Japan/Nashville
DeArmond Starfire spec. Korea
DeArmond Ashbory Bass Korea
Saga BR-160 China
Beard Standard GP Hagerstown
Gold Tone Beard Standard Signature Korea/Hagerstown
Gold Tone Beard Signature Cut-Away Korea/Hagerstown
Morgan Monroe MMS-5 Mando. Korea
Deering Boston-6, Banjo CA
Blue Lion Lap Dulcimer CA
 

HoboKen

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My used Red Korean DeArmond Starfire Special looks to have the original dynasonic Chromew/white style USA Made DeArmond 2K single coil pick-ups. Some very minor pitting on the exposed metal top parts.

HoboKen:
F-212 Hoboken
JF-55-12 Westerly
JF-30 Westerly
DV-72 Westerly
DV-52 Westerly
S-100 Westerly
Martin 000D-1R Bethlehem
Epi. Texan Kakamazoo
Epi. Elitist Byrdland Japan/Nashville
Epi Elitist L.P. Custom Japan/Nashville
DeArmond Starfire spec. Korea
DeArmond Ashbory Bass Korea
Saga BR-160 China
Beard Standard GP Hagerstown
Gold Tone Beard Standard Signature Korea/Hagerstown
Gold Tone Beard Signature Cut-Away Korea/Hagerstown
Morgan Monroe MMS-5 Mando. Korea
Deering Boston-6, Banjo CA
Blue Lion Lap Dulcimer CA
 

parker_knoll

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I just recently sold a Korean made Dearmond SF special with Blackface pickups - the others I've seen were all white face.

They are very different specs to the original Starfires - I have two of those from the 60s as well. The main difference is that the original Starfires are completely hollow, whereas the Dearmonds have a solid centre block, like a Gibson ES335 (while an ES330 is fully hollow).

The original Guilds were very light, while the Dearmonds weigh a ton. The sound is also quite different, although both sound good. The shape of the two guitars is also quite different.

For details on the pickups, there's a very informative thread over on the Gretsch Pages forum discussing the exact difference between the three different kinds of identical looking pickups: Dearmond 2000s, Dearmond 2ks and Gretsch Dynasonics. They're actually all different under the bonnet.

AFAIK Dearmond SF Specials have Dearmond 2k pickups. Go to the Gretsch Pages and do a search for "dearmond pickups" and you'll find it.

Value on Dearmond SF specials is good though. I sold one at a decent profit recently.
 

parker_knoll

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BTW I found that the neck pickup on the Dearmond SF special was quite bright.
 

jp

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A question about your Dearmond

Hi drednut,

I've always been curious about the Dearmond Starfire Special because I see so many conflicting descriptions.

Is it actually a semi-hollow body guitar, or is it fully hollow like the Starfire IIs and IIIs?
 

parker_knoll

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see my post above, Drednut - it's semi hollow. The real Guilds are fully hollow
 

dreadnut

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Yeah, I've done some research since, and it seems they made tooling specially for the Korean DeArmonds, so they were unique in that respect. While they were patterned after the Starfires, they are semi-hollow, and they are considerably heavier than their Starfire counterparts. The workmanship is impeccable. Puts recently made Gibsons to shame!

Maybe I'll get a real Starfire some day, but this baby sure fills the niche until then. :D Its a real rocker!
 

jp

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Oops, missed that!

Hey guys,

Sorry parker_knoll. Feel kinda sheepish for missing your post. I guess I was reading too quickly when I posted the question. Thanks for pointing out the answer. :oops:

I really like semi-hollow guitars, and I'm curious to try out a Dearmond Starfire Special. I like the Starfire IVs, but I prefer florentine cutaways instead of the 335 style. I was really enthralled with the newer Gibson ES-137, but when I finally tried one, it just didn't feel right. Just plain stuck on Guilds.
 

santfe

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"However, the USA DeArmond pick-ups on this guitar seem muddy and not as clear as the pick-ups on the Guild Starfire III. My Epiphone Elitist Byrdland and Elitist Les Paul Custom guitars are really great and on par with the Guild Starfire III.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of the muddy sound of the DeArmond Starfire special and bring it up to par with the others. Adjustments ??? or replacements??? "

Yes, replace the (DeArmond 2k) pickups on that guitar with DeArmond 2000s, a DeArmond 200/DynaSonic sound-alike which will produce a much grittier, focused sound.

(Actually, I would just replace the neck pickup and leave the bridge pickup alone (the "muddiness" you refer to is primarily on the neck pickup, right?). I have 2000s at the neck and 2ks at the bridge on both by Guild Rockabilly and DeArmond M77-T. Others have found this combination desirable also).
 

HoboKen

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Santfe,

Tried your idea on the replacement of the neck pick-up......WOW!
Made all the difference in the world!!

Yes, the DeArmond Starfire III Special is a semi-hollow guitar, with less feed-back than a Guild Starfire III, by a direct comparison between the two.

Also used "Flitz" cream on a Dremel buffing wheel to clean up the metal on the guitar. Now it looks like show room new!!

HoboKen
 

matsickma

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Early verse Later DeArmond guitar quality myth...

It is often said that the early DeArmonds guitars with the Guild Truss cover and logo on the back of the head instruments are better in quality than the later instruments. Based on my experiance I did not find that to be true. In fact I find the opposite.

I have owned 4 different T-400's. The two I sold were the earlier models. Both had action much higher than the later instruments. The rosewood bridge was not shaped as closely to the body and that prevented the action from being lowered. The finish on one was a bit inferior to the others.

In comparing a early to later Starfire Custom I found the earlier model had neck binding that was not as consistently placed on the neck as the later one. The binding thickness is also thinner on the earlier model.

Comparing a M75T to a M77T I also give the edge to the M77T. The M77T neck was straight and the frets level; the M75T frets on the upper octave of the neck were not level and had a bit of a buzz.

In regards to the X-155...I could not see any differences in quality or action between early and lated models.

The style of the early Dearmonds tend to be a bit closer to the Guild style. In particular the Head style on the early model is raised in the center and has a small raised dimple on either side of the main crown just like a Guild. The later models only have the center crown raised head.

This is not a scientific study but between my Brother and I, we owned quite a few Dearmonds in the past and present. My experiance indicates the latter were a bit better.

Matsickma
 

dreadnut

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Do you know which of these guitars were made in Korea and which were made in Indonesia?

My early (98) Starfire III Special was made in Korea, and is quite superior to the later ones I've played. Mine has the Guild truss rod cover and it has the single coil white DeArmond pickups. They put different pickups in, among other things, when manufacturing was moved to Indonesia.
 
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