De Armond Solid-Body Info. Please

coastie99

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I've been considering buying a budget L.P.-type guitar to fit some h/b-type P90's to.

Agiles get great reviews, and the prices are certainly friendly.

But, I've just come to the realization that I'm overlooking the obvious - a De Armond my dear Watson !

Don't know nuffink about these, though, apart from an M75 looking like an early model 'birdie.

Could somebody give me a brief overview of models, please ?
Is there such a thing as a De Armond S90 / S100 look-alike ?
 

matsickma

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Hi coastie,

The DeA guitar you are referring to which looks like a Guild 1970's S100 (i.e., SGish) is a S73. I owned this model in the past. Great quality guitar. The neck is a little wider than a Guild and it is a good instrument. You can find these for around $250 to $350 often with a case. The S73 is the setneck model build in Korea. Stay away from its lower priced Indonesia look alike with bolt-on neck, the S65.

The "Les Paul" or M75/Aristocrat type models that are higher quality are M70, M72, M75 and M77. At one time I owned each of thes models. My preference is the M72 and the M75 . The M72's are light, flat, flame maple top, dot markers and come blond and transparent red or black; the M75 looks like a M75 Aristocrat/Bluesbird because of the harp stop. The M75 comes in a nice sunburst color, among others. The M77 is a good quality guitar with a Les Paul type stop. Colors are limited to Blue and Red. The M70 is a Flat slab guitar with dot's, no binding and a angular stop like the Semi-solid M-75's of the 1970's- very heavy guitar.

I would buy another M72. They have a bit of chambering in the solidbody slab routed under the maple top. Similarly, stay away from the cheaper models the are M-50's thru M65's.

All of the models listed above are Humbucker PUP guitars.

(At one time I tried all of the DeA. I basically ordered one or more of each during the Blowout under a 12 month, 0 interest with Free shipment MF arrangement. This gave me a great opportunity to compare the differences between guitars. I have sold most of the solid bodies but retained the semi-hollow and hollow body models.)

You may also want to consider a solid body with HB PUPs based on the Thunderbird . That is the Jetstar model.

Hope that helps...

matsickma
 

coastie99

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Great Matsickma, just what I needed.
Thanks very much mate.

An S73 may be just the ticket; I like the S100 shape and I want to spend a minimal amount of money.

Any idea what the finish options were on the S73, please ?

Cheers, Coastie.
 

matsickma

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Yep. "Natural Mahogany", "Teal Transparent" (green) amd "Crimson Red Transparent". The name in quotes was the official DeArmond name for the color. The red is hardest to find and green the easiest. (My brother owned a green S73 and I had a natural one. Finish on both were very good. I never owned a transparent red one so I have not had a first hand look.)

m
 

matsickma

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Hi coastie,

Check out ebay auction 230061112110. The auction will end in less than 6 hrs so mayby this info is to late. The auction is for a DeA S73 with HB size P90's already installed.

m
 

coastie99

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Made the auction in time, and yes, I could live with one of those quite easily.

Haven't finally made up my mind yet as to what model I'll spring for, and haven't yet entered into negotiations with the War Department (Mrs Coastie).

Thanks again, mate.
 

guildzilla

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Now, Coastie....

In the infamous Fungus thread, you claimed NZ studs did as they damn well pleased. Made all us Yank feels euniched by comparison, you did, mate.

What's this Aussie crap about negotiations with headquarters?
 

coastie99

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I just thought I'd throw in that bit about the "negotiations" so that any Guild - chicks watching, would know that here's a geezer well in touch with his feminine side.

Chicks love that sort of stuff !

Darryl, are ya taking note ?
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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Beacher,

On the net, I've seen discussions of De Armonds that are very positive about them, especially for customizing. There was somebody out there who changes just a couple of parts and can sell them at a huge profit.
 

coastie99

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Darryl.

Opinions of deArmonds seem to point to a pretty sound "budget" line.
Matsickma's input was very informative and much appreciated.

It's a mystery to me how I managed to overlook the obvious when considering a budget guitar to customise !

Maybe I'll even strip it and re-finish it in a tasteful colour; I'm currently working on a lime-green Dano U2, with GFS New York p/u's.

The perrenial problem is financing such indulgences !
 

yettoblaster

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There's a green S73 locally for $295. Mint condition.
I should grab it I suppose, as the neck is very close in feel to my X-150 Savoy jazzer box.
I'm thinking of installing some DeArmond 2K (Dynasonic lookin') pickups I have kicking around. It would take some adapting, but my tube amp likes single coils on solidbodies.

I had a brown one a couple years ago briefly, but it got traded in a heat-of-the-moment fling for something that's also gone now too (can't remember what). Seemed like a nice enough guitar, and much more stable than an SG.
 
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