Worth it?

[Phase Shifter]

Is this a nice guitar? How does is sound and feel compared to the mid 70's M-75?

http://neworleans.craigslist.org/msg/2944365100.html

 

[Russian Guy]

I'd be the guy who sounds like an 80-year old and say: "It can't compare to the real thing" :lol: Seriously I understand that the price tag is tempting but I think (and that's a pure speculation not based on any experience with Dearmonds) it looks better than it sounds/plays.

P.S. Here's a black 1973 M-75 GS for $1200.

 

[Default]

I own a blue sparkle one and they are great guitars especially for the price. The pups are US made DeArmonds 2K or 2000 models, I can never remember which. The Digsby is a little stiff and the nut on mine wasn't slotted wide enough, so they bound a little. The frets are tall and squarish. On mine, I threw a roller bridge and some locking tuners that I had lying around. I haven't had any problems with the bridge buzzing and it won't go out of tune.
It's the only single coil guitar that I own. ;-)

 

[dougdnh]

I've owned several DeArmonds, they are amazing guitars for the price. I had an M-75T - very well made, sharp looking, however I didn't go crazy over the sound of the pickups. They were kinda brittle without much character. I personally think $475 is a little high. On the other hand, my DeArmonds that had Goldtone humbuckers sounded great. I had an M-72 which I sold for $300 when I bought a real Guild, and a Jetstar which I sold because I couldn't get used to the bizarre shape.

 

[Phase Shifter]

Thanks! I didn't know what to expect from the guitar and I would rather buy one great guitar than 3 or 4 more mediocre ones. If this one is just mediocre, I'll guess I'll let it go. I asked to trade the guy an Epi Les Paul with active EMG humbuckers but he hasn't replied. I got the Les Paul last weekend and it is not really what I wanted. It sounds okay but not perfect.

 

[mad dog]

I just traded my M75T, looks like that one. They are excellent in their own rite. Heavier than the old Guilds typically. Really a different thing with the 2k p/us, with IMO are the biggest reason to own this guitar. Great sounds. The pickups look like dynasonics but don't sound much like them.
MD

 

[dougdnh]

This is interesting - illustrates how the sound of a guitar is such a personal thing. The one thing I didn't care for on my M-75T was the sound. Mad Dog liked the sound of his. Some people like root beer, some like coke. We both agree that it's a very nice guitar and somewhat heavy.

 

[Default]

The pups are very "tunable". The further you run the polepieces out, the brighter the pups get. screw the polepieces down, and the bassier the pups get. It's better for you to use spacers to get the pup height correct than to try and correct using the polepieces.

I don't think "mediocre" describes the M75T at all, imho. A quick scan of ebay shows a number of DeA's up for sale. If the guitar is local, go play it and see if you can dicker any. Cases for Epi Wildkats fit the DeA's, but the case is a tad too deep, so you have to throw a towel in the case to make up the difference.

 

[mad dog]

Doug:

It took a few tweaks to bring out the best from my M75T. Stock pots were crapola, really held it back. Also, I had a treble bleed mod done on the neck p/u. In hindsight, probably wasn't necessary. Just moving to good pots eliminated the muddiness.

It certainly does come down to personal taste. I look for distinctive sounds in p/us, found that in the 2ks. They really don't sound much like anything else. There's also a certain lap steel kind of tone I hear in there, very pleasing.
MD

 

[dougdnh]

MD,
Maybe I should have tried tweaking my M-75t a little. I do agree that it had kind of a lap steel tone to it. I was looking more for a Brian Setzer/Cliff Gallop Gretsch type sound.

 

[Phase Shifter]

What about this one?

http://mobile.craigslist.org/msg/2947533959.html

 

[dougdnh]

The M-65 is the cheaper end of the DeArmond line. I believe it has a bolt on neck and doesn't have the USA made goldtone pickups. I don't know if these were made in Korea (better) or China. This seems to have traditional style humbuckers which would make it closer to a Les Paul in sound than the M-75t. All in all, you can't go wrong for $150.