DeArmond Jet Star

I tested the DeArmond Guild with a Crate amp, on both dirty and clean channels. I've been playing Guild acoustics since 1970 and have the highest respect for Guild quality. This is my first experience with a Guild electric and it's exactly what I'd expect. Near perfect workmanship. Electronics are smooth & broad; fit & finish are precise; intonation is easy to set; and the neck, well, it's a Guild neck. Superb for my Chitlin Circuit and Blues Rock styles.

I've loved DeArmond pickups since I got my '60 Harmony Stratotone Jupiter. Nine ohms neck and 10.2 bridge... talk about raw power, Iggy? The range of clean,from twangy to jazzy; crunchy; Woman Tone; mighty dirty and even harsh Metal tones is exceptionally broad. Direct through the Crate mind you. No pedals. With very nice balance.

The neck sits solidly in my hand; frets are trimmed, medium height, comfortable and fast. Scale enables easy, swoopy bends. The translucent cherry red is a beautiful finish. It's just a tad heavy for my taste, having gotten spoiled by BluesHawks, a vintage Mustang, and Les Paul Specials. But feels just about 9 pounds.

Must say, the "gumby" shape is not at all to my taste but as wonderful in every other respect as the DeArmond Jetstar is, the unique shape makes a unique statement and might become endearing were I privileged to own one.

Doug Pratt
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

I picked up a mint black Jet Star on Ebay for £110 including hard case (note these guitars do NOT fit most standard cases). I have collected all of the top line DeArmond models (T400,StarfireSpecial,M75T)The Jet Star sat untouched for about a year or more until I got round to setting it up.As it stood this was a very useable instrument, ergonomically well designed and balanced. The p.ups were versatile and powerful, however, There were a few negatives,'stodgy'and no more than just about adequate tuners (replace the plastic ring under the tuning buttons with fibre washers for more friction and they work much better) the pots and controll knobs were rubbish, so a re wire also fitting a push pull coil tap, this turns these guitars into an exceptional tool!Tapped is like a 'Tele on steroids, as 'buckers Filtertron meets P.A.F.sums it up Setzer should get one of these!I have been using this one loaded with 13to56's down a full tone through a '67 bassman on a 4x12 Fender Bassman cab + Roland 201,This has a KILLER of a vintage sound (everything you want from a Gretch duo jet AND 6120.Wipes SG's OR LP's for cassic rock, crunch, sparkle and growl!! NO ONE I know, including a renown 'Mettaler' has failed to be impressed!! As previously stated the stock stop end is sharp and uncomfortable, I manged to pick up a 'Digsby' from a M75T (5" from tail end to string roller) and with a little modification fitted it front mount a'la Bigsby'B5'. A Wilkinson roller bridge fits nicely onto the bridge posts,but the cambre of the bridge is a tad too curved for perfect action so flattening off the brige saddles a few thou. as req.makes a small but worthwhile difference.

THIS IS NOW THE DOGS BOLLOCKS of a guitar!!(there are some pix on Bebo Red Hot Roosters, DeArmond geezers tool kit.)I have been playing for 37 years and have about 50 guitars and some of these are vintage 'A' listers and I have as much regard for this as any of them (excluding a special'62 Tele to which I have a special emotional attatchment!)Do yorself a favor and get one ,they are still pertty cheap and I think a future 'classic'
Regards, the Teleblaster.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I saw this really clean and tidy new/second hand Korean made DeArmond/Guild Jetstar electric guitar in our local guitar shop about two years ago, but price tag of £440 put it out of my reach. Two years later it was still there and i finally bought it for reduced sale price of £300. I just fell in love with it.

I like the fact that the whole guitar is non conventional being a curious mix of both retro and modern styling. I really like the fact that this is a non conventional instrument. The purple coloured paint job on mahogany woodwork reeks of quality and the neck and body are all superbly finished. The bridge and tuners are fine on mine and i have had no problems with tuning at all.The pick ups are the DeArmond Goldtone humbuckers. These babies cost a fortune on their own!When i got it home i plugged it into my 30-watt Marshall G30RCD amp and Boss DS-1 distortion unit and banged away. This guitar is explosive and heavy when you want all out power and sustain, yet when you want warm full bodied bluesy and non distorted tone's it obliges beautifully. The Jestar also balances perfectly on the strap and doesnt kill your shoulder when standing up playing for long periods.

There are only a couple of things i dont like about the guitar and that is the tone and volume pots. The quality of these is terrible and are the only things that let the guitar down. The problem is they are poorly manufactured and the end rims tend to break away. Though saying that mine are still the originals hence the broken off rims. I will probably buy some nice quality replacement pots to remedy this problem. One point is the fact that the bridge can be a little bit sharp and could gash an unwary strummer with poor technique, so this guitar would not suit a begginer.

As mentioned the construction of this guitar is excellent. It's built like a tank and is nice and solid with the one piece neck yet doesnt feel awkwardly heavy like a lot of instruments i could mention. The neck, fretting, paint job and pearl effect inlaying is also excellent. The bridge may be a little basic, but what the hell it works and it works beautifully.

I noticed that most of those who have reviewed the DeArmond Jetstar either love it or hate it. Have to say i love this guitar a lot and find it hard to put down. This is no begginers guitar as some have wrongly suggested. It's too good for a novice, and to play it effectively it requires good technique. At the RRP of £440 most novice players i know would not be able to afford a Jetstar. Though you can pick them up cheaper at some music stores. Be warned though they are becoming rare, especially in the UK as importation was limited due to the fact that the guitar was disliked by so many when it first came out in 1999. Guild have since been absorbed into the Fender company and a lot of the girls and guys who once hated this guitar are now looking for one. I woulndt part with my Jestar for any other guitar now. It's so individual and is such an eye catcher and has everything i need to play fast and hard and to play quieter melodies too.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

In which country was it made, and although the violin in Korea is very well finished, the guitar is very pleasant massive handle, 2 pairs of buttons (volume + tone) and a selector 3 positions of the classical sum.

UTILIZATION

The frets are rather the handle jumbo model that does not even frieze strings very close to the handle. Ergonomics is good, it looks like an SG without being a guitar but it's a very balanced to play sitting or standing.
Easily obtained a good sound without curling the frets with the strings the bridge is like "clumsy" and fully adjustable.

SOUNDS

Jazz, blues, Roch, Fusion, it will all metal, its 2 Humbuckers react perfectly on a tube amp the sound is clear and crystalline. They can also derail into a more bold type stoner.
The sound is absolutely divine light by playing with volume and tone you get a palette of its very interesting. The middle position is my favorite mediums resortent very low on the mix of the two microphones.
I play this guitar with a peavey 5150 (the light), a pedal Jacques Mercer Box, a TurboRat Fuzz and experience
The two pickups (humbucker) resseble hard to FilterTron Gretsch pickups.

OVERALL OPINION

For about 4 years I bought it after hearing the sound. The value for money is unbeatable in my opinion also paid € 300 with new flycase. The look puzzled me for a few minutes but the quality of manufacturing the type of micro and especially its wide range of guitar sound is a very endearing that it's hard to separate, I did not even discuss the price . With the experience if I had the opportunity I would have bought the 7-string version.