DeArmond Pilot bass?

[amnicon]

Hi All- I'm principally an acoustic player ('75 D40), but my old electric is getting more playing time in recent years since my son has been taking lessons on an electric. We're talking about adding a bass for the fun and want to keep it in the Guild family. I'm not so sure playing bass will stick enough to justify the price of a Guild at this point, but I'm really tempted.
I'm attracted to the Pilot basses. I saw in the ongoing Starfire thread that the fit and finish was good but pickups were questionable. Is this true of the DeArmond Pilot basses as well?

What should I be able to find a Guild Pilot for cost wise? Current ebay/reverb prices seem $5-600ish.

I want a quality enough instrument to learn, but want to find the price point that matches the level of play. Would I be disappointed with a DeArmond?

And I could picture this stirring up opinions, but 4 string or 5?

Thanks for your time and opinions!!

 

[AcornHouse]

You can get a good Guild Pilot for $4-500. They usually have the EMG active pickups, nothing wrong with them. There's really no reason to even consider the Dearmond version, when the Guilds are cheap and available.

 

[fronobulax]

I'm probably a snob but the only reason to go for a D'Armond (any model) is if you can't find or afford a Guild.

I can't play a 5 string. The neck is too wide for my hands. The amp can be a concern with a 5. Not every bass amp out there can handle a low B so some 5 string/amp pairings do not sound good at all. But if you are going to use an existing guitar amp for a bass you may already have placed limits on how much the amp can effect the sound/tone. (For example the tone controls on a 90's Fender Princeton '65 don't really do anything when they are changed and a bass is plugged in).

A Pilot is going to be a 34" scale which is more of a challenge for small hands than the 30.5" scale of most other Guilds. But the cheapest short scale option is likely to be a used Newark Street Starfire and that might take some time to find.

Speaking of which, the Newark Street Starfire is a wonderful bass. All my comments about the pickup are in the context of comparing it to a '67 Bisonic pickup and the tone Jack Casady gets in the late 60's. My bass teacher has no strong preference for Casady's tone and actually prefers the Newark Street over the '67.

But, if you can handle the 34" scale a Pilot is a wonderful place to start and $500 is a good target price. Folks have gotten playable Pilots for as low as $300. I would consider $600 but only for a special bass.

Grot owns a lot of Pilots and gigs with them so I'm sure his comments should carry a lot of weight.

I'll leave Bowdren's article here for a few days. Until Hans publishes Volume II it is the best source for all things Pilot.

 

[amnicon]

thanks, Acornhouse and Fronobulax, I appreciate your thoughts. I'll give up looking at DeArmond and keep saving my pennies for the real deal.

I appreciate the thoughts on the scale length. This hadn't crossed my mind at all and is probably something I should be thinking about. I may take your advice and begin waiting for a used Newark Street Starfire.

Thanks for the Pilot article also, super helpful!