Dearmond M-65C

[wright1]

Hi All.
I have seen a Dearmond M-65c,in a sort of cherry/orange sort of burst,in a local pawn shop for £100 including a case. Has anyone got or had one of these? I notice a lot of you have got M-75's and M-77's etc and wondered if they were solidly made worthwhile at what seems not too much money? I know that the machineheads are pretty cheap and maybe the pots and switch need changing but are the pups OK? I have seen one story that the necks can be a bit rubbery/soft but is this a odd account or something others have found? Are they all made in Indonesia?
Any help would be appreciated, Steve.

 

[danerectal]

Is the M65c the bolt on version? I wouldn't want one of those too badly. I think matsickma knows more about the DeArmond line.

 

[swamp2]

I think the bolt-on neck models were built in Indonesia - the set necks in Korea. I just picked up a nice M75T off the local Craigslist for cheap - I'll post when I get some pix. It definitely was made in Korea (says so..). I haven't resarched this extensively yet, but my serial number started with KC9 - which I believe means made in Korea, at the Cort factory, in 1999.

I've gotta say, the M75T is a pretty nice guitar for as cheap as it was. I saw one of the bolt-on models at a store here a few months ago. Nothing really wrong with it - but I guess I wasn't over-inspired. If it had been a different color, I might have done it - think it was about $160 or so (used of course).

Steve

 

[wright1]

Yep, it is a bolt on neck. I hadn't realised that Dearmonds were coming out of different factories. I am not a great lover of asian built guitars and certainly there is a down shift in quality from Korea to Indonesia. As that is the case I think this baby is a little over priced and not worth upgrading.
Thanks for all your input, Steve.

 

[danerectal]

I thought that Korea and Indonesia were just different time-frames in the DeA line. I don't have any and don't know either.

 

[mad dog]

Wright1:

I'm no expert, but I do own 2 Dearmonds and have owned/played others. My M75T has the dynasonic-looking 2K pickups. Worthy, rocking single-coils. The M75 comes with Goldtone HBs, once again, excellent tone. It's a heavy guitar, but has quite a sound. Sort of a more massively built version of the Guild Bluesbird, at least in look and feel. I just got mine refretted, having earlier swapped out pots, caps and jack. In my experience you can always get more out of these instruments with minor electronics upgrades. The playability did not match the tone, so I finally bit the bullet on frets, and got a graphite nut. A world of difference.

The other one at home is an M72. Much lighter, it's a somewhat expanded Les Paul. Thinner than the M75. Thin maple cap on mahogany. Goldtone HBs on this one. Maybe I got lucky ... it's a grand slam budget guitar, with simply beautiful HB tones, excellent player right out of the box. An elegant looker too. I'm having the pots, caps and jack done now.

So those two I can recommend. Starfire Special too, though I think the 2K pickups work better in a solidbody. Haven't tried other hollow or semi-hollow DAs. The M70 and M65 examples I tried were not in the same league. Me, I'd stick with the made in Korea DAs. They're not all equally good, but the good ones can hang in there with way more expensive instruments. The other one I'd like to try is the S73, DA equivalent of the S100 Guild. It's those Goldtone pickups ... they really are sweet.

 

[swamp2]

My initial impressions of my M75T are pretty favorable. I spent sometime getting the playability dialed in the other night after it had been untouched since it's original purchase in '99 - and it is very nice. I like the DA 2k pickups a lot - haven't A/B'd them but I think I may prefer them to the pickups in my Blues 90.

I don't like the "Digsby" vibrato (ok, trem) nearly as much as the real Bigsby on my '72 Starfire III. Much stiffer and less responsive. Next restringing, I think I'll put the strings over the tension bar (which my SFIII does not have) and see how that goes.

More of a report later - but I agree, there's a lot to like about the Korean DA based on my fresh experience with this one. I've had an Indonesia-built DA Pilot 5 string for many years - and it's ok, but nothing to get at all excited about.