Rookie Dearmond Starfire Special ?'s

[Jas]

Ok I was looking at Guild SF2 and 3's .. I ended up going for Starfire special..99

In reading other posts .. people have said it's a good idea to....
Change pots ,jack and switch?? 250 or 500 what is in the guitar now ?
Guitar Electronics ?
How about a new nut ? factory one plastic?

I also picked up a guild tail piece..That would leave me with 2 holes..
Then I could replace the bigsby if I wanted?

Great site ... I look forward to reading and learning more about Guild

 

[danerectal]

I had read somewhere that the Dearmonds were all wired in the US, so I can't really imagine the electronics being too bad. On the other hand, you could try to use different components to try to clone a Guild. Centralab 500k volume and 200k tone, switchcraft toggle and output jack, .01mf and .046mf ceramic caps. The pickups were made in the US for sure. I've heard the Fender HB-1 reissue and it sounds great. The Dearmond gold foils could be the same pickup for all I know.

Good luck, hope it sounds awesome...

 

[Jas]

Thanks danerectal
I'm not sure about the wiring...ship the body from Korea to be wired here?
could be ..This has the 2k pickups? I think I get confused between the 2000 and 2k
Thats what I was thinking about using switchcraft parts
But it could come down to $ I dont see myself soldering over a hollow body..
I'll talk to a local shop get an Idea
My guild tailpiece came in today... looks nice
I guess I'll have to give it some shine to match the guitar
kind of hate to take the patina off it

 

[danerectal]

Pretty sure I've read that somewhere, perhaps even here. The pickups were definately made in the US...

http://www.dearmondguitars.com/pickups.html

 

[Jas]

Thanks Dan
I have the 2k pu's
I don't know why I didn't see the dearmond site ?
thanks for the info

 

[Jas]

well the guitar is at the doctor's office now..

I don't think I will be using the giuld tailpiece..

going with a graphite nut
flat wounds, And I will see about the pots

 

[Default]

You might want to look into a roller bridge too. Between the graphite nut and the roller bridge, you should have any tuning problems taken care of.

 

[Jas]

Thanks for the Idea Default
We thought about that.. and graph- teck saddles..But fot now he is going to take the spring out of the bigsby for me to lower the level of it and cap it ? ..right now it feels like it's in the way ..If my playing improves
I can set it back up if I want

 

[mad dog]

Jas: congrats on the new DA. I have one of those as well. If was fully made in Korea as I understand, though the 2k p/us are US made (I think). I know the volume pots were listed as 500k on the schematic, cannot remember on the tone pots. This is my second DeArmond. Had pots replaced on both, to much greater effect on the M-75T, though it was a positive change on both. Adds clarity, makes tone controls much more usable. This is the one area where it seems to me they compromised on quality. (That's pretty standard with lower priced guitars.) The jack on my SS was ready to fall out (though the guitar had barely been used), and the p/u selector felt flimsey. Much better with replacements in there.

The Bigsby on mine is stiff, but works very well. A roller bridge really isn't necessary. Just have your tech lube the nut and saddles. By contrast, the Bigsby on the M-75T is much less useful, due to the high bridge height, and the steep drop off to the roller bar. I've been looking for a Guild tailpiece for that guitar, so if yours is gathering dust, shoot me an email. I could use it.

These are cool guitars. Mine seems equally at home with Gretsch-like clean and overdriven chicago blues tones. A lot of instrument for the money, and quite handsome besides.

 

[Jas]

Thanks for the Info mad dog
I made the decision today to change the pots switch and jack... yes diagram says 500k both
I am having the spring on the bigsby removed

I have the tailpiece for sale in the FS/ FT section
I will take some pics if you want..

 

[mad dog]

Thank you Jas. Pics would be appreciated.

MD

 

[Jas]

Well..almost three months later ..
New graphite nut..new harness, shielded wire and more high tech
wire, all switch craft , new pots, new jack..and fret dressing
it was all worth it..

 

[Default]

Now you must post sweet, sweet pictures or better yet pictures and audio...

 

[Jas]

I haven't looked at posting pics yet
I'll see if I can figure it out