Thoughts on the Dearmond S-65 and S-73?

[polarizing]

I was thinking of getting one of these and was wondering what the consensus is on their quality. There's an S-65 on my local Craigslist for under $300, that I'm leaning heavily towards, while the S-73 I believe is going for around $600-700. Has anyone here tried either of these guitars?

 

[LeFinPepere]

I guess you mean s-70 for around 600. a.S-73 would be a Dearmond Polara thing...I think GAD knows about s-65s...

 

[polarizing]

I meant the S-73! Both Polara copies

 

[LeFinPepere]

I meant the S-73! Both Polara copies

Sorry,I thought Guild s-65. The s-73 has Dearmond Goldtone Pick-ups & set neck . Only read good things about it. The s-65 seems to be rarer, with more generic Pups and bolt-on neck, which doesn't mean bad...But, a used Guild NS Polara goes for 500-600 Euros....

 

[matsickma]

S-73 is a great guitar. Blow out price was less than $300 without case. However that was an unusual event and 20 years ago. It does have a thick poly coating. S-65 not worth the bother IMO.
M

 

[GAD]

I have an S73 and I was kind of floored by it. Better quality on mine than the Newark Streets I’ve owned and the pickups sound fantastic.

 

[SFIV1967]

Quite a different pricepoint in the January 2001 pricelist:



The S-73 set neck was built in Korea, the S-65 is a bolt-on neck made in Indonesia. Clearly the S-73 is the better one.

The S-73s are good guitars:

DeArmond S-73 matched pair

Pics of siblings - just for fun :)

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

 

[koaguilds]

I got the green

 

[LeFinPepere]

Arghh!!The Curse of the Mismatched D-knobs!!!Nice one!!

 

[koaguilds]

Arghh!!The Curse of the Mismatched D-knobs!!!Nice one!!

I'd often wondered about the odd D.

 

[SFIV1967]

I'd often wondered about the odd D.

Discussed here a bit, so I guess the one was replaced at some point in time:

Dearmond D knob

I don't have the patience to search for the thread - maybe Moderators need to recruit Minions? - but people have found them. I think "brass" and "brad" are good keywords and folks found an appropriate size at "hardware stores". My recollection is that they are held in place by friction - the...

letstalkguild.com

Ralf

 

[polarizing]

Thanks all! I'm waiting (and saving) for a great condition 90s S-100, so just looking for something to hold me over till then. Sounds like the S-73 is the better bet in terms of quality, but as it would be a dent in my savings, I think I'll just go with the S-65. Should be an interesting piece of history, at least.

 

[matsickma]

Check out musicgoround using "De Armond" and "DeArmond". They had a few of the lower priced bolt-on neck models.
M