The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: Review: 1999 DeArmond Starfire Custom Electric

Review: 1999 DeArmond Starfire Custom Electric

The DeArmond Starfire Custom is a guitar that's been out of production for some years now, yet even today it's one of the most actively traded and sold guitars in its price range. If you put one up for sale, there's a customer for it.

Its internet reputation (and mythology) is that it's a bargain 400.00 guitar that's worth twice what it costs. This is true, when it was introduced by Guild in the late 90s as a low-cost version of one of its expensive jazz guitars, and was priced around 750.00 in 1999 dollars, easily equivalent to a thousand now given its features.

At that time in the late 90s, Guild owned DeArmond, and created the Starfire from the same Korean factory that made Corts. The overall opinion of its owners (and those who want one) is that the craftsmanship was of very high quality. The binding in particular is USA-grade workmanship, and the maple finish versions look absolutely beautiful.

The main attraction was the USA-made electronics, with a pair of Dearmond Gold Tone humbuckers that was designed to have a classic PAF tone, but veered a bit more towards Gretsch territory.

At about that same time, Fender bought Guild (and thus Dearmond) and after a short time spent praising the guitar with pickups as “classics that never were,” discontinued the Guild version and put it out as a Squier with standard humbuckers. The price of the Guild version was cut to 400.00 to clear out the old stock, and it sold very well at that price.

The Fender version wasn't successful, and the line was discontinued within a couple of years. The main thing was that with standard humbuckers and less quality control, it became a rather ordinary guitar in the Epiphone price class.

The earlier Starfire Custom did have its detractors. It was perceived by many as a Gibson ES-335 copy, and it's brighter-sounding Gold Tone pickups were seen as inferior. Add to that, the usual mass of internet opinion that was both dismissive and adulatory which made it hard to get a sense of what this guitar's sound was.

What it did have was an ES-335 style body made of extremely good maple, with a neck that was more Guild-like than Gibson (slimmer, and faster). It looked like a smaller Epiphone Sheraton, but noticeably lighter, and with the Goldtone pickups had a sound that ranged from an ES-335 style jazz tone to an impressively mean growl that would have fit just fine in any old-time blues or rockabilly band.

It had the classic Guild “harp” style tailpiece, stepped pickguard, and the three-bump headstock. Very retro Guild styling that one saw in its jazz guitar line.

The sound at times could be mistaken for an ES-335, but as a rule, it sounded more like a solid body Gretsch or, some sort of hybrid Gibson-whatever, which wasn't better or worse, just different. Whether it's as good as an ES-335 is a debate best left to guitar forums, as there's no right answer.

The heart of the matter is the pickups. Old-time Gretsch lovers find these pickups uninspiring, though, there's plenty of disagreement there with those who use these pickups (which were also put on other Dearmond guitars). Most of the criticism, from what I can see, comes from those who love the Gibson sound, and find most other brands inferior.

Interestingly enough, one of the biggest groups of admirers of this guitar is Fender guitar owners, who find it to be a nice addition to a collection, and find the middle setting (both pickups on at once) to be like a thick-sounding Telecaster (which I agree with, it can sound like that for sure).

In my case, I find it to be a great player guitar. It fits just fine either standing or sitting, its balance is perfect, and its neck just seems to play itself. I've been disappointed in a few Gretsch models that I've bought and modified, and find that the Starfire Custom is essentially the Gretsch that I've always wanted. It can do excellent jazz, Link Wray trash guitar, and everything in between.

Which probably reflects how I use it, the amps I run it through, and the settings I like. A friend of mine played it and got a jazzier sound out of it than I ever got, for example, but that's how it often works in the guitar world.

If you're looking for an inexpensive alternative to the Gibson ES-335, this could be it. That same aforementioned friend showed me how to make it sound like a Gibson with a few twists and turns of some knobs and pedals, but he also shrugged and said that there was no point in working that hard, as the guitar had its own voice, and it was an excellent one.

In fact, it’s the voice of a guitar that is easily worth twice what it costs now.

- Al Handa

2013

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa