NGD! Guild....DeArmond's...Wow...

[909one]

Last night I got a new toy....
A 1960 Guild Starfire. First year made. Two DeArmond pickups. Excellent condition. The finish on the neck is perfectly worn off to a smooth luster. The rest of the finish is still in great shape. Perfectly shaped neck. A little skinny at the nut... but I can live with it.

There was some question as to whether it's a Starfire I or II. It labeled as a Starfire I, but there is bridge pickup installed, which technically makes it a II. From some help from people on the Guild message board, I was informed that Guild used to make Starfire I's and then upgrade it to a II before it left the factory. The pickup cavity shows paint dripped over the edge of it, and all of tone knobs and pots match, so its quite possible its a factory job, but I will never know.

The interesting thing is that the bridge pickup is a white DeArmond with no pole piece adjusters, the neck pickup is a black DeArmond with pole piece adjusters. From what i have read, the white DeArmonds with no pole piece adjusters are quite rare, so whether the guitar is factory or not, it makes it quite unique.

The tone is amazing from this pickups. With the fully hollow body, its a perfect combination of Gretsch, Rickenbacker and Tele. Jangly, but with stout low end. I can't believe its taken me this long to have a guitar with DeArmonds... Granted, it has only been one day, but they just might be my favorite pickup.

Lets turn this into a DeArmond/Dynasonic appreciation thread...
Post your pics.

Here's the pic of mine:

[Frankee]

Bastard!

[dead mike]

hands down the loudest guitar i own. twangy, ballsy, greasy this guitar rips.


love your axe btw. Guilds rule.

[VicAjax]

that's a beaut, one after 909... congrats!

[nmiller]

Nice! The white DeArmonds aren't really rare, but I've never seen them on a Starfire before. I've only seen them on T-100s, X-50s and other lower-end Guilds. I actually prefer them to the 200s (Dynasonics).

[909one]

ok...
so used the guitar at practice tonight. i was getting some crazy feedback at louder volumes... not that good kind either. do these pickups get microphonic? is it cause they are old? can i get them potted?

[DANOCASTER]

I was watching that guitar quite seriously

on Gbase and then Ebay

looks very cool and sounds like it sounds great too

the Starfire 1 and IIs - being fully hollow - are pretty difficult to gig with - especially at stage volume and w/ the modern approach to gain / overdrive

they tend to feedback VERY easily - more so than a ES-330 for some reason. And I guess the Dearmonds CAN be a bit microphonic as well

I would tend to think of these as "recording guitars" - and not "live" gtrs

the right person can gig them but it's usually cleaner blues - or big band , jumpin blues stuff - or straight up mellower jazz

[909one]

Yeah its a very interesting guitar.
Glad you didn't jump on it first. : ) I was surprised no one jumped on it earlier but I think people were put of by the question of originality. I just pulled out the electronics to have a look inside. All of the pots an wiring or consistent as being assembled as a two pickup guitar at the same time. The only thing that is suspicious is that someone may have replaced the neck pickup at some point, and the wires are tied together, soldered and then wrapped with tape. But other than that, all of the parts appear to have been sourced at the same time, rather than purchased and then had a bridge pickup and knobs added later aftermarket. I don't know though for sure.

Yeah the feedback sounds like high pitched feedback as from a microphone, as opposed to the standard lower mid howl you usually get from a hollowbody. I wonder if throwing in a pair of new TV Jones DeArmonds would change anything...I am guessing he makes his pickups a little more modern than the way they were made back then... I don't know though. That way I wouldn't have to mess around with the old pickups.

[dead mike]

first thing you need is a longer cord, stay away from your amp. that helps. those old deArmands are wound 11k-15k, crazy hot. along with the guitar being fully hollow its gonna be tough. you can try adding a sound post also, although i think it will be minimal. wax potting the pups maybe?
tv jones is a new take on the deArmand 200s, more modern and wound a little lower. I've heard nothing but good reviews although no better than originals.

[Crazyquilt]

I was watching that one, too. Glad to hear it's a good one -- it looks amazing.

I've only used RI Dynasonics, both the stock modern Gretsch versions & now the TV Jones, and they do seem to tend towards the microphonic.

[909one]

So you think dearmonds/dynasonics in general are more prone to microphonic feedback?

I've owned a lot of full hollowbodies and I have never had a problem with the high pitch squealing feedback. Howling low-mid range... yes... you can deal with that.

Don't get me wrong.. its usable live. But, past a certain threshold it was instant feedback last night... in a small practice room albeit. I have a show tonight, we'll see how it fairs in a larger setting.