DeArmond Jet Star II bass

mellowgerman · #1 01-10-2012, 01:52 PM

Just bought this bass recently and absolutely love it. I know I'll be kicking myself for selling this down the road, but so it goes I do suppose. It sets up super well with nice and low action. Excellent shape with plastic still on the pickups and on the back control cavity. Short scale, set neck is super comfortable. Excellent tone from the USA DeArmond single coil pickups; beefier/rounder than my jazz bass pickups, but still with that single coil clarity.
The only two dings to speak of are one on the binding on the treble-side of the neck and another at the bass-side foot of the body. Neither would show up in pictures and neither exposes any wood or goes through the finish. When I got it, the tone knob was missing the silver insert, so I decided to put a chicken-head style knob in its place. Looks great IMO but I will throw in the original knob as well. For reference, the last photo shows the bass the day I got it, with the old tone knob.
Doesn't come with a case, but you'll be happy to know it will fit in normal bass gig bags or universal fit bass cases.
Looking to get $325 shipped CONUS.

EDIT: soundclip link and demo video link in posts below

zachbass02 · #2 01-10-2012, 03:09 PM

super cool bass. I had a student that had one of these. It played great and sounded great. bump for sweet bass. wish I could snag it.

mellowgerman · #3 01-11-2012, 11:01 AM

Here's a quick soundclip I just recorded. Both pickups, then neck solo'd, then bridge pickup. Note, I just used the built in mic on my ipod and put it in front of my bass amp... doesn't exactly do the bass justice, but you get the general idea. Also, please excuse the sloppy playing. It's already been a long morning.
And just FYI, the chiming sound at the end of the clip is my phone receiving a text message, so no, unfortunately the bass does not have a chiming feature

Both Neck Bridge - Jet Star Demo

Bitterdale · #4 01-13-2012, 10:46 AM

Bump for a sweet bass. Someone should jump on this.

Jefenator · #5 01-13-2012, 07:24 PM

That clip sounds freaking sweet!!

GLWTS - BUMP, hoping someone else nabs this before I cave in.

mellowgerman · #6 01-14-2012, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jefenator

That clip sounds freaking sweet!!

GLWTS - BUMP, hoping someone else nabs this before I cave in.

Please, feel free to cave in

Great tone from this little beast; no doubt!

Luckie · #7 01-14-2012, 04:29 PM

How would you describe the neck profile?
Weight good, balance good? Any idea of the neck/body wood?
Thanks!

mellowgerman · #8 01-14-2012, 06:19 PM

I would say the neck is a oval C type, a little chunkier than my '66 Guild Starfire's neck was... very comfortable IMO. Not too small, not too big. Balances surprisingly well. Weight is medium/light. Not as heavy as my Mustang bass was. Lighter than my jazz. Mahogany neck and body.

mellowgerman · #9 01-15-2012, 02:59 PM

Here's a quick demo video I recorded to show some of the different tone combos and how it sounds with a pick
jet star demo - YouTube

dlenaghan · #10 01-15-2012, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellowgerman

Here's a quick demo video I recorded to show some of the different tone combos and how it sounds with a pick
jet star demo - YouTube

Sweet video bump - that thing has a range I never expected given how I hear people talk down about DeArmonds.. never again will I believe such guff. This bass sounds like a million bucks! Andy Fraser? Check. Roger Waters? Check. Justin Chancellor? Check. Pretty versatile by my ears.

EduardoK · #11 01-17-2012, 12:09 PM

Free bump. This bass sounds great, talk about growl! Is it strung with rounds at the youtube vid?

mellowgerman · #12 01-17-2012, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EduardoK

Free bump. This bass sounds great, talk about growl! Is it strung with rounds at the youtube vid?

Nope, those are a nice thick set of flats; not brand new, though they aren't fully broken in yet IMO

EduardoK · #13 01-17-2012, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellowgerman

Nope, those are a nice thick set of flats; not brand new, though they aren't fully broken in yet IMO

Awesome flatwound growl, my friend!
Keep this bass, these are hard to come by...

TimBosby · #14 01-17-2012, 12:50 PM

crazy lookin bass. where are these made?

mellowgerman · #15 01-17-2012, 12:54 PM

Eduardo, wish I could keep it. Just need the money at the moment.

Tim, these were made in Korea.

slowburnaz · #16 01-17-2012, 04:30 PM

Off-topic a bit here, but would it be possible for you to measure the pole-piece spacing on those pickups?

mellowgerman · #17 01-17-2012, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowburnaz

Off-topic a bit here, but would it be possible for you to measure the pole-piece spacing on those pickups?

They're about 5/8" from center to center. Both bridge and neck.

mc_muench · #18 01-17-2012, 04:59 PM

I wish I had money...

Also if this Jetstar is anything like my Dearmound Starfire...I can first hand tell you this is a quality reissue, and super versatile.

mellowgerman · #19 01-26-2012, 01:55 PM

Decided not to go the ebay route after a friend of mine told me another seller horror story. He sold a mixer recently and the buyer told him it was damaged in shipping. After some back and forth, ebay ruled in favor of the buyer and my buddy had to take it back and give the buyer his money back. The kicker is he received the mixer back, damaged as reported, but in the same box he sent it out in, which was virtually unscathed. Now he has a broken mixer and is out listing and shipping fees. That's just about all I need to permanently scare me away from selling anything worth more than $50 through ebay.
So I figured, if I sold the bass through ebay for $400 shipped conus, after listing fees and shipping, I'd probably be left with no more than $300 -- not to mention the hassles that go with selling through ebay.
Therefore, following my logical train of thought and considering my love for the TB community, how does $325 shipped conus sound?

D.A.R.K. · #20 01-27-2012, 06:13 PM

pm'd!