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Dearmond Jetstar bass - good/bad?

T

Thurisarz

Aug 20, 2004
824
2
Sweden
#1
I got a good deal on a Jetstar bass and i wonder, i have never played one but they look super cool and when i first started playing bass the first bass i fell in love with was the Jetstar. So it could be a dream come true here!

Are Jetstar basses good in quality, feel and soundwise? They are not very common since this is the first i have seen for a while on the used market here in scandinavia!
 
#2
I had one. It was the higher end model with the 2 single coil pickups and the set neck. I really liked it a lot, but ended up selling it for a stupid reason, and regret it to this day. I remember the string spacing being sort of tight, and it is a short scale bass, so if you can deal with that, I'd say go for it.
 
#7
primussucks9126 said:
I'd say a J, what with the 2 pickups and everything. It was a few years ago when I owned it, so it's difficult to remember it exactly.
Click to expand...

I remember trying out this bass ten or so years ago. In addition to getting a kick out of its unique look, I recall really liking the punchy tone of the J version (less so with the P version that came out later). It had, what I believe was, U.S. made DeArmond single coil pickups. They appeared to be bigger than standard J pickups; then again, it just might have been the casings they were in. What I don't recall is if the neck was long or short scale (a la Gibson). Tonally, I think the pickups lent itself well for slapping but the set-in neck just didn’t inspire that technique like Guild/DeArmond Pilot basses. Still, the Jetstar was one odd but very cool bass and a great welcome to those of us that are bored with yet another J/P or Spector shaped axe.
 
#8
These basses were designs by Keith Brawley when he was with FMIC/Guild, based on the old Guild Thunderbird. They were built by Cor-Tek in Korea.

The DeArmond USA pickups were mostly designed by Bill Turner and produced in the Fender pickup shop in California.

Overall, the DeArmonds were excellent instruments.

When FMIC dropped the DeArmond line, over a million dollars worth the Jet-Star guitars and basses were donated to VH-1's music education charity. Unfortunately, they were so heavy that they were deemed unsuitable for youngsters and were sold off on eBay for $169-$189, still in their original boxes. I got one of the guitars, but got into a row with the really AWFUL people who were doing order fulfillment over the bass I was trying to get and canceled my order.

Here is my Jet-Star guitar Link Removed. [Photos by the remarkable Mark Wong]
 
#9
Bongolation great post and wonderful looking guitar you have there!

Back on the De Armond Jetstar topic, is there anyone who has a copy of the Dearmond catalog in order to understand which model and in which color they produced?
I guess that 2 models were produced concerning to basse,one with 2 single coils, the other with a P style pickup at brtidge.
both were shortscale?
which wood were used?
Both had set in neck?
who has some information on this quirky looking bass?
 
#10
My wife actually just bought me a used one for our anniverary!
I had been looking at it for a month or so because my 1st bass was a '60's Guild Jetstar. It is a lot of fun to look at and play. I'm more of a Fender Guy, but I've been exploring other, low priced basses lately for some variety. The neck is like a short scale P-bass feel and the sound varies in the normal way from bridge to neck depending on where it is plucked.
Really nice and mellow at the neck. Somewhat neck heavy, but not nearly as bad as a EB-3 or Viola bass. Overall I'd go with it being more a jazz sound, but like a Guild it's an animal of it's own kind. Korean, set neck seems to made well. Worth a couple hundred for the fun!
 

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