DeArmond X-155

[tomvwash]

Fine video, Kirk. My dog does the same thing when I'm playing. An earlier thread mentioned trying nickel round wounds, which I put on over the weekend, and, as I mentioned, I finally have some tone and depth. Not sure why I was so convinced that flatwounds were the right path, at least for this guitar. Dr. Pure Blues--they also feel better on the fingers. Love this guitar now. I'm keeping it!

Tom

[2bornot2bop]

Put that noise machine down and play with me Dad! Great video!

[ptchristopher3]

See now if someone said you had to make a living playing only that guitar, I would see no issue with that at all.

Sometimes I wonder how guys here actually play. This sounds great. Smooth and real and not even slightly butt-clenched, which can happen.

Thanks for the demo of the big, heavy, and great sounding plywood box.

[KirkP]

See now if someone said you had to make a living playing only that guitar, I would see no issue with that at all.

Sometimes I wonder how guys here actually play. This sounds great. Smooth and real and not even slightly butt-clenched, which can happen.

Thanks for the demo of the big, heavy, and great sounding plywood box.

It’s nice to hear that. I’m finally able to relax a bit in front of the camera and just play what I want to hear without worrying to much about what others will think of it. It helped to have Mr. B as a distraction.
I think the choice of guitars is more about pleasing the musician (and perhaps the bandmates) than pleasing the audience. I play better if the instrument feels and sounds good. But if the DeArmond was my only instrument I could probably tweak it to be content with it, at least as an electric. For acoustic work or low volume plugged in I much prefer my Eastman AR810CE.

[sgosnell]

I bought a DeArmond during the blowout, a 7-string SG copy. It plays as well as any guitar I've ever played, bar none. I wanted to try a 7-string, and found that I wasn't that crazy about a 7-string solid-body, so it lives in the closet now, but for <$200, it was a great buy, and fun to play with.

[TheGrandWazoo]

I just played a black one on a fluke at Hanover Strings and couldn't put it down. I was truly impressed. Strangely, I've found that my favorite guitars are the cheap ones. My current love-affair with my budget-grade Patenotte classical from 1969 that I bought for $200 bucks from the woman who bought it when she was living in France in '69. I may have to off-load my 6120-1955 for this DeArmond. It was that impressive.

[JaxJaxon]

well I own a Squire X 155, It was a Local Pvt seller. cost me $450 It came with the case and is near new condition. I would have liked a DeArmond But Not eazy to find, But Neither is the Squire. They sound like a Guild Play like a Guild.

[cp_morton]

I am very late to this thread.

I bought a used X155 in 2010. I had been looking for a jazz box for some time and kept finding guitars that were good but not fantastic. I had never heard of Dearmond guitars. A guy was selling the x155. I went to his house and played it for 1/2 an hour in his living room. I knew I wanted to buy it in the first 5 mins. The wand chooses the wizard. It was one of the first hollowbody guitars that made me say "Wow, this thing is great". I played it acoustically first to get an idea of how it resonated. I was impressed. The acoustic tone was nice. I plugged it in and the neck pup was warm and mellow and slightly bright all at the same time. I loved the feel of the neck. I've been playing mostly jazz with it, sometimes blues and some rock. I use flat wound strings with a rosewood bridge so it's really set up for jazz. It has the Goldtone pups, the D shaped tail piece and was made in the Cort factory in Korea. I checked the serial number and as far as I could tell I'm pretty sure it was made in 2001.

I once heard the Dearmond line started with Guild then Fender bought Guild and continued to make some of the dearmonds for a while including the X155, then discontinued them. I don't know the details of that story.

I love the guitar. It's been a great purchase for me.

[arielcee]

My friend/colleague has one which has been his main jazz box for probably 15+ years. I've played it a bit and can concur it is really damn good. Great feel, easy playing. Very comfortable for a big box too, not uncomfortably deep. I need to let him know to put me first on his list if he sells it, lol.

[rcfs1834]

Tried a Dearmond x-155 at a local guitar store a few years ago and thought it was a great. Finally pulled the trigger on one last week and I’m curious what people are using for strings on it. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

[neatomic]

Tried a Dearmond x-155 at a local guitar store a few years ago and thought it was a great. Finally pulled the trigger on one last week and I’m curious what people are using for strings on it. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

i tried various flats..old d'aquistos, thoms, etc..but found it rings best with rounds...and does not need that heavy, since it has a very lively sound..all maple laminate body...i like pure nickel rounds...10's or 11's...think i have dr pure blues on it now..but thomastik bebops are great too..but most string manufacturers make pure nickel strings...

congrats & enjoy

cheers

[Slick]

Tried a Dearmond x-155 at a local guitar store a few years ago and thought it was a great. Finally pulled the trigger on one last week and I’m curious what people are using for strings on it. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi this is Paul from Darwin, in the tropical north of Australia, how are ya?

I use Elixir electric and acoustic strings on all my guitars due to the corrosion resistance and long life and stable tone and tuning throughout their life. In the tropics, humidity and perspiration make short work of standard brands, so when I spotted a beautiful early Korean made (pre Fender) DeArmond X155 in natural amber finish 9in perfect condition for sale in a southern states archtop repair and sales workshop, I put aside a set of Elixir 11's roundwounds ready for when it arrived.

The head luthier had set it beautifully and fitted it with D'Addario XL 11's half round strings, and I have to say that they are a great set of strings, more lively than you would predict and on this guitar they are never taken out of their comfort zone despite the X155 being able to do smooth woody delicate jazz right through to swingin' stingin' hooligan rock-a-billy!

I never would have picked this string myself, but the luthier was spot-on. Definitely worth a try, but if you have no intention of playing anything but jazz, I think any good brand of flat wounds would get good results-either 11's or 12's maximum.

All the best of luck

[rabbit]

Hello 'Stralia!

[SeanSeb]

A very late in the day question to this discussion:
there’s been several mentions of pu height above.
What are the current views? Low, high, very high, etc?

I am well aware of many traditional views (distance from string to pu opens up the tone range; near the string and the magnet pulls and reduces string vibration, etc).
I would love to hear views.
[One little experiment I did with a quite good Road Worn MIM Tele: I was told by sone top tech in London to keep the pu at a distance; I tried many heights, but in the end the best Ed Bickert tone emerged when I brought the pu to almost touch the top E! Really nice, full body high E string sound! And no sustain problems as I use a 0.13 for E - no magnet can stop it moving! - I kept the bass side very low/distant from the string though, as I prefer less powerful bass end].

[SeanSeb]

My serial number on x155 is
s/n 8084xxx
i have had mixed results for year, factory, also Guild or Fender and materials (pu say USA: are they made in, or designed in?)

[KirkP]

My serial number on x155 is
s/n 8084xxx
i have had mixed results for year, factory, also Guild or Fender and materials (pu say USA: are they made in, or designed in?)

I bought one of the last ones built as they were blown out around 2001. The back of the headstock says Korea and the serial number starts with “KC”. It has a curvy pickguard and lacks any “By Guild” markings. I think earlier ones had more of an Art Deco pickguard shape and some kind of Guild marking.

I’m not sure where the pickups were made, but they reportedly were designed by a Fender pickup engineer.