NBD: Dearmond Starfire II

[Alanko]

I sold my Coronado reissue a couple of months back, but still had the itch for a big honking semi-hollow. My Jack Casady is still in need of a refinish, and my Aria TAB-66 has become a fretless Frankenstein's monster. As such, I needed a bass! I've been using two PJ Mustang basses for everything, but I've always wanted a Starfire. A Dearmond Starfire turned up locally for the equivalent of $465, so I think I got quite lucky, as I've only seen (typically rougher) examples go for more.



One owner from new, and still with the protective film residue around the neck pickup. This was his daily driver for a while, but latterly it has been living in the attic. As such the metal is a bit tarnished, and the frets are a bit green, but short of the odd scratch and one chip on the headstock it is in good condition.




Somewhat rashly I was thinking of dumping Guild BS-1 'Bisonic' reissue pickups into it, as I already have a bridge pickup, but I might hold back for the time being. The electronics didn't come out the attic storage phase unscathed; the potentiometers are very much on-off switches, and very crackly. Also, both volumes behave like master volumes in the middle setting. However the pickups sound ok. The neck pickup is very much into Chas Chandler or Paul Samwell-Smith country, and I quite like this! I'd read online that these 'Gold Tone' pickups sucked, but I haven't found this to be the case.

I'm going to do the boring stuff and restore the electronics and improve the cosmetic condition of the finish and metal work. The frets have a wee bit of roundwound chew, and maybe need a bit of a re-crown. I will then see if it actually needs Bisonic pickups, or whether I'm falling for faddy nonsense.

[Rob]

That seems like quite the deal!

[Pilgrim]

My vote: leave it the way the manufacturer built it. A nice bass deserves to remain stock so you can enjoy it the way it was designed to sound.

[Dave W]

Nice looking burst and the price is reasonable. IMHO you ought to use it for a bit before deciding whether or not to change the pickups. I thought the general opinion of those DeArmond pickups was positive, at least based on what was posted at the FDP way back when.

[Alanko]

My vote: leave it the way the manufacturer built it. A nice bass deserves to remain stock so you can enjoy it the way it was designed to sound.

This is what I'm going to do. I will build a new wiring harness for it, and bring the metalwork, fretwork, fretboard and lacquer back to life a bit.

Nice looking burst and the price is reasonable. IMHO you ought to use it for a bit before deciding whether or not to change the pickups. I thought the general opinion of those DeArmond pickups was positive, at least based on what was posted at the FDP way back when.

Yeah this seems the sensible option. I've read that Bisonics (and their ilk) are very sensitive. I play in a psych rock band, so I really need a strong thumping low end; not something that reproduces every nuance and shift in my playing. The Bisonic lusting comes from listening to Jack Casady and co, and what they achieved in the '60s.

The burst on this bass is superb. The transitions are all very smoothly done. The neck is also fantastically comfortable, and very like the Newark Street Starfire II I tried a few months back.

[Rob]

Now it's killing me 

[Alanko]

Now it's killing me 

I'll stick a thread on here about my cleanup job. 

[Rob]

I'll stick a thread on here about my cleanup job.