FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

In 1999, Guild (Fender) introduced the DeArmond line of guitars as a “budget line” for Guild. Built in Korea, they featured specially designed, American-made DeArmond pickups.  The DeArmonds purposely made use of venerable Guild designs and visual cues of the early ‘60s Starfires, and the Starfire Special emulates the look of the early Starfire III better than any current Guild Starfire.  However, unlike the original Guilds, the DeArmond is a semi-hollowbody and has a solid center block to resist feedback.  The DeArmond 2K pickup has a P-90 type design, but uses ceramic magnets instead of the P-90's alnico magnets.  The tone is fat with a sharp upper end. The Starfire Special was available in black, sunburst and transparent red.  It possessed great “bang for the buck” factor but in 2001, along with the entire DeArmond line, the Starfire Special was discontinued.

Body: Semi-hollow; laminated maple top and back, and laminated maple sides; triple bound top and back

Finish: Black, polyurethane

Neck: 1-piece maple, set-in; black plastic headstock overlay with pearloid logo and "Chesterfield-style" inlay

Fingerboard: Indian rosewood, single bound; pearloid dot markers

Number of Frets: 20

Pickguard: Black plastic

Bridge: DeArmond Roll-o-Matic with DeArmond Vibro tailpiece

Nut: Plastic

Tuners: Rotomatic-style, sealed, chrome

Pickups: Two, DeArmond 2K single coil with adjustable pole pieces

Controls: Tone and volume controls for each pickup, 3-way pickup selector

Scale Length: 24 3/4 inches

Neck Width at Nut: 1 11/16 inches

Body Width at Lower Bout: 16 1/4 inches

Body Depth: 1 3/4 inches

Weight: 9.0 lbs.