Dearmond Guitars Serial Numbers
Frequently Asked Questions: GeneralThis a general FAQ for the Ashbory Bass. If you have specific questions about the useor form of the Ashbory Bass, please check the. There is also a variety of and available.Q: Is the Ashbory Bass a bass guitar?A: The refers tothe Ashbory as ' the most innovative bass guitar ever created' though I'mthinking that's just marketing talk. It has about as much in common with an uprightbass as a bass guitar.
Gibson ibanez serial numbers. The Fender serial number decoder currently supports all documented MIA, MIJ, MIM, MIK and MII formats with the exception of Custom Shop, Relic and Reissue instruments. Please note that fender serial numbers tend to overlap by at least a year, and thereby the date of your guitar can only be approximated.
The scale is far removed from either, closer to a Bass Guitarbut still just a little over half that length. There's no metal strings, no frets butthere is guitarlike fret markings on the fingerboard. The strings are tuned the sameE-A-D-G as both.In short, it is an Ashbory Bass, which is an electric bass. If it were an electricbass guitar, it would be built more like an electric guitar with a combination offeatures centered around a fretted neck, metal strings, 34 inch scale neck, separatebody wood, and magnetic pickups. That's not to say all electric bass guitars followthis recipe either, but there's a clear level of distinction between an Ashbory andsay a Steinberger which doesn't follow the standard Leo Fender recipe, but is more ofa re-engineered bass guitar (magnetic pickups, 34 inch scale metal strings, frettedversions) than something else.Q: How does a little instrument sound so deep and rich? Is there some electronic tricks that make it happen, like a pitch shifter, midi, of something like that.A: Nope, the bass really sounds like that.
What you hear is the real sound of the strings. No pitch shifting, midi, or anything of the sort.Due to the way the solid silicone rubber strings work, there is no real need for longer scale. The onboard preamp is only there to boost the existing piezo signal.
There's no tricks or manipulations to the sound outside of standard bass, treble, and volume controls. The magic is in the strings, not the electronics.Here is a recording made without using the stock pickup or electronics and you can hear the fundamental Ashbory sound regardless. That is because the instrument really has that sound.
You can put your ear up to the neck while playing and the basic essence comes through. This recording is made by using 'a Planet Waves tuner (#CT-02) for $10 US. It has a piezo built into a clamp, and the tuner has a 1/4' out. I clamped it to the Ashbory headstock, sent it through my recording stuff, and came up with this recording:'.Q: How did the Ashbory Bass come to be?A: There is a dedicated to the Ashbory Bass written byinstrument co-inventor Nigel Thornbory. I strongly recommend visiting, thepictures alone make it worth a visit, and there's far more information than ispresented here. Here's a short history constructed primaily from that site,. Brief History of the Ashbory Bass:In 1985, Alun Ashworth-Jones, a maker of transducer pickups for guitars, notices byaccident that a rubber band over a transducer makes substantial bass notes.
He buildsa very crude test mule to prove the concept, then contacts luthier Nigel Thornboryand after a couple of days he creates the predecessor to the Ashbory bass, whichshortly after is improved with the use of rubber O rings to replace the rubber bands.The bass debuts at the Barbican Guitar Exhibition in London where it catches the earof CF Martin IV, who commissions prototypes for the Martin Guitar Company. Prototypesare made, and research was also centered on development of better strings. Sometimeafter, a small amount of Ashborys were built by Thornbory. These lead to exposure andmedia praise.Things fell through with C.
Martin Guitars, but George Gruhn was familiar withthe Ashbory and managed to introduce the instrument to Guild. Ashworth-Jones andThornbory later visited the Guild Factory in Westerly, Rhode Island to collaborate onproduction and at the 1987 NAMM show in Aneheim, California, the Ashbory wasintroduced. Guild had undergone some ownership changes and the licensing for theAshbory was terminated in 1988 or 1989, with a reported 1235 units of totalproduction.The Ashbory lived on, however. A new Mark II Ashbory design with a different bodyshape and a longer scale was created. It was available in a variety of forms from avariety of builders over time but never in any significant volume.
Finally, theAshbory Mark II disappeared as well, with a smaller total production number than theGuild version.Fender Musical Instrument Corporation (FMIC) purchaced Guild Guitars in November,1995. This opened the door for the Ashbory to return, and a new, overseas producedAshbory styled like the Guild models was introduced under the DeArmond brand used forimport Guilds. It was introduced in the July 1999 Summer NAMM show in NashvilleTennessee, and has been in production ever since.In August 2001, the Westerly, Rhode Island plant where the Guild Ashborys weremade was closed, well over ten years after the last Guild Ashbory left thebuilding.As mentioned before, this short history does not do justice. Do yourself a favorand visit the the official history at.Q: What is a Ashbory Mark II?A: There were multiple runs of the Mark II, which are differentfrom the preceeding Guild models.
Differences include a longer scale and a differentbody style, plus they were made in England independently from Guild. For moreinformation, read the official Ashbory history, starting at and ending at Chapter 10. The Mark II was sold primarily in the UK.Q: What year was my Guild Ashbory made?A: Here's the serial numbers for the last Guild Ashbory Bass madeeach year:1986: AJ231987: AJ11091988: AJ1235Q: What is the differences between the Guild and DeArmond bassmodels?A: In short, the DeArmond is newer and superior, while being madein Korea.
The Guild models were crafted by Guild in the USA but have inferior pickupsand vastly inferior tuners compared to the new DeArmond models. Both have the samebasic dimensions (body, strend scale length) and form. A comparison is.Q: What are the differences between the DeArmond Ashbory and the Ashbory by Fender and when did this happen?A: Fender dropped the DeArmond name from Ashbory Basses beginningin late 2002. Marking differences on the body, the back of the headstock, and the namebadge on the gig bag are the only changes. More information is. They are the same bass, just with different art and name. The new (DeArmond and Fender) Ashborys have always been a Fender product since their.
The Fender part numbers are the same for in 2007 for an Ashbory by Fender as they were in 2003 for a DeArmond Ashbory.Q: How many Guild Ashbory Basses were made, when, and where?A: Judging from the serial number data available, 1235 total withproduction in 1986, 1987, and 1988, with 23 of those being made in 1987, 1086 in1987, and 126 in 1988. All were made at the now closed Guild factory in Westerly,Rhode Island.Q: What kind of cases were available for the Guild AshboryBass?A: According to the 1987 Guild Suggested Retail Price List, theonly case available is a gig bag, with a suggested price of $50. Some cases have redliners and other have blue liners.
All reported have black exteriors. There is noevidence of an available from the factory hardshell case.Q: Is there a patent on the Ashbory Bass?A: Yup! US Patent #4,750,397 'Electronic musical instrument withelastomeric strings and shielded bimorphic transducers' covers the Ashbory Bass. Itcan be atthis site.Q: What is the plural form of Ashbory?A: Ashborys.Q: Why isn't 'Ashbory Bass' spelled as 'Ashbury Bass' or 'AsburyBass'?A: The term Ashbory is a combination of Ashworth, associated withco-inventor Alun Jones, and Thornbory, the last name of co-inventor Nigel Thornbory.There is no association between the creation of the bass and the Haight-Ashburydistrict of San Francisco, or Asbury Park, New Jersey. From the first prototype tothe Guild models to the present DeArmond offering, it has always beenA-S-H-B-O-R-Y. More information on the creation of the name can be foundin from Ashbory.com.Q: Would your recommend the Ashbory for the beginner as asecondary bass, or would it be a confusing adjustment?A: I don't find the change confusing at all (like I do between a34 inch scale bass and a 32 inch scale, that really messes me up).
Being a fretlessmakes it more difficult for a beginner. There's a parallel between learning to drivewith an automatic vs. A stick and learning to play fretted vs. It is easierto get the strings down on the Ashbory and that won't help you too much with a bassguitar but it shouldn't make things more difficult either.In short, it will be more difficult to play than a fretted bass guitar, but youcould learn.Q: Is the Ashbory available in a left handed model?A:There has never been a left handed production Ashbory to my knowledge.
They are convertible, however.Here's an overview of the conversion process:The conversion isn't perfect, but it works. Large Sound commerce offers a conversion option for $40.Q: What is the connection between the Ashbory Bass and skeetshooting?A: The premiere bass-centric Internet mailing list 'The BottomLine' has a history of references about using Ashbory Basses for skeet shooting.
No,this is not a recommended use for your bass! Here's the original posting from Sun, 28 Nov 1999:From EdFriedSubject Ass-shboryDate Sun, 28 Nov 1999 23:51:54 ESTReading the post about using #9 lead shot to balance out the Ashbory bassmade me think of an even better use for that combination. Maybe a littleskeet shooting, bet that thing would fly pretty good!Of course, I've probably offended someone (sorry), but I can't think of anyreason to bring that thing back on the market.Ed.
When Fender bought Guild in the late 90s they came out with a budget brand of Korean made guitars named DeArmond (after Harry DeArmond, the pickup designer). In the past I've owned an M-75, an M-75T and an M-72, but ended up selling all of them for various reasons. I recently purchased an M-77T and I think I've finally found the mix a features I like.
These are well made guitars with some compromises made in order to keep costs down. My only beef with this guitar are the cheesy block inlays and the obvious mismatch of grain on the top.
But it sounds and feels great. Since yesterday I'm the proud owner of a crimson red Starfire Special III! It was a present from my wife.Took it to the rehearsal (for a band where I play bass) tonight and this thing ROCKS. I won't let this one go anymore.Once I had a sunburst one, but that one had a few issues I couldn't solve at the time, so I sold it:There are quite a few DeArmonds in my neighborhood.- The guitar player in my band has a DeArmond X135- The drummer in my band has a Korean JetStar, an Indonesian JetStar and an Indonesian JetStar bass- The singer of the main band of aforementioned drummer has a black Starfire Special II- The singer of a previous band has a black Starfire Special III.
Dearmond Guitars Serial Numbers 1233951
I have a metallic purple M75 that I got for kinda cheap ($300 maybe? Hard to remember after 10 years) because apparently it wasn't exactly a popular color. I'm not a big fan of purple, but it's a nice shade of it and so I dove in on the sale.Aside from me snapping the toggle switch like a moron, it's held up great and I generally like it quite a bit, though it's no Tele. I got it so I'd have a humbucker guitar though, and the M75 was really a darn awesome Les Paul-type guitar for pretty short money.
Guild Serial Numbers
I have an M-77, which I think is a LP-style stopbar version of the M-75, though I'm not sure. There was one that was a flatop and the M-77 has that almost imperceptible arched top. I got it for $169 during the closeout.Funny, there are no pictures of these online.It has that hideous chrome-and-gold mixed hardware and it's blue, so it's clock-stoppingly ugly.But.it's really a beautiful sounding and playing instrument. It's really a wonderful axe, if you can just avoid looking at it.I have a black X-155 that I hate and the Jet-Star and the M-77 all with the DeArmond GoldTone pickups. They sound awful on the X-155, OK on the Jet-Star and incredible on the M-77.
Very interesting to compare.I discussed these with Bill Turner, who designed them, and he said they were just his attempts at duplicating a generic PAF. They were made in the Fender pickup shop, along with the great 2K single coils. First Guitar at 60!Hi AllToday I have bought my first guitar – I have always wanted to play but now at the ripe old age of 60 I have taken the plunge! I have bought a Guild DeArmond guitar in black and it says on the neck that it is a M70. I bought it from the local music store where I will be having my lessons. I had no idea which guitar to buy (as a newbie they all look so similar but different if you know what I mean!), but the man told me to buy the one I liked the look of.
Seemed slightly strange way to select one but hey what do I know. Well I liked the look of the DeArmond and I liked the sound it makes when he played it! I would like to play blues type music (Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd) and he said it will be fine.There were no instructions with it so I wondered if anyone out there has a manual for the M70?
If so could you PM or email me?I also bought a practice amp - a Marshall G15RCD which although quite old is in excellent condition.Are there any other forums that talk about the DeArmond guitars or is this the only DeArmond Owners Club?Are there any special tips that you can pass on? I know I have just soooo much to learn but I'm keen!I have attached a few photos of my new 'baby' - I love the look of it and I keep polishing it ready for my first lesson next Tuesday! Is there anything else you can tell me about my guitar from looking at the pictures - the serial number is 9042262. What are the pickups (humbuckers?). How old is it (not as old as me though!)?One more question - what do you all recommend as a chair/stool to play the guitar on?
I have seen this on Amazon:and wondered if anybody had comments on it, or any other suggestions.Sorry to ask so many questions but you know us newbies. I guess you all had to have been in my position at some time!Peter. Devonpete;You got yourself a nice guitar. Those Goldtones are fine pickups. I don't believe these were issued from the factory with Bigsbys, so you have a welcome addition.The controls are fairly straightforward.
The switch on the upper part of the body is the pickup selector. Up selects the pickup closest to the neck, middle selects both pickups and down selects the pickup closest to the bridge. The two upper control knobs control the volume and tone of the neck pickup, while the two lower knobs control the volume and tone of the bridge pickup.The 'Let's Talk Guild' forum has people who are knowledgable about DeArmonds. It's at:Congratulations.
Guild Guitar Model D4nt
Devonpete;You got yourself a nice guitar. Those Goldtones are fine pickups. I don't believe these were issued from the factory with Bigsbys, so you have a welcome addition.The controls are fairly straightforward. The switch on the upper part of the body is the pickup selector. Up selects the pickup closest to the neck, middle selects both pickups and down selects the pickup closest to the bridge.
The two upper control knobs control the volume and tone of the neck pickup, while the two lower knobs control the volume and tone of the bridge pickup.The 'Let's Talk Guild' forum has people who are knowledgable about DeArmonds. It's at:Congratulations.