DeArmond M-75

Another trip in the Ade Phazy Gear Time Machine. The year is 2001 or 2002. The item in question is the DeArmond M-75 in purple sparkle finish that somehow found its way into my guitar collection.

I have vague memories of reading a review of these guitars (probably in Guitarist magazine) and then seeing one in the flesh and deciding there and then that I must buy it. I think it was the Gretsch/Guild retro vibe, beautiful sparkle finish, filtertron-style pickups (DeArmond 2k’s, I believe), and a nicely playable neck that clinched the deal. I probably bought it from Chandlers Guitars, but maybe not. Can’t remember. Certainly, for reasons unknown today, I must have thought that it was a really cool guitar!

Surfing around the internet unearthed some info about these guitars. They were styled along the lines of Guild Bluesbird / Aristocrat models, made in Korea, and produced under licence from Guild by DeArmond up until around 2001 (before Fender bought the DeArmond name a couple of years later). The M-75 had a mahogany body and neck, set neck construction, rosewood fingerboard, and was loaded with two USA made DeArmond 2k pickups.

From what I remember of my guitar, the DeArmond M-75 played rather like a Les Paul, with the pickups giving an almost P90 shade to the plugged in sound. It really was a rather nice instrument to play, and the finish and build quality was excellent for the price. The only negative point was slightly problematic tuning, probably because the nut slots needed widening slightly. I ended up selling it on eBay shortly before moving to Switzerland in 2004.

Check out my Guitar Timeline to see where this one fits into the Ade Phazy guitar history.