Trying to find out the manufacture date of a De Armond X-155

[n***@hotmail.com]

I want to sell a De Armond X-155 jazz guitar, and I'm trying to find
out how old it is.
Is there any way to get this information based on the serial number?
I tried the Guild site, but there is no mention of this guitar.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[o***@hotmail.com]

Post by n***@hotmail.com
I want to sell a De Armond X-155 jazz guitar, and I'm trying to find
out how old it is.
Is there any way to get this information based on the serial number?
I tried the Guild site, but there is no mention of this guitar.
Thanks,
Jonathan

I think you'd have to go to the Fender site for Dearmand line.
Bg

[o***@hotmail.com]

Post by o***@hotmail.com
I think you'd have to go to the Fender site for Dearmand line.

DeArmand were import copies of the Guild's with Dearmand Pickups, and
then they became part of the Squire line, bot of these brands were
under Fender.
Bg

[r***@hotmail.com]

Post by n***@hotmail.com
I want to sell a De Armond X-155 jazz guitar, and I'm trying to find
out how old it is.
Is there any way to get this information based on the serial number?
I tried the Guild site, but there is no mention of this guitar.
Thanks,
Jonathan

Not to throw cold water on you, Jonathan, but what's the aim of this?
These guitars are amongst the cheapest of the cheap. turned out in the
Orient like so many link sausages! There is no way I can see, based on
past history of Korean instruments, that they'd be keeping records of
this sort. As far as dating the guitar for valuation purposes, or
hoping that it will appreciate in value, dont worry, you haven't got a
gem on your hands.

Best to play the thing and leave it at that.

-Phil

[hotchkisstrio]

He wants the date so he can put it in his listing, common question from
any buyer of any instrument, no? Also, I would disagree with your
assessment of the Dearmond line. I have one, and it is a very nice
guitar. Inexpensive, yes. Checp? No.

Post by r***@hotmail.com

Post by n***@hotmail.com
I want to sell a De Armond X-155 jazz guitar, and I'm trying to find
out how old it is.
Is there any way to get this information based on the serial number?
I tried the Guild site, but there is no mention of this guitar.
Thanks,
Jonathan

Not to throw cold water on you, Jonathan, but what's the aim of this?
These guitars are amongst the cheapest of the cheap. turned out in the
Orient like so many link sausages! There is no way I can see, based on
past history of Korean instruments, that they'd be keeping records of
this sort. As far as dating the guitar for valuation purposes, or
hoping that it will appreciate in value, dont worry, you haven't got a
gem on your hands.
Best to play the thing and leave it at that.
-Phil

...

[n***@hotmail.com]

Post by r***@hotmail.com
Not to throw cold water on you, Jonathan, but what's the aim of this?

I'm trying to sell it and I would feel more comfortable listing the
manufacture date on the ad. I think I bought it used for about $600
from a reputable dealer with hardshell case (so I suppose that's the
ballpark value), but I don't have a clue how old it is.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Ludmila Borgschatz-Thudpucker, MD]

Post by n***@hotmail.com
think I bought it used for about $600
from a reputable dealer with hardshell case

Who?

I've been looking for a dealer with a hardshell case; reputable would be a
bonus.

[r***@hotmail.com]

I think I bought it used for about $600 from a reputable dealer with
hardshell case

Post by Ludmila Borgschatz-Thudpucker, MD
Who?
I've been looking for a dealer with a hardshell case; reputable would be a
bonus.

Good one!

Speaking of dealers, one of the locals who farms out all his repair
work to me had about 2 dozen of these things in his shop about 2 or 3
years ago. It may have been a close-out or something; I didn't pay a
lot of attention at the time. They were going for $159 to $199 CAN
brand spanking new! (so that would have been about 25% less in American
funds at the time.) Without case.

They come back regularly for service with all sorts of bad problems;
loose necks, loose frets and other fret problems, bad hardware
(stripped threads, broken screws, buzzing pickups.) I refuse a lot of
them because it would take twice or 3 times the original investment to
bring the guitar up to snuff with decent pickups, hardware replacement,
etc.

Cheap; inexpensive, it's semantics to me! I call 'em cheap, you see it
another way. They still ain't gonna be a collector's item.

-Phil

[n***@hotmail.com]

Post by r***@hotmail.com
Cheap; inexpensive, it's semantics to me! I call 'em cheap, you see it
another way. They still ain't gonna be a collector's item.

I remember looking up the blue book value a few years ago when I had a
dealer put it on consignment and I believe it was five or six hundred
bucks, so I have a suspicion you're talking about a different beast.
I don't know the history of this particular brand, but it's quite
possible that it has been re-issued at various times at different
quality levels--much like Fender Stratocasters, which are impossible to
price unless you know the manufacture date, the country of origin, etc.
At any rate, I would have to agree with Hotchkiss that this particular
guitar is a pretty solid Jazz box--by no means a Benedetto or an L-5,
and certainly not a collector's item--but if it *were* a collector's
item, I probably wouldn't be selling it :-)

Jonathan

[Bob]

Post by n***@hotmail.com
I remember looking up the blue book value a few years ago when I had a
dealer put it on consignment and I believe it was five or six hundred
bucks, so I have a suspicion you're talking about a different beast.
I don't know the history of this particular brand, but it's quite
possible that it has been re-issued at various times at different
quality levels--much like Fender Stratocasters, which are impossible to
price unless you know the manufacture date, the country of origin, etc.
At any rate, I would have to agree with Hotchkiss that this particular
guitar is a pretty solid Jazz box--by no means a Benedetto or an L-5,
and certainly not a collector's item--but if it *were* a collector's
item, I probably wouldn't be selling it :-)
Jonathan

...

The DeAlmond X155 seems to have a hard time with this group, but there
are other sites that give it good reviews.

I'm learning to play guitar, but want to learn about guitars too, all
sorts of guitars. Wasn't sure if I really wanted an archtop (I really
like the 335 design), but thought I must at least try one out. After a
week or two of drifting towards the Epiphone Joe Pass, the local music
shop put the X155 in the window reduced from 650 (pounds sterling) to
499, so I went with the DeArmond. It's OK.

There's no real point in comparing it with a Gibson 175 that can cost
ten times the price. Who's ever going to claim it's as good, or be in
the position of choosing between the two. I didn't feel I had the
experience (the 'ears') to pick out a really good archtop - not to the
tune of 4000 - and I certainly haven't got the money. Potential buyers
will do what I did and compare it with other low-cost archtops.

I agree though that the year of manufacture won't matter. The story I
got was that Fender had the X155 made in Korea to a Guild pattern, and
fitted reasonable hardware, especially the USA made pickups. After a
year or two they found it was costing too much to make as a cheap
guitar, so downgraded the hardawre and pickups and put it out again
under the Squire name. Maybe some of the criticism of the DeArmond
comes from people who have played the Squire. I haven't seen the
Squire, but maybe that's OK too for what it tries to be. The thing that
might matter to buyers is not the year, but that it's the DeAmond
version with USA pups (if it is) and not the Squire. If you want what
info there is on the internet, try the DeArmond name rather than Guild.

Are you upgrading, and if so, what to?

Bob

[n***@hotmail.com]

Post by Bob
under the Squire name. Maybe some of the criticism of the DeArmond
comes from people who have played the Squire. I haven't seen the
Squire, but maybe that's OK too for what it tries to be. The thing that
might matter to buyers is not the year, but that it's the DeAmond
version with USA pups (if it is) and not the Squire. If you want what
info there is on the internet, try the DeArmond name rather than Guild.

Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately, the dealer has gone belly-up, and I'm not sure what
criteria he used to look it up in the blue book to get the value.
It doesn't say Squire anywhere on it, but (other than the serial
number) that's about all I know.
When I had it on consignment (before the dealer went out of business)
he recommended listing it at $700 USD with case, and it wasn't selling,
so we marked it down to $600.
I just wish I knew more about it so I could write an intelligent ad.

Post by Bob
Are you upgrading, and if so, what to?

For fingerstyle jazz, I mostly play a Collings 000-2H and an Eastman
AR810-CE (which is essentially the replacement for the DeArmond). I
also have a Takamine classical (I can't remember the model number) that
I like quite a bit.

[Bob]

Post by n***@hotmail.com
It doesn't say Squire anywhere on it, but (other than the serial
number) that's about all I know.
When I had it on consignment (before the dealer went out of business)
he recommended listing it at $700 USD with case, and it wasn't selling,
so we marked it down to $600.
I just wish I knew more about it so I could write an intelligent ad.

If it's got DeArmond on the headstock, then presumably it's a DeArmond
not a Squire. Maybe it was false economy buying it and I should had
looked around more, but I got the DeArmond at the Squire's price.

There's a link you could use:
http://www.dearmondguitars.com/x155.html
which would save you saying anything in detail at all.

Bob

[n***@hotmail.com]

Post by Bob
http://www.dearmondguitars.com/x155.html

Yep...that's the guitar alright...looks just like it!
Thanks for the link.

P.S.
If there's a way to get from http://www.dearmondguitars.com to that
page, it sure ain't obvious :-)

[o***@hotmail.com]

I believe the DeArrmand was a better guitar than the subsequent
Squires, and certainly had better pickups.

Bg

[hotchkisstrio]

Well, it has to be from 1998 to about 2002, cause that's the only years
they made them (approximately).

Post by n***@hotmail.com
I want to sell a De Armond X-155 jazz guitar, and I'm trying to find
out how old it is.
Is there any way to get this information based on the serial number?
I tried the Guild site, but there is no mention of this guitar.
Thanks,
Jonathan

[n***@hotmail.com]

Post by hotchkisstrio
Well, it has to be from 1998 to about 2002, cause that's the only years
they made them (approximately).

Thanks for the info. That helps some :)

[LarryV]

I have to agree with Phil on these guitars. I had one for awhile, and
although it was playable, it just felt like a cheap guitar to me. I
didn't care for the tone it was muddy and more suited for rockabilly
than jazz

Usually the date matters for guitars that may have had a sweet period
or bad period in time, but for these guitars, I don't think the date of
manufacture would mean squat. A potential buyer will be looking at
price and wanting to get it cheap and would likely not care about the
date of manufacture.

Post by hotchkisstrio
Well, it has to be from 1998 to about 2002, cause that's the only years
they made them (approximately).

Post by n***@hotmail.com
I want to sell a De Armond X-155 jazz guitar, and I'm trying to find
out how old it is.
Is there any way to get this information based on the serial number?
I tried the Guild site, but there is no mention of this guitar.
Thanks,
Jonathan

[n***@hotmail.com]

Post by LarryV
I have to agree with Phil on these guitars. I had one for awhile, and
although it was playable, it just felt like a cheap guitar to me. I
didn't care for the tone it was muddy and more suited for rockabilly
than jazz
Usually the date matters for guitars that may have had a sweet period
or bad period in time, but for these guitars, I don't think the date of
manufacture would mean squat. A potential buyer will be looking at
price and wanting to get it cheap and would likely not care about the
date of manufacture.

...

It's nothing special, but I think I'm gonna shoot for $550 with case.
I guess I'll be leaving the date off the ad :)