From Deimel:
The best of two worlds "The Deimel Firestar has been built as a new classic tool for creative and modern guitar music. A lot of people nowadays like the so-called »offset waist guitars« for their beautiful and ergonomic shape. As there are only a few well known designs Frank has developed his own offset waist body shape, called the Firestar.
The idea to literally make use of historic, classic guitar designs and build up a new design, is a process we don’t call hybrid, we would rather name it evolution. But indeed, ingredients of already existing perfect ideas, have been recombined here in our own unique design. There are many design features already so good, that there is no need to reinvent the wheel. But sometimes, you find great features in one guitar, but it misses great features from other guitars. Therefore, »best of both worlds« stands for uniting best qualities in order to come to another higher overall quality of the guitar. Our result is the Deimel Firestar guitar."
Description:
This Firestar by German Luthier duo Frank Deimel & Kora Junger is a gem of a guitar. The Firestar may be the perfect offset design for the modern, forward thinking musician; both in it's standard configuration as well as fully customized iterations. This guitar's specs fall somewhere in-between the two. The Firestar is perfectly balanced and incorporates great hardware and electronics that eliminate all of the ailments of past Offset designs. Deimel has certainly gotten it right with this model. Upon picking this guitar up, you know you have something special and of superior quality in your hands. These guitars just feel so substantial, like every aspect has been thought out thoroughly, then perfectly executed.
Starting with the unique finish on this Firestar. The body has a black open grain matte finish with fine metallic flakes lightly sprinkled in. You can only see the fine metallic flakes in certain lighting; giving the guitar a mesmerizing appearance on stage. Since the body is built from Swamp Ash, you can see lots of interesting lines from the natural texture of the wood. This guitar is as much of a joy to look at as it is feel and of course play. No thick lacquer here. The finish is a super thin urethane that allows Frank to fill the pores with a secondary color and only spray as many coats as necasarry.
This Firestar is very balanced seated or standing with a loud acoustic foundation. The Mastery bridge and vibrato work flawlessly with a smooth feel. You can truly whale on this unit without falling out of the saddles, unlike many vintage offset bridge/vibrato designs. The feel of the neck carve and quality of the fretwork is immediately noticeable. The tangs of the frets are seated perfectly and the instrument plays with a comfortable low action of 3 & 4 64ths of an inch at the 12th fret E to E.
The neck features a beautiful dark Macassar Ebony fingerboard on a flame figured Rock Maple neck. The finish is satin so it will never get sticky while playing. The Truss Rod is adjustable at the end of the neck, yet there is also a secondary side Truss Rod adjustment hole, designed for small incremental adjustments. This is useful for when there are changes in humidity and a full setup isn't required. Keeping your guitar always playing its best.
The pickups are both wound by Curtis Novak, who has made a reputation for winding some of the most authentic sounding offset and off-beat guitar pickups today. The neck pickup is his JM-V and in the bridge position we have his JM-FAT. The JM-FAT uses thinner gauge wire and has more turns, for a fatter JM type of sound that can rival a P-90. The tone is still that very classic JM sound, just with more girth and output (not at all harsh) The neck pickup is what you'd expect out of a 59 Jazzmaster. Clear, focused and bell-like. With the different switching options, you'll find that you can conjure up tons of inspiring tones from this instrument.
There are three slide switches aside from the main three way toggle switch, which add even more versatility to the guitars tonal palate. From left to right we have a Piezo/acoustic pickup on/off switch, giving the player the option to make the guitar sound more like an archtop, resonator or acoustic. It also allows for unusual tricks like rhythmic tapping on the body or neck and playing behind the bridge. As you lower the volume control, the piezo pickup becomes more pronounced. It can also be used alone if you are in the bridge position on the 3-way toggle; as the middle switch is a Series/Parallel switch for the middle position of the magnetic pickups (also works when in the neck position alone) When this mini switch is in the up position, only the middle & neck positions of the pickup selector toggle switch work. So you can use it as a Kill Switch when on the bridge pickup, or as a way to get the Piezo/acoustic pickup tone alone. The Series/Para switch changes the middle position from the traditional middle position “parallel” tone, to having the two pickups wired in series for a fatter, hotter Humbucker style tone. The middle positions are hum-cancelling. The third switch is a HPF (high pass filter) sending the lows to ground for a brighter sound that cuts through the mix, like on a Fender Jaguar. Very surfy vibes. The guitar comes in its new and original Hiscox Hard Shell Case with a hand signed COA and a photo of the control layout.
Specs:
Body Finish: Black Open Grain Finish
Body Material: Light weight Swamp Ash body
Neck: Flame Figured
Themo Treated Rock Maple
Neck finish: Satin
Fretboard: Macassar Ebony
Frets: 21, Wagner medium
jumbo
Scale length: 25.5” with
compound radius 9.5”-12”
Neck shape: Med Fat JM
(Vintage C) .86" - .96"
Headstock: Black fiber
with pearl inlay logo, 6R
Tuners: Hipshot classic
open gear, nickel
Nut: Unbleached bone
Glue: Polyurethane
Pickguard: Three piece »Silver« anodized aluminum w/ nickel control plates
Pickups: Novak JM-V Neck &
Novak JM-FAT Bridge
Bridge: Mastery Bridge
Vibrato: Brushed Mastery w/
Deimel logo
Electronics: 1 x 3-way
toggle with gold contacts for pickup selection, 1 Vol, 1 Tone, Switchcraft
sliders: piezo on/off; ser/para switch; surf switch/High Pass Filter
Knobs: Black witch hats for
volume + tone
Caps: Mojotone/TAD PIO, 22nf
Wire: Cotton push back, braided
shield wire
Output: Switchcraft
Aged Metal Parts: Light patina
Case: Hiscox with Deimel
logo
Weight 7lbs 3oz
