
The artistically executed Deimel Firestar is an amazing rock ānā roll guitar that was also built with the limitless possibilities of noise rock in mind.
A lot of stateside guitar spotters got their first peek at Frank Deimelās craftsmanship via Sonic Youthās 2004 DVD Corporate Ghost. Like much of the visual art created and used by Sonic Youth, the DVD cover is a mysterious twist of realityāit features an x-ray of what looks like one of the bandās many mangled Jazzmasters. Closer inspection, though, revealed something elseā12 strings, an unusual pickup array, and a name on the headstock showing that the Youth were looking beyond depleted vintage reserves for their fix of Fender offset-style axes.
Eight years later, Frank Deimel certainly isnāt a household name among American guitarists, but thanks to high-profile custom workāincluding Ranaldoās 12-string, a fancy 6-string built for the late-great Nikki Sudden (sort of a cross between a Zemaitis and a Ted Newman Jones), and a Mustang-style guitar for Simon Taylor-Davis of the Klaxonsāthe Berlin-based luthier is becoming an ever-looming presence on the radar. This is especially true amongst fans of Fenderās offset creations and other offbeat instruments. Guitars like the versatile and beautiful Firestar reviewed here may yet find Deimel becoming a fixture on the stateside custom and boutique landscape.
Space Programmed
Cadillac-gorgeous in its thin nitrocellulose,
saturn lavender metallic finish and gold
anodized pickguard, the Firestar looks and
feels like it was built from blueprints sent
aloft in a Gemini capsule and lost to orbital
exile since 1966. The prevailing design
inspirations are Jaguar, Jazzmaster, and non-reverse
Firebird, but thereās also more than
a touch of ā60s Japanese stylingāand, in
the reverse Fender-style headstock, a nod
to Jimiās upside down Stratocaster and ā80s
āsuper stratā-type motifs. Together, the elements
add up to a very balanced and distinctive
pastiche of psychedelic-era styling
idiomsāan inspired and not-at-all easy feat
in these overly retro-minded times.
The Firestarās balance is more than visual, though. It feels great hanging over your shoulder, with a compact American red alder body that feels more like a Mustang in terms of dimensions and weight than a Jazzmaster or Firebird, all without looking too diminutive or feeling insubstantial. The body contours, meanwhile, both enhance comfort and soften the blockier aspects of the guitarās silhouette.
With its chunky-but-fast profile, the Firestarās Canadian rock maple neck evokes the feel of a ā70s-vintage Telecaster Custom and, to some extent, some of the more substantial necks on non-reverse Firebirds of the mid ā60s. If youāre used to slimmer ā60s Fender C shapes, this neck will undoubtedly seem like a handful your first few times around. Ultimately, though, itās a neck that makes chording a breeze, and when mated with the medium jumbo frets, can compel you to get a little more athletic and aggressive with bends. The Makassar ebony fretboard imparts a sense of luxury and custom-shop care. So do little touches like the bone nut, the ā60s-style TonePros Kluson tuners (still the easiest string change in the business), and the high-quality capacitors and cotton-wrapped wire concealed behind the pickguard.
While you can order just about any pickup configuration for the Firestar, our version came with a Novak P-90 in the bridge and a Novak humbucker in the neck positionāboth of which, in a general sense, give you a cool hybrid of Telecaster Custom and Firebird tone palettes. But you can significantly expand the range of tones with Deimelās inspired take on a Jaguar-like switching system, which gives you the option to run the pickups in series or parallel, activate a bass-cut filter for a more biting and thin surf tone, or engage a piezoāwhich, depending on your amp and pedal settings, puts some very unique and harmonic-rich tone flavors at your fingertips.
Aft of the pickups, the strings cross a Mastery bridgeāan ingenious and beautifully designed piece of hardware thatās increasingly embraced by frustrated Jaguar and Jazzmaster players because it typically improves intonation, sustain, and stability. Deimel also opted for the very cool Duesenberg Tremola vibrato systemāa killer-looking mutant cross of Bigsby and Kauffman elements, with clever design touches like an adjustable vibrato arm that can be extended to near-Jag/Jazz lengths and/or pivoted on the opposite axis so you can position the handle closer or further away from your picking hand.
Boss Starship
While the Firestar clearly plays off of offset
Fender styling cues, our particular model,
with its Novak P-90 and humbucker,
tended to sound more Kalamazoo bred
than Fullerton born. Heard via the relatively
blank slate of a Fender Twin Reverb,
it exhibits a tendency for rowdy and round
to barking voices, depending on the pickup
selection. The Novak P-90 walks a cool line
between husky and crystalline, depending
on how you set the guitarās volume, with
excellent string-to-string definition and the
ability to send a fuzz or overdrive into a harmonically
charged state thatās great for stinging
leads or crunchy-but-detailed chords.
The bass-cut switch tames the aggressive
tendencies of the P-90 significantly, but it
renders the tone quite thin in a manner that
perhaps only surf-music fiends and a certain
brand of garage-rock lovers will love in live
settings. Itās a great flavor to have in a studio
setting, but probably one youāll be more
inclined to leave alone onstage unless youāre
trying to tame the woof of a 15" speaker.
Novakās humbucker adds a woolly and roundābut still very detailedātone to the mix. The combination of a 25 1/2" scale and a good humbucker is always formidableā especially for first-position chords or detuned open tunings built around doubles and dronesāand on the Firestar, tunings like DADGAD and open G and D become positively massive, especially when you lend a little extra treble to your amplifier. Running the pickups in series enhances the effect, adding dimension and girth. Thatās definitely a feature that can come in handy onstage when you need a bump in output to get over a loud band, or even in a mellow, jazzier setting where you want to add a more full-spectrum enhancement to a solo section.
Ratings
Pros:
Exceptional craftsmanship. Thoughtful design. Tons
of tones.
Cons:
Begs for Fender-style single-coil tones. Somewhat
pricey.
Tones:
Playability/Ease of Use:
Build:
Value:
Street:
$2,435
Company
deimelguitarworks.de
Predictably, the Deusenberg Tremola extends the expressive potential of the Firestar considerably. In terms of feel, itās more Bigsby then anything elseāno surprise, given the big spring that gives it its elasticity. It feels spongier than most Bigsbys (newer ones, anyway), but while thatās ideal for light coloration and feathering of chords, itās a little less ideal for fast vibrato. That said, the extendable arm is great for tailoring the system for a springier Jazzmaster feel or a more immediate, Stratocaster-type leverage. Given the inherent Bigsby-ness of the unit, you can craft some very unique feeling hybrids of all three systems.
The Verdict
One of the most beautiful things about
the Deimel Firestar is that it represents the
convergence of Frank Deimelās considerable
experience as a top-flight builder and his very
open mind about electric guitar designāand
music in general. Itās an amazing rock ānā
roll guitar, but it was built with the limitless
possibilities of noise rock in mind. The end
result is an artistically executed instrument
and an impressive combination of control,
stability, and boundlessness that will reward
rock dogmatists and boundary-smashing
experimentalists in equal measure.
Inevitably, it inherits some of the minor problems that, at times, make its inspirational forebears less-than-perfect guitars. The Bisgby-like Tremola is less than completely stable in terms of tuning, and the switch array can seem like a handful if you tend to do little more than switch back and forth between the bridge and neck pickup on your Telecaster. The very Fender-y feel of the guitar can also sometimes leave you longing for the more defined and concise sound of Fender-style single-coils (which are an available option). But make no mistake, this is a guitar that can see you through myriad musical situationsāespecially if youāre looking to cover tone and techniques that you canāt get from a more bare-bones instrument.