Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

Shortly after introducing the reissue Dan Armstrong acrylic guitars and basses in 1998 Ampeg had other ideas that they wanted to explore. Since they owned the rights to the Dan Armstrong instrument (but not the name), it was decided to market a line of instruments modelled after the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg acrylic models but instead these were going to be all wood instruments. The guitar model came to be known as the Ampeg AMG1 instrument.

Like the reissue Dan Armstrong acrylic models, these all wooden guitars were made in Japan and incorporated the Dan Armstrong headstock shape, body & scratchplate shapes along with volume, tone, switch and output jack placements all following the looks and the lines of the Dan Armstrong acrylic guitar model.

At left, the guitar body was made of solid mahogany (though some models were made of basswood) and feature a beautiful quilted maple top. Topped off here in what Ampeg literature calls a Purple Burst finish. At right, the purple finish is so dark it almost looks black.

At left, an Amber Burst finish highlights a quilted maple top while at right, one thing not quite like the Dan Armstrong acrylic model is the bolt on neck. While the original plexiglass model employed carriage bolts to secure the neck to the body, the AMG1 uses wood screws with a plate in the usual Fender style fashion.

At left, the AMG1 sports two Seymour Duncan SP-P90 soapbar pickups that are regarded as faithful recreations of the 1946 Gibson 'soapbars' measuring in at 7.83K Ohms for the neck and 9.45K Ohms for the bridge pickup.

At right, the Wilkinson tailpiece/bridge combo is modeled after Gibson's combination wraparound tailpiece/bridge unit complete with allen head machine screws (to help adjust for intonation) but the Wilkinson features an important improvement. As seen here, a portion of the bridge is adjustable. By loosening the allen screw - the bridge area for the G and B strings can be slid forward or back - so you can tweak the intonation on these two key (i.e. fussy) strings.

At left, and like the Dan Armstrong acrylic models, these guitars employ a master volume and tone control but unlike the acrylic model the volume and tone knobs are not made of aluminumm but rather plastic with a nickel looking coating. The guitar also employs a 3-way selector switch like the acrylic models, but being a two pickup instrument, the switch operates in the usual Gibson fashion, i.e. front pickup, both pickups, bridge pickup.

On the right, the AMG1 features a nicely rounded 3-ply laminated maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard. Like the Dan Armstrong acrylic model, small pearloid dot inlays adorn the fingerboard. However, unlike the acrylic models, the AMG1 model only sports 22 frets.

At left, like most everything else on the AMG1, its headstock maintains the shape of the Dan Armstrong acrylic model, even the truss rod cover retains the same shape. One difference however is the lack of the faux-wood veneer. Instead, the burl maple is finished in the same color as the rest of the instrument and most notably, the Ampeg 'a' that adorns the upper portion is new.

At right, and from the backside - the 3-piece laminated neck (and headstock) can be seen. Tuners that are made in Japan maintain the look of the Grover Rotomatic set that were on most of the Dan Armstrong acrylic models completes the look.

At left, an AMG1 guitar in the Black Cherry finish. Like all the models on this page, these instruments feature a 3-ply black-white-black Dan Armstrong style scratchplate that seems somewhat oversized to me by just a bit. In the enlarged view one can see how the scratchplate curves around the tailpiece stud just a tad.

At right, and seen best in the enlarged view the 3-piece laminated neck can be seen. As the heel of the neck gives way to the tongue, the guitars serial number and country of origin can be seen inked/stamped into the maple in black. Notice that like nearly everything things else on these guitars, the instruments feature three strap pegs placed on the body in the Dan Armstrong fashion.

At left a beautiful cherry red finish nicely tops off the headstock of this instrument while at right, the Made in Japan labelling can easily be seen on the back of the tuners in the enlarged view.

At left, I've always wondered given what appears to be a shallow neck-set design coupled with a pickup that's fairly close, just how stable the actual neck set was on these guitars. At right, a quick search online yielded an answer by a guitar luthier on Instagram.

The luthier states...
"And so begins the modification/repair on this Ampeg AMG-1. The neck, having a huge lack of structural support (or simply structure) where it meets and bolts on to the body (seriously it's insanely thin), means that even a strong breeze bends the neck... I'm only half joking. First things first, remove more paint in the cavity, shim the heel for the best angle, shim the gaps in the pocket, get everything straight, level the neck and the body, cut a block of timber to fit as tight as possible in the entire cavity, add one part glue, two parts pact with the devil, clamp and see how it goes?? Oh and, this has also been previously routed for a middle position pickup, which is going to be loaded back in, in place of the neck P90 which is getting the boot."

Overall though, the AMG1 guitars serve as an affordable alternative to many who prefer a hybrid type instrument that gives a player the combination of an all wood instrument with the looks and lines of the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg acrylic guitar.