Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

As can be seen above left and right, It wasn't long before Dan decided to secure his bass pickups in the very same fashion as the guitar models - using a thumbscrew on the backside of the body that screws into the bottom of the pickup, thereby discontinuing the use of the chrome pickup-plate on top. However, and as can be seen better in enlarged views, though the pickups were now secured to the body in the same fashion as the guitar model, the actual routing of the pickup cavity remained the same - at least for awhile - and one can see the additional space between the pickup and the acrylic body. Photos are courtesy of George Jara.

At upper left, this bass (and others like them) are transitional instruments, as they mark the point in the production run when the bass instruments no longer relied on the chrome pickup plate to secure the pickup to the body. Apparently, it took awhile for the word to get to the production floor &/or some time to impliment the change as for awhile they kept producing the bass bodies with oversized pickup cavities - even though the backs of the bodies were now machined to accept the pickup screw like their guitar brethern.

As seen at right, another bass that features an over-routed pickup cavity. Dan liked this design better because "by losing the plate it cleaned up the look of the entire body. Plus there were some minor cost savings in making the bass a little more like the guitar model."

Another bass with the same over-routing of the pickup cavity as the ones above. Though on this one, the strap pin had been relocated to the lower horn, but is now back to it's original 'stock' position on the upper horn. On all of these models you may have noticed that they feature smooth/glossy type faux wood grained Formica, straight slot headed screws that secures the combination bridge/tailpiece to the body, and a thumb rest that was positioned further back than on later models. All signs of them being some of the earlier models in the production run.

As seen at left and right - yet another early bass - serial number D251A that also has an over-enlarged pickup cavity. Notice too, the lack of tin-foil shielding on the backside of the scratchplate. This may serve to help "pin-down" approximately when the practice of shielding the basses came to an end.

Above left is a bass with an oversized pickup cavity as well, but it's not a 'transitional' type bass. For as can be seen in the enlarged view - the acrylic body reveals two machined holes for the screws that anchor the pickup plate to the body. While this is not surprising - what is surprising is that this bass sports the serial number D579A which is a higher, thus later number than the model shown above, and yet the model above was not made to utilize a pickup plate as it has the usual pickup screw in the back and no holes in the front.

At first, I thought it may have had a replacement neck installed, but that seems somewhat unlikely. If it was, that would seem to indicate that someone busted the neck very early after its purchase, and usually then there are some tell-tale signs of sorts in the body and/or hardware. What it all means is inconclusive, but it's sure interesting.

At right, and seen from the back - immediately noticable is a Kent Armstrong DB replacement pickup which can be better seen in the enlarged view. Also noticable in that view is the lack of any machining in the acrylic body for such a screw. Not surprisingly, with the pickup plate not secured in place - the only thing holding that pickup in place is the electrical connections.

Above left & right, another early bass exhibiting a larger pickup cavity. At left, and in addition to the pickup cavity, notice the thumb rest which is positioned farther back than on later models. Same for the image at right, which shows a tailpiece with straight slotted screws. Most obvious is a replacement blue scratchplate, and one can only surmise that breakage in and around the output jack was sufficient enough that it warranted a replacement.

On both images, and seen better in enlarged view, notice how the brown colored resin on the top of the pickup is worn away to the point that the top of one of the pickup magnets can be seen.

At left, and seen from the backside, one can see the bottom side of the pickup relative to the pickup cavity, while at right, the body is machined to use a pickup screw.

At left, another interesting bass with the serial number of D180A which also features an oversized pickup cavity. Seen better in enlarged view, the lower corner of the pickup cavity can easily be seen, as can a pickup with some scuffs or scraping on it. Immediately noticable is a very large flat washer around the output jack as well as more breakage of the scratchplate at the very end of it.

At right, and seen from the back, though the body has an oversized pickup cavity it's also machined in the back for a pickup screw to secure the pickup in place. Like the other basses here, the thumb rest is placed further back than on later models. Also notice the foil type shielding of the bottom side of the scratchplate.

Upper left is where everything gets interesting. Being this bass has a serial number of D180A which makes it (according to Dan) - the 80^th bass guitar to roll of the assembly line at Ampeg - it begs the question, how is it that the 80^th bass made has a body that's machined in the back for a pickup screw when the bass shown further above - with the serial number D579A lacks this machining - and even has holes for a pickup plate? To speculate that both basses got either a replacement body or neck is a stretch at best.

As seen at right, and with the scratchplate removed, this bass has the foil shielding on the bottom of the plate, a non-sanblasted tailpiece with straight machine screws securing it to the body. The enlarged view reveals a metal based pickup with some interesting filings on it, 1969 dated pots, and a neck with the large letter A stamped into the back of the tongue that has a white film over it, possibly some left over polishing compounding. At first, I thought it was the letters AB but closer inspection reveals the B isn't a letter at all, but the filler strip of wood used when the truss rod was installed. Like the letter A it too got highlighted with the white compound. The carriage type bolts that secure the neck to the body have all been cut with a saw to the desired length - none having any factory machined ends. Together, these are features all consistant for a bass of its serial number - and yet the body is machined to utilize a pickup screw. What all this boils down to, is that it's nearly impossible to track down exactly when the pickup plate gave way to the thumbscrew to secure the pickup in place. It's an interesting study, but sadly, no solid conclusions can be drawn.