Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

Above left, and immediately noticeable is the fact that this Kingston bass has no strings on it. Also note that the truss rod cover is missing. It is unknown for certain, but it's just possible that, coupled withe the lack of strings, these photos may have been taken during a string change - perhaps to a different gauge which may have required a truss rod adjustment. At right, the bass now has it's strings on, though it appears that the truss rod cover is still somewhat off, as a light color can be seen.

At upper left, the scratchplate has been altered on this bass as the volume control now resides where the original tone selector switch was located. The tone control still resides in the same place, but a mini-toggle type switch resides where the volume control once was. A second toggle switch has been added in front of the first in an entirely new location. Notice how the scratchplate curves around the tailpiece a bit. All the copy basses have this shape of pickguard.

The pickups, like most, if not all of the copy models look like humbuckers, but are actually single coil units which are mounted to the acrylic body via black pickup rings. But the real kicker here is the bridge/tailpiece combo as it appears to be lacking any type of actual bridge. It is unknown whether it was left off for the photo, or just plain missing.

At upper right, from the backside all routing looks original, suggesting that there has been no alterations in the pickups or trim rings, or the bridge &/or tailpiece. Notice the lack of any type of bevelling in and around the cutaways.

Seen above, this combination bridge & tailpiece assembly was produced by many, if not all, of the major Japanese guitar parts manufacturers who were subcontracted by nearly all of the guitar factories to supply the hardware for their instruments. As such, virtually every maker who made copies of the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg instruments in the early 1970^'s used this item on their bass guitars.

As seen at left and right, the bridge saddle rests between two large machine bolts that are used to adjust overall string height. In addition to five other machine screws these two bolts also help to secure the tailpiece to the body. The bridge saddle features four minor indentions in it that serve as string guides. It is this piece that appears to be missing from the Kingston bass shown here.

Like the 'ham in a sandwich' the 'ham' or middle piece of this unit lies at the far right in both of the photos shown above. This piece hooks onto and around the two large string height adjustment screws and you may have already noticed a rectangular shaped indention in it, and have probably figured out what it is for.

It is within this indention that the bridge saddle resides, and could quite possibly be a 'double edged sword' in my personal opinion, for while it no doubt helps keep the bridge saddle from sliding around, it can also hinder one from placing the bridge at an angle which may be necessary to adjust for intonation purposes. As a work-around one could always place some washers within the indented portion, or, depending on how shallow the indention may be, custom cut one (or more if needed) individual feeler(s) from an inexpensive feeler gauge set to the thickness that will allow a level surface to be achieved. Once level, it will be possible to angle the saddle (if needed) without altering any of the hardware.

The bottom piece of this assembly can be seen at the left in both of the photos above. It is the foundation piece that anchors bass strings to the unit. In the left photo this piece is 'right-side-up' with the string height adjustment machine screws threaded through it. Seen better in the enlarged view, one will notice a total of five smaller holes that are machined for screws with tapered heads on them - so that they can be mounted flush to the unit. Depending on the body, these will be either machine type screws, or wood screws and work in conjunction with the aforementioned string height adjustment screws to anchor the unit to the body of the guitar. At right, the same piece can be seen, though here it is photographed upside-down.

At upper left, a closer look at the front of the Kingston bass. Seen better in enlarged view, notice the extra mounting screw in the scratchplate just forward and to the right of the front pickup. This additional mounting screw can be seen across the majority of the copy basses. The only conclusion that I can draw to is that the scratchplates made for two pickup model basses are larger - which in turn makes the plate rather flimsy and in need of an additional anchoring point. Notice too, that a supporting washer has been added to the output jack for the usual reasons, though I really can't see any breakage around it.

Also notice the control knobs have been replaced and how they are labelled. The knob labelled 'V' - for volume, resides up where the pickup selector switch normally resides, while the knob labelled 'T' - for tone, resides where it normally does. Then notice the mini toggle switches. I can only speculate that the one nearest the tone knob is the pickup selector switch, while the other is either a phase switch, or maybe a kill switch. Lastly, I still don't see the metal bridge saddle piece and I can't understand why it's missing.

At upper right, the Kingston bass as seen from the back side. Here again, with a bass that comes equipped with two pickups, along with a gap between them - leaves very little room for the tongue of the neck to anchor to the acrylic body.

As seen upper left, the Kingston bass employs the same Gibson styled moustache, or open book type headstock. Trimmed with wood type laminate like a Dan Armstrong, it sports the Kingston emblem that runs parallel with the fingerboard. Notice the truss rod cover is still missing.

At upper right, the backside of the headstock shows the tuners, as well as a 3 piece all maple laminated neck. Notice how the middle laminate, as well as an additional piece of the headstock, appear to have some flame to it - telling us that at least this middle piece, and more, has been quarter-sawn, no doubt for additional strength.

Odd as it may seem, and for whatever reasons, there were no matching acrylic guitar copies to complement the Kingston bass. Normally, makers produced their guitar models, and some also released a matching bass. But with Kingston, this practice seems to have been ignored.

Sources indicate that Kingston guitars were built in Japan and imported into the US by Jack Westheimer, who was an early pioneer of importing and distributing Japanese instruments during the late 1950^s and 1960^s. At first, Kingston guitar models were limited to acoustics that were similar in style to Harmony’s Stella line. Westheimer’s electric line at the time was built in Japan, likely by Kawai, Teisco, and/or Guyatone (other manufacturers are possible as well). By the mid-1960^s Westheimer was no longer importing Teisco (or Teisco Del Ray) guitars, and Westheimer turned his attention back to the Kingston trademark, which included electric guitars this time around.

Through the late 1960^s Westheimer offered a wide range of Kingston instruments, including electric basses and hollow bodies. By the mid 70^s, it was becoming increasingly expensive to build guitars in Japan, so Westheimer shifted production to Korea by building a factory there, which became Cort. Kingston guitars existed in one form or another through the 1970^s and even into the early 80^s, but Westheimer was finding great success building budget and entry-level instruments in his Cort factory for many of the US guitar companies including Kramer, B.C. Rich, and Epiphone just to name a few. As a result, it was only a matter of time before the Kingston badge name would fade to obscurity.