Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

Another common modification was the change in tuners on the bass instruments. Many bass players felt that the stock Schaller and Grover tuners were much too small for bass strings, and they had little time to be removing wraps from the end of a string in order for it to fit into the tuning posts of the tuners. As such, the bass models can often be found fitted out with different, and larger tuners like the set seen above left and right.

I once asked Dan if there were any bass instruments that left the factory with larger tuners such as this or other larger tuners like them and he replied "not to my knowledge anyway". As a result, I feel it's safe to assume that, regardless of how well the tuners were installed, like those shown above - they are nevertheless - a modification.

At upper left, a rare black Dan Armstrong plastic bass. Made of Cellulose Butyrate, it is one of only 8 such basses ever made which makes this mod truly sad. While some of the body maintains its original black finish, a large section of it has been modified with either some form of etching or covering. The scratchplate appears to have been painted as you can see a bit of the wood grain where the paint has been rubbed off. Made in 1969 this bass would be very valuable today if these modifications were reversed. Notice the straight head screws securing down the combination bridge/tailpiece as well as what Dan called the "pickup plate" - a chrome piece of metal holding the pickup in place, making this instrument a very early model, probably somewhere in the D400A range.

Fortunately all is not lost, for as Dan once mentioned Cellulose Butyrate is "workable" meaning this type of plastic, like acrylic, can be polished out - regardless of whether it's an etching or a covering. The painted scratchplate could be harder but still possible given a competent luthier. The original knobs have since been replaced as well, but are not too hard to obtain as they crop up on Ebay from time to time.

At upper right - a mod not possible to reverse. While the chrome scratchplate appears to utilize the same screws as the original, the addition of a tunable style bridge, and a tailpiece anchored towards the very rear of this bass guitar make it so that too many scars would remain. Notice the addition of black speed knobs and the lack of the original rosewood thumb rest.

Seen at upper left, what I thought was just a black 'rough textured' replacement scratchplate now has me convinced otherwise. I now believe its the original scratchplate that was once broken and now has an application of that shielding type paint or material that's covering the original faux-wood finish, for if you look closely at the scratchplate, and in particular just to the right of the upper right corner of the pickup you will notice a while line extending away from the pickup. I believe that this is where the breakage was (or at least some of it) - and has since been put back together, probably glued, and unfortunately the joint didn't setup level.

As such, a little ledge, or 'shelf' exists - and with the application of this high gloss shielding paint, it's no longer cracked or broken, at least in the sense that we can see. It's actually coated over with the shielding paint and it's clear to me (pardon my pun) what we are seeing is the difference of the two surface levels underneath. If you've ever looked at a high gloss finish on an automobile you can easily see any imperfections in the body underneath the paint job (if there are any) and this is what I believe we are seeing here. We can see the crack or breakage that lies underneath. Another mod is the addition of a Badass bridge as well as two chrome plated replacement knobs. Notice the lack of a thumb rest.

At upper right is the proverbial 'evidence' to my theory. Notice the darkened control cavity all the way up to and including the pickup cavity as it has been coated with the same conductive shielding paint. Notice too the little tab that protrudes from the control cavity to a nearby scratchplate mounting screw, which provides the connection to the bottom side of the scratchplate - which has tin foil on the bottom side - and which I believe was done at the factory, which would make this bass a fairly early one. I really don't see any breakage of the tin foil on the underside of the scratchplate but its easy to cover that up. It's also possible that the breakage was minimized, being only a crack, and did not extend through the foil. That said, the majority of the breakage appears to be in the area where there is cavity routing underneath - which would hide it when looking at it from the backside. Speaking of the backside, notice the backside the Badass bridge/tailpiece, and in particular its three mounting screws.

This bass is one that I've labeled the 'What were you thinking?' bass - simply because it begs that question. Almost everything on this bass has been modified in one way or another. At left, and immediately obvious is the alteration of the acrylic body. The lower horn has been totally severed, while the upper horn is about all that remains of the entire upper half of the body. The pickup is missing and even the strap peg on that upper horn has been changed out. A black plastic scratchplate has replaced the original, and given it's roughly the same size and shape as the original seems to suggest the former plate most likely suffered severe damage - probably the usual - by stepping on a guitar cord. Better seen in the enlarged view, about the only things original are the tailpiece, the thumb rest, and maybe the electronics.

At first I thought the rear strap peg was the original lower peg that managed to not get cut away - but upon closer examination - not only it is not the original peg, it's not even in the original location, for if you look closely you will see the old, original drilled and tapped hole where the factory strap peg once resided. A hole for a strap peg has since been drilled and tapped right next to the original. So close in fact, that it makes one wonder if it was worth the effort. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that maybe the original hole had its threads stripped out. At right, things don't look much better. Notice the color of the neck.

Even the neck wasn't spared, for as seen at left the front view reveals that the faux-wood veneer on the headstock has been removed. In fact, even the routing for the truss rod has been eliminated, thus no truss rod cover. The headstock has been finished, maybe stained - for a brown wooden look. At right, and seen a bit earlier, the back of the neck has also been modified with a reddish/brown finish. Notice the chipping all around the outside upper edge of the headstock. Schaller tuners appear to be original to the bass.

Perhaps much of the alterations and refinishings of the neck were due to the fact that a new, and different truss rod was installed at some point. One can only speculate that the original truss rod got over tightened and broke, for as seen at upper left a different, and unusual type of truss rod was installed that required the routing of a portion of the tongue. At right, a better view of the routing can be seen as can the upside down letters 'C' and 'G' that were stamped into the tongue.

At left and right, whats really sad about all this is the fact that this bass has all the evidence of an early model, for as seen at left, the tailpiece is secured to the body with straight headed screws. At right, and better seen in enlarged view, holes can be seen in the acrylic body for a pickup plate that secures the pickup in place on the earliest models. This is why there is no screw hole in the acrylic body that later models use. Another set of holes that can be seen are the top two holes of the scratchplate. Relative to those holes is the thumb rest. The earliest models had the thumb rest placed further back, closer to the pickup than on later models, and this is what is seen here. The thumb rest on early models were made using darker woods, probably ebony, while later models used rosewood. Here the rest is darker. Put all together this is very strong evidence of a fairly early made bass.

At upper left, another inexcusable mod. This is another one that makes little, if any sense. As best I can tell the original combination bridge/tailpiece unit has been replaced with some kind of tailpiece that features adjustable saddlepieces for better intonation. The bass pickup appears to have been ground down in height, for whatever reason. A clear scratchplate reveals the volume & tone controls underneath and about the only interesting thing this has to offer is a unique view of the output jack on the guitar, though this alone cannot make up for a modification such as this.

At upper right, a more modest type of mod. A white plastic bridge replaces the rosewood unit and stands in stark contrast next to the black humbucking replacement pickup that is screwed down to the acrylic body on this bass. Notice the washer underneath the output jack.

At upper left, a much more forgivable mod - if one even wants to consider this a mod. An unusual, custom made bridge replaces the original unit. The beauty of this mod is that one can remove this bridge and install the original with little effort and no scars. This is how mods should be done.

At upper right, a more cleaner mod with the addition of a tremolo without the usual 'hacks' that usually accompany such a mod. The black/white/black scratchplate appears original - complete with the white Dan Armstrong · Ampeg lettering. If not, it's a very good copy given those letters. Notice the black washer behind the output jack, no doubt due to the usual breakage around this area.

At upper left, a large custom made black scratchplate surrounds a humbucking type pickup, complete with pickup height adjustment screws. The rosewood bridge and thumb rest have been replaced with black plastic to match the new scratchplate. Black matching volume and tone knobs complete this mod. Many extra screw holes have been drilled and tapped in the body as a result, making it unlikely that this mod could ever be effectively reversed.

At right, and apparently lacking any strings is another mod. A brushed metal scratchplate has replaced the original, though the knobs and switch appear to be stock. Like most mods the tailpiece and bridge have been altered, this time using Gibson or Gibson styled parts. Notice the original routing in the acrylic for the ball-end of the strings, seen between the bridge and tailpiece. Notice too, the lack of the upper strap peg at the bottom of the body. Based on the tailpiece and bridge, I call this instrument the 'Dan Paul' guitar.

At upper left and right, a modified Dan Armstrong · Ampeg bass once owned by Luther Rabb who was a member of such bands as Ballin' Jack, WAR, Santana, The Emergency Exit and Jimi Hendrix's first band, The Velvetones. The latter of which is mentioned in the photos section of this site. As seen left and right, one of the most noticeable changes (according to the seller) - is a "replacement custom-fabricated lucite pickguard with a mirrored back. The chrome on the pickguard has begun to disintegrate showing the blue vinyl backing." Likely the original scratchplate was destroyed in the usual way at one point in time.

At upper left and right, when I first looked over these photos it appeared that the pickup cavity in the acrylic body was a bit larger (wider) than the pickup. Given this bass has a low serial number (D351A) I thought perhaps it was like some of the basses seen in the bass section - which were produced during the transition phase away from the pickup-plate (as Dan called it) - and more like the guitar model. During this phase, a few bass bodies still had the larger pickup cavity but did not employ the pickup-plate to hold the pickup in place for the pickups were now secured like their guitar brethren - with a thumbscrew. As such, there is a small 'gap' that can be seen on the side of the pickup, and that's what I thought I was seeing here.

But.. I was wrong. This 'gap' is the result of yet another modification which can be seen at left and right - and that is the existance of a guitar pickup; specifically the CB model which Luther apparently seemed to prefer over the stock bass pickup and I believe it's safe to assume that the wiring under the scratchplate had been modified as a result.

At upper left, and more easily seen in the enlarged view, is the aforementioned 'gap' on the side of the pickup. Notice too, being an early model that the rosewood thumb rest is placed further back, towards the pickup than on later model basses. Another modification to this bass is the installation of a tunable Badass bridge. At right, enlarged tuners on the headstock complete the mods to this bass.

A modified Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar that I refer to as the 'Danbat' guitar as the black color and curvy lines of the replacement scratchplate looks somewhat like a bats wing on the low E-string side. In addition, a humbucking pickup has since replaced the swappable modular pickups. Notice how the humbucker is slanted a touch toward the treble side and how the bass side of the pickup has two height adjustment/mounting screws - whereas the treble side only has one. Instantly obvious is a tunable combination bridge/tailpiece unit which has replaced the original tailpiece and rosewood bridge saddle.

At right, and from the back side the string-thru design of the bridge/tailpiece unit can be seen. Going back to bat wing style scratchplate - the view from the backside reveals that the curved portion of the plate covers up the scoop channel in the body for the original modular pickups. Notice the colorful shim placed under the tongue of the neck as well as a change in potentiometers and capacitors, likely to work with the humbucker to get more of a Gibson type sound. Lastly, notice a change in two of the strap pegs - likely for a straplock type system.

At upper left and right, about the only original part remaining on the new scratchplate might be the output jack. In addition to the aforementioned parts, a mini toggle switch likely serves as a coil split &/or phase type switch. Black Gibson style speed knobs complete the changes. Given an all black scratchplate I probably would have gotten a pickup with double black coils but maybe a zebra pup was the only thing available.

One thing I definitely wouldn't have done can be seen at upper left. A scratchplate mounting screw can be seen dead center by the fingerboard. On this type of guitar, with the neck set into the acrylic body, the screw is turned into the tongue of the neck in a somewhat vulnerable area. As seen upper right, I placed a red dot approximately where this screw would likely tighten down onto.

If you go straight down from the dot - you will see the round metal barrel anchor nut for the truss rod. The rod is placed into a routed channel in the neck and ends here. As can be seen, maple wooden filler strips are glued in place over the rod. By drilling a hole in this location you weaken the maple filler strips. It is unknown for sure what consequences may arrive as a result of doing this.

As seen at left, I would have left this part of the scratchplate alone unless it was bulging upwards or etc. If so, I would have used two such screws on the scratchplate - one on each side of the neck as can be seen by the additional screws that I photoshopped in there. Using screws in this area they secure down into the acrylic body offering a better, more secure hold, and which holes would be hidden if an original, or a copy of an original scratchplate would ever one day replace the current one.

Another modified Dan Armstrong model that I named 'Goldie' - due to it's gold and brass hardware. At left and instantly obvious is the brass type scratchplate. In the enlarged view the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg logo has been professionally etched into the brass. Additionally, what looks like a gold plated tailpiece with Fender-styled gold plated saddle pieces have replaced the original tailpiece and rosewood bridge. Matching brass styled knobs for the volume and tone controls have replaced the originals. Sadly, to me anyway, is the Radio Shack looking replacement selector switch, complete with its metal label tag. Notice the finger-wear on the scratchplate too. Last, but not least is the brass position marker (if that's what it is) at the 24^th fret seems to scream overkill to me.

Over on the right, notice the guitar neck, and in particular, the altered position markers which seems to be somewhat triangular in shape. Also notice a brass or gold plated truss rod cover. Lastly, what looks like a set of gold plated Shaller tuners have replace the originals.