Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

At left, an unusual mod to an acrylic bass with the installation of a Badass bridge and a large replacement scratchplate along with a set of replacement tuners. At right, even more mods with what appears to be a Jazz Bass type pickup and even more unusual, in front of the Jazz pickup lie two 70^s style Gibson SG-200 single coil guitar pickups, or at the least, some type of single coil pickups with Gibson's black guitar pickup covers over them.

Notice all the extra plastic of the scratchplate as it has to cover the area of the original pickup. Lastly, two mini switches replace the one stock switch - assuming this bass was a later model with a switch. Most likely these switches are for pickup selection, coil tapping &/or a dead switch but it's really hard to say for sure. Replacement tuners and Tele-looking type knobs top off this mod.

At left and right, a black fretless bass with ebony fingerboard and thumb rest is seen with a modification of the installation of a Badass bridge. Notice too, being a later model bass that a rise in the center of the pickup that extends the length of the bar pole piece can be seen. More about this can be read in the Acrylic Bass Pickup section of this site.

At left, the ugly, harsh reality of the installation of this Badass. The good news is that most of it is seen from the backside. A touch of it can be seen from the front though - on the upper corner nearest the low E string saddle in the photos above. At right, different knobs are in use and there is the usual damage in and around the output jack as a black washer can be seen.

At left, an early 1969 bass with a D262A serial number, notice how far back the thumb rest is relative to the scratchplate. Later basses had the rest centered on the top portion of the plate. This bass has been modified with the installation of what appears to be a Bill Lawrence humbucking pickup, but I can't be sure. More so, is the surrounding pickup ring for although well done, it had to require making extra holes in the acrylic body.

At right, notice too that the scratchplate had to be shaved a bit to fit around the pickup ring, thus making the scratchplate look more like those seen on the guitar models.

At left and right, and seen from the back of this instrument is where things really get weird. A hole has been drilled through the back and into the control cavity directly behind the instruments output jack. It is unknown what they hoped to accomplish. Given such a larger hole it seems quite unlikely that it was for a guitar cable to be hard wired in back in the day.

Even the Dan Armstrong copies end up getting altered. At left an unknown MIJ copy brand that now features a clear replacement scratchplate that reveals a much shorter tongue on the neck.

This is consistant with all MIJ twin humbucker type models as more space was required in the acrylic body when two such pickups are employed.

Notice how the scratchplate utilizes the same screws and holes in the body as the original. This is the way to do a mod as it's easy to put back to stock if even need be.

I call this one the 'Danocaster' as the original pickups have been changed out with single-coil units that look like pickups from a Fender Strat or similar type guitar. Given a clear guitar, with a clear scratchplate - it's only appropriate that these single coil pickups sport clear covers on them which is why the coil windings are visible.

At left, a laminated black/white scratchplate replaces the original which was likely destroyed when the instruments guitar cord was stepped on and ended up breaking the faux-wood plate. Notice too, an unusual bridge saddle which appears to be nothing more than round piece, or bar of metal. At right, the backside of the replacement scratchplate was shielded to help reduce hum.

At left, a cracked acrylic body results when one overtightens the bolts that secure the neck in place. A good rule of thumb is to never use a socket set to tighten these bolts. Rather, use a hand held nut driver which will secure everything properly without risking breakage. At right, I thought my eyes were deceiving me when when I gazed upon this hot mess. I don't think I've ever seen such an array of different tuners on a headstock before.

At left, what I call the Dan Armstrong Thompson guitar as it has so many holes in the acrylic body it looks like someone used it for target practice with an old 'Tommy-Gun'. A light wood-grained scratchplate has replaced the original, likely due to the 'usual' breakage.

At right, no less than five holes have been drilled (and possibly tapped) for the upper front screw on the scratchplate. Best seen in the enlarged view lies a very large hole in the body, no doubt to allow for some kind of tremelo system that used a spring or etc. which now greatly helps to complete the Thompson look. Notice additional holes as well as routing in the neck pocket as it appears a single coil pickup once resided there. In addition, notice too, some rather crude routing in the pickup channel where the banana plugs once resided. It appears this entire section, or wall if you will, has been removed. Lastly, there appears to be some material lying on the bottom of the control cavity.

At left, the tongue of the neck answered a great number of questions I had. For starters, the tongue has been shortened to allow for room for the additional single-coil pickup in, or at least around, what is usually considered the neck position. A section of the remaining tongue has been routed down for this additional pickup as well. Extra holes had to be drilled in the tongue and through the acrylic body as well - to accomodiate for the back two carriage bolts. This would certainly explain the presence of a replacement scratchplate as almost certainly at one point the original scratchplate was modified to accept this added neck pickup. The question is why it was ever removed.

At right, another angle of the modified tongue. In addition, a replacement pickup can be seen screwed down onto the body. It appears that maybe another pickup may have been anchored to the body at one point, for in front of the screw securing this pickup in place there appears to be another hole in the pickup cavity which looks to be threaded. The pickup, from what I can tell, appears to be a DiMarzio SDHP and its shielded cable is easily routed to the control cavity being that section of the body has been routed away.

At left, a look at the tongue of the neck which appears to have its serial number sanded away. In addition, and for whatever reason, it appears that some of the wood has been sanded away as well. Perhaps with the tongue being shortened so much that the remainder of it was altered so that a neck shim wasn't needed, for it's automatically set. There appears to be a crack in the wood where it was routed. Not sure how bad this is or if it affects anything.

At right, and seen at the upper left, notice the five holes that were drilled for a scratchplate screw. At right, notice the tunable bridge/tailpiece combo. I wish someone would make this bridge with mounting holes machined in it that would line up with the original tailpiece holes of the Dan Armstrong and which would allow the original tailpiece screws to be used.

At left and right, and best seen in the enlarged views even the tuners on this guitar have been changed. Strangely, if you look at the low E string tuner it is mounted in a very strange fashion. At first I thought perhaps the tuner wasn't anchored to the headstock, but in the enlarged view the tuners' set-screw is easily seen and in place. Even the truss rod cover has been replaced. Frankly, I don't think I've ever seen a hacked up mess quite like this before, and I have to wonder what the owner was thinking and why that person just didn't purchase a different instrument.

But I digress. This model has also undergone massive changes to it. At left, a Telecaster style neck has somehow been attached to a Dan Armstrong acrylic body. At right, the neck, and more poignantly the fingerboard - seats deep into the body, to the point that one cannot access anything past the 16^th fret. I can only speculate that the owner doesn't play at all beyond the 12^th fret - or if they do, they use a slide with the arm-over-body type style/technique.

The scratchplate has been massively altered with much it cut away and painted over with a striped pattern to it and secured to the body with what looks like drywall screws. A Strat type knob labelled 'tone' is the only control, and is joined only by an output jack. Holes from the original pot locations can be seen.

Seen upper left, A closer look at the replacement pickup which the seller advertized as a classic Gibson 57 humbucker and which has its adjustment screws anchored into the acrylic body. I can only speculate that perhaps there are two 3-48 threaded nuts on the screws underneath the pickup feet to allow for adjustments, but given the rest of the guitar I wouldn't bet on it. The chrome plated pickup cover has been painted over with a grey paint in the same fashion, or texture as the scratchplate. Back of the pickup an unusual, small block of wood replaces the original rosewood bridge while the tailpiece has been painted to somewhat blend with the scratchplate. On the right, a closer look at the Tele style neck, and moreso the fingerboard seated deep into the acrylic body.

At left is where I got stumped. I expected the Tele-style neck to be attached to the acrylic body with wood screws - in the same fashion that a bolt-on neck is usually attached; i.e. long screws with cosmetic matching washers. However that is not what is seen here. Instead what is seen is the factory Ampeg carriage bolts. What I cannot figure out is exactly how the neck is attached using these bolts as they would almost certainly extend through the fingerboard.

At right, I thought perhaps the neck was made from quarter-sawn maple as it looked like it had some flame or burl to it. However, upon looking at both photos it appears that perhaps the neck has been stained - apparently to give it a somewhat rustic look which maybe helps it blend with the instruments' scratchplate as well as its painted, or stained, hardware..... maybe? In the end, I feel it is safe to assume that this thing is a wall hanger.

Arguably - the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg clear guitars and basses have undergone more modifications than any other instrument in history and maybe it wouldn't be so bad if it were not for the short production run of the original models from 1969 to 1971. With every passing year the number of unaltered instruments dwindles and just finding one in original condition is getting more difficult all the time. Given my obvious love of these instruments - to me it is one of the saddest chapters of the Dan Armstrong story.