Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

At left and right and seen in the Mods section, John Kay often times played a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar in modified form. I originally thought he had several Armstrong plexi's but in a brief interview with him, John corrected me stating "I had two, no more." As seen above left, and like many players, John often played slide guitar on them. Notice too, the belt he has on and how it held his microphone when he was accessing the guitar. At right, and with John singing, he can be seen chording.

At left, the neck of a Dan Armstrong guitar can be seen on the backside of John Kay, while at right, the necks of two Dan Armstrong models can be seen in a guitar stand.

At left, John playing his Armstrong guitar with Steppenwolf's bassist George Biondo seen behind him. Notice the additional Dan Armstrong guitar off to this right, and how it appears to have both an ST type pickup in it, as well as what appears to be a Gibson Harmonica type bridge. However, and seen better in the enlarged view, one can just make out the edge of a third Dan Armstrong instrument at the left edge of the photo. Since John stated he only had two such guitars, it seems likely that this guitar was on a stand for the other Steppenwolf guitarist, Larry Byrom.

At right, and at the time of the top two photos, John is seen playing a lead solo on the aforementioned modified guitar. Again his vocal microphone can be seen clipped, or somehow attached to his belt.

At left, John playing slide guitar, while at right, one can see a capo on the neck, roughly in the 3^rd fret area.

At left, John playing the Dan Armstrong prior to the modifications as one can make out the original scratchplate. At right, a later photo with the modifications complete as one can make out the black colored neck.

At left and right with John utilizing what appears to be a stock ST pickup.

At left, bassist George Biondo playing a Fender bass while John plays one of his Dan Armstrong guitars. At right, this Dan Armstrong appears to be stock judging by the maple neck which is different from the black neck on John's modified Dan Armstrong guitar.

As seen at left, It looks like John is playing slide. Notice what looks like a capo around the second or third fret area.

To the left of John, notice the bass man is playing a Dan Armstrong bass. Judging by the way the bass is held (with the headstock higher up) - it would seem to be George Biondo, but I can't be sure. The exact same could be said on the right. Notice the Dan Armstrong model in a guitar stand just to the left of John.

At left, and from left to right, guitarist Larry Byrom, bassist George Biondo and at far right, John Kay. Behind Byrom, and seen better in the enlarged view, notice two Dan Armstrong guitars - most likely Johns. At right, From left: Goldy McJohn, John Kay (with a Dan Armstrong), Larry Byrom and George Biondo.

At left and seen over the left shoulder of keyboardist Goldy McJohn, John Kay sings while playing a Dan Armstrong guitar. Same on the right, though as seen from the front.

John playing an original model at left, and the modified one at right. He also appears to be playing slide in this photo.

At left, John backstage working on a song, notice what appears to be a cigarette up at the headstock. At right, John on stage with his Dan Armstrong. Notice in both photos the guitar cords - for this was before wireless.

At left, John Kay with Bobby Cochran at right and percussionist Jerry Edmonton behind them in the mid to late 1970^'s. Notice that John is playing a Dan Armstrong guitar while another one is in a guitar stand next to the drums and is the very same one seen in the Mods section of this site. This guitar has many modifications to it including a gloss black neck with large pearloid position markers which can be seen better in the 'extra' enlarged view. This instrument is now owned by Mr. Nathan Fasold at Black Book Guitars in Portland, Oregon.

At right, and kneeling onstage John playes his Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar while guitarist Michael Monarch looks on in Hattiesburg, MS on May 18^th 1970.

At left, John Kay sings as he plays his Dan Armstrong guitar. Bassist George Biondo accompanies John on vocals. Another Dan Armstrong guitar hangs in its stand behind John on the drum riser. At right, an underside shot of John playing his Dan Armstrong plexi.

A photo of John Kay as he stares out from behind his Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar. Courtesy of Black Book guitars.

At left and right, Jesse Keeler of Death From Above absolutely loves the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg bass of which he has two, a 1969 and a 1971 model. With a playing style best described as half bass & half lead guitars, he embodies the best of both instruments in an uncannily fashion that just seems to work. If you look at the bass you will notice a lighter color surrounding the pickup cavity. This is some tape applied to the back of the bass, for Keeler mentioned in an article that, despite the indented, or milled out portion of the acrylic on the backside of the body, his clothes keeps catching on the pickup retainer screw, so he just puts tape over that portion. So what you are seeing is the adhesive side of some tape, most likely duct tape.

At left, and quoting from Premier Guitar's site, Performing at September 2017’s Riot Fest in Chicago’s Douglas Park, Keeler digs his .73 mm pick into the strings of one of his four vintage Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi basses. “The Dan Armstrong has 24 frets,” he says. “I’m happy with that many octaves and it’s comfortable for me to play.” At right, performing at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on August 26, 2015.

Jesse's Armstrong basses are somewhat modified. Seen here, the original tailpiece and rosewood bridge has been replaced with tunable bridges. In an interview with him Jesse spoke about the Dan Armstrong bass, stating "I was worried about keeping the intonation in over the whole neck, but I had this luthier design a bridge for the bass so it would have individual string height and intonation, so that’s not an issue anymore. He machined it entirely from a chunk of aluminum and put brass seats on all of them." When asked who made the bridges Jesse replied "Les Godfrey [of Toronto’s Godfrey Guitars] designed the bridge so that it would use the exact same mounting holes and the same screws, because you really can’t screw in and out of Lucite a bunch of times. Once the grooves are there, you want to stick with them. And so, he’s made me three of them and I have one bass that has the original bridge and that’s my 'home' bass. It doesn’t come on the road."

At left and right, another alteration to his Dan Armstrong basses are replacement tuners. Also, if you look close, the rosewood thumb-rests have been removed. In the enlarged view, especially on the right, you can more easily see the Godfrey replacement bridge/tailpiece. This bridge, along with a link, can be seen better in Readers Questions section of this site.

At left and right, After being a longtime Rickenbacker user, Keeler is now very comfortable with his 1969 Dan Armstrong. He likes the short scale, 24-fret design, which better suits his playing style and approach than anything he’s ever played. A 1971 model tags along as a backup.

At left and right, one of Jesse Keelers' four Dan Armstrong · Ampeg basses. This one features a Kent Armstrong humbucking pickup for bass which Keeler apparently loves the sound of. Notice the replacement bridge.

At left and right, Tom Keifer of Cinderella playing slide guitar on stage. In the studio, he was quoted as saying that he "made heavy use of his 1970 Dan Armstrong guitar, most often for slide parts."

At left, again in concert playing his Dan Armstrong, notice the slide on Keifer's ring finger. At right, Tom poses for a photo with his Dan Armstrong.

At left, Keifer playing slide on stage with Cinderella. On the right, Tom poses again with his Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar.

Michael 'Cub' Koda of Brownsville Station often played a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar, of which he owned three, and recorded with.

He used his first 1969 model that he acquired in 1973 to record "Smoking In The Boy's Room". He then used a second 1969 model that he acquired in 1974 to record “School Punks”.

His third and last Dan Armstrong was a 1970 model that he acquired in 1975 and recorded “Motor City Connection" with that same year.

At left, and like his fellow band member singer/guitarist Barry Hay - lead guitarist George Kooymans of Golden Earring also accessed a Dan Armstrong guitar. At right, and seen on a crowded stage George stands in the middle. Notice how bassist Marinus Gerritsen is ironically playing a Danelectro Longhorn Bass, which is the instrument that inspired Dan to make the plexiglass models.

At left and right, playing the song 'Buddy Joe' Kooymans opening lead just prior to the first verse has a Sitar sound to it. While in the studio he may have used a Sitar, Playing the Dan Armstrong electric guitar live it's most likely he used an effects pedal.

At left, and 'Walking like an Egyptian' Wayne Kramer and MC5 take the stage on Tartar Field at Wayne State University in Detroit on July 19^th 1970. At right, he can be seen playing one of the black plastic prototype Dan Armstrong · Ampeg models of which only eight were ever made. Notice the vintage Marshall amp in the background.

At left, a good full shot photo of the instrument showing a single coil pickup in use, probably the RT model. At right, and seen from the backside, the maple neck can easily be seen.

As seen at left, a closer look at the back side of the guitar. Dan himself told me that these prototypes were fitted with stock necks and hardware as the clear models. He finished stating "Only the body was different."

In the enlarged view one can make out the pickup thumbscrew and carriage bolts that secure the neck to the body.

At left, another good shot of the maple neck on this guitar. Apparently a good friend of Wayne's or perhaps a security person enjoys the music while playing an 'air-guitar' stands nearby. At right, the crowd listens and watches as Kramer fires off a lead solo on his Dan Armstrong instrument.

At left, after his lead solo Kramer starts chording on his black Dan Armstrong. At right, Notice how the bass player has what looks like a matching guitar strap as Kramer.