Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

At left, Randy California and the band Spirit in the early days. Notice he is playing a Danelectro guitar. At right, and in late 1969, he switched over to a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg clear guitar as Dan had worked on Randy's prized Danelectro guitar in the past. With Dan working on his guitar it wasn't long before Randy discovered that these new clear guitars were heavily based on the Danelectro instruments.

Above left and right, still playing a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar is Randy California. Born Randy Craig Wolfe - at the age of 15 he happened to met a guitarist at Manny’s Music Store by the name of Jimi Hendrix, and before he knew it, he was gigging with Hendrix and his band Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. Ironically, it was Hendrix who would come to name him Randy California, for there were now two Randy’s in the band and Randy Wolfe was from California. So Randy California it was. It would be a name that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

At left and right, notice the unusual positioning, or routing of the guitar strap.

At Lyngby 'KB' Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark in January 1970. In the enlarged view one can make out straight headed screws securring down the tailpiece, making his instrument a very early model.

Also in the enlarged view is a modification of sorts. The rosewood saddle appears to have a fret across it which was not stock in 1969. Randy explains “One thing that I'm quite proud of is the fact that Dan Armstrong later incorporated something I'd done to my Sears Silvertone - which I took to New York to show him. I used to lay an unwound 20 gauge string over the wooden bridge of my guitar & when Dan saw that he ended up putting a fret across the wooden bridge of his guitars after he saw what I did.” The ball end of the string is clearly visible in the enlarged view - (pun intended).

California and Spirit 1970 in various television appearances.

At left and right, photos of Randy California and his band Spirit - performing live at the Second Atlanta International Pop Festival on Sunday July 5, 1970 in Byron, Georgia. Best seen in the enlarged views, he's second from left side of the stage playing his Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar. Notice the Ampeg amp head he's also using - seen atop one of the Acoustic speaker cabinets.

Mike Campbell, former guitarist of Tom Petty & the Heartbeakers as well as newly drafted guitarist of Fleetwood Mac recorded hit songs with his Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar. At right, and years later Campbell has his own band called the Dirty Knobs and is still accessing his Dan Armstrong guitar.

Mike is seen here with his Dan Armstrong plexi, but with a replacement black scratchplate. Seen better in the enlarged view, notice how the back portion of the plate looks to have a lighter shade to it in addition to a somewhat different shape to it. At right, Eric Carmen, went on to persue a solo career after the Raspberries. Here he is seen with his Dan Armstrong clear guitar.

Dave Catching, guitarist of Eagles of Death Metal had been looking for a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar for some time. According to various sources, when he heard that Ampeg was reissuing them, he made a call and asked when he could get his hands on one to try. While playing a show in Seattle, WA at The Showbox, Dave tried one out… and the guitar has been in his arsenal ever since.

While I couldn't locate a photo of Phil Collen playing a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar, an interview exists online where he states "When I started playing guitar, back in England, I used to see all of these classic American guitar players holding one of these see through, quasi-plastic guitars and it looked really cool. I found out that they were playing one of these Dan Armstrong guitars. I wanted one for years until they stopped making them and I’d forgotten all about them. Funny enough, in 2006 I had been wondering where I could get my hands on one and all of a sudden there was one, in a backstage Ampeg shack outside the venue we were playing with Journey. Neal Schon was in there checking some stuff out with Scott, who would later work with me. And there was this guitar. So I had to have one. This is a reissue and sounds amazing, considering it’s not even made out of wood. It made the odd appearance on that tour. And you can hear it on Viv's (Vivian Campbell) rhythm guitar part, which was originally just a guide (Stones tuning) on Nine Lives." This excerpt can be found online here.