Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

At left and right, Steven Van Zandt singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor, and activist - best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he played guitar and mandolin can be seen here playing a Dan Armstrong · Ampeg bass. When asked some years later Steve replied "Yes, I still have the Dan Armstrong bass." At left and in the enlarged view, notice the dark circles in the curtain behind them - no doubt these are par cans or another type of stage lighting.

At left and right, another user of the Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitar was Tom Verlaine. Born Thomas Miller, he became the front man of the New York City rock band Television. Seen here his Dan Armstrong has a replacement black scratchplate.

At left, Verlaine takes a lead high up on his Dan Armstrong. Behind him is Television's drummer/percussionist Billy Ficca. At right, Tom takes another lead. In the enlarged view, is it me, or does it look like the original truss rod cover has been replaced with a dark-colored one?

Patti Smith famously described Tom Verlaine's guitar sound as "A thousand bluebirds screaming." Others state that he "soaked up the flavor of favorite records by John Coltrane, the Stones and the Dead – then synthesized them into something entirely new on the band's 1977 debut, Marquee Moon, spinning out endless fluid solos in concert with fellow guitar aesthete Richard Lloyd. Verlaine remains a model for generations of guitarists with a taste for both punk violence and melodic flight." At right, notice the use of a single coil pickup.

At left, it is unknown if the black scratchplate was installed later on, or if this is a second Armstrong model, for as seen at right and throughout the remainder of this page he is playing a model with an original scratchplate.

Patti Smith continues about Verlaine, stating "No one has been able to replicate his sounds, from delicate lace like details to soaring and singing lines. It’s hard to describe without a slew of superlatives."