Seen above left and right - the newly designed Dan Armstrong bass pickups were made by Kent Armstrong^® who went back, and through the original pickup design for the bass pickup and made an exact model like the one that was used years ago. In addition - and, with the bass now sporting the same exact look and interchangeable pickup design, Kent not only made the original pickup, but also designed and made an additional pickup that could be slide in for a totally different range of sounds. Notice the letters 'DB' etched (or scratched) into the bottom of the pickup in the photo at upper right to help one quickly identify it.

Both of these pickups are actually two pickups in one. The first pickup is stacked on top the other which can be seen in the pickup section (under bass pickups). These pickups differ in the number of windings, and a coil tap on one offering many different tonal characteristics. The two pickups that are included are labeled DB (deep bass) and BB (bright bass). Some label the BB as 'broad bass' while others 'balanced bass' - but Ampeg labels it as 'bright bass'.

The DB unit produces a vintage Fender^® type tone while the BB pickup has a more modern tone that ranges from a very deep, low bottom end reminiscent of a Gibson EB-O^® bass to the familiar sound of a Rickenbacker 4001^® bass with plenty of high end left over.

In both of these pickups each half of the pickup is split with a capacitor, and like the Dan Armstrong bass models before them, employ an electrical circuit that uses tonal variance caps which allow a blend between the coils (or halves) of the stack. Moving the pot counterclockwise engages only the bass coil, giving the bass a thick low end thump while turning it clockwise brings the high-end coil into the circuit. At the center point on the tone knob both pickups are equally activated, making for a good top/bottom full range sound. As the tone control gets turned up more, the low end begins fade, while the high end gets more prevalent. Turning the control and all the way up results in the most clarity and brightness.

Seen above, and as mentioned earlier, the pickups on the guitar models were also made by Kent Armstrong, along with his son Aaron Armstrong^® who also wound many of them in England. The two pickups included with these guitars are the RT or Rock Treble, and the MD or Modern Drive pickup.

Seen above left, the Rock Treble is a single coil pickup that is identical to the original Bill Lawrence RT design and measures in here at 2.27K while at upper right, and seen from the backside of the pickup, a sticker showing the 2.27K reading (rounded up to 2.3K) along with another sticker label - this one with Kent's name on it, and the letters RT which serve to help identify the type of pickup that it is.

As seen at left, the other pickup included with the guitar is the Modern Drive or MD pickup which is another single coil design fashioned after the Gibson P90© pickup. It is essentially a 'hotter' pickup with more windings than the Rock Treble pickup.

For these models Kent Armstrong improved all of the pickups (including the bass pickups) by internally shielding not only the individual coils, but even the magnets (neither was shielded in the original design). Also, an improved epoxy is now used that will not flake or peel. The original rubbery type epoxy on the originals had a tendency to break down with age. The epoxy used on these pickups is much harder, feeling almost more like plastic. Although only two pickups come with the reissue Dan Armstrong instruments, Kent can manufacture any original type pickup desired, as well as do a custom order pickup making whatever the client wants. Kent went on to say "compared to other units there's so much room with these pickups I can fit virtually anything in there."

At upper left, another improvement. The formica type scratchplate is a bit thicker, making it and less prone to breaking. Also, and as seen just to the right of the tailpiece and highlighted in yellow - the reissue scratchplates (and bodies) accommodate an eighth screw to help secure the scratchplate down more securely.

At upper right, not only are the Kent Armstrong pickups shielded, so is the scratchplate. As can be seen on this 1999 bass guitar, the backside of the scratchplate has a thin aluminum sheet that covers the entire scratchplate which helps reduce hum and noise, especially over the control cavity where much of it is normally picked up.

As seen upper left, the maple necks attach to the acrylic body as per the originals - with nicely dressed ½" bolts, nuts and washers. Unfortunately, the neck and fingerboard are no longer made of quarter-sawn wood. The neck is now made of 3 piece laminated maple. Though no longer quarter-sawn - laminated maple does help resist warping and twisting of the neck however. The fingerboard, like so many guitars these days does not feature Brazilian rosewood but rather Indian. The necks feature a slimmer profile - somewhat like the 1971 Dan Armstrong instruments though literature of the time stated that the thickness is the same at the 24^th fret as the first fret which would seem to make it a bit bigger, and a bit more like the 1969 profile - only thinner - for my 1971 model neck does not maintain near the same thickness throughout.

As seen upper right, the serial numbers are different, as are their location on the neck. No longer stamped into the tongue of the maple neck, the numbers are located on the very back of the neck in the area just above where the neck disappears into the acrylic body. These numbers are inked in with a longer numbering convention which gives the year, month and production number of the particular instrument. The first two numbers indicate the year, the next two the month in that year, and the following indicate the actual production number. In this particular case, the 98 tells us that this Dan Armstrong is a 1998 model. The next two numbers - 05 tells us that it was made in the month of May, and the following numbers indicated that it is the 34^th that was produced. Lastly, Made In Japan is seen inked in over the serial number.

At upper left, the 1998 headstock features Schaller^® type tuners like the original 1969 models. The screws used to secure down the truss rod cover have smaller heads on them than the original models, but are still the usual Phillip type heads. At upper right, and seen from the back side, the 3 piece laminated neck and headstock is easily vi sable.

With original Dan Armstrong instrument prices skyrocketing, these reissues were a welcome sight and a viable alternative to anyone wishing to own one and not be afraid to take it out for booking engagements as the originals had by this time become collectors items.