Dan Armstrong - Man & Guitars

The other thing that is noticeably different than the 1998-2001 models is the lack of the carriage type bolts used to secure the neck to the acrylic body. As seen upper left & right - these bolts have been changed with machine screws that turn into threaded metal inserts, or T-Nuts which are placed into the tongue of the maple neck to accept the bolt.

This change is nothing short of eerie given the fact that almost 40 years prior Matt Umanov designed the prototype instruments with nearly this same design. Although his design used different machine screws, and did not rely on the T-Nuts, it is still noteworthy, not to mention interesting - that Ampeg would use a similar design to attach the neck to the body so many years later.

As seen upper left, the maple tongue features threaded metal inserts, commonly called T-Nuts for the machine screws to thread into. Shallower holes are needed for these inserts than the bolt, washer & nut of yesteryear. Ampeg engineers felt that shallow holes drilled into the tongue, coupled with the fact that the holes are filled in with threaded inserts makes for more mass and a much more stable body to neck attachment.

At upper right, the machine screws can be seen in better detail as well as the other side of the T-Nuts. It is from this side that the screws thread in. In both photos, notice the laminates in the maple neck.

Upper left, the Dan Armstrong headstock retains its original look with wood grained veneer on the face of the headstock, a piece of the same veneer for the truss rod cover, and an Ivory nut all make the guitar neck like the original models. Grover tuner tops it all off. Schaller tuners so far have not been used.

At upper right, and as can be easily seen - the necks on these instruments were not quarter-sawn lumber but they are constructed of 3-piece laminated maple which resists twisting and warping. Interestingly enough, the necks on these guitars are thicker and fashioned more like the early 1969 model instruments. However, like so many guitars today, the fingerboard is not quarter-sawn and the use of Brazilian rosewood has been replaced with Indian rosewood.

As seen upper left, the serial numbers for these guitar follow the same convention as those from the 1998-2001 reissues only here they are once again put into the side of the tongue like the original models, rather than on the back of the neck. Once again the player can strap the guitar on, look straight down and through the clear acrylic body and see the serial number. This number tells us it was made in 2006, in the month of April and the 2^nd one made. At upper right, unlike both the original models and the 1998-2001 reissue models - the MADE IN JAPAN label is easily seen on the opposite side of the tongue.

As seen upper left and right, another change by 2006 and much to the delight of musicians everywhere the Dan Armstrong guitar sported a new look, as it now featured a tunable bridge independant of the tailpiece. I don't know if it's just the angle in the photo or not, but compared to other models, and especially noticable compared to the guitar at left, the 3-way selector switch on the model at right appears to have a very short bat-handle on it.

As seen at left, not all reissue models produced from 2006 on had tunable bridges - for this 2007 model reveals it has a rosewood bridge that's seen on earlier reissue models. On the right, and also like the 1998-2001 reissue models, the scratchplates on these newer models have metal shields on the back side to provide a better ground, thus, less noise.

As seen at left, I'm particularly fond of the little sliver of routing in the acrylic for the ground wire. The routing leaves the control cavity and terminates just under where the tailpiece lies. Notice how the pickup thumbscrew is missing. At right, another look at the rosewood bridge on the guitar.

At upper left, and unlike the originals, the cases for these instruments are not rectangular. Instead, they have the more conventional shape to them and feature the Ampeg 'Diamond Blue' toylex covering on the outside - reminiscent of their early amplifier lines. Unlike earlier cases, the guitar and bass models no longer share the same cases.

The reissue Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitars came with a shaped hardshell case that is manufactured by TKL Products Corp. of Canada which has a distribution center in Virginia. At upper left, custom made for Ampeg, they are covered in Ampeg’s Blue Diamond toylex (though it has always looked black to me). Theses cases are from TKL^'s 'Prestige Series' line which features a slight arch to the top (seen here) adding additional reinforcement.

As can be seen at upper right the padded plush interior, neck support, pick compartment and hardware of the TKL case can be seen. In addition to current Dan Armstrong · Ampeg guitars even the original Dan Armstrong guitars fit in the newer cases. As seen here, my 1969 model can be seen snugly within the case. Unfortunately, and unlike the cases of yesteryear, my 1970 bass guitar does not fit in this new case due to the length of the bass neck.

Above left, the outside measurements of the TKL case. At right, the Dan Armstrong guitar measurements.