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AMPEG DAN ARMSTRONG 'SEE THROUGH'
circa 1970
original retail $330
Over 20 years since its invention, Dan Armstrong's Perspex-bodied guitar may seem little more than a hair-brained oddity.
The synthetic, solid-bodied guitar, once such a Utopian ideal, proved to be both expensive and, well, frankly unnecessary
- something that Dan himself admitted in '73. 'Boy, its expensive stuff. The bare cost of raw materials for that body was
around 6 - that's a lot for a body.' However, Dan's search for originality, not only in material choice, is often
overlooked, and this guitar stands as testament to that. My initial impressions are two-fold: firstly the visual impact is
stunning. The clear acrylic resin body (often referred to as Lucite and Plexiglas - as well as Perspex - they're all
trademarks) not only looks striking (cool!) but is remarkably practical. Yes, it's weighty at approx. 10lbs - close to a
contemporary Les Paul - but, at only 32mm thick and combined with its SG-like edge chamfering and slight forearm contour,
feels really rather good, if somewhat body-heavy when played seated. The dual bottom strap buttons reinforce the symmetry
of the double horns and act as a nifty guitar rest. Add to that a double-octave 24-fret fingerboard (the neck joins the
body at the last fret) and you have a highly playable guitar. However, that long lower horn does impede top fret access,
despite a slight chamfer in the cutaway (it was shortened, eventually, on the later, timber-bodied, sliding-pickup
instruments).
Although the Armstrong wasn't the first guitar to feature a deep-set bolt-on neck - Mosrite used a similar design earlier
in the '60s and the 24-fret board was pre-dated by Burns - the execution of it here is dramatic. There is no body heel;
instead the neck extends deep (some 87mm) into the body under the Formica scratchplate, and is held in place by four bolts
locating into recessed nuts visible under the scratchplate. Incredibly though, the bolt heads aren't recessed, so they
protrude above the back face - a rather crude-looking feature for such a forward-thinking guitar. The neck itself, despite
the rather short scale length made from virtually quarter-sawn maple. A 9" radius rosewood fingerboard is peppered with
small (3mm) pearloid face dots and smaller edge dots - frankly making position orientation in lower lights very difficult.
Not surprisingly, on the later, timber-bodied guitars Dan switched to an aluminum 'thumb nail' not dissimilar to Gretsch's.
The fretwire seems original and could do with replacing, though the gauge (2.54mm wide x 1.4mm high) is quite contemporary,
while the in-tuned fingerboard edge appears very well worn. Its shaping is fine too, on the chunky side of contemporary
with an even oval section. The back angled headstock (approx. 14°) is small and compact, with the wood-grained facing and
truss rod cover made from the same Formica as the scratchplate.
Whether the nut is original I don't know but it's way to high too high, the string slots cut very deep to give an over-low
and slightly buzzy first-fret action. Kidney-buttoned chromed Grover heads add that classic vintage vibe; they work well
too, and tuning seems pretty stable. Although this sample doesn't feature the original bridge the change here is ironic.
Dan said in '73 that he hadn't wanted to 'copy anybody's anything' adding 'I wish I had… There are a couple of things I
should have copied, like Gibson's bridge.' Here the original bridge's back half - the string anchor - is retained but the
front of the chromed brass plate is removed to allow a tune-o-matic bridge to be fitted, routed into the body face. While
this allows proper string intonation over the original saddle it sets so low in the body - there's barely any neck angle -
that it's difficult to adjust the intonation screws and impossible to alter the height without removing the bridge. The
original bridge was basic the pickup is pretty.... (article ends unexpectedly at this point but begins again on the
side of the page with an apparent gap).
Protruding banana plugs - there's screws on the back to secure it. The pickup RT - a Rock Treble is huge
(92mm x 51mm x 23mm), encapsulated in a chocolate brown hard rubber-like potting compound, now slightly cracked leaving the
cambered bar pole-piece clearly visible.
All the wiring, including the output socket, is loaded on the scratchplate - single volume and tone and a large 3-way
toggle switch. There's no coil tap wiring; instead, the 3-way switch offers two different tone control capacitor values,
the center switch acting effectively as a tone control bypass. With the tone control full on the effect of either position
is minimal, a slight treble decrease noticeable in the 'up' position. Back the tone control off and the 'up' position has a
darker voice, the 'down' position a more typical amount of treble roll-off. In use it gives two darker tones that you can
'preset': i.e. by leaving the tone control backed off you can switch from bypass to either of the darker voices without
touching the tone control itself.
Plugged in and cranked up the guitar is certainly interesting. Tonally it's bright and a little thin but the pickup is
certainly poky, especially for its vintage. It's not a resonant guitar in the least but the off-shoot of that is a very
smooth tail to the note, with a fine percussive attack. There seem to be virtually no dynamics either, so whether you pick
hard or soft the output remains pretty constant, a point Kent Armstrong put down to the powerful magnetic field of the
pickup swamping the strings. That feature, almost like having a compressor in-line, accounts for the popularity of this
guitar for slide; combined with its bright tonality it is very lap or pedal steel-like. Above all it plays really well,
and despite the weight feels good. It's certainly not a hugely versatile guitar, though the tone switching certainly for
high-level playing, is useful. Importantly, it's a different voice. It doesn't aim to clone a Gibson or Fender, and the
looks remain totally a part of rock'n'roll history - as Messrs. Keef, Ron, Perry and Veriaine will testify…
Dave Burrluck
Dimensions
(in mm unless stated)
Scale Length
Width of neck
...at nut
...at 12th fret
String spacing
...at nut
...at bridge
Weight (approx.)
Body depth
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522 (24.49")
41.9
51.6
34
50
10.25 lbs
32
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The current value of these guitars is approx. 950 pounds. This one can be hired via your management or record company only
from Harris Hired (then some unknown text)
Contact Phil Harris for assistance with this guitar
Thanks to Kent Armstrong (unknown text)…. pickup
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