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NBD: "Dan Armstrong" Bass COPY
- Thread starter PluffMudQueen
- Start date
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
You don't "condone counterfeit instruments", yet you bought one, and are bragging about it?
Does not compute.
Does not compute.
This looks pretty cool, you could easily upgrade that MM pickup if you wanted to. Plus you get a 24 fret shortscale, which is cool.
One of these is, in theory, eventually going to head my way from China. A couple appeared on Ebay from a Chinese seller, so I snapped one up. My communications with the seller have been a bit off-beat and disjointed, so I hope something does eventually arrive. If not, Ebay/Paypal tends to side with the buyer on disputes so I feel that my back is slightly more covered than with the big Chinese online retailers.
I was looking for a shortscale bass with a single pickup in the 'sweet spot', and this does the job. Beyond that, I've seen photos of the French bassist Francis Moze playing a Dan Armstrong, as well as the guys in Curved Air, the bassist in Henry Cow and a few others. I like their oddball design, though I played a reissue Dan Armstrong a few years back and I personally think the rosewood bridge was a bit of a tone killer. The chunky Gotoh 201-style bridge on these Chinese copies are possibly an upgrade.
Sadly the Chinese basses don't have the brown plug-in pickups of the original, and nobody makes a brown MM-style humbucker, so that piece of the magic will be missing. I'm proposing getting some of the diversity of the original bass back by using a similar tone control setup to the Peavey T40 bass, and having the tone control bleed one coil of the pickup to ground when you turn it right up.
Perhaps the biggest problem is with all that rosewood. Firstly when UK customs get a look at the bass (the seller sorta promised CITES documentation, but I'm not holding my breath). Secondly, it is cheaper for the Chinese guitar mill to use rosewood for the pickguard than the more correct Formica of the '70s originals. This is why CITES is a thing in the first place; the trivial over-use of rosewood by the Chinese. As such I'm feeding the problem.
As such I plan to use the pickguard only as a template for a replacement. This isn't a Dan Armstrong bass. Judging by the accuracy of most of the details (even the MM pickup was used on a proper reissue) I'm guessing a Chinese guitar plant built one line of DA reissues and then simply kept or sold on the patterns? These look visually closer to the originals than a lot of Chinese copies.
Either way, it isn't sanctioned by Ampeg/Loud/Kent Armstrong or whoever owns the designs. It also skips out on some of the design elements Dan was so keen to incorporate into the original design. Having his name on there is wrong, ethically. This also means I can put a custom pickguard on there. I'm leaning towards brown acylic, grey ABS, textured black ABS or something either reflective or semi-transparent.
I was looking for a shortscale bass with a single pickup in the 'sweet spot', and this does the job. Beyond that, I've seen photos of the French bassist Francis Moze playing a Dan Armstrong, as well as the guys in Curved Air, the bassist in Henry Cow and a few others. I like their oddball design, though I played a reissue Dan Armstrong a few years back and I personally think the rosewood bridge was a bit of a tone killer. The chunky Gotoh 201-style bridge on these Chinese copies are possibly an upgrade.
Sadly the Chinese basses don't have the brown plug-in pickups of the original, and nobody makes a brown MM-style humbucker, so that piece of the magic will be missing. I'm proposing getting some of the diversity of the original bass back by using a similar tone control setup to the Peavey T40 bass, and having the tone control bleed one coil of the pickup to ground when you turn it right up.
Perhaps the biggest problem is with all that rosewood. Firstly when UK customs get a look at the bass (the seller sorta promised CITES documentation, but I'm not holding my breath). Secondly, it is cheaper for the Chinese guitar mill to use rosewood for the pickguard than the more correct Formica of the '70s originals. This is why CITES is a thing in the first place; the trivial over-use of rosewood by the Chinese. As such I'm feeding the problem.
As such I plan to use the pickguard only as a template for a replacement. This isn't a Dan Armstrong bass. Judging by the accuracy of most of the details (even the MM pickup was used on a proper reissue) I'm guessing a Chinese guitar plant built one line of DA reissues and then simply kept or sold on the patterns? These look visually closer to the originals than a lot of Chinese copies.
Either way, it isn't sanctioned by Ampeg/Loud/Kent Armstrong or whoever owns the designs. It also skips out on some of the design elements Dan was so keen to incorporate into the original design. Having his name on there is wrong, ethically. This also means I can put a custom pickguard on there. I'm leaning towards brown acylic, grey ABS, textured black ABS or something either reflective or semi-transparent.
Late to the party, but -aside from the ampeg branding- I really like this one. I've got little problem with clones of instruments that are no longer available if they aren't using trademarked brand names.
For $350 shipped, it seems like even if the neck was crap, the lucite body and rosewood pickguard might be worth the price of admission.
For $350 shipped, it seems like even if the neck was crap, the lucite body and rosewood pickguard might be worth the price of admission.
I think is should be illegal to have the Dan Armstrong name on the bass (I know it is but they should be active about confiscating these copies) I use to own an original Dan Armstrong with a replacement pickguard, the pickguards are prone to breaking at the plug-in jack (there was no Plexiglas support behind it). When the re-issue plexiglass bass was in production I was able to get one of these re-issue pickguards, unfortunately the screw holes don't align with an original.
Some years ago (I can't remember how long) I was at a guitar show and talking to someone from Vintage guitar magazine. I said I was having trouble getting a plexi - bass replacement pick guard and he gave me Dan Armstrong’s phone number. I know Dan Armstrong passed on several years ago but he was a very nice person and he was always happy to talk to owners of his plexi basses. He told me the original pickguard was made from plastic laminate made by the Formica Company, the name was "rosewood". I'm in the design business so I called Formica and found that laminate went out of production many years ago but they offered to make me a test sample 10" x 12". I received it and it was an exact match but then on E bay I found the plexi guitar pick guard for sale on E Bay (never saw one since). It is the same as the bass version except at the pick-up opening. I went to a luthier and he took a small area of the plastic sample and filled in the missing section on the guitar pickguard, it was almost invisible, you had to see a line in the reflection on the pick guard. If you Dan Armstrong bass has a fill-in at the bottom of the pickup, then it was mine.
Also on the tone wood debate, if you play a plexiglass bass you know the body material affects the sound, it is obvious.
Some years ago (I can't remember how long) I was at a guitar show and talking to someone from Vintage guitar magazine. I said I was having trouble getting a plexi - bass replacement pick guard and he gave me Dan Armstrong’s phone number. I know Dan Armstrong passed on several years ago but he was a very nice person and he was always happy to talk to owners of his plexi basses. He told me the original pickguard was made from plastic laminate made by the Formica Company, the name was "rosewood". I'm in the design business so I called Formica and found that laminate went out of production many years ago but they offered to make me a test sample 10" x 12". I received it and it was an exact match but then on E bay I found the plexi guitar pick guard for sale on E Bay (never saw one since). It is the same as the bass version except at the pick-up opening. I went to a luthier and he took a small area of the plastic sample and filled in the missing section on the guitar pickguard, it was almost invisible, you had to see a line in the reflection on the pick guard. If you Dan Armstrong bass has a fill-in at the bottom of the pickup, then it was mine.
Also on the tone wood debate, if you play a plexiglass bass you know the body material affects the sound, it is obvious.
Sweet Mother of God GAS just hit me even harder for one of these... for the first time I'm about to have an actual useful budget for a new bass and I'll definitely need to check this out.
So... are you suggesting we should support counterfeiting and order some of these basses?
While the pickgauard is a blatant rip off, it can always be replaced, and actual cheap Rosewood should be, a few screws replaced a new cap and some 1meg pos you got something snazzy.
The dead give away that it ain't worth much is the 'uge MM Pickup anf the bridge. No one could buy that as the real thing.
I see it as a very cheap homage.
On the original plexi bass model you can't swap the pickup (one fixed pick up is it).
I plan oneting a custom pickguard made custom. They do wood grain and all so I shim. Slowly, as money is tight, replace the pots (1 Meg, Switchcraft jack, orange drop cap and a Duncal alnico). With that I'll turn a pigs ear onto a nicer pigs ear.
I'm going to be using it for giging so it'll be nice to have something relatively tough that sounds good. I'll let y'all when I'm done. I figure that and my grandfather's ancient Peavy head and 1x15 cab will give it some thunk.
I picked up one of these on eBay last year and out of the box it was pretty decent. The scale length is actually 32", so it's medium scale as opposed to the originals' short scale. I did a few upgrades to make it better:
1) Replaced pickup with Kent Armstrong MM pickup. Not as easy as you'd think as I had to sand down the sides of the KA to get it to fit in the cavity but I did it and I'm happy with it.
2) Replaced the pots, knobs, and jack. I wired it up like an original DA bass with push/pull pots for both controls. The volume does series/parallel while the tone turns on/off some blue LEDs to light the whole body up.
3) Replaced the tuners. The original ones were fairly sloppy. I bought a set of Gotoh GB707 which fit perfectly ($37). No drilling or enlarging needed. I think they match the overall vibe better.
4) The pickguard is pretty flimsy. In another thread about these basses, the OP dropped his pickguard and broke it. I bought a sheet of 1mm thick black/white pickguard material here: Pickguard Sheet Blank - 2 Ply Black - ACB2-10 | Reverb that I cut a chunk out of and epoxied to the back of the original 'guard. I cut it out roughly with a bandsaw and finished it flush with a pattern bit on a router table. I's thin enough that it didn't make that much difference for mounting the electronics but between the epoxy and the added material it's much stronger. The white layer is on the bottom to reflect the LEDs better. I also put some foil tape on it over the control cavity.
So I think I spent around $100 on the upgrades for a bass I paid $320 shipped for. I would have preferred a short scale neck but medium is a happy compromise. I've played it on stage and it holds it's own well and sounds pretty good to me and my guitarist (who's kinda picky). It's got the look I wanted, plays and sounds great, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg (the cheapest original on the 'Bay at this time is $3300!). All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
1) Replaced pickup with Kent Armstrong MM pickup. Not as easy as you'd think as I had to sand down the sides of the KA to get it to fit in the cavity but I did it and I'm happy with it.
2) Replaced the pots, knobs, and jack. I wired it up like an original DA bass with push/pull pots for both controls. The volume does series/parallel while the tone turns on/off some blue LEDs to light the whole body up.
3) Replaced the tuners. The original ones were fairly sloppy. I bought a set of Gotoh GB707 which fit perfectly ($37). No drilling or enlarging needed. I think they match the overall vibe better.
4) The pickguard is pretty flimsy. In another thread about these basses, the OP dropped his pickguard and broke it. I bought a sheet of 1mm thick black/white pickguard material here: Pickguard Sheet Blank - 2 Ply Black - ACB2-10 | Reverb that I cut a chunk out of and epoxied to the back of the original 'guard. I cut it out roughly with a bandsaw and finished it flush with a pattern bit on a router table. I's thin enough that it didn't make that much difference for mounting the electronics but between the epoxy and the added material it's much stronger. The white layer is on the bottom to reflect the LEDs better. I also put some foil tape on it over the control cavity.
So I think I spent around $100 on the upgrades for a bass I paid $320 shipped for. I would have preferred a short scale neck but medium is a happy compromise. I've played it on stage and it holds it's own well and sounds pretty good to me and my guitarist (who's kinda picky). It's got the look I wanted, plays and sounds great, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg (the cheapest original on the 'Bay at this time is $3300!). All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
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I wrote above not too long back when I first got the bass. I have yet to replace the parts but I have noticed a few things.
The frets are nothing to write home about. I still have the original rounds (stock) on the thing. The sustain is really good. Always been an Issue with the exception of an Ampeg Little Stud that I did a bunch of mods on. For plywood with the original pickup it was a player that no one wanted to steal.
But I digest.
With this wacky sustain it almost makes the stock stuff not so bad. It lends itself very well to slap. I Don do that very much anymore. Holy smokes! Those goofy little stock strings and the rest of the contraption has me hoppin" to get the rest of the thing spruced up.
This is simply not true.
There were a few different pups available for both the Dan Armstrong plexi bass and guitar.
I believe both the bass and guitar shipped with one pickup and your Ampeg dealer had a few more for sale.
There was a knurled screw that unbolted from the rear which allowed the pup to be slid out through a groove in the body. Pretty slick. I had one of these on loan for a few years.
There was a knurled screw that unbolted from the rear which allowed the pup to be slid out through a groove in the body. Pretty slick. I had one of these on loan for a few years.
That is! I had heard that but it was the pre internet so follow up was not in the cards.
The only time I can remember hearing an original was a record named Belly To The Ground by a band from San Pedro (I think) called Rig.
They were like a noisier, rougher semi-industrisal hard-core band. Great bass on that.
The only time I can remember hearing an original was a record named Belly To The Ground by a band from San Pedro (I think) called Rig.
They were like a noisier, rougher semi-industrisal hard-core band. Great bass on that.
I use to own a Dan Armstrong
I owned a Dan Armstrong pelxi bass, there is no groove in the bass for the pick up to slide out like on the guitar version. Maybe the bass pick up comes out somehow, I just never tried it. I though the guitar version was the only one with interchangeable pickups. Is there a expert out there that knows for sure?
