A2160D
This guitar came up on eBay in March 2011 and sold for $1,900. Here's the seller's description, which includes a bit of history from back in the day.
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"Beautiful 1970 Ampeg Dan Armstrong guitar and case. Serial # A2160D. I purchased this guitar brand new in 1970. I am the only owner she's had and the only person to have ever played this instrument since I bought it."
"This guitar CUTS THROUGH IT ALL and what I mean by that is the stage noise, this guitar has punch. My main two guitars have been a Fender Strat and this Dan Armstrong. If you can picture this, our band played large auditoriums, we ran through a PA with 1000 watts rms per side. We ran everything through the PA including vocals, horn section, hammond B3 organ, drums and bass. We ran 2 1000 watt PAs for the volume but mostly to be clear and still there was a lot of "stage noise". The strat has a great sound but when I needed punch and the sound/notes to get through, then the Dan Armstrong was the guitar to play. When Ampeg first introduced the Dan Armstrong guitar, many thought they were just a novelty because they were clear,see-thru and just plain looked cool, until they heard it, it has sound all it's own." "This guitar is in excellent condition. The flaws are too small to mention but I will. There is a small chip in the pick guard near the cord input and a few small dings on the back of the neck. With that being said, the guitar is in like-new condition free from cracks and scratches. The guitar has never been taken apart or repaired for any reason, no problems with the neck, frets and tuners are in great condition as well. The electronics are smooth and quiet. I just maintained the guitar with new strings. The guitar comes with: another bridge which can be used to adapt the guitar to play slide, two interchangeable pick-ups, the C.B. and the S.T. which I believe stands for Sustain Treble and a rare pick-up to find. I remember when a friend tried to duplicate my rig, he had everything the same but couldn't find that pick-up. The hardshell case with key is original and also in very good condition. I did have the name of the band on the case but removed it, leaving a little paint, not much." "When I decided to sell the guitar, In order to give the correct information I did a lot of research and found out Dan Armstrong personally inspected every guitar, it was in the contract with Ampeg. Many guitar greats made this guitar famous,with good reason, and with the ST pickup, it's hard to beat." "I will consider a serious offer. I will not consider a low-ball offer. I am the original owner of this guitar and I'm selling it now to earn the fair and marketable price, but also It's too nice of an instrument not to be played. It plays beautifully, looks good, sounds good, is a valuable piece of history and a great investment. Look at the pictures, request more if you would like, and if you have questions, please ask. I've taken the guitar out of the case to show people and their reaction is always the same "WOW!" and that's before they even hear it!" |
Unfortunately, after trying to get the guitar set up at a couple repair shops, the new owner discovered that the neck had a twist in it and would be impossible to repair or replace. He then decided to sell the guitar for parts during June-July, 2011, with full disclosure about the reason for sale. Here's a summary of the individual parts sales, which resulted in a loss (before auction fees) of $219. While it's a shame to see a Dan Armstrong get sold for parts, hopefully there are a number of other owners who finally were able to source a needed item. What's also interesting to us it that the neck sold for $103, even in damaged condition. We estimate that a working Dan Armstrong neck would be worth at least $500 if not more. Had that been the case, the seller could have parted this one out for slightly more than he paid for it. Interesting...
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