A2683D
I bought this guitar on eBay in March 2008 for $2,600. What caught my eye at the time was the ST pickup, so I quickly hit the buy-it-now option and became the current owner. But after a little while I started to notice several interesting things. First is the single strap pin on the end. Second would be the lack of a dimple on the back for the pickup thumb screw (and a longer thumb screw to compensate). And the bolts holding on the neck are not chromed but seem to be just a regular dull steel finish. Totally unique features. When you add it all up, the only explanation is that this is a leftover prototype body that Ampeg decided to put into production toward the end of the run. When you think about it, these plexiglas bodies have a huge amount of machining and finishing in them that must have been expensive to produce. So using up older parts made a lot of sense. Also notice that the Rock Treble and Rock Bass pickups have the black labels on the side - these are very rare and early pickups, which is at odds with the later neck serial number. Again, all signs that Ampeg was cleaning out the parts bins that day and trying to monetize what they already had in stock.
A few other things. The case is not an OEM Dan Armstrong case but something that is original to the guitar. There is a worn spot on the inside from the single strap pin that you can tell has been there for a very long time. Also, the guitar came with two plastic knobs (shown above) and not the standard machined aluminum knobs. Since I don't think that Ampeg ever ran out of aluminum knobs, the plastic ones might have been added afterwards for some reason. I've put aluminum knobs on it for authenticity's sake, but the plastic knobs are in the case just in case. The guitar also came with 5 pickups if I remember correctly, including not only an ST pickup but also a Jazz Treble (JT) that was probably bought as an accessory. The JB and JT pickups are probably the hardest of all to find. All in all, this was a real find.
I should also mention this guitar has super low action and plays like a dream. It's almost too good to be true - unique DA features and a great player besides. This is one very special Dan Armstrong.
A few other things. The case is not an OEM Dan Armstrong case but something that is original to the guitar. There is a worn spot on the inside from the single strap pin that you can tell has been there for a very long time. Also, the guitar came with two plastic knobs (shown above) and not the standard machined aluminum knobs. Since I don't think that Ampeg ever ran out of aluminum knobs, the plastic ones might have been added afterwards for some reason. I've put aluminum knobs on it for authenticity's sake, but the plastic knobs are in the case just in case. The guitar also came with 5 pickups if I remember correctly, including not only an ST pickup but also a Jazz Treble (JT) that was probably bought as an accessory. The JB and JT pickups are probably the hardest of all to find. All in all, this was a real find.
I should also mention this guitar has super low action and plays like a dream. It's almost too good to be true - unique DA features and a great player besides. This is one very special Dan Armstrong.