D475A
This was re-listed on Reverb in March 2015 with an asking price of $2,595 by Apple Music in Portland, OR. Bass looks to be in really nice original condition with no wear or flaking to the pickup, and the only minor negatives being a worn area on the pickguard and aftermarket SKB case.
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"This 1970 Dan Armstrong Plexiglas Ampeg four string bass garners more attention than any other bass in our shop from bass players and non-players alike. First introduced at a NAMM show in 1969 the clear bodied basses soon found their way into the hands of such renowned artists as Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Paul McCartney. Production stopped mid 1970 following a dispute between Dan Armstrong and Ampeg."
"The serial number, D475A, is stamped on the trebleside of the neck block. The double cutaway design with 24 frets. all clear of the body, allows easy access to the upper frets. It has a hard rock maple neck with a rosewood fretboard. There are 12 small dot inlays in the neck. The neck scale length is 30.5" and it has a nut width of 1 11/16". Designed in conjunction with Bill Lawrence the blade style pickup is actually two completely different single coil pickups stacked on top of each other. Visible from the top they are encased in a brown resin. The tone control allows an interesting blending of the two pickups making the bass very tonally versatile. Both pot codes are 1377004 indicating the CTS pots are from the 4th week of 1970. The brushed aluminum volume and tone control knobs and the output jack are mounted on the pickguard." "Other features include Schaller enclosed tuners, a chrome bridge with rosewood saddle, wood grained formica pickguard with Dan Armstrong Ampeg engraved in white lettering and a matching formica headstock overlay. There are three strap buttons, one on the bass side horn and two on the bottom edge of the plexiglas to give the player options for strap placement. Other than the missing rosewood thumb rest the bass is all original. The bass weighs 10 pounds." "While there is definite visible wear to the frets the bass is not buzzing and has some more play time remaining. Each note rings clear and the tone is surprisingly woody. It can almost sound like an upright bass with certain settings of the tone knob. As expected from the dense plexiglass the sustain is great. The plexi body is in super nice condition. It has been nicely setup at the shop and plays great. The bass comes with a new SKB molded black hardshell case." |