If you’re looking for the perfect guitar for slide, then, as per Joe Perry, look no further than an Ampeg-era Dan Armstrong.
According to Perry, the guitar’s composition, fit, and finish make it the pick for when he needs to get dirty, gritty, bluesy, and slide tones.
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It’s for these reasons and more that Perry chose it back in the day and still goes to it now.
Your see-through Dan Armstrong is pretty rare. They’re going for big bucks these days.
I think they reissued those. Well, maybe they’re bootleg Chinese ones, because I see them pop up every now and then. I figured somebody had to be out there making them, but they didn’t make many in the beginning.
The neck doesn’t move, and it stays in tune, so it’s been a really good slide guitar for me. It’s actually my go-to for slide.
Did you modify it?
With the clear-body one, if you could get the right pickup in there – because some of the pickups they came with weren’t great – it was good. I had somebody build a little thing so I could put a Seymour Duncan in there, but now it’s straight-up original with the original pickups, which sound really good.
I use that guitar when I play in open A or open G. They have a great feel and a flatter neck radius, which really lends itself to slide. They are great, cool-looking guitars, so it checks both boxes.
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