Dan Armstrong Prototype Bass

1974 Dan Armstrong prototype bass original natural finish.

This prototype double-cutaway bass was built using a unique body shape quite unlike the later production models. The fingerboard has thumbnail inlays at the upper bass side of the fingerboard and is fitted with two-on-a-side Schaller tuners and the Dan Armstrong name on the headstock; production models also had “London” silkscreened on the headstock.

The bass was fitted with an aluminium wraparound top-tailpiece/bridge, an anodized aluminium pickguard, and a movable single Dan Armstrong humbucking bass pickup, and it was wired with single volume and tone knobs.

Wyman spoke about the prototype Dan Armstrong bass in 1978, saying, “I’ve had a Dan Armstrong that I’ve used onstage since 1975. The first one [I had] was Plexiglas and incredibly heavy. We thought of ideas to lighten it, like drilling holes in it and still keeping it strong. In the end, Armstrong finally said, ‘Well, why don’t I make you a wooden one?’ So off he went, and he came back three or four months later and says, ‘Try this.’ It was quite good.”

This bass was used by Wyman on the Rolling Stones 1975- 1976 tour.