A site called Rare Electric Guitars - any opinons on these?

[wolf]

Well, it seems I've probably made about 3 postings here in the last 3 years but I figured this site might be worth mentioning:
www.rareelectricguitars.com/
This site seems to have a LOT of guitars available for sale and it does appear to be legit.
It offers guitars they build themselves that look one heck of a lot like the real deal.
I discovered it because I was once again searching for a Dan Armstrong Lucite Guitar and found that this site sells a rebuilt version that looks 99.999% like the original:
www.rareelectricguitars.com/Ampeg-Dan-Armstrong-Lucite-Guitar_861.html
Incredible looking isn't it? And the price is about $450.00
Okay sorry if I'm beaming too much - and I don't even own one.
So, I figured I absolutely must get the truly valued opinion of the Guitar Nuts. Is this legitimate or will I later learn that I have lost my soul or maybe it also involves serving 7 years in the Senegal army or will I be compelled win a Noble Prize and send them the money?

[newey]

Hey wolf, good to hear from you again!

I don't have any experience with these folks. Given the fractured English of some of their ad copy, they are clearly an Asia-based shop, probably Hong Kong or Mainland China. They also clearly don't build anything until you pay for it up front, so you pay your money and take your chances. They quote $170 or so for shipping, so if you have to return it, not so cheap anymore . . .

As far as the Dan Armstrong replica, I note that their version just has a single fixed HB rather than the 6 interchangeable pickups that the original Ampeg version had. That was one of the signature features of the guitar, apart from the plexi body, so I would say it's far from an exact replica.

[haydukej]

I suppose all that extra relicing justifies the extra $1 for the '61 Rory vs. Mr. Gilmore's black strat.

[ux4484]

Not to mention the Buck Owens special being so similar to the John 5 special.
$480 seems to be the magic price.

[wolf]

Yes newey, I guess I was beaming too much to even notice the pickup mounting difference. As you know, the Dan Armstrong Lucite guitar had a beveled "slot" cut into the lucite, making pickup replacement unbelievably easy. Plus, that "slot" was one of the many distinct features of that guitar. I probably failed to notice its absence in the reissued guitar because this is Guitar Nuts and replacing a pickup, rewiring a guitar is just a minor matter to us. [However, chiseling a pickup slot into lucite is a major matter.] Yeah it seems as if I bought a Dan Armstrong Lucite Guitar it would have to have that "sliding" guitar pickup slot.

If I might go off topic a bit, the first time I saw anyone play one of those was way back in 1969 on a show called "the Music Scene" in which Spirit performed "1984" (No doubt it was a pre-prepared video they had already done but heck it's well worth a look). Supposedly, Keith Richards (and someone else) were the first to play one but I think Randy was one of the first. Incidentally, one of the worst things I have seen on a guitar was the Dan Armstrong Lucite guitar used a wooden bridge. On an electric guitar??? I think Randy replaced his with a bare number 12 wire but I might be wrong.

[newey]

For the uninitiated, the DA guitar came with six individual pickups, each with different windings, wire gauge, and magnets. There was a slot carved into the lucite, allowing one to slide the pickup in and out from under the strings. The guitar only used one of the 6 pickups at a time. The pickup slid onto a metal track in the slot, and then made electrical connection when clicked into place at the far end.

The six pickups were designated by their sound as "RT-Rock Treble", "RB-Rock Bass", "CT-Country Treble". "CB-Country Bass", "JT-Jazz Treble" and "JB-Jazz Bass".

[wolf]

Yes it was quite an idea. Then again, since the folks here are the cognoscenti of guitar pickups, we would easily know how to get a lot of tone from just one pickup.
Funny thing, just out of curiosity, I went to Musician's Friend (the most recent distributor of the Dan Armstrong Lucite guitar) just to check out the price - and they no longer sell these! Since 1969 the popularity of this guitar has come and gone over and over again. No doubt it will find yet another distributor. I think what creates a huge wane in this guitar's popularity is its mass. From what I've heard (ahem technically speaking) it weighs a ton!