Grohl that brought these previously forgotten
instruments back into the spotlight; Ampeg
bowed to the growing demand with the reissue of the Dan Armstrong Plexiglas guitar
as the ADA6 in 2006. Of course, Plexiglas is
expensive and still not wood, so Ampeg has
made the move to make the unique styling
and features of the ADA6 more accessible
to guitarists with the release of the AMG100
line. Billed as featuring, “nearly all the same
specifications as the ultra-thin ADA6,” the
AMG100 promises to expose some of those
early innovations to more players with a
friendlier price tag and a solid wood body.
First Impressions
We received the AMG100 BLD, which features a swamp ash body and a vintage blond
finish. As the premium model in the AMG100
line, the BLD feels surprisingly insubstantial;
to say the guitar is “lightweight” would be
akin to saying that a 1958 LP “sounds good.”
Everything about the AMG, from the ultra-thin
design and the single-ply pickguard to the
barely-there vintage finish—allowing plenty
of the open ash grain to show through—feels
airy and nimble. While perhaps not the
most historically accurate—the classic Dan
Armstrong plexi guitars were absurdly heavy
affairs, requiring a strong frame and a stout
disposition—players with bad backs, long
sets or both will definitely enjoy this guitar.
Think of the lightest Stratocaster you’ve ever
owned, and you’ll get the idea.
Even though Ampeg has switched the
AMG100 to a wood body, one idea that has
remained is the swappable pickup system.
The single pickup is housed in a channel
carved out of the guitar’s top, and connected
to the guitar’s circuitry by two metal prongs;
by removing a thumbscrew in the back of
the instrument, the pickup can be pulled out
of the channel and replaced with another,
all without having to remove strings or solder wires. It’s something that guitarists have
always dreamed of and it works just fine, with
the pickup snapping firmly into place, but it
comes across more as a novelty than anything
else. There are only two pickups available
from Ampeg, and while only the “Sustain
Treble” pickup shipped with our review guitar, the selection (or lack thereof) isn’t going
to blow guitarists away. Furthermore, with
the pickup removed, you could see the less-than-impressive detail work inside the pickup
channel, with the finish becoming somewhat
sloppy and irregular. Granted, this is something you’ll rarely see, but it did distract from
the presentation.
I actually found the neck to be the real treat
on this guitar. The 24-fret, bolt-on maple neck
felt both fast and stable at all points, which
some might find surprising, considering the
unique bolt-on design used here. Using four
oversized bolts arranged in a square, the
AMG100 neck is joined to the body at the
24th fret; while the connection doesn’t look
to be the sturdiest, I can report no problems
or complaints with it. In fact, it does such a
great job staying out of the way that there
is absolutely no hindrance of fret access on
either side of the neck, providing you full use
of two octaves.
The neck is slim and fits perfectly in the smallest of hands, moving from a gently curved C
at the first position and gradually flattening
out towards the 12th and beyond. The 24. 75”
scale drops this guitar firmly into Gibson territory, meaning that the AMG100 is wonderfully easy to play. It also helps give this guitar
some warmth and depth, balancing out some
of brightness of the tonewoods chosen here.
The headstock retains the sharp, fluid style
of the original, and even the truss rod cover
looks appropriately hip. Nickel Grover die
cast tuners keep things tuned up top, and
according to Ampeg, are arranged in a tight
pattern to minimize string tension differences.
I can attest to the fact that the AMG100 did
a great job of staying in tune, no matter what
I threw at it. A chrome bridge/tailpiece, two
retro knobs (Volume and Tone), dual strap
buttons at the bottom of the guitar and a 3-
way switch round out the package.
Plugged In
Everything about this guitar, from its weight
to the swappable pickup system, says “rock.”
That’s confirmed once you plug in; the dual-coil “Sustain Treble” pickup is pleasantly
versatile, moving from solid, sparkling cleans
to crunchy, bold and nasty with a twist of the
Volume knob. There’s a significant amount of
punch and pop in this guitar, and even with
the use of lightweight woods, the AMG100
never became muddy or indistinct. While
there’s a lot of clarity to be found, the Sustain
Treble pickup also provides an impressive amount of body to overdriven chords.
Unfortunately, in trading the Plexiglas for ash,
it seems that AMG100 has lost some of that
much-lauded sustain found in its predecessors, but there’s still plenty here to love. This
guitar would be perfect for players interested
in playing lots of loud, raucous, abusive
rock—think of the Hives at full tilt.
The 3-way tone switch does a respectable
job of providing a variety of tones from the
AMG100’s single pickup, although there
weren’t any revelations to be found. At
the switch’s top position, the Tone knob is
engaged as you might expect; switching it to
the middle position removes the tone circuit
completely from the guitar, and allows you to
experience the feeling of an unencumbered
pickup running straight into an amp. I found
this setting to be my favorite, as it unleashed
some extra bite from the “Sustain Treble”
pickup without becoming too edgy. Flipping
the switch into the lower position changes the
frequency response of the Tone knob, giving
single-note lines more of a notched sound,
similar to a wah; if you’re a fan of subtle tonal
shifts, you might dig this circuit, although I
ultimately found it to be somewhat limited.
The Final Mojo
While the AMG100 is certainly no ADA6, our
hats go off to Ampeg for doing a respectable
impersonation. This guitar fits a lot of rock
into a feather-light package, and offers some
features you won’t find on more traditional
axes, like incredible upper fret access and
swappable pickups, which will definitely be a
conversation piece at your next gig. Whether
you’re looking for the perfect vintage-inspired
companion for your garage punk band or you
just dig anything Dan Armstrong does, you
won’t find more fun than this.
Buy If...
you’ve always dug the unique style
of the Dan Armstrong guitars, but
don’t want the weight
Skip If...
you want the sustain of Plexiglas,
and are willing to pay the price
Rating...
4.0
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