Comments on: Dan Armstrong (London) serial numbers

By: Stewart Denny

Stewart Denny — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:50:59 +0000

Well my Danny is an original London serial number 4219
It broke its neck around 1982 and i sourced new neck from ian halsey who also had some basses and guitars partly completed , neck and body , schallers fully finished but no electrics or pickguard and the short horn , unlike mine which has horns the same size
Ive had it completely moded , maple cap , two gibson humbuckers , binding and finished in tobacco sunburst , looks wonderful , sounds wonderful
No doubt killed its value but its my Danny ive had since new 38 years ago .
Is Ian Halsey still alive ? , anyone with his address ?
Regards
Stewart

By: Julian Wernick

Julian Wernick — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 14:47:32 +0000

I went the other way. My Dan Armstrong broke its neck during a gig in 1978.
Replaced with a Strat for £250. turned out (much later..ty Bob Barry) to be a 1962. Have been searching for a Dan Armstrong for 3 years. Long lost love

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:22:53 +0000

Heh - I have plenty of experience in devaluing. I stripped the sunburst finish from my 1966 Fender strat in the 1970s before I sold it for £180 to buy the Dan Armstrong. And more recently, destroyed an album worth around £500. http://www.caedmonsreturn.com/news/breaking-news

By: chris buxton

chris buxton — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:56:00 +0000

Dear James, you’ve cheered me up no end. I own the ‘Dan’ that yours was smooching on Steve Robinson’s studio couch a couple of weeks ago. It was a good feeling to be trawling the ‘net’ and find a pic’ of my baby out of the blue. The main reason it cheered me though, is that as I’m sure you already know, they only made about 330 London guitars, and I’ve often wondered how many of them are in original condition? Basically mine is, apart from a refret and a rewire but I’m sure a lot of them will have been seriously altered, which brings me to your youthful indiscretion of the comfort contour. Makes mine all the rarer. I’m waiting for the day when serious collectors cotton on to these guitars. I’ve had this one 23 yrs and I love it but I’m getting older and one day some pension money would be nice. Dare we imagine the day when ‘Dans’ enter the ’59 Standard sphere of value? after all, they are twice as rare. It’s late now so I’ll buzz off, but as a last thought, do you know about Ian Halsey? If not let me know, we might track him down together. Regards, Chris.