Kent Armstrong

Kent Armstrong

Also known as: Armstrong Pickups, Kent Armstrong Pickups, Armstrong Music

Unclaimed

Kent Armstrong is a second-generation pickup designer who learned the craft as a teenager in his father Dan Armstrong's Greenwich Village shop in New York, working alongside pickup pioneer Bill Lawrence. Dan Armstrong was a noted guitar technician for players like Jimi Hendrix and Jack Bruce, and was the designer behind the see-through Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi guitar (1969) and the Orange Sque...

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Kent Armstrong is a second-generation pickup designer who learned the craft as a teenager in his father Dan Armstrong's Greenwich Village shop in New York, working alongside pickup pioneer Bill Lawrence. Dan Armstrong was a noted guitar technician for players like Jimi Hendrix and Jack Bruce, and was the designer behind the see-through Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi guitar (1969) and the Orange Squeezer compressor. Kent established his own pickup-winding operation in England during the 1970s before later relocating production to Vermont, and the family business has since shifted between the U.S. and the UK.

The company produces a wide catalog of handmade and manufactured pickups, including Strat- and Tele-style single coils, P-90s, humbuckers, jazz/archtop pickups, acoustic pickups, 7-string sets, and bass pickups, alongside specialty designs like the Split-Tube and Icon Series. Higher-volume production is handled through a partnership in South Korea under the SKY pickups line, while custom and boutique work is wound by hand. In 2022, longtime distributor W.D. Music rebranded as Armstrong Music to consolidate the brand identity.

Kent Armstrong has built and rewound pickups for a long list of well-known guitarists including Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Brian May, B.B. King, Pete Townshend, and Rory Gallagher, and his pickups have been supplied as OEM components to a number of guitar manufacturers. The brand is generally regarded within the boutique pickup community as a workhorse maker offering broad coverage of vintage and modern voicings.

Kent Armstrong has 2 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Electric Guitar Pickups. Their gear is featured by 1 artist, with the strongest followings in Rock. Notable users include Matthew Bellamy.

Artists Who Use Kent Armstrong

Matthew Bellamy uses 1 Kent Armstrong product

Matthew Bellamy

Singer, Guitarist · Muse

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