![]() ![]() Available in both 22½- and 24-inch scale versions, it was discontinued by the end of the decade. Like the Mustang, the Duo-Sonic was then offered in a choice of Red, White and Blue finishes. Before long, the Duo-Sonic had inherited the Mustang’s new pickguard design, chrome control plate, pickup slider switches, flared headstock and offset body. As per the name, Red Mahogany guitars were made with mahogany, though this was supplanted by poplar in ’64.ġ964 brought a swathe of changes to the Duo-Sonic following the introduction of the vibrato-equipped Mustang that year. Unlike the other three-tone sunbursts of the professional models, the Duo-Sonic featured a maroon outer (as seen for a short while on the sides of the Esquire and Telecaster Customs).įurther tweaks to the design were implemented in ’63 when the Shaded Sunburst paint-job was superseded by White and Red Mahogany. In ’61, Fender decided to spruce up the Duo-Sonic with a unique Shaded Sunburst finish. Mid-1963: Red Mahogany (w/white pickguard) and White (w/tortoiseshell pickguard) finishesĪutumn 1963: White (w/brown pickguard) finishġ964: Mustang styling “Duo-Sonic II” decal Red, White and Blue finishes 22 ½-inch and 24-inch scale lengthĬurrent: Fender Player Series Duo-Sonic and Duo-Sonic HS With our little HS, Fender has taken the stuff that makes those vintage classics so desirable - the shorter scale, lightweight body and slim neck - and hot-rodded it with modern elements - big frets, 241mm (9.5-inch) fingerboard radius and coil-splittable humbucker - that enhance the performance and tone.1956: Duo-Sonic released fretted maple neck Desert Sand finish white pickup covers gold anodised pickguardġ959: Rosewood fretboard pink-tan finish brown pickup covers cream pickguard Plus, the neck pickup warms things up perfectly for clean or dirty blues lead (blues-rockers Rory Gallagher and Johnny Winter owned Duo-Sonics, after all) or jazz chords.Īn original 60s Duo-Sonic II will cost you about a grand and you can double that estimate for a Desert Sand-finished 50s model in good condition. If it sounds like we're typecasting this guitar then rest assured the Duo-Sonic is versatile enough to handle country picking, surf, indie, classic rock, whatever. A clean setting here echoes the clattering rhythm voice of the song's intro while a fuzz box unleashes a racket not unlike the heavy sound Kurt craved. If we had to use a song to describe the tonal range of the bridge pickup, we'll have Smells Like Teen Spirit, please. That clarity is further boosted when you coil-split the bridge 'bucker. So, while this guitar's pickups sound fat, there's maximum note separation, no matter how thick the filth is. Tonally, its scale retains some of the brightness and bottom-end twang of a Strat and Tele, especially if you use 0.010 or higher gauge strings, yet you also get a chunkier rhythm sound. Dropping the scale length from the 648mm (25.5 inches) found on Fender's Strat and Tele models doesn't just make the Duo-Sonic's strings a bit easier to bend. There is another important factor at play here. ![]() So, the Duo-Sonic HS is pretty close to what Kurt was into. He also tweaked his 'Stang vibratos to make 'em hardtails. Kurt liked to modify his guitars, hence his humbucker-boosted short-scale 'signature' Jag-Stang, Mustang and Jaguar models. While Jimi Hendrix played a Duo-Sonic early in his career, it was Nirvana's Kurt Cobain that sparked the huge interest in Fender student models when he thrashed his way through a bunch of vintage Mustangs in the early 90s. Straight from the box, it impresses with a low, buzz and choke-free action via its slim C neck profile, fat frets and factory-fitted 0.010 to 0.046 gauge strings. Oh, and it doesn't matter what size your hands are. Before we plug in, we have to say, we've encountered guitars at more than twice the price that don't play anywhere near as well as this thing does. ![]()
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