1961 Duo Sonic lately...

[Tomo]

I just can't afford to buy vintage strat. I own 67' ES335. It's sweet guitar... but
A few years ago, I did my guitar clinic and I saw this Duo Sonic. It's small body, small neck length...but this one got great tone, pickups. The neck feel is a bit chunky, big.. even though small neck.

Anyone own Duo Sonic?

Tomo

[57special]

I used to own a 57, with a beautiful V neck. Great neck pup tone, and i loved the feel of the body, but i couldn't get used to bending on that teeny scale, and it always seemed out of tune. I built a small guitar for my young son , and guess what? Can't intonate that one either.

[Tomo]

I used to own a 57, with a beautiful V neck. Great neck pup tone, and i loved the feel of the body, but i couldn't get used to bending on that teeny scale, and it always seemed out of tune. I built a small guitar for my young son , and guess what? Can't intonate that one either.

57' Wow! I love the pickups, tone. You have to put a bit heavy strings and need to find fine between tuning... It stays really well. I play this as Duo Sonic, not a strat so that I can control my bending too. If I have a chance, I would like to get a 50's maple neck Duo Sonic.

Tomo

[57special]

Yeah, perhaps if i stuck on a really heavy set, like 13-56, it would counteract the spaghetti feel. Most of the 50's Duosonics have had their neckplates and knobs stripped off for strat builds. The Musicmasters are also REALLY nice, and more reasonable. I seem to recall that i spent 95% of the time on the neck pup, though the rear was gerat for slide.
Some of the old Fenders just don't want to stay in tune, and others are rock solid. I think my duosonic was one of the former.
Another sleeper to me is the 81-82 Fender Bullet, which was a two pup guitar with a smallish, tele-like body and two Duosonic type pups. It's a full Fender scale. The rear pup, doesn't sound like much, but every one i've played has a superb neck pup tone- better, IMO, than most strats.

[No Code 5]

My lead guitar player in St. Louis played a Mustang... similar with a short scale, smallish body/neck... he got some great tones out of it... very good for that near out of control/meltdown kind of tone. He played a lot of our Hendrix songs with that guitar.

My dad has a Musicmaster bass. It is easy for a guitar player to adjust to...

[PeeWee]

Another sleeper to me is the 81-82 Fender Bullet, which was a two pup guitar with a smallish, tele-like body and two Duosonic type pups. It's a full Fender scale. The rear pup, doesn't sound like much, but every one i've played has a superb neck pup tone- better, IMO, than most strats.

Bullets ROCK! I love these guitars as well as the bass. Really utilitarian instruments that are affordable, sound pretty darn good and are built like tanks where it counts. Scour pawn shops for these - they're everywhere and won't break the bank.

[Tomo]

Yeah, perhaps if i stuck on a really heavy set, like 13-56, it would counteract the spaghetti feel. Most of the 50's Duosonics have had their neckplates and knobs stripped off for strat builds. The Musicmasters are also REALLY nice, and more reasonable. I seem to recall that i spent 95% of the time on the neck pup, though the rear was gerat for slide.
Some of the old Fenders just don't want to stay in tune, and others are rock solid. I think my duosonic was one of the former.
Another sleeper to me is the 81-82 Fender Bullet, which was a two pup guitar with a smallish, tele-like body and two Duosonic type pups. It's a full Fender scale. The rear pup, doesn't sound like much, but every one i've played has a superb neck pup tone- better, IMO, than most strats.

That's why people need to be careful to buy Duo Sonics. I bought mine in Japan. I am looking for 56' 57' Duo Sonic. Music Master II ? Looks like Mustang without tremolo bar. I found one in Japan. The rear pickup is very nice too. Mix setting... great. Thanks for the info.

Tomo

[57special]

Bullets ROCK! I love these guitars as well as the bass. Really utilitarian instruments that are affordable, sound pretty darn good and are built like tanks where it counts. Scour pawn shops for these - they're everywhere and won't break the bank.

Yes! But the not the strattish looking guitar that came out in the same series.
Musicmaster basses sound great, and are a breeze to play.

[PeeWee]

Yes! But the not the strattish looking guitar that came out in the same series.


Exactly. The single cut with that funky little tailpiece. Very cool guitars! I worked a jam about a month back and one of the guys rolled in with a white Bullet "P-Bass" w/ a maple neck and that tiny little split coil pup that you find on the old Mustang Basses. That thing was the best sounding bass in the room that night and looked like a million bucks - he'd had a tort guard made for it and offset against the cream-white body, it looked just fantastic!