Cool!
This little guitar was the genesis of my enthusiasm for the Fender Duo-Sonic guitar. I saw it by chance on consignment at Taylor's Music (Memphis, TN) in summer 1997, and went back to visit it twice before finally buying it ($400 plus tax) on 19 September. As received, this guitar was about as far from "stock" as you can get, with a nice refin (candy apple red), obviously non-original pickups, the original pickguard sloppily cut for the bridge pickup, and a poorly located hardtail Strat bridge:in front of opened case | in front of closed case | back
I've since done very few mods to this guitar, most of them serving to return it closer to original condition, and I'm now much happier with it. The Strat bridge was replaced with an early '64 Duo-Sonic bridgeplate (with set of StewMac's intonated Tele saddles). A better-cut repro pickguard was also installed, now loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups (Antiquity Duo-Sonic/neck and Cool Rails/bridge). I even found a repro Fender leather strap for it, similar to the kind that came with every Fender guitar back then. I also bought a cheapo Peavey hardshell case ($15, not including the cost of dozens of punk rock stickers) that was hacked out to fit this guitar, as its original(?) case was not seemed roadworthy. However, this case really doesn't fit it well enough to close every latch without wincing, and it's unlikely I'd ever play out with this guitar....
Most of the Musicmaster/Duo-Sonic-specific data is from fellow enthusiast Tim Pershing and his awesome article on 3/4-scale Fenders (originally published in Twentieth Century Guitar). Most of the general Fender info came from the Fender section of the Vintage Guitar Info (in the spirit of "one good turn deserves another," Clay used a few of my photos on his site).
[ newer pix: front | back ]
Neck:
- One-piece maple neck with walnut skunk stripe and a blunted ("soft") V-shaped cross section.
- Original "spaghetti" Fender logo on headstock.
- RH-8-56 written in pencil at butt of neck, indicating the neck was made in August 1956 by "RH" (about 2 months after the first Musicmaster necks were made!) (Fender specs info)
- Non-original tuning machines (Safe-T-Post/Kluson-esque tuning machines, with silver-tipped tuning keys, and "Deluxe" in one row on back casing).
- Nut appears original (i.e., heavily worn), somewhat unusual for a refretted guitar.
- Serial number on neck plate is located along the lower edge, which was somewhat unusual. The serial number (-22614) suggests it was made in 1957 or 1958. (Fender serial no. info)
- Neck wear is extensive despite nice wide frets, indicating a refret job in the recent past. The new frets are much wider than stock Fender fretwire (like jumbo wire? NOT recommended for short-scale instruments). The new frets also must have had a larger fret tang than the originals, because the neck appears slightly backbowed, even when strung with .052-.010 gauge strings. Finally, based on the 'shiny' wear marks on the fingerboard and back of the neck, it is obvious that the neck had also been previously oversprayed with lacquer (likely after the refret).
Body:
- Two-piece slab alder body. The anodized aluminum pickguard, which was used through mid-1959, required fewer screws than the plastic pickguards used afterwards. The absence of these extra screw holes in the body suggests the body is probably from the late '50s.
- Metallic candy apple red finish; the relatively ding-free finish (it's too nice) and the mostly filled-in nail holes in the body indicate a refinish. In addition, this color was never offered on Fender's student guitars. (Fender finish info)
- Both Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics had identical body routs, so there's really know way to tell which model it originally was.
- Slight additional routing had to be done to fit in the new bridge pickup, without mounting it backwards. (As it turns out, mounting a rail pickup backwards wouldn't have been a problem anyway.)
- "Rebuilt J.K. 10/6/89" written in ink in neck pocket (no other body date visible). Neck pocket also routed about 1/8"- 1/4" deeper than original before the refinish to accomdate the (slightly thicker?) heel of the '56 neck.
Electronics/hardware:
- Came with original/heavily worn '56-'59 Musicmaster anodized aluminum pickguard, two non-original pickups, and original controls. The 'guard had been sloppily cut for Duo-Sonic conversion and a hardtail Strat bridge, but the bridge pickup rout was misaligned.
- The hardtail Strat bridge was also misaligned. The three large mounting screws were nowhere close to being centered with respect to the four original bridge mounting screws.
- Although it meant sacrificing string-through body sustain, I happily installed a '64 Duo-Sonic bridgeplate on it, just to get the high-"E" string properly aligned over the bridge pickup again. Currently, a set of Giant Guitars' angled brass saddles (originally designed for the Telecaster) are installed for better intonation.
- With a proper bridge on it, I then bought a properly-cut repro pickguard to go with it (from a well-known vendor, who finally got it right on the third try), after attempts to cut my own pickguard ended up looking like hell. After applying shielding (heavy-duty aluminum foil), I loaded it with the original controls and the non-original switch, plus replacement Duncan pickups. At last, the body of the guitar halfway resembled a stock Duo-Sonic!
- 250 k Ohm potentiometers, stamped with "304732" (indicating Stackpole brand, made during the 32nd week of 1957), with one original-looking cloth covered wire.
- Big, round "sausage" capacitor:
- "Type AM Molded Paper Capacitor
- .05 CAP. MFD, 200 WVDC
- Astron Corp., Newark"
Case:
- Tweed(?), from the 1958-mid 1959 era (Fender cases info)
- short orange plush interior
- missing neck brace and side pocket (although student model cases did not have a side pocket)
- no "Koylon" tag
- brown leather ends
Vital statistics:
- Serial number: -22614 (made in U.S.A.)
- Body: 2-piece alder, refinished in metallic candy apple red
- Neck/fingerboard: 1-piece maple, with "skunk stripe"
Scale length: 22 1/2"
Neck width:
- at nut: 1 5/8"
- at 12th fret: 2"
Neck radius: 7 1/4"
- String gauges (standard tuning):
For now, GHS TNT strings (.052-.010)
- Electronics:
2 pickups (polarity/DC resistance):
Neck: Duncan Antiquity Duo-Sonic (north/6.73 kOhms)
Bridge: Duncan Cool Rails humbucker (north/9.75 kOhms)
Controls: 3-way switch; master volume, master tone (both original)
