Exhibit A: Fender Duo-Sonic

Exhibit A: Fender Duo-Sonic


Just the Facts

Duo-Sonics were manufactured between 1959 and 1964 when they were replaced with the Duo-Sonic II. Originally they had a gold anodized pick guard and maple fingerboard. In 1959 they changed to a rosewood fingerboard and single layer plastic pick guard.  Early Duo-Sonics featured a Desert Sand finish.  Later models had a red sunburst and then white finish.

The Duo-Sonic had two plastic covered single coil pickups, volume, tone, and selector switch. 

The Duo-Sonic was a student guitar and was essentially a two pick up version of the Fender Music Master. It had a short, 22.5” scale, and was marketed to players with smaller hands such as students or women.

My Duo-Sonic is a 1960 model.  It has the plastic pick guard and the slab rosewood fingerboard.  It came with a beat up case and the ash tray bridge cover.  It is pretty much in very good to excellent condition, and is all original except for the selector switch.  When the original switch broke, the guy who had the guitar before me replaced it with an old strat three way switch, which required him to make a cut in the the pick guard.  It works fine, but does look a little weird.

Where and When

I got this guitar in winter of 1987 from a private party in Beaverton, Oregon.  We were living in Sandy, Oregon at the time, and I saw an ad in the paper.  I called him up and drove all the way to the other side of the metro area to meet him at his apartment.  He was a little late and I remember hanging around outside his apartment hoping he would show up.  After a while he did, and I bought the guitar.  I think it cost about $200.



Why it’s Cool

My first electric guitar which I bought from a friend in 1965 was a Duo-Sonic.  I learned to play on that guitar, and still remember how great it sounded the first time I plugged it into his little tweed  Champ Amp.  I eventually traded that guitar for an Epiphone Casino in 1974. 

Duo-Sonics are neat for a lot of reasons.  It is small and light.  The pickups sound good.  The short scale makes it easy to bend.  Also original pre-CBS Fenders are getting pretty pricy, as are guitars with Brazilian Rosewood finger boards.

For a while in the early eighties I played in the Jim Glass Band.  Jim used a Duo-Sonic two through a Fender Twin Reverb and got great sound out of it.  I think they are just really cool guitars.


On the Other Hand

There are lots of other guitars that sound as good or better, and sometimes the small size can be a little bit of a problem.