I guess I'm a fat-fingered weakling

[dubkitty]

as noted in the other thread, i love my Lead II to pieces. it's regular Fender scale, though, which may be outside your area of interest.

[Gone Fission]

Duo Sonics are not Mustangs. They are the same scale and about the same size, but they are different guitars.
1) The bodies are different - Mustangs are offsets, Duo Sonics are not.
2) They have different pickups.
3) The bridge pickup placement on the Mustang is slanted, the current Duo Sonic's is not slanted, although the older ones' were slanted.
4) The pickguards have different shapes.
Also, some Mustangs are hardtails.[/img]

Counterpoint: the Duo Sonic II produced from 64-68 has a body that looks like the Mustang with offset waist, has a slanted bridge pickup, and has the Mustang pickguard and switching. Can’t tell you if the pickups were different, but that would seem odd for Fender in that era. The recent hard tail Mustangs would probably be Duo Sonic II’s if it had been a more popular model. There are no vintage era Mustangs with a hard tail.

But this is just OCD stuff. The recent MIM Duo Sonic I encountered was great and I hear similar of the hard tail Mustangs.

[Lurker13]

Counterpoint: the Duo Sonic II produced from 64-68 has a body that looks like the Mustang with offset waist, has a slanted bridge pickup, and has the Mustang pickguard and switching. Can’t tell you if the pickups were different, but that would seem odd for Fender in that era. The recent hard tail Mustangs would probably be Duo Sonic II’s if it had been a more popular model. There are no vintage era Mustangs with a hard tail.

Interesting! My aquaintanceship is with the modern ones, so your counterpoint regarding the vintage Duo Sonics is good to know.

[PeterBregman]

as noted in the other thread, i love my Lead II to pieces. it's regular Fender scale, though, which may be outside your area of interest.

Ah, dang! Glad I asked about it.


Turns out El Diablo (guitar shop in Minneapolis) has a nice '93 Duo Sonic in the shop. Just played it, and it's real nice. It's even shorter scale though - 22.75"! Part of me wonders if that's too short, but it did feel nice in the shop. It was a nice vintage white too...plus it has cred because '93 is vintage now, right?

I've got some thinking to do.

[dub]

This is one of those cases were someone customizes a guitar to their taste and then claims that increased the resale value.

Also, putting 9's on a shortscale. A sign of the unhinged.

Doesn't really fit your bill (HBs and strat trem) but I really enjoyed the supersonic I had years ago, very light and comfortable to play; one of the best necks ever for me.

[PeterBregman]

Doesn't really fit your bill (HBs and strat trem) but I really enjoyed the supersonic I had years ago, very light and comfortable to play; one of the best necks ever for me.

Funny you mention that. I just read about those and cyclones. I didn't know about the Squire paranormal stuff. People seem to dig them. The cyclone sure checks a lot of the boxes...

[Lurker13]

Also, putting 9's on a shortscale. A sign of the unhinged.

Definitely.

Turns out El Diablo (guitar shop in Minneapolis) has a nice '93 Duo Sonic in the shop. Just played it, and it's real nice. It's even shorter scale though - 22.75"! Part of me wonders if that's too short, but it did feel nice in the shop. It was a nice vintage white too...plus it has cred because '93 is vintage now, right?

I've got some thinking to do.

'93...must be something in the air, because I was just watching this video. The guy compares his '93 Duo Sonic to his '16 Duo Sonic. Maybe it will help with your decision making process.

[Chankgeez]

It's even shorter scale though - 22.75"! Part of me wonders if that's too short, but it did feel nice in the shop.

FWIW, I've found my hand adjusts pretty well to whatever scale length I happen to be playing at the time. Sure, it takes a little gettin' used to. It's usually a pretty easy transition. Sometimes I find my hand going to the wrong place though. Not too bad considering.

You may find that short a scale a little limiting. (No pun intended.) I have a few guitars with similar scales. If you do end up with a really short scale guitar, you may at some point want to play something with a longer scale. (So, don't get rid of that Apollo!) Really short scale guitars are nice to play as a change for a while and they're fun too, but you'll probably want to keep a more "normal" scale length instrument close at hand as well.

[PeterBregman]

You're all so helpful.

That video kinda confirms what I was thinking at the shop - those pickups (maybe because of the short scale) sounds really nice. I remember them sounding so nice and warm and full compared to the other guitars I tried. The scale is real little, but like Chank said - I'll have the Apollo around with a "normal" scale length. I might have to see if the shop will give me a good trade-in deal next week.

[dubkitty]

Also, putting 9's on a shortscale. A sign of the unhinged.

i did that on the 22.5" Duo Sonic, and it wasn't pretty. strings that light don't really play in tune on the super-short scale. you can bend all the way off the fretboard like Albert King, though. 0.010s minimum.

the short scale is great for me because i have tiny mandolin player hands, but i can't play it all the time. if i was doing i'd probably have to put on a 0.012 or 0.013 set, and i use .009s on everything electric other than the DS. you just can't bang out chords with so little string tension, you have to click them out like a 60s/70s R&B guitarist.

[PeterBregman]

you have to click them out like a 60s/70s R&B guitarist.

That sounds pretty good to me.

I went ahead and did it. It was calling to me. That case had a small part in the decision too. '93 Duo Sonic.


Side note: After lots of research, I discovered that the 22.7" scale neck on the 90's Duo Sonic is a CONVERSION neck. It's a 25.5" scale minus the first two frets. What that means is that if the tiny neck proves to be too small, I could theoretically put a Warmoth 24.75" conversion neck on it. Could be fun.

[dubkitty]

the Duo Sonic is an odd example of a guitar where the really out-of-the-ordinary scale length is the original, and the more regular length the equivalent of a baritone Telecaster conversion neck. the 90s Duos are a bit different and i've not examined one, but you can take a vintage 22.5" neck or a Squier Mini neck which is 22.5 or 22.75" and put it on a modern Squier or Fender body and it intonates just fine. why? the body and bridge placement were designed for 22.5 and never really changed, so it's the 24" scale that's the adaptation. mine came from Reverb and is apparently a Squier Vintage Vibe body and hardware with an aftermarket pickguard, Seymour Duncan Antiquity Duo Sonic pickups, and a rosewood-board Mini Strat neck...on close examination of the headstock you can see where the hole for the second string tree was filled. i don't think you could put a 22.5" neck on a Jaguar or a Mustang, though, because they were laid out for 24". i wonder whether the other 24" Fender necks work on a 24" Duo Sonic? one of those Squier Jaguar necks with the block inlays would be pretty boss.

[Lurker13]

Peter, congratulations on your new guitar! NGDs are always lots of fun.

Both those guitars look nice, guys.

[dubkitty]

i just love the design of Duo Sonics and Mustangs. there's a really nice balance to the body shape, freer than a Telecaster but not quite as outer-space as a Stratocaster. and talk about comfortable. i also like the simplicity...1 toggle switch, 1 volume, 1 tone, no waiting. switches are great, but i like when there's less to fiddle around with and get distracted. i have an entire pedalboard for that.

[Chankgeez]

I went ahead and did it. It was calling to me. That case had a small part in the decision too. '93 Duo Sonic.


Side note: After lots of research, I discovered that the 22.7" scale neck on the 90's Duo Sonic is a CONVERSION neck. It's a 25.5" scale minus the first two frets. What that means is that if the tiny neck proves to be too small, I could theoretically put a Warmoth 24.75" conversion neck on it. Could be fun.