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I have a 1966-ish Duo Sonic II that is a complete parts guitar, neck is '66, body supposedly '64, the rest is new, although not sure about the bridge... I think it is a late 70's plate and new saddles.

Anyways, I have been toying with the idea of routing the body, which has been oversanded, for a 3rd pickup and and a switch plate like a Cyclone II and adding a Mustang vibrato, and painting it burgundy mist metallic.

Would this be an abomination of an already assaulted guitar body, or just me making what I want?

It's your guitar do what you like.

If the body is already in a pretty bad shape I'd say go wild. I wouldn't buy it if you get bored of it though.
If it's salvageable I'd be cautious about modding it with no way back.

What's stopping you from just getting a custom or different body? Enough molested Mustang bodies out there; I'd say there's no need to make another one out of a cool Duo-Sonic.

Steadyriot. wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:09 am

What's stopping you from just getting a custom or different body? Enough molested Mustang bodies out there; I'd say there's no need to make another one out of a cool Duo-Sonic.

I was thinking the same. Getting a custom routed body would save you quite a bit of work, or if you'd rather skip the painting stage Fender has a BMM hardtail Mustang P90 in its current catalog (although the finish is poly if that matters to you, and you'd have to check the body is thick enough to accommodate a Mustang trem).

Vintage Duo-Sonics/Mustangs etc are not exactly rare — well, they are where I live, but that's another story. That being said, there were only so many made, and their numbers keep going down with every destructive mod that lands one of them in the "Why did you do it? Why did you do this thing to me?" thread. And while there are people with amazing skills and dedication, especially here on OSG, who endeavour to restore some severely mangled specimens, they will only be this — restorations.
That's only my opinion of course. I work in a museum and one of our most important missions is to ensure the pieces are properly preserved, so you could call that professional bias

Oops doublepost

Yeah, you guys are right... The body is still salvagable, no sense in making my own "why did you do it" post. The p90 Mustang body sounds somewhat promising, anyone know for sure if it's thick enough to route out for a Mustang vibrato?

Wil_66 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:06 pm

Yeah, you guys are right... The body is still salvagable, no sense in making my own "why did you do it" post. The p90 Mustang body sounds somewhat promising, anyone know for sure if it's thick enough to route out for a Mustang vibrato?

I'd venture a guess and say the trem should fit.
You'd have string through holes in the back tho'.