A Tale of Two Duos ( OH MY MY!!!)

Bringing your older offset back to life.
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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster

Post by fullerplast » Sat May 04, 2013 7:28 am

I know, that red refin doesn't look too bad! it would look good with my white guard. But I'm set on a greened out LPB. I will mock it up though and take a pic or two.

I have a feeling some of the other parts I have came from this body to begin with.. same seller. Although he tears apart lots of these.
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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster

Post by OffYourFace » Thu May 09, 2013 1:01 pm

Sorry if it was already covered... But will that 24" scale neck work with that earlier body?? (Which was from a 22.5" scale guitar). If so, that's awesome! I love the duo sonic I put together for my g/f. I was thinking of building myself one for alternate tunings.

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster

Post by fullerplast » Sat May 11, 2013 7:22 am

Yeah Mike, these necks are conversions for each other. The 24" neck came out in '64 but the 22.5" neck remained the same and both were used on the same bodies. I'm going to measure, of course, but I don't see any reason in the world that it wouldn't work. If I could take an earlier neck and bolt it onto a later Duo II body (which Fender did), then the opposite has to be true.

Update:

The body doesn't look too bad at all:

Image

And the mock up looked pretty cool:

Image

Image

Nevertheless:

Image

Here it is in the yellow dye. Fender put all the bodies in the yellow vat, as they didn't know at that time which would be sunburst (the majority) or a custom color. So they all got dyed after they were cut. Of course, all Duo-Sonics pre-'60 were Desert Sand, so I don't know if those bodies got dyed. Regardless, I'm treating this body as any other Fender.

The red came off fairly easily with a paste stripper, but it sunk into the grain and turned the wood pink. Worse, some genius had apparently stripped it with the neck on! There was Desert Sand in the neck pocket, in the cavities , and.... under the neck plate! So this mixed with the stripper as well and formed a pinkish beige gunk in the cavities. Ick.

I washed the body several times with acetone until the pink leeched out, then filled only the larger dents and dings with wood filler and sanded the entire body to #220 before throwing it in the yellow vat. I'll leave it in there all day, rotating it periodically, then bring it in the house to dry out in the air conditioning overnight. Tomorrow comes grain filler, and if I'm lucky, white primer.
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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by pinkmoonfan » Sat May 11, 2013 7:30 am

Damn, that red looked pretty.

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by fullerplast » Sat May 11, 2013 7:36 am

Yes, it did.

But I'm really stuck on a greened-out LPB like this '59 JM I did a few years ago:

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by OffYourFace » Sat May 11, 2013 9:55 am

nice! i'm going to do another Duo soon and i love the look of the earlier bodies. I want the earlier anodized guard as well :)

Is that ash?

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by pinkmoonfan » Sat May 11, 2013 9:57 am

fullerplast wrote:Yes, it did.

But I'm really stuck on a greened-out LPB like this '59 JM I did a few years ago
Oh, nice! Anodized guitar on the Duo too?

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by fullerplast » Sat May 11, 2013 11:14 am

Is that ash?
Nope. It's alder.
Anodized guitar on the Duo too?
No, I already built up the guard, the one shown in the red mock up. It's an early 60s guard with '65 Mustang pickups in it and new CTS pots.
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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by fullerplast » Sun May 12, 2013 2:41 am

i'm going to do another Duo soon and i love the look of the earlier bodies
Me too, Mike! I actually prefer these non-offset, and I really like the shape of the guard and bridge much better than the Duo II. Also prefer the toggle to the slide switches. This is just a nice clean design, and so functional.
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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by 2fLAz » Mon May 13, 2013 6:04 am

first body already re-listed....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-1959-19 ... 232ae1e904" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

hope that you've been re-funded !

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by fullerplast » Mon May 13, 2013 6:05 am

haha.. that idiot.

That body hasn't left Florida yet, according to the tracking.

That guy is a goofball.

Yes, eBay forced a refund + shipping.
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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by 2fLAz » Mon May 13, 2013 6:12 am

cool !
been lurking for a while on duo bodies but got too many projects happening at the same time.
might go for one later on with only a neck PU.
In the meantime, your thread will get my dedicated attention ;)

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by anthony_v » Wed May 15, 2013 9:05 am

nice, great guitar.

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by toescantalk » Sat May 25, 2013 2:34 pm

Any update on this one? Looking to do something similar.

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Re: 60s Duo Sonic Partsmaster (Frankenduo)

Post by fullerplast » Sun May 26, 2013 5:17 am

Any update on this one? Looking to do something similar.
I've been away on vacation and a much-needed gear break. Expect an update soon, as I plan on sanding out the grain filler and sealing it this weekend, followed by white primer... can't wait!

:w00t:

Oh, by the way, that 90 degree toggle switch that I installed will not work in the Duo body. I had to go with a short straight toggle. I thought the 90 degree would work, just follow the route, but it's too wide where the solder tabs are at the sandwiched slabs of phenolic. Just in case anyone is thinking about trying it...
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