90's duo sonic conversion neck?

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born to hula
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90's duo sonic conversion neck?

Post by born to hula » Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:25 pm

first off, hi. this is my first post.
there seems to be some pretty knowledgeable people here and i have a question im hoping someone here could help me with.
i have a 90's reissue duo sonic body, and from what i have gathered the necks were conversion necks 22.2 to 25.5. and i have seen some people put on standard strat necks. im wondering if ANY mods had to be made in order to intonate correctly.
also, im planing on putting a toronado string-thru bridge on it and courious if i should move it back a little.

any help is much appreciated
many thanks,
H.R

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Melodious Rex
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Re: 90's duo sonic conversion neck?

Post by Melodious Rex » Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:15 am

The placement of the bridge is up to you. I think the re-issue Duosonics are all 24.0. Some of the original 60s versions and MIJs were 22.5 (which is really short,) and others were 24.0. The Gibson standard is 24.75 and is used on the Fender Toronado. 25.5 is the Tele and Strat standard.

Anyway, I have a Toronado and love it (one with the original string through body.) I'd go at least 24.75. If you want more slack in the strings like a Tele or a Strat, go to 25.5. It would be more of a rhythm or surf guitar then. Personnally, I think the Toronado bridge on a 25.5 scale would be great.

As far as using a Strat neck, it should work fine as long as you have a 4 hole neck on a 4 hole body. Intonation is set by adjusting the bridge saddles. Good luck with the build.

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sublimeride
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Re: 90's duo sonic conversion neck?

Post by sublimeride » Sun Oct 24, 2010 7:12 am

I have a 90s reisue duo sonic.The scale on mine is 22 3/4".If you want to put a longer scale neck you will have to move the bridge back.You need to have the same distance from the 12th fret to the saddles and the 12th fret and the nut.In other words measure from the nut to the 12th fret,take that measurement and them go from the 12th fret down and make sure you have that same measurement to the string saddles.When you intonate you dial it in with the addjustment of the saddles.Hope that helps.

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Re: 90's duo sonic conversion neck?

Post by ohm-men » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:28 am

Really, this conversion neck is just another www urban legend....
On the 90ties Duo's a 24" scale neck will work, since you have long intonation screws (though I don't know for sure if it will intonate corrctly), but not a 25.5" neck will def not work.
The same with the newer Squier JagMasters, whatever people say, the are not conversion necks. They are just 24" scale necks minus 1 fret, so they are shorter. but not a conversion neck. Might work on/with a Telebridge (again due the longer intonation screws) any other bridge will require replacing.

If I "understud correctly" the early mustangs had 22.5" conversion necks, so these bodies could take 24" scale necks as well.
The rest is merely wishful thinking imho.

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Re: 90's duo sonic conversion neck?

Post by theworkoffire » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:28 am

I'll share my experience:

I had one, which I inherited from forumite Dug, which had a Jagmaster neck on it, which intonated fine.

Image

The Jagmaster neck was what is commonly considered a conversion neck - it was 24" scale, but only 21 frets instead of the usual 22 (for a 24" neck), and designed to be interchangeable with 25.5" necks. So with the standard Duo bridge, you should have no problem using a 25.5" neck.

I've just measured my MIM Duo template, and the heel-bridge measurement confirms this. The saddle positions for a standard 25.5" neck should be well within the bridge's capabilities without having to move its mounting screws. The heel-saddle measurement on a 25.5" neck will be in the region of 182mm (that's the distance from heel-bridge posts on a JM).

Your only problems will be that the MIM bodies have different neck heel measurements, so the attachment holes will need re-drilling on your new neck. Also, I can't be sure that the Toronado bridge will have the intonation travel you need because of the string-through holes etc. The best thing to do would be to attach the neck and string up using a stock Duo bridge, intonate it, then compare the saddle positions with a toronado bridge and make sure it can handle it.

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Re: 90's duo sonic conversion neck?

Post by sublimeride » Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:45 pm

Thats really cool.I have a 90s mim duo I have been wanting to go to a 25.5" scale neck.I'll have to check it out.

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