1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Rob
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1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Rob » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:17 pm

I'm currently holding some gear for one of my friends in Japan. One of the guitars is a strange beast that I thought I'd share with y'all. In the mid-90s, we were kids and didn't know anything about guitars. The owner told him it was an old 70s Mustang, so he bought it for $210. It was obviously a refin (with gold glitter), but many other things seemed strange:
  • No logo/decal on the headstock
  • No "F" or serial number on the neck plate
  • No tremolo
  • Extra holes and widened switch cutouts in the pickguard
  • No pickup covers
But who cares, right? This guitar plays great, and was joyfully used on recordings and shows for years. With no way to know what it really was, he just called it "the Poopstang," and one of my bandmates improvised a decal with Scotch tape and a Sharpie.

Though now that I'm older and know a little more than I did then, I was curious to see what the ol' Poopstang really was, so I figured I'd take a closer look.:

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Rob
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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Rob » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:19 pm

The inside shed a little light on things. The black/glitter refin wiped out any body markings that might've provided some clues, but there's what appears to be an "8" stamped in the neck pocket (partially covered by the remains of some paper adhesive that was applied and later mostly-removed). There's also a lot of red paint, so I'm guessing this thing was red before the refin.

The bridge looks pretty rusty, and it pulled most of the black paint off to reveal what looks like brushed-on grey primer over the red paint. Wondering if maybe the original finish is still in there somewhere, or if the original owner just did a really inconsistent stripping job.

Red paint also in the neck pocket everywhere the new paint stuck to the neck. wherever the black paint was pulled away. Slab board, bone dry. Stamp is "8NOV65B," which seems to be the only real indication that this thing was ever a Fender. No serial number -- blank neck plate.

Wondering if maybe this then-undesirable guitar was cannibalized for non-model-specific vintage parts in the 80s or 90s. All the original electronics are gone -- pots, wires, pickups, and even the slider switches have been replaced. The aforementioned "F" plate is gone. The original Klusons have been replaced with similar-looking "PING" tuners with metal heads.

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Rob
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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Rob » Sun Jul 17, 2022 7:23 pm

Anyway, does this seem like an ideal candidate for a restoration? Or at the very least, a good refin? The body/neck are good, and the guitar plays great, but literally everything else about it kinda sucks and could do with an upgrade.

Thoughts? Ideas? The owner is currently thinking maybe a purple refin. None of my guitars are in this bad shape, so I have no idea where to even begin. I've read that diluted vinegar can help with the rusted chrome pieces, but aside from a thorough cleaning and some oil for that thirsty rosewood, I think this guitar needs more help than I can provide.

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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Pacafeliz » Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:09 pm

Pics don't show :(
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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:15 pm

Na, that decal came from the factory. It’s 100% authentic and was made by Leo himself.

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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by countertext » Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:50 pm

It still mostly looks like a DuoSonic II, and it wouldn’t be very hard to clean it up. I totally think it’s worth some time and effort (and a little money) to return it to 1965ish condition. The neck is the heart of the guitar, and you’ve got it right there.

The red ones had pearl guards, so it’s probably the original guard. I think I’ve seen people “glue” plugs in enlarged holes with acetone before, so those switch routs could be fixed if you can find a donor guard for plug material. New pickups and tuners appropriate for a salvaged vintage guitar are easy enough to find - not sure if 1965 parts are ever going to be reasonably priced again, but it’s worth looking around.

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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Rob » Mon Jul 18, 2022 6:24 am

Unicorn Warrior wrote:
Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:15 pm
Na, that decal came from the factory. It’s 100% authentic and was made by Leo himself.
Definitely! :D I can only wonder what the description would look like if listed on Reverb by one of the more notoriously-verbose shops.
countertext wrote:
Sun Jul 17, 2022 9:50 pm
I totally think it’s worth some time and effort (and a little money) to return it to 1965ish condition.
I agree! Though it's not my guitar. The owner is currently leaning toward something like purple for the refin, so it wouldn't be totally 1965, but he's at least considering of a proper decal for the headstock!

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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by JSett » Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:06 am

Not seeing any of the pictures load still
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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Rob » Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:20 am

Pacafeliz wrote:
Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:09 pm
Pics don't show :(
johnnysomersett wrote:
Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:06 am
Not seeing any of the pictures load still
Ugh. Not sure why -- they show up just fine for me (and a couple other folks that've commented so far). I don't remember setting anything up to exclude UK/EU access, but who knows.

Not an elegant solution, but here are hard links to the pics. Can you view these at all?

http://L352.com/ps_front.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_back.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_guard.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_switchcut.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_b1.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_logo.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_stamp.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_pocket.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_8.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_cav1.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_underbridge.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_pups.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_pots.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_switche.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_tuner0.jpg
http://L352.com/ps_tuner1.jpg

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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by panoramic » Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:24 am

it's a duo sonic or a musicmaster 2
I can see the pics with these links
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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by Kinx » Mon Jul 25, 2022 8:39 am

So cool! I would keep it like it is :))
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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by RedRabbit » Mon Jul 25, 2022 4:10 pm

So it looks like it was originally Dakota red. The pickguard looks original and would support that theory.

I think it a nice refin with an era correct logo would look great. Purple would look very cool. Tell him to get a green tort pickguard.

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Re: 1965 Duo Sonic II? You be the judge...

Post by 46346 » Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:20 am

Rob wrote:
Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:20 am
Pacafeliz wrote:
Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:09 pm
Pics don't show :(
johnnysomersett wrote:
Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:06 am
Not seeing any of the pictures load still

FWIW this image/pics problem happens on many threads here for me on Chrome but they show up well on Safari. i'm on an olden MacBook...
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