FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Duo-Sonic was one of Fender’s most popular student model electric guitars. It was introduced in 1956 along with its one-pickup sibling, the Musicmaster. The first version (1956 - 59) had a maple fingerboard with a 1 5/8 inch nut width and a gold anodized aluminum pickguard. Although the student model Fenders are not considered to be highly collectible, they do play very well and sound excellent. In fact, the pickups used in the student models have nearly the same specifications as the Stratocaster and as a result they sound similar to their upscale brother. This particular Duo-Sonic is one of the earliest known examples of the model dating from July 1956. Most "early" Duo-Sonics have neck dates from October 1956.

 Body: Solid, ash

 Finish: Desert Sand, nitrocellulose lacquer

 Neck: 1-piece maple, bolt-on

 Fingerboard: Maple; black plastic dot markers

 Number of Frets: 21

 Pickguard: Single-ply gold anodized aluminum

 Bridge: Fender steel, chrome

 Nut: Plastic

 Tuners: Kluson Deluxe, enclosed, nickel

 Pickups: Two, Fender single coil

 Controls: Master tone, master volume, 3-way pickup selector

 Scale Length: 22 1/2 inches

 Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout: 12 inches

 Body Depth: 1 1/2 inches

 Weight: n/a