New member and NGD!

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:28 pm

Greetings all. I just recently acquired a '57 Duo-Sonic and while searching for information about it found this forum. Thought I'd sign up and say hi! I'm also including some pics. The guitar has been refinished and the pickguard, pickups, tuning heads and bridge have all been replaced. The tuners are Schallers, marked "Made in W. Germany" on the back with a script "S". The bridge is a Kahler bridge marked "Made in USA" and â€œU.S. PATENT APPLâ€™D FORâ€� . The pots and cap seem to be original as well as the jack and pickup switch. I can't identify the pickups but it seems all the mods were done 1980 or before.

Kind Regards!

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:33 pm

Hi! Reminds me of this...

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:42 pm

Welcome to the forum!

I quite like these heavily modified rarities that surface now and then. Back in 1980 i suppose the owner thought he was improving the guitar but you would not dream of doing all that to a 57 model now.
Apparently Eddie Van Halen used a Musicmaster for some time in the early days, seeing the mods on this made me think of that story

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:48 pm

Fran wrote:Welcome to the forum!

I quite like these heavily modified rarities that surface now and then. Back in 1980 i suppose the owner thought he was improving the guitar but you would not dream of doing all that to a 57 model now.
Apparently Eddie Van Halen used a Musicmaster for some time in the early days, seeing the mods on this made me think of that story

I agree, but I must say the thing sounds very sweet. Great blues tones through a good amp and it plays very nicely. I didn't buy it for any collector value (I only paid $100.00 USD for it). I bought it to play it!

A restring, a bit of cleaning and she was ready to go!

westtexasred · Post by **westtexasred** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:55 pm

Fran wrote:Welcome to the forum!

I quite like these heavily modified rarities that surface now and then. Back in 1980 i suppose the owner thought he was improving the guitar but you would not dream of doing all that to a 57 model now.
Apparently Eddie Van Halen used a Musicmaster for some time in the early days, seeing the mods on this made me think of that story

Yeah,very cool.that's a real "Vintage Modified" '57 Duo-Sonic.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:51 pm

black6host wrote:(I only paid $100.00 USD for it).

black6host wrote:I bought it to play it!

I get what your saying, i'm one of them guitar players that ends up babying expensive stuff. Thats one of the great things about finding vintage 'beaters' or heavily modded stuff. Because a lot of the value has been lost you can actually enjoy playing them out at gigs instead of minding the case for 6 hours.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:00 pm

Welcome to the forums, and nice score!

Any clue as to what the bridge pickup is? It looks in pictures like it has a chrome band around it, which is why I'm asking, haven't seen anything like that other than on the GFS Brighton Rocks I was considering for my strat copy, but those are newer and this looks old. The tele-esque brass plate on the bottom only adds to the mystery. How does it sound?

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:25 pm

Nick wrote:Welcome to the forums, and nice score!

Any clue as to what the bridge pickup is? It looks in pictures like it has a chrome band around it, which is why I'm asking, haven't seen anything like that other than on the GFS Brighton Rocks I was considering for my strat copy, but those are newer and this looks old. The tele-esque brass plate on the bottom only adds to the mystery. How does it sound?

No idea what the bridge pickup is. It has a chrome band around it as you see and a chrome top. (I couldn't figure out how to get the flash to stop going off on my wife's camera so the pictures are pretty bad...) I'm don't know what year it's from but it appears that all the other mods were done 1980 or prior so I suspect the pickups were as well. Could be wrong though as I have no definitive way to date them. As far as sound goes, it sounds great! It can get pretty bright with the bridge pickup and the neck pickup gives a great blues type tone without anything sounding muddy. Both pickups are very responsive to the tone knob so it's easy to get a sound I like. I've also got a Gibson LP and a MIM Strat that I heavily modified, this one, soundwise, fits in between the two. Now all I need is a Tele and I'll be set

jamba72 · Post by **jamba72** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:39 pm

Nick wrote:Welcome to the forums, and nice score!

Any clue as to what the bridge pickup is? It looks in pictures like it has a chrome band around it, which is why I'm asking, haven't seen anything like that other than on the GFS Brighton Rocks I was considering for my strat copy, but those are newer and this looks old. The tele-esque brass plate on the bottom only adds to the mystery. How does it sound?

IÂ´d like to know, too..

..nice one for only 100 bucks..wow
I did once remove a Kahler tremolo off my Gordon Smith ( yeah, the 80ies) together with the locking nuts on the head, and I had to fill the trem cavitiy to install a badass bridge..
..so this it would look like beneath..

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:49 pm

Fran wrote:
black6host wrote:(I only paid $100.00 USD for it).

Well, it makes sense, it cost 149.00 new, figure depreciation over 54+ years

Fran wrote:
black6host wrote:I bought it to play it!
I get what your saying, i'm one of them guitar players that ends up babying expensive stuff. Thats one of the great things about finding vintage 'beaters' or heavily modded stuff. Because a lot of the value has been lost you can actually enjoy playing them out at gigs instead of minding the case for 6 hours.

I was that way at first when I bought my LP new. Now though, I figure it's not good to spend money on a guitar I won't play and it's going to suffer some dings and whatnot if you play it. I've got the original case as well and it's done it's duty in protecting the guitar. And it's quite evident on the outside. I slipped down some steps on ice a couple of weeks ago, had the guitar in its case in one hand and my pedal board in the other. I'm still black and blue. The case got slightly damaged, some of the exterior fabric was torn off but the guitar inside was fine. I know a little bit of the history of the guitar, the original owner played it and loved it. I'm doing the same.

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:51 pm

Bridge pickup looks a bit like THIS single coil Super Distortion.

But older and rustier...

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 3:58 pm

AddamInsane wrote:Bridge pickup looks a bit like THIS single coil Super Distortion.

But older and rustier...

It's hard to tell in my pics but the bridge pickup is chrome.... And yeah, it's rusty

jamba72 · Post by **jamba72** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:19 pm

AddamInsane wrote:Bridge pickup looks a bit like THIS single coil Super Distortion.

But older and rustier...

Adam is right..Bingo..
http://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-picku ... 06848.html

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:37 pm

jamba72 wrote:
AddamInsane wrote:Bridge pickup looks a bit like THIS single coil Super Distortion.

But older and rustier...
Adam is right..Bingo..
http://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-picku ... 06848.html

From looking at the backside of the pickup I'd say that's the one.

jamba72 · Post by **jamba72** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:46 pm

At the moment IÂ´m looking for a fatter single coil, this one looks really nice..2 ceramic magnets, users say it sounds a bit darker and has a hight output..

the wiring looks quite original though. Do you have a middle position with both coils activated with your toggle or do you have only 2 sounds, bridge, neck?

black6host · Post by **black6host** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 4:56 pm

jamba72 wrote:At the moment IÂ´m looking for a fatter single coil, this one looks really nice..2 ceramic magnets, users say it sounds a bit darker and has a hight output..

the wiring looks quite original though. Do you have a middle position with both coils activated with your toggle or do you have only 2 sounds, bridge, neck?

The middle position activates both pickups.

Here is a link to one wiring diagram (I haven't checked it against what I have)

Duo-Sonic Wiring Diagram

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 5:40 pm

AddamInsane wrote:Bridge pickup looks a bit like THIS single coil Super Distortion.

But older and rustier...

Famously used by Johnny Ramone in the white Mosrite.