Duo Sonic II vs. Musicmaster II

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:22 pm

I am trying to educate myself more about Mustang style guitars. What are your thoughts on Duo Sonic II and MusicMaster II guitars? (post Mustang) I currently have a Squier Duo Sonic which is not vintage correct, but I like it. I eventually want to get a vintage or reissue Mustang style guitar (Mustang, Duo-Sonic, Musicmaster or Bronco). I am not a huge tremolo user. I would probably upgrade a MusicMaster or Bronco to a Mustang pickups with the switches. My other guitars include my AVRI Jag (Excalibur) and a Custom Squier Jagmaster with Jazzmaster pickups I made as my first project. So Please enlighten me.

Points of interest: Pickups, Pots, Bridges, Routing, differences in year models.

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:36 pm

Both guitars you mention are actually based on the Mustang. The Duo is only missing the trem, the MM is missing trem, Bridge PU and switches ...

Musicmaster:

Duo Sonic:

apart from that, they are pretty similar to the Mustang. Thoughts ... I would not have gone for a Musicmaster II, I like 2 PUs on my guitars ... and unless you buy them in parts, I would not change a vintage guitar in ways of adding anything. though I seem to remember the MM has a routing for bridge Pickup.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:16 pm

best of both worlds:

PIZZASTANGMASTER II

mustang trem, musicmaster II pickguard, SJAG-1 neck pickup

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:31 am

what about post-'75 musicmasters?

http://www.vintageandrareguitars.com/we ... /item/3892

they're my favorite Musicmasters. but Duo Sonic IIs are pretty badass.

clarkbar · Post by **clarkbar** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:41 am

duo-sonic II. its quickly becoming a favorite of fine.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:17 am

mage wrote:what about post-'75 musicmasters?

they're my favorite Musicmasters. but Duo Sonic IIs are pretty badass.

This exact 1978 Musicmaster is at my local Guitar Center for $600. Even the same color scheme. I noticed the pickguard extends all the way down and is shaped different up top near the neck pickup. Can you install the older pickguard-metal plate combo on these 70's musicmasters or do you have to custom make it?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:43 am

either guard will fit any guitar in the post-'64 musicmaster family. the screw holes don't line up at all though.

after they discontinued the duo sonic II I think they must have been looking for ways to streamline production of the musicmaster. so they switched to the bronco style guard.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:58 am

Is the pickup in the Musicmaster basically just a neck pickup out of a Duo Sonic or Mustang?
Is the pickup in the Bronco basically just a bridge pickup out of a Duo Sonic or Mustang?

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:56 am

as far as I know, they are all the same pickups, same neck, and same hardware (except for the obvious differences). the duo sonic II and music master II used identical bodies, essentially a hardtail mustang.

have you seen this site? http://www.marcelroy.com/
it has a nice overview of the non-mustang models.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:34 am

This would be a fun project to build for my daughter

http://cgi.ebay.com/SHELL-PINK-MUSICMAS ... 414acd1386

Though why is it a musicmaster if the pickup is in the bridge position? Shouldn't it be a Squier Bronco?

Here's another project idea? I hate the sticker but other than that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Musicmaster- ... 2c51c9b2b4

awfurby · Post by **awfurby** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:51 am

Duo-Sonic II if you don't care about tremolo. The pickup switching options on the Duo-Sonic are fun, which you wouldn't get on a Musicmaster.

That said, I would like a Mustang to match this:

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:15 am

would love a vintage Bronco

Musicmasters are great too but theres just something about a single bridge pu that gets me on the bronco

in fact, i think i'll be watching this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-70s-Fender- ... 35a50bc9e1

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:24 am

Haze wrote:would love a vintage Bronco

Musicmasters are great too but theres just something about a single bridge pu that gets me on the bronco

in fact, i think i'll be watching this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-70s-Fender- ... 35a50bc9e1

I am watching that one too, but I am just seeing what it's going for. I am also watching 2 Musicmasters (late 70's) but probably won't have the cash to try for.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 6:31 am

awfurby wrote:Duo-Sonic II if you don't care about tremolo. The pickup switching options on the Duo-Sonic are fun, which you wouldn't get on a Musicmaster.

That said, I would like a Mustang to match this:

What blue is that?

Ty · Post by Ty » Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:21 am

taylornutt wrote:What blue is that?

I'm guessing Daphne Blue. It's quite lovely, I want a pearl guard for my mustang so bad.

awfurby · Post by **awfurby** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:41 am

Yeah, it's Daphne Blue.

filtercap · Post by **filtercap** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:03 am

Voting Musicmaster cos I love mine, but a Duosonic would be all that plus flexibility (minus minimalist coolness tho). Get a Duo pickguard made & loaded, and you can switch back & forth. Of course that works for the Duo in reverse -- the MM II and Duo II are routed identically. My late-70's MM has a great neck -- the pickguard is more prone to cracking around the jack (all plastic, no metal), but that era is only routed for 1 pickup = more wood in the body. If you add a 60's-style PG and control plate to a late-70's body & neck, you'll have the best of both MM worlds IMO. Er, once you refinish it to hide unsightly tan lines where the 70's PG used to be.

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:50 pm

taylornutt wrote:

Hey, that's actually a chinese Squier Vista Musicmaster, but it's modded (mine has only one pot). They're good and, in USA, also cheap. At OSG, there is one in green for sale, modded to Single Coil. Looks Awesome. Not anything vintage here, though. More sometihing like a Youngtimer.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:55 pm

yea, those vista musicmasters strangely seem to be based on the musicmaster bass rather than the guitar.

MMPicker · Post by **MMPicker** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:02 pm

I have a '65 Musicmaster II that I added a pickup and toggle switch to.
The 60s neck pickup on that guitar sounds amazing, like a 60s strat. It turns heads when I play it in a shop, and it's not my playing.
But the added bridge pickup (custom, not Fender) also sounds great, really nasty and biting, and the "hum canceling" middle position is also great. I think those other sounds are also valuable. I don't have the standard Duosonic II switching though, I have a toggle like yours.

However, though it sounds great I started becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the vintage neck, particularly after I had a Reverend guitar for a while and saw how much easier it was to play lead & get good vibrato on a guitar with a bit flatter radius & bigger frets. Of course that's just personal preference. But that's why when the CV Duosonic came out I was very interested in checking one out. But never saw one around. Led to my getting my CP Jaguar.

I haven't played enough old Mustangs, for long enough to see how much difference its bridge makes, vs, the hard-tail. So I won't vote.
I am sort of enjoying having the tremelo unit on the jaguar though.

BTW the Musicmaster II is also light as a feather.

I got mine & did this work a long time ago, and the guitar was already a beater that someone else had modded, so I was not devaluing it beyond what had been done to it already. In today's environment, If I had a clean one I probably would not have drilled for a toggle. It is correct that the routing is already there for two pickups & Duosonic II/ Mustang switching.

Duo Sonic II vs. Musicmaster II

Favorite Mustang Styled Guitar

Duo Sonic II vs. Musicmaster II