ShortScale.org

So I just bought a 95/96 DS reissue off Ebay for $160. Not exactly what I'd hoped to pay, but not horrible. (??)

I'm new to guitars; I'm a bass player myself with a '72 Musicmaster. I was really set on getting a MM guitar (or an older DS) but those have catapulted so far out of my price range that I figured a DS reissue wouldn't be the worst for a first electric guitar.

Anyway, I know these aren't "the best" and won't be worth a ton of money in the long run, so I want to make some modifications to it.

Definitely looking to swap out the pickguard, but that's minor. Would love to swap the pickups since I haven't read the best things about them — anyone have any experience with this?

Any other tips/recommendations for things I should consider or tell my guitar tech to fix?

I believe that Mustang pickups will fit Duos just fine... anyone else know about this?

So, you can definitely try to find some "vintage style" Mustang pickups to put in your Duo:

Lindy Fralin
Curtis Novak
Pickup Wizard

Those 90s Duos are definitely a good deal, but the scale is a bit shorter: 22.5" vs. 24" for a 70s Musicmaster or Duo.

How are you liking the scale so far? I have seen 70s Musicmasters around for about $400. Still out of price range?

Series mod, yo. It's a pain in the ass but the results are amazing.

got a red one. i put a BWB scratchplate on it, and a hot rails and a cool rails, both kent armstrong. i also managed to put a strat neck on mine, and now its a beast. the 6saddle toronado is a common mod for these duos too.

this one is right in my wheelhouse.

pickups are straight out of my compstang RI
pickup covers go right in, no mods to pickguard needed.
tunars are off the compstang as well
swapped out the tunars for mustang style ones.


expect the finish on the neck to come off if you play it hard for over a year. the fretboard gets super mucky nice too. i loved this guitar. cant remember who the hell on here i sold it to. i would love to have it back.

here's another mod i made up but never put in

singlepickup24 wrote:Those 90s Duos are definitely a good deal, but the scale is a bit shorter: 22.5" vs. 24" for a 70s Musicmaster or Duo.

How are you liking the scale so far? I have seen 70s Musicmasters around for about $400. Still out of price range?

I'm picking it up Thursday, actually! I'm a girl with very small hands (hence the MM bass) so I am sure the scale will be absolutely perfect for me.

I'm in LA, so pawn shops are really out of the question for instruments (huge markup) — same goes for Craigslist. So, I look for a lot of MMs on Ebay...And I've never seen a MM guitar for $400. I might be in the market for one after I get my tax return this year...But considering I got my MM bass for $200, I'm so against spending that much. (That was 2-3 years ago, though, and I know the price has gone up.) I think $400 is an ideal price for me at least.



Would Lace Sensors fit on these? I do like the vintage Mustang suggestions, and if I make the knobs/tuners like a Mustang, that could be rad too. Would Kluson-style tuners work?

lace pickups will drop right in and will sound great in a duo-sonic. I like the Hot Golds but red/blue is a winning combo if you like fuzz. Kluson tuners will drop into the Fender version, the Squier will require some holes to be drilled but it can be done.


heres my old Squier Duo-Sonic, 22.2" scale length [or whatever it is] made it into a stealth duo w/ black robroes* black pg and bronco knobs. It was a really unique sounding guitar and it was great to keep laying around the house as my go-to player. The pickups in them are alright, I think the Fender ones have standard alnico strat pickups and the Squier has ceramic magnet pickups, i changed mine to squier alnico pickups and it was a noticeable improvement.

*robroes = mustang/no hole pickup covers

robroe wrote:

The top pic, the neck looks normal to me.
The next one looks like a midget arm.

This is mine (currently stringless because I thought I had a fresh set of 11s and didn't) and the project that brought me to shortscale...




It was an ebay body and neck. I refinished it in cheap spray paint and poly clear coat. I put vintage style butterbean Klusons tuners on, these did require some extra drilling ( I know now I should have used a reamer, so the headstock finish is a bit chipped from the drilling). It's got seymour duncan antiquity for duosonic, pickups in it, the bridge one of which is my favourite pickup on any of my guitars. I'd highly recommend it if you don't like what is stock, just get the bridge if you don't want to spend on the pair, though the neck is nice too. I spent more money on tuners and pickups than on the whole rest of the guitar but it was worth it.

I absolutely love mine, although it does make playing any other guitar feel like a bass.

If you end up selling the original pups, I'll gladly buy them. I've missed mine horribly ever since I sold them to stewart all those years ago. They are actually really swell pickups, but I was all about hum buckers at the time.

Kitt, congratulations on a fine guitar. I love my reissue DS, a Classic Vibe.

If you're lookin to upgrade pups, well I was too when I bought mine. Then I learned I needed to know what sound I could not get from my DS and amp. If you're clear on that, some good tech-luthiers can advise you. Heck, you can call Lindy Fralin in Richmond, or TV Jones or Seymour Duncan and get a consult if you want.

But what it was for me, the urge to upgrade pups, I had Squier-inferiority.

But here's the thing...and I'm no expert...I learned from some very experienced pros that unless you are certain a replacement pup will get you exactly the sound you need, it makes no sense to find a "better" pickup. Those DS pups are fine for almost any tones you want.

Your amp, strings, chord, your attack, all influence the sound as much as your pups. I'm relatively new to electric guitar (though I've played acoustic for years) and what I'm learning is that I can get gritty Bluesy tones, Woman Tone, Brown Tone, Tele Twang, soft jazzy tone from my stock DS all by finding the right combination of guitar settings and amp settings.

You might save your money, experiment with your amp, discover a world of good tones with your DS, and maybe get a better axe later on.

Well that's my take on it. Whatever you do, have fun!

i love it when people say to me "DUDE PUTTING PLASTIC COVERS OVER YOUR PICKUPS RUINS YOUR TONE DUDE."

no actually it doesn't. they work fine. fuck off.

5 dollar pickups from GFS sound good in this guitar.

endsjustifymeans wrote:If you end up selling the original pups, I'll gladly buy them. I've missed mine horribly ever since I sold them to stewart all those years ago. They are actually really swell pickups, but I was all about hum buckers at the time.

I just put 65 Mustang RIs in my 93MIM so I have the ones that were in there. Are you interested in those?

kitt kat wrote:I'm in LA, so pawn shops are really out of the question for instruments (huge markup) — same goes for Craigslist. So, I look for a lot of MMs on Ebay...And I've never seen a MM guitar for $400. I might be in the market for one after I get my tax return this year...But considering I got my MM bass for $200, I'm so against spending that much. (That was 2-3 years ago, though, and I know the price has gone up.) I think $400 is an ideal price for me at least.

Cool, I grew up in So Cal and lived in LA for a long time before moving up to the Bay. I got my MM guitar for $600 at Timewarp music, Venice and Centinela. Very cool shop. However, I saw a black 78 MM on Craigslist about a year ago for $400. It was out in Corona or somewhere though... if you have a car, you can generally find better deals if you're willing to drive out to the Inland Empire (909). I also saw one on Craigslist up here in the bay about 6-8 months ago for $400. You just gotta be patient and check often, I guess. There are a lot of MM guitars on Ebay in that price range too, but be careful. The 70s was a weird time for Fender... some good stuff, some crap. Probably better to find one in person.

Anyway, you've picked up the Duo by now, hope you're enjoying it!

Loving the scale of this. So perfect for the size of my hands. I've been putting my Big Muff through it and it actually sounds pretty sweet. Still might get better pickups though.



It definitely needs new strings ASAP since a lot of their tension seems to be lost. I don't think they were ever changed.

honestly, i always tuned mine up a half step to F to get it to stay in tune.

at first it was awkward playing along with songs on CD with it in F so i said fuck it and just used it to write all sorts of new songs on with.

kitt kat wrote:It definitely needs new strings ASAP since a lot of their tension seems to be lost. I don't think they were ever changed.

Kitt, it's a sweet looker. Thanks for posting the photo. Yours is the Fender RI from the 1990s? Not so familiar with that model but glad to learn a bit about it and can see a few small differences from my CV RI.

Regarding strings, when I put new strings on my DS, or on any guitar, it sounds so much better...maybe like much better pickups were installed while I was asleep...I mean really noticeable! Strings tend to last me about 3 months, playing six hours a week.

Not sure strings lose their tension or what would make you suspect that. But I do know strings corrode with oil & sweat from your hands. The corrosion looks like rust and pitting on an old car bumper, when you magnify the strings. Those tiny imperfections inhibit the uniform vibration of the string. Hence the pickups are picking up a really bad signal.

If you wipe your strings with a clean rag faithfully after you play, your strings will last much longer. I got in the habit of keeping a rag in each guitar case.

The other thing about strings is that bending notes wears a gouge in the string, and sometimes you can actually see this without magnification. When you remove your old strings, slide each one between your fingers and see if you don't feel how rough they are, and look closely under good light...you'll see the discoloration and breakdown.

I'm relatively new to electric guitar but I'm learning a lot from friends and just want to pass the good will along. Hope this helps.

or do what i do, buy flatwounds and replace them every 4 years or so, never wiping anything, and being completely lazy