1959 Fender Duo Sonic Desert Sand Lollar Regal Pickups, Bigsby & Mastery Bridge w/ohc

Up for sale, a 1959 Fender Duo Sonic with a host of custom mods and non-factory features that make it unique among Fender's short scale offerings. A very original and soulful Duo Sonic in many respects, this guitar retains its stock Desert Sand nitro lacquer finish, gold anodized pickguard, knurled metal knobs, neckplate, strap buttons, and hardshell case.

This guitar was a pet project in-house here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar where we specialize in vintage Fender offset body guitars, and it arrived to us already routed for humbuckers and with a non-factory bridge. As such, we cooked up a concept and installed a pair of brand new Lollar Regal Wide Range humbuckers, a Mastery M1 bridge, and a genuine 1950's Bigsby vibrato unit. This guitar is both elegant and beastly, with the warmth, fullness, and percussive cut of the Wide Range design. These pickups are very articulate, while still having humbucker girth and power. The instrument is also lightweight at only 7lbs 4oz. Professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar and strung with 11-50 strings, this Duo Sonic is dialed in and ready for stage and studio use.

The maple neck retains its original gloss nitro lacquer finish, with a C shaped neck profile that's slender at the nut, with notably more girth and shoulder as you travel up the fretboard. The neck has been cleanly refretted with vintage-style fretwire, currently showing only a touch of wear on the crowns on frets 1-4, with virtually now wear further up the board. A new hand-carved bone nut has been cut, measuring 1 1/2" in width, and the scale length is 22 1/2". The headstock face retains the original Duo Sonic decal, and the guitar has been fitted with a set of new Kluson Deluxe single line tuning machines with white buttons. On the neck heel, the original 3-59 grease pencil date is intact.

The electronics consist of the pair of Lollar Regal humbuckers, which are mounting to the anodized pickguard with custom made thick aluminum wings with rounded edges. The potentiometers are brand new CTS parts which are the proper spec for Wide Range humbuckers, with a 1M Volume pot and 500k Tone pot. The body routes are extremely clean, with the pickup routes enlarged to accommodate the humbuckers and the original switch and control routes intact. The Bigsby actuates easily for dives and warbles, working in concert with the Mastery M1 bridge. A new aluminum tension bar has also been added to the forward edge of the Bigsby to ensure the optimal break angle from the bridge to the vibrato.

Cosmetically, this guitar shows a healthy amount of honest playwear from nearly six decades of use. The aluminum pickguard has some soulful wear through the gold plating in the pick path too, and it's the kind of true wear that every modern "relic" attempts to duplicate but somehow falls short. The mounting holes for the original bridge have been cleanly filled and touched up with matching Desert Sand nitro lacquer and the neck profile exhibits just a few inconsequential scrapes, but nothing distracting to the palm.

This Duo Sonic is one of a kind, with a feature set that's versatile and simply fun.

The original tan hardshell case is included and complete with original latches and handle.