The Strat weights 6.5 lbs and the Mustang is 6.0 lbs. I can finally play a guitar again without wearing a wrist brace. Used USACG necks on both with SS frets and my preferred neck shape which I honed in further by playing and sanding on the neck for a couple of weeks. For both I had to wait about a year or so for a 3.0 lb or less body to show up on the Gallery. I have shown the pictures below several times on TGP, sorry, boring. I am really a Strat guy so I made a Strat style 1st and liked it so much that I made a hardtail Mustang style a year later. The hardtail Mustangs and Duosonics I tried out were fun and comfortable but, since I since I demand body contours and am an unreasonably picky guy, I decided to go the Partscaster route. I also have finger and wrist joint problems and I found that the Fender style 24" scale guitars were the most comfortable for me. ![]() I have also come to love 24" scale guitars. Stock Duo Sonic neck plate, screws, and strap buttons with screws 2.2 oz. Stock Duo-Sonic Bridge with hardware = 3.1 oz. Loaded Duo-Sonic HS Pickguard w/ hardware = 13 oz Loaded Duo-Sonic SS Pickguard w/ hardware 11.4 oz. = lightest I have found.ĭuo-Sonic body only as shipped 3 lbs, 10 ounces = lightest I have found. = lightest neck I have found.ĭuo-Sonic SS loaded body as shipped 4 pounds, 12.5 oz. Maple neck with hipshot tuners: 1 lb, 8.8 oz. Here are some weight figures for the Duo-Sonics and parts I have bought and used: If you are really into lightweight guitars you might find the following information helpful. I really like humbuckers with nickel covers, so I get custom pickguards made.Īs far as weight goes, Duo-Sonics can be as light as 6.5 pounds or so, and probably average around 7.25 pounds. If you buy one with the SS pickup configuration you can just sell your loaded pickguard and buy an HS loaded pickguard. I’m pretty sure a mini humbucker would fit fine in the stock neck route. If you want to customize your DS pickups, all the new Mexis are routed for humbuckers at the bridge, and you only need to expand the neck route a little if you want a humbucker there. It just depends how far back the saddle needs to go. Also be aware that the adjustment screws are a little long for the short scale neck, so you may need to grind the end off of the screws at the E and/or G strings. These are super high quality, but pretty expensive at 48 bucks + 10 bucks for shipping. I replace them with Stewmac “Saddles for Hardtail Bridge”, Item # 0015. Regular Fender bent metal saddles are fine, but they do not sustain like heavier, more modern saddles. Works great, and the tuners stay in tune. This plate allows you to install the tuners without drilling any holes. I used the (also excellent) Hipshot Grip-Lock closed tuners with the Universal Mount Plate. I have not tried these as they were not out yet when I modded my guitars. They use the exact same locator holes, I believe. If you like locking tuners the best set is the Hipshot Grip-Lock “Directrofit” drop-in Fender replacement. A bone nut makes a nice upgrade, but is not really needed.Ī couple of things I should also mention are not so much problems as areas that can be improved. Again, no big deal, and you will find this issue with many new guitars. ![]() You might need to have the slots filed a little to stop the strings from grabbing. I would bet that Fender is on top of this issue by now. This is an easy and cheap part to replace, so no big deal. I have owned 4 Duo Sonics, and 2 had bad switches. Run 11s or 12s if you want more twang.ĭuo-Sonics have one or two problem spots, however. Basically, elevens feel like tens, and tens feel like nines. On the DuoSonic, I can wrap my thumb over the top of the fretboard easily, and a 5 fret reach is no trouble at all. The 24” Duo-Sonic neck seems like the Goldilocks solution: it allows easy access for small or medium sized hands, yet still has good twang and intonation. 012s I think, and the strings were still all over the place when I played. I have experienced this on the Mini Strat which has a scale length of 22.75. When strings get much shorter that 24 inches you start to get intonation problems, and you have to run very heavy strings to get normal levels of string tension. Most importantly to me, the 24 inch neck is short, but not *too short*. Both the bodies and necks are machined so well that you can just swap them around without need of shimming the neck. All this adds up to one thing: IMHO the new Mexican Duo-Sonics are the best lightweight short scale guitars around.ĭuo-Sonic necks and bodies are top quality, and the pickups sound excellent. While the new Duo-Sonic necks are not especially narrow, they are not in any way fat and the short scale length helps with reach, especially on the first 5 frets. My fingers are a bit short, which led me to search for shorter scale lengths ands narrow necks. I have a bad back, which led me to search for light guitars.
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