www.shortscale.org

[Jopn]

I liberated this poor Duo-sonic from what can only be described as an abusive relationship, for 80 Canadian dollars.

Based on the holes, I'd say that this is now on its 11th bridge. How on earth they finally settled on putting a wrap-around in a seemingly random location, I have no idea. It's bottomed out and still has 1/2" action at the 12th.

It also has holes where there was a thumbrest installed. Because at 22.7" scale length it's understandable to mistake it for a frikin jazz bass.

In fact, there's basically holes everywhere. It must have been through a handful of pickguards, and they settled on one that doesn't fit properly, attached with screws that have heads as big as dimes, and that overlaps with the control plate. The control plate was also masterfully installed to allow free air flow into the control cavity. No longer will I play in fear of my electronics overheating and causing by guitar to reboot unexpectedly...

It's also been sanded down to the primer, and a little beyond in some cases. It was originally black, which I can tell because clearly a belt sander can't reach *everywhere* on a guitar.

No idea what humbucker this guitar got slammed into. Can't really test it because the wires go up to the non-existent pickup selector. Plus, the acoustic strings it came set up with probably won't do the misc humbucker justice.

On the plus side, aside from some light relic'ing, the neck is great. Tuners seem fine.




So, my overall plan is to turn this into a spunky little punk rock machine. But not the "hopped up on crack and heroin" type of vibe it's got going on right now.

I've ordered the proper pickguard (in white) from WD Music. In the mean time I'm grabbing some toothpicks, wood glue and bondo to start filling in the damage.

I haven't had any luck sourcing the original bridge that would have been on these (other than the original '60s ones for $$$). I'm not looking to do a fancy restore, so I'll probably end up just get a simple hardtail like the wilkinson cut tele. I'll see once I've got the pickguard roughed in exactly what kind of space I've got to work with in the bridge cutout.

I'm not sure about the pickups, or even if the single coil is original. I'll do some digging around the local second hand shops here and see what I can find. I'll probably try it S-S at first before I go carving into my brand new pickguard to try to fit a S-H.

I'm still in the air on refinish color, but I'm also still trying to source good paint here in Ottawa/Canada.

Anyhow, it's going to be a fun project, I'll try to keep this thread updated!

[Noirie.]

That type of bridge on a Fender reminds me of Status Quo. Does it play alright?

And welcome
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[Fran]

Looks ace, Rick Parfitt would approve.

Welcome!
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[Dillon]

I actually kinda love it just like it is...beat up grunge-y Univox vibe.

If you've gotta change bridge to make it functional though I'd go with a Toronado bridge. About as close to a Duo-Sonic bridge as you're gonna get without spending loads on a vintage one.

[Fran]

Seriously, I'd keep it as it is if you can improve the action/intonation. There are better wraparound bridges than that one, look at the PRS type.

It tells a thousand stories, seems wrong to spruce it up. It's your choice though obviously.

You won't get more Punk than that guitar.
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[Jopn]

Damnit, stop appealing to my lazy side!

Ok, I’ll keep it punk and leave the scars. But it’s getting a new pickguard and bridge. And possibly a coat of krylon. The primer just feels nasty to touch.

I’ll look for toronado bridges, thanks for the lead!

[Dillon]

You can get them brand new from a lot of different places. I'm unsure whether the saddle spacing would be correct for one of these, but they look the part.

https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Toronado-Bridge-Assembly-Nickel/dp/B003AYM3WQ

[Jopn]

Holy crap, they are a current production part that’s readily available? Well that almost takes the fun out of it!

[robroe]

the bridge dillon posted is string thru the body.

you can make it hard tail very simply though. all you need is a hand drill, 3 holes in the back of it and 3 tele saddle/screws thru them.

then you rip out the 6 saddles already in it and use those 6 holes for the strings.

i recently modded 2 squier hard tail mustangs with this exact bridge and they turned out awesome.

http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65641&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=65081

this..... to this....





and this to this




in both guitars, the toronado bridge with tele saddles drilled into it sound 100000000% better than the stock strat hard tail.

lots of videos of all the drilling, assembling and everything else I did here.
https://www.youtube.com/user/liamjonasscale/videos

[robroe]

both pickguards came from warmoth, you can option them out anyway you want, holes, no holes, angle the shit 2 ways, crazy colors.....

its hella cheap. 30 something bucks for quality tort. white is 25 bucks

the tort is better looking than the junk Fender is putting on thier 1600 dollar jaguar and jazzmaster pro models right now.

it fits PERFECT with the tornado bridge Dillon and I are talking about, and the control plate already nailed to yours.

http://www.warmoth.com/Pickguard/MustangPickguard.aspx

[Fakir Mustache]

[jagsonic]

Put a white pickguard on it and a bridge like rob did and leave the rest as it is. Looks so great!!!!
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The Black Ignaz

[robroe]

[Jopn]

Ok good, I'd like to at least do SOME hacking!

I've spent my fair share of hours leaning over a drill press, so I may be tempted to pop some (more) holes into the body and add some string-thru ferrules.

[Jopn]

Well I stumbled upon a Fender Musiclander bridge today for a reasonable price. It’s a top loader that looks like it will fit the bill perfectly. I had never seen a Musiclander before. Holy crap, that’s something I wish I could unsee!

So that should be arriving in a week or so. I decided to also pull the trigger on a new pickguard. Went with white in the end. Cheap, and will let the “character� of the relic’d whitish body shine.

I think I’m going to go S-S (sized, at least) so I don’t have to mess with the pickguard when it arrives. I can always hack it later, but can’t unhack it! I’ll probably go single space humbucker in the bridge. Depends if I spot something cool locally.

Anyhow, it’s coming along!

[NickS]

[Jopn]

[gusman2x]

Didn't know you had a swinger Nick! Lucky bastard.
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www.lowrisemusic.com

uugh, another Manchester alt/indie band

[NickS]

[Jopn]

It’s up and running!









I’m not sure about the pickups yet, but they were a cheap AliExpress experiment.