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Thread: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

  1. #1

    Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    This one was so bad that it's hard to know where to begin. Anyway... This Duo Sonic MIM reissue came to me a couple years ago and for one reason or another I took forever to restore it. Okay... I said it was bad:

    Body: The body of this guitar was structurally sound although it was riddled with sticker residue, deep scratches, worn paint, bare wood, sealer in places, stripped and wallowed-out strap button screw-holes, other stripped-out holes, etc, etc. Visually, this body was pretty awful looking.

    Neck, fret-board, and head-stock:
    The frets were gouged and not level, head-stock was gouged and had been sanded bare, wood was dry, nut slots were wallowed out, and neck was warped. The true gem here was the neck-plate... a rusty chunk of solid steel that weighed about as much as an M1 Abrams Tank.... but seriously, it was about 5.5mm thick!

    Electronics: Just Holy S#1T!: The control cavity was a hodgepodge of electrical tape, rusted parts, frayed wires, dirty globs of solder, sticky residue, etc, etc.. Basically it looked like an an angered Ray Charles had simply stabbed at it with a hot iron and called it "good". Plugged in, the sound was a weak hum that varied in intensity depending on what metal parts were being touched lol.

    Bridge, tuners, hardware, etc: Some of the tuners were seized-up and all were coated with years worth of sticky dusty residue. All were fairly dry, squeaky, and gritty. The hardware was so badly stripped that I had to re-slot the tiny screws to get them all out. Bridge-plate was in salvageable condition but all saddles, springs, and screw-threads were completely rusted and ready for the garbage. Knobs were too far "relic'd" to save although the gouged and grimy pup-covers were able to be cleaned, sanded smooth, and repainted.

    Pick-guard: The original had been "replaced" at some point with a crudely-hacked mirror that by the time had gotten into my hands, was broken, jagged, scratched, etc. It obviously had to go.

    I know that there's a ton of small details that I'm omitting but onto the show:

    Body: After removing everything including the neck, I completely stripped, filled, sanded, etc everything. I drilled out the mangled remains of the wallowed-out strap button screw holes, then tapped in dowels slathered with wood glue. I had to also plug several other holes [with smaller dowels] that had been stripped ( a bridge-plate screw hole, couple pick-guard screw holes, etc). After all of this, I cleaned everything up and started taking everything back to solid/ bare/ clean wood. I used multiple layers of sealer, paint, and nitro to restore the finish... with a ton of sanding and steel wool in between. Started around 400grit and finished with 2,500grit. At that point I was able to drill all new holes including the strap-button screw-hole plugs.

    Neck, fret-board, and head-stock: I utilized the same process on the neck as I did on the body except that I used tung-oil for the final finish after some meticulous sanding. It feels fantastic now and I was fortunate that there were no deep gouges anywhere along it's length. I added a true "Fender Duo Sonic" water-slide decal to the head-stock and finished that with nitro. I wasn't able to find MIM reissue decals so I had to use what I could find... "Duo Sonic II". I didn't want to do that but it looks better than it did naked. I also replaced the damaged string-tree with a new one, for what it's worth. The fret-board was luckily salvageable with a thorough cleaning although the frets required complete leveling and crowning. A lot of time and patience was utilized here, along with a good deal of 0000 steel-wool and painters tape. Topped off with a thorough polish and truss rod adjustment and she was done. The original finish on the fret-board was worn through in places but I actually like that aesthetic since I wanted to keep some of the mojo in tact anyway.

    Electronics: I wired in a new input jack, CTS pots, capacitor, 3-way switch, all wiring, nuts, washers, etc, etc. I reused the original single-coils since there was no damage to the wraps, pole-pieces, etc but I potted them first with bees-wax. They seemed like they were operational so in keeping with the mojo, I decided to keep them. The electronics took a long time to complete due to me being unsure of the correct schematic but after a good deal of frustrating trial-and-error, I was able to finally get that all finished up cleanly. Whoever worked on this thing before me, had royally screwed it all up so I basically had to start from scratch.

    Bridge, tuners, hardware, etc: I'm glad that I was able to salvage the original tuners since I was hoping to re-use as many original parts as possible... again... mojo! I completely lubricated, cleaned, and polished them and used new hardware to mount them up. They function quite smoothly and precisely now. I replaced the original nut with another Fender plastic nut but had to do some sanding and shaping in order to get it snugly conformed to the radius of the board. I replaced the "Mad Max Meets White Trash" neck-plate and screws with a new Fender blank chrome plate and screws. I replaced the [completely non-functioning] strap buttons with new Fender originals. Almost every screw on this thing was stripped, broken, damaged, missing, etc... so all were replaced.

    Pick-guard: I replaced the beat-up disco-era mirrored scratch-plate with a WD Music Duo-Sonic pick-guard although I had to modify it at the neck-heel in order to have access to the truss-rod.

    Final notes: This thing now plays like a new instrument which feels like a great accomplishment since this guitar was not even playable when I received it. I don't care for the pickups too much but they work as they should and sound decent for what they are. I had wanted to complete this project for less money than I did, but I was able to salvage a lot of the parts and I'd say that with the budget-oriented restoration approach, it came out pretty good for minimal cost. The majority of the money spent was associated with the finishing... nitro, paint, oil, sealer, sanding sheets, etc... as well as ridiculous shipping costs on small parts. I'm sure that there's a lot more little details that I'm leaving out but I've covered all the meat-n-potatoes so... onto the pictures:











    Last edited by HighPlainsDrifter; 11-08-2017 at 03:26 AM.

  2. #2

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Those were obviously the "before" images. I will post here the "during" restoration images:












  3. #3

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    And finally onto the "after" images:









    Thanks to y'all for taking a look!

  4. #4
    TFF Stage Crew
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Now that's a labor of love right there. Nice resto!

  5. #5
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Wow! I am amazed at how well that came out. The before pics showed a disaster, and now it looks stunning. Good work!
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  6. #6
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Wow! What a great job taking a complete basket case and making it beautiful again!

  7. #7
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Boy! Can you imagine what that guitar's life was like! Someone played the heck out of it! Nice restoration!

  8. #8

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Thanks all so much for taking a look! As mentioned... it really was a labor of love ( or insanity maybe lol). But I just couldn't let this ugly little thing live out the remainder of it's life in a landfill. I also had never done leveling/ crowning prior to this and I thought that for the price of the guitar ( = free!) that this would be a good place to try my hand. I really can't believe how well they came out. There is no dead-fretting nor buzzing anywhere along the board and every fret is now buttery smooth with no sign of any previous wear. I also was successfully able to make a few tools along the way... at a significant savings as opposed to buying them through StewMac... things like a leveling beam, notched straight-edge, etc.

    The only thing that I know about the guitar is that it was found many years ago by a buddy of mine... in the pouring rain along the shore of a lake somewhere west of here. It had obviously been pretty abused and neglected throughout much of it's life and my friend just wanted someone to give it some TLC and allow it to sing again.

  9. #9
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    You do mighty fine work. Kudos! I'd have no qualms about taking a guitar in need of restoring to you.

  10. #10
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Sweeeeet guitar!

  11. #11
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Great job buddy!!! And thanks for sharing 👍
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  12. #12

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Really pleased that this project has been well-received here on TFF. When I see some of the things that talented "shade-tree luthiers" are able to do, it really blows me away. Being that I don't really have those kinds of skills makes me feel a bit apprehensive about posting things like this. I guess though that all in all, I'm fairly satisfied how this one turned out and it's just that much more experience and confidence that I'll have when going forward into another project. Sincere appreciation to you all. Thanks so much.

  13. #13
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    How's the guitar sound? I like a good Duo Sonic. I had one from the '90s a few years ago. It was the shorter scale- 22.7", I think.

  14. #14

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Quote Originally Posted by Don View Post
    How's the guitar sound? I like a good Duo Sonic. I had one from the '90s a few years ago. It was the shorter scale- 22.7", I think.
    I have been pleasantly surprised by how nice it sounds. I really expected that it would sound lifeless/ weak but it's actually got great tone. Pickups come across as fairly bright with a nice jangle. Mids are a bit weak but honestly, the clarity and definition is impressive, especially considering all that these pickups have seemingly been through. Tops of the pole pieces are a bit worn and oxidized but I don't think that is negatively affecting anything. I honestly don't think that I had ever even heard a DS in person before this one but I truly didn't expect it to sound this good... nice clarity and definition. Yep... 22.5"/ 22.7" scale length.

  15. #15
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Wow!

    A Fantastic rescue ready to sing and share for many more years!
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  16. #16

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Thanks so much, CG. Because of it's short scale and the fact that I've got plenty of other favorite players, I'm actually thinking about letting it go to a good home... maybe to a disadvantaged child for Christmas. I'd just have to get a gig-bag for it ( along with a set of new strings and some picks). Lots of financially struggling families around here and it always feels good to give back when I can. We'll see.

  17. #17
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    A very generous and kind gesture.

    Are there any local music programs where you might enquire?
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  18. #18

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    I haven't yet looked into it but a buddy of mine is pretty involved with the local music scene and I'm going to try to talk to him next week to see if he knows of anyone that might be in need. Other than that I might see if our local elementary school would either use it or know of a child that would. Our schools around here need help too. I've always been a contributor to animal shelters, food banks, the 100 Club, etc, etc so this is a pretty natural move for me. It may sting just a tad to let it go but the true enjoyment for me lies in what it meant as a project as well as paying it forward if I can. The ownership means very little to me if I'm not using it so it's all good. Hell... Maybe the next little Hendrix or Trower Jr will evolve one day because of an opportunity that he otherwise might not have had... who knows?! :)

  19. #19
    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Cheers Brother!

    I’ve got an extra gig bag and a little Sidekick amp that sounds ok if you are looking to make it a package deal.

    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

  20. #20

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    That's very generous of you, CG and I hadn't even considered an amp. I'll see if I can find out anything in the next week or so and post up my findings here. Can't express my humble appreciation enough. You're truly a good soul!

  21. #21
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    We reeeaaalllyyy need a "like" button!!!

  22. #22
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    HPD, that's a good and worthy deed. We were not poor when I grew up, but my parents had to watch every penny, so for a few years, until I was barely old enough to get a job and buy my first one, I dreamt of guitars and basses that I knew I could never own.

    Passing that beautiful guitar off to a school or an underprivileged child is a kind thing to do. Some kid will feel like a king or queen with that thing in their hands.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  23. #23

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    I'd love to spend some time replying to what you said above, ch willie and in fact I'd love to tell of my first experiences that got me hooked on playing but for now I'll have to head off to work instead... sigh. Anyway, Thank you so much and I feel as though the people here can appreciate sentiments like this simply because you all are no different. Just damn fine folks here on TFF.

  24. #24
    Forum Member Volumeknob's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Great restoration gorgeous Duo Sonic --- well done!
    The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.
    T. Roosevelt

  25. #25

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Thanks so much, Vk!

  26. #26
    Forum Member Frat Rettle's Avatar
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    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Well done. Thanks for sharing.
    Take care. Stay well.
    I have decided to be happy because it's good for my health.

  27. #27

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Thanks very much, FR. Well wishes to you too, my friend!

  28. #28

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Quick update before work... Wasn't able to even FIND Larry last week, much less have a chance to talk to him. Will hopefully see him Tues/ Wed next week if he's in town.

  29. #29

    Re: Duo Sonic Reissue restoration project

    Was finally able to talk to Larry today ( of Larryland Guitars) and it appears that he's the right guy to get this guitar into a deserving child's hands. I feel a bit petty admitting that I'd like to somehow be involved with the presentation but I guess that's just because I spent a great deal of time and effort with the restoration. I don't want accolades... just would love to see the kid's face light-up. Larry said that he would also provide a gig bag and small amp to accompany the guitar and that this won't be the only instrument that he and his wife will be donating this Christmas season. Anyway... I'll update with any info that I think y'all might want to hear if/ when it happens. Now I just have to determine that I'm really okay with letting this one go to a good home lol.

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