1993 Fender Duo Sonic Short Scale Electric Guitar Torino Red w/ Lindy Fralin Pickups

Up for sale, a 1993 Fender Duo Sonic vintage reissue in perfect working order, augmented with a bevy of high-end aftermarket parts including boutique Lindy Fralin pickups, compensated brass saddles and a premium WD pickguard. The Duo Sonic, originally part of Fender’s “student” line of instruments, was reintroduced by Fender from ‘93-’98 after its big brother, the Mustang, had a Cobain-fueled explosion in popularity. This guitar was built in Mexico at the Ensenada Fender factory during its third year of operation and only a few months before a devastating fire would lead to the entire factory being rebuilt.Tonewoods include a poplar body and maple neck, giving this guitar a balanced, bright acoustic profile that really allows the pickups to shine. The pups in question are a pair of hand-wound Lindy Fralin Split Blade single coils, designed as a fully noise-canceling alternative to classic single coils with their unwanted 60 cycle hum. These particular Split Blades are dated to May 2022 and are wired to Fralin’s Vintage Output spec, metering around ~4.7k ohms. They have a remarkably clear and sparkly high-end response, with lots of twang at the bridge and plenty of warmth and depth at the neck. The Split Blades also feature ceramic magnets, and the tops of the pickups are radiused to match the fretboard, ensuring even volume across all strings. When driven, these single coils sound remarkably fat and creamy, but their clean tones do indeed stay quite pristine. Featherweight at just 5lbs 15oz, this Duo Sonic has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with fresh 10-46 strings, low action and accurate intonation.The maple neck has a slender and fast C-shaped profile carve with modest shoulder, measuring .800” at the 1st fret and .870” at the 10th. The slab maple cap fretboard features fretboard edges lightly rolled from contact with the palm, and the fretboard has a modern 9 ½” radius, with black dot inlay and fretwire that has fractionally more meat than vintage equivalents. The frets still have lots of meat and well-rounded crowns, only displaying light wear under the plain strings on frets 1-3. The guitar plays comfortably in all registers with a straight neck and responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. The scale length is 22 1/2”, in accordance with classic short-scale Duo Sonics, and the nut measures 1 5/8” in width. On the headstock, a set of upgraded Gotoh tuners turn smoothly and hold accurate pitch. There’s a small ding in the finish on the headstock just below the high E string tuner peg.The electronics all work as intended, with the Fralin pickups wired to CTS pots for the Master Volume and Tone controls, along with a three-way pickup selector switch. Hardware includes the three-saddle bridge which has been upgraded to utilize a trio of compensated brass saddles for optimal intonation and top end articulation. The pickguard has been upgraded to a WD Pickguards custom four-ply tortoiseshell guard, which displays some light scuffing along the picking path. The original Strat-style knobs are intact and lightly yellowed.The original Torino Red gloss finish exhibits some dings across the body, particularly concentrated on the lower bout body edge and on the back at the waist. There is also broad vertical finish checking across the back. The neck retains its smooth gloss finish, with a few small, shallow marks on the profile length.A Fender-branded gigbag is included.