1996 Fender Duo Sonic Short Scale Electric Guitar Desert Sand

Up for sale, a 1996 Fender Duo Sonic vintage reissue in perfect working order, refinished in Fender’s classic Pre-CBS color, Desert Sand. 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 the first decade of Fender’s Mexican production at the Ensenada factory which now produces a significant portion of all Fender gear.The traditional tonewood complement consists of a poplar body and maple neck, giving this guitar a balanced, bright acoustic profile. That sparkle is faithfully translated by the stock pickups, a pair of single coils wound for slightly higher output with ceramic magnet construction, metering at ~7.2k ohms. These pickups have a remarkably rich midrange (particularly at the neck) which lends itself to fat, creamy overdriven tones just as easily as chiming, pristine cleans. Featherweight at 5lbs 14oz, 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 C-shaped profile carve with moderate shoulder, measuring .780” at the 1st fret and .865” at the 10th. The slab maple cap fretboard has a modern 9 1/2” radius, with black dot inlay and fretwire that has fractionally more meat than vintage equivalents. The frets still have good meat and well-rounded crowns, only displaying light wear under the plain strings on frets 1-10. The guitar plays comfortably in all registers with a straight neck and responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod. In accordance with the vintage short-scale Duo Sonics, the scale length measures 22 1/2” and the nut measures 1 5/8” in width. On the headstock, the tuners have been upgraded with a set of Schallers which turn smoothly and hold accurate, stable pitch.The electronics all work as intended, with the pickups wired to CTS pots for the Master Volume and Tone controls, along with a three-way pickup selector switch. Hardware includes the 3-saddle bridge, which has been upgraded to utilize a trio of compensated brass saddles for optimal intonation and top-end detail. The pickguard has been upgraded to a WD Pickguards custom three-ply white guard which displays some light scuffing along the picking path. The original knobs have been replaced with two Jaguar-style pointer knobs.While Duo Sonics offered from ‘93-’98 were only finished in Torino Red, White, and Black - this one has been refinished in a semi-gloss Desert Sand nitro lacquer. The finish shows a healthy bit of honest playwear, including a number of dings and scratches across the surface of the body, a patch of buckle rash at the waist on the back, and significant pickwear extending beyond the pickguard at the bass-side waist. The neck retains its smooth gloss finish, with a few small, shallow marks on the profile length.A Gator-branded gigbag is included.