Short Scale Guitars » tremolo

Fender Duosonic II

Frank — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 10:41:43 +0000

The Duosonic II was released by Fender in August of 1964, during the transitional period where the company was changing hands from Leo Fender to the CBS corporation. It was a companion to the new Mustang model that was released at the same time. The intention was the the Duosonic II would be an economy model of the Mustang so it was designed for student and budget guitarists. The main difference between the two guitars was that the Duosonic II did not share the rather impractical Mustang tremolo. Instead, it had a fixed bridge.

Originally the Duo-sonic II was offered in both the 22.5 inch and 24 inch scale. Over time, the 24 inch model proved more popular and the shorter scale length became rather rare. Also, as was the case with other Fender guitars of the transitional and early CBS periods, the headstock became larger, the logo was changed and a veneer, rather than slab, fretboard was used. The veneer fretboard was a cost saving move by the company since it required less materials and fewer manufacturing steps.

The Duosonic II guitars were available with three different body finishes: Dakota Red, Olympic White, and Daphne Blue. You may encounter other colors as well such as black or sunburst but these are typically refinish jobs and not original. Rumors of factory custom color jobs have been around but, from what I understand these can’t be proven.

Fender discontinued the Duo-Sonic II in 1969 after a production run of five years. Under CBS management, cost cutting became paramount and they trimmed the product line down to the bare bones. Many also say that their cost cutting also cut the quality of the guitars. From my experience, transitional and early CBS models are still well made and can often be purchased for much less than comparable pre-CBS models just a year or so older. CBS Fender models after around 1968 do show a reduction in quality in my estimation but you can still find some real gems from this time period as well.

The Fender Duosonic II has been growing in collector value due to its rarity as well as player demand. Many guitar players have come to prefer the fixed bridge Duo-Sonic II to it’s cousin, the Fender Mustang. Many players find the tremolo bridge of the Mustang troublesome and difficult to maintain. Ironically the lack of a tremolo bridge is probably what sunk the Duo-sonic II during its original production run. Collectors, having snapped up most pre-CBS Fender guitars, appreciate the lower costs of the CBS era guitars and hope that the price will rise to the same levels over time.

Fender Mustang

Frank — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:37:23 +0000

The Fender Mustang was introduced in 1964 as part of a redesign of Fender’s student guitar line. The basic idea was to add in things like a tremolo bridge and advanced pickup switching to the revamped Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. The Mustang was perhaps the most successful of this line, staying in production from 1964 until 1982 and then being reissued early during Fender’s resurgence in the early 1990’s. Originally popular with 60’s surf bands, the guitar remained popular with punk and other alternative rock music styles for decades, reaching its pinnacle when Nirvana guitarist and singer Kurt Cobain selected it as his primary guitar. Also, collectors consider it the most valuable of the short scale Fender guitars.

The Mustang, like the Duosonic II and Musicmaster II, was available in both 22.5 inch and 24 inch scale length necks. Over time, the 24 inch neck became the more popular choice and is the length most commonly found today. The shorter length is considered somewhat of a collectors item.

The Mustang has been available in a wide range of colors over the years including: Sunburst, Candy Apple Red, Sonic Blue, Vintage White, Blonde, Black, Brown, Olympic White, Daphne Blue, Fiesta Red, Lake Placid Blue, Dakota Red, Surf Green, Competition Red, Competition Orange and Competition Blue. This is in contrast to other Fender student guitars that have been issued only with a few basic colors.

Like the Duo-sonic, the Mustang has two single coil pickups and master volume and tone knobs, typically 250K ones. However, the switching system is a bit different. Instead of a single switch, the Mustang has three way (on-off-on) switches for each pickup. The two different on positions select the phase of their pickup which allows the pickups to be either in phase or out of phase with each other. This allows for more tonal variety. Given the generous common body rout, many electronics savvy players opted to make other modifications to this guitars electronics.

The Mustang floating tremolo bridge, called the Fender Dynamic Vibrato, has been a problem child from its inception. Unlike the synchronized tremolo system used on the Stratocaster, the Mustang trem is more difficult to setup and more difficult to use while staying in tune. Some players prefer to lock the bridge down as best they can while others have attempted full replacements. For example, Kurt Cobain used a Gibson style tailpiece on his personal guitars, although Fender did not include this change on production models that are associated with him such as the Jagstang. Other players, however, have gotten used to this trem and, with the help of the short scale length, are able to pull off some really cool surf sounds with it.

In 1968 Fender released the Competition Mustang with a racing stripe paint job including a painted headstock. This modification has proven popular and has been reissued three times, twice in Japan, known as either Made in Japan (MIJ) or Crafted in Japan (CIJ) and once by Fender’s Mexican factory (MIM). According to various sources, very few, if any Competition Mustangs were made in the shorter 22.5 inch scale length. While the shorter length continued to be listed in the Fender catalog for several years, there weren’t any productions runs of it.

Regular Mustangs have also been reissued in various Fender and Squier product lines fairly often since the early 1990’s due to the popularity of the model with alternative rockers. If you’re considering purchasing one, make sure you know what you’re buying because the quality can vary and there are ‘frankenstein’ guitars out there that have been assembled from various parts.

Gibson Melody Maker

Frank — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:16:52 +0000

The Gibson Melody Maker, which was introduced in 1959, was Gibson’s answer to the problem of competing against Fender and other guitar companies for the lower end, budget and student, guitar market. Gibson had been primarily known for making higher end guitars, such as the Les Paul and ES semi-hollows. They needed a cheap guitar to round out their product line, a Gibson guitar that just about anyone could afford.

Gibson produced a large number of these guitars and, as you might guess, they were cheap to make. The original body style was a lot like the Les Paul Junior, a single cutaway slab. However, the body used was slightly thinner at 1 3/8 inches. The guitar was front routed with a plastic pickguard holding the pickup and knobs (volume and tone). The common paint job was dark sunburst finish although there is some indications/rumors that custom colors were available during this time.

The original scale length was also like the LP Jr. and regular LP 24 3/4 inches. While this isn’t ’short scale’ they did make a 3/4 scale model, intended primarily for kids, that was a very short 18.5 inches. Other than the scale length being shorter, the rest of the guitar was the same. The neck featured inexpensive dot inlays.

The original Melody Maker had one single coil pickup in the bridge position. This pickup wasn’t a P90, like on the LP Jr., but a cheaper, less powerful, single coil. During the second production year, 1960, a 2 pickup model was added while the pickups were made slightly smaller and less powerful.

Hardware-wise, the Melody Maker had a wraparound tailpiece and standard Gibson tuning pegs. The wraparound tailpiece is notorious for causing intonation problems and was often replaced by experienced players. Also, a version of the Vibrola vibrato/tremolo bridge was available as an extra cost option.

In 1962, when Gibson was revamping their product line, the Melody Maker was changed from the LP Jr. style body to the SG double cutaway style body. It remained available in both 1 and 2 pickup versions and the 3/4 short scale version was also made available in this new design. Also, a new cherry finish was added to the production models at this time, matching the new SG finish.

In 1966, the Melody Maker saw some attempts to upscale it some. The pickup covers and pickguard were switched to the more popular at the time white and fire engine red and pelham blue finishes were made available. Also, a 3 pickup version was introduced that was called the Melody Maker III. In 1967, a 12 string version was made as well. In 1970, a walnut finish was added.

In 1971, the original Melody Maker line ended, being replaced with new SG models.

Between 1977 and 1983, Gibson did a reissue of the SG style double cutaway version of the Melody Maker. This model featured updated hardware, such as the Tune-O-Matic bridge, and a slightly different pickup. A number of punk band guitarists of the day liked this guitar due to its brash tone and it not being like the typical MTV hair metal guitars of the day.

In 1986, Gibson did another Melody Maker reissue, this time with the classic single cutaway body. However, unlike the original, this guitar had a single humbucker, a P94, along with updated hardware. This reissue was discontinued two years later in 1988.

In the 1990’s and 2000’s there have been a couple of guitars based roughly on the Melody Maker although they’ve strayed somewhat from the original. These include the Gibson All American II, which was available in the mid-90’s and the very limited run Les Paul Melody Maker seen in the mid-00’s.

In 2007, we got an actual Melody Maker reissue with something close to the original smaller single coil pickup and the classic wraparound bridge/tailpiece. A 2 pickup version was available for about a year but was discontinued. As of this writing, the single bridge pickup version is available through retail channels.

In 2008, Gibson released a Joan Jett signature model of the Melody Maker. It has a Burstbucker 3 pickup, an ebony fretboard and a double cutaway style body. It has a kill switch in place of the pickup selector.

Other artists known to use the Melody Maker from time to time include Mick Jones of The Clash, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. The attraction of the Melody Maker is that it has a comfortable feel and is a good way to get a single coil sound without having to switch to a longer scale Fender guitar.

While it’s not technically a short scale guitar, except for the long discontinued 3/4 model, I wanted to include the Melody Maker here for completeness sake. After all, 18.5 inches is one of the shortest production guitars made by one of the major manufacturers.