Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by rexter » Fri May 15, 2020 4:59 am

Yeah they are definitely made with a conversion neck. The neck pocket goes really deep into the body compared with a standard Mustang etc. Also long intonation screws on the bridge help. To improve the tuning on the original I found all I had to do was change tuners and use at least 10 gauge strings. Wish I still had the original neck!

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by HedonismBot » Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:21 am

I picked up a '97 Duo Sonic from a local pawn shop a couple months ago (black, just like in the post above). Having a blast playing it. But... depending on how hard I strum, I get this annoying buzz every now and then. It seems to be coming from the bridge area around G and B strings. I adjusted the truss rod and the saddles and it seems to be better now but it's still there. I'm pretty sure its not the frets (every string sounds nice and clean on every fret when tested individually). At this point, I'm not sure if have much room to raise the saddles any higher and I'm happy with the action as it is right now. Not sure if I want to replace the bridge either. Is there anything I can do to make the buzz go away or should I just leave it alone (it's nothing extreme, really, I think I can live with it)?

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by MKR » Sat Jan 02, 2021 8:41 am

HedonismBot wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:21 am
I picked up a '97 Duo Sonic from a local pawn shop a couple months ago (black, just like in the post above). Having a blast playing it. But... depending on how hard I strum, I get this annoying buzz every now and then. It seems to be coming from the bridge area around G and B strings. I adjusted the truss rod and the saddles and it seems to be better now but it's still there. I'm pretty sure its not the frets (every string sounds nice and clean on every fret when tested individually). At this point, I'm not sure if have much room to raise the saddles any higher and I'm happy with the action as it is right now. Not sure if I want to replace the bridge either. Is there anything I can do to make the buzz go away or should I just leave it alone (it's nothing extreme, really, I think I can live with it)?
does it only happen when you play either the g or b strings?

to start i would give all the screws a check to make sure nothing is loose. Also if you suspect the saddle on the bridge dry to touch the saddle screws with your fingers when you play those strings open... see if that makes the buzz go away.

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by BillClay » Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:59 pm

Apologies for hijacking but while people are talking about the 90s duosonics again I wanted to know if anyone has pictures or even just a description of what the pickups in these guitars look like? I've got a 90s duosonic with mismatched pickups and I'm not sure which(if either) is original to the guitar. They're both strat style pickups but one has a single magnet that completely covers the bottom of the pickup and the other has two bar magnets that and the pole pieces can be seen between them. Does anybody's guitar have a pair of pickups matching either description?

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by HedonismBot » Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:08 am

MKR wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 8:41 am
does it only happen when you play either the g or b strings?

to start i would give all the screws a check to make sure nothing is loose. Also if you suspect the saddle on the bridge dry to touch the saddle screws with your fingers when you play those strings open... see if that makes the buzz go away.
Yes, mostly G. The saddle screws seem to be stable. It just occurred to me that the problem may be caused by the middle saddle being slanted diagonally more than the other two (for intonation reasons). Maybe I can sacrifice the intonation to some extent and decrease the angle a little bit. I have a feeling that the string may be hitting the side of the slot in the saddle.
Last edited by HedonismBot on Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by HedonismBot » Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:24 am

BillClay wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:59 pm
Apologies for hijacking but while people are talking about the 90s duosonics again I wanted to know if anyone has pictures or even just a description of what the pickups in these guitars look like? I've got a 90s duosonic with mismatched pickups and I'm not sure which(if either) is original to the guitar. They're both strat style pickups but one has a single magnet that completely covers the bottom of the pickup and the other has two bar magnets that and the pole pieces can be seen between them. Does anybody's guitar have a pair of pickups matching either description?

You might want to check this thread out: viewtopic.php?t=93111

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by MKR » Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:03 am

HedonismBot wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:08 am
MKR wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 8:41 am
does it only happen when you play either the g or b strings?

to start i would give all the screws a check to make sure nothing is loose. Also if you suspect the saddle on the bridge dry to touch the saddle screws with your fingers when you play those strings open... see if that makes the buzz go away.
Yes, mostly G. The saddle screws seem to be stable. It just occurred to me that the problem may be caused by the middle saddle being slanted diagonally more than the other two (for intonation reasons). Maybe I can sacrifice the intonation to some extent and decrease the angle a little bit. I have a feeling that the string may be hitting the side of the slot in the saddle.
an easy and cheap attempt at getting rid of the problem would just be to buy some inexpensive tele type saddles on ebay or something and swap them in. pretty much any three saddle types will do. I have used brass ones intended for a tele in the past. they should all fit.

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by BillClay » Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:45 am

HedonismBot wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:24 am
BillClay wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:59 pm
Apologies for hijacking but while people are talking about the 90s duosonics again I wanted to know if anyone has pictures or even just a description of what the pickups in these guitars look like? I've got a 90s duosonic with mismatched pickups and I'm not sure which(if either) is original to the guitar. They're both strat style pickups but one has a single magnet that completely covers the bottom of the pickup and the other has two bar magnets that and the pole pieces can be seen between them. Does anybody's guitar have a pair of pickups matching either description?

You might want to check this thread out: viewtopic.php?t=93111
Thanks! In that thread, they say they think they're pretty much Texas specials but the price point of Texas specials and looking at pictures of the construction compared to what is in my guitar doesn't seem to jive. TEX-MEX Fender pickups on the other hand, do make sense and have the same double bar magnet as what I have in my duo's neck so I'm going to assume that's what they meant.
Thanks again, if anybody does open up their duo and grabs a pic or a description then we'll probably know for sure.

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by BillClay » Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:59 am

Oof my bad, upon closer examination it looks like the Tex mex doesn't match the construction of either of my duo's pickups after all. Neither does the Texas special. I guess it's possible that both pickups in mine were replaced but I'd still be interested in any firsthand accounts from anyone who has or will be getting a look under the hood of their duosonic

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by HedonismBot » Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:10 am

MKR wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:03 am
an easy and cheap attempt at getting rid of the problem would just be to buy some inexpensive tele type saddles on ebay or something and swap them in. pretty much any three saddle types will do. I have used brass ones intended for a tele in the past. they should all fit.
This may be worth a shot. Thank you for your advice!

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by mikejmeehan » Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:43 pm

Hi, just on here because I really haven’t had much luck on my 93/94 Duo Sonic. Mine, pictured, has the original scale length. Playing these new rubbish Duo Sonics is like a bad dream-unplayably shrill pickups and the scale length just doesn’t separate them enough from Mustangs- even though my Mustang is favourite guitar. Fender have obviously just slapped ‘Duo Sonic’ on the headstock of a Mustang neck and...ta-da!!! Anyway, rant aside, can anyone direct me to more info on the original reissues?

And, for the record, no, I didn’t give my Duo Sonic its ‘character’. ;D That’s how I bought it, about 12 years ago. I could never bring myself to do that too a guitar. That said, it oozes mojo and I love it. 🙂🙂. Thanks. Mike

Edit: ummm how do you attach photos in here? Thanks!

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by MKR » Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:05 pm

mikejmeehan wrote:
Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:43 pm
Hi, just on here because I really haven’t had much luck on my 93/94 Duo Sonic. Mine, pictured, has the original scale length. Playing these new rubbish Duo Sonics is like a bad dream-unplayably shrill pickups and the scale length just doesn’t separate them enough from Mustangs- even though my Mustang is favourite guitar. Fender have obviously just slapped ‘Duo Sonic’ on the headstock of a Mustang neck and...ta-da!!! Anyway, rant aside, can anyone direct me to more info on the original reissues?

And, for the record, no, I didn’t give my Duo Sonic its ‘character’. ;D That’s how I bought it, about 12 years ago. I could never bring myself to do that too a guitar. That said, it oozes mojo and I love it. 🙂🙂. Thanks. Mike

Edit: ummm how do you attach photos in here? Thanks!
upload a photo to a photo sharing website (i use flickr) and then copy the url of your photo and paste it where the * is in the following code: [ img]*[/img] press the icon that looks like a picture of a mountain and sun and that image code thing will show up in your post.

As for the 90s duo sonics, i guess the coles notes summary is that they were the cheapest model fender made during their production. nothing fancy about them, but the pickups sound good matched with the rest of the guitar's qualities. these are IMO very cool, quirky fender guitars. The tuners are shit though and need replacing. sort that pic out so we can see yours. :w00t:

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by HedonismBot » Wed Feb 10, 2021 7:40 am

HedonismBot wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:10 am
MKR wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:03 am
an easy and cheap attempt at getting rid of the problem would just be to buy some inexpensive tele type saddles on ebay or something and swap them in. pretty much any three saddle types will do. I have used brass ones intended for a tele in the past. they should all fit.
This may be worth a shot. Thank you for your advice!
Changed the saddles last night without much success. The screws in the new compensated saddles are a bit shorter than in the original ones so the action is a little lower now. I tried shimming the neck to make it a bit higher just in case but the G string still buzzes. I don’t think that the frets or the nut are causing this issue (there seems to be a little gap between the string and the fret next to whichever one I’m pressing on and there’s no buzz at all on the open string). I guess my next step will be to change the strings and, if that doesn’t help, take it in for a fret leveling, maybe. I can’t see any high frets with my bare eye, though. Any other tips?

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by HedonismBot » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:56 pm

Replaced the strings with 12s and set it up all over again. It seems to be better now so I'll leave it alone before the perfectionist in me takes over)

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Re: Fender Duo-sonic MIM 93-97 Owners. HELP!

Post by MKR » Sun Feb 21, 2021 5:56 pm

yeah it's obviously super tough to diagnose based on what you're saying. Could be so many things... i have had tuners cause weird subtle buzzing on an old danelectro.

good luck with it.

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