The Long & Short Of It
A brief history of Fender’s often misunderstood short-scale classics…
Like the 60s Mustang, 70s Bronco and 80s Bullet models that Fender used to entice young guitarists over the years, the new Offset Series guitars can trace their ancestry back to the Duo‑Sonic – and single‑pickup Musicmaster – launched back in 1956. The mid‑50s witnessed the first electric guitar explosion and department stores and catalogue companies, such as Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck, were hoovering up business from rock ’n’ roll‑obsessed teens dotted across America. Never one to miss a trend, Leo Fender and crew came up with a short‑scale ‘baby Strat’ to snag some of the babysitting/ paper‑route money that was floating around.
The twin single‑coil Duo‑Sonic was launched in mid‑1956. Designated as a ‘student model’, the Duo‑ Sonic featured a bolt‑on 572mm (22.5‑inch) short‑scale maple neck with simple electrics based around a master tone, master volume and a three‑way pickup selector toggle switch, while its single‑coil pickups were wired in series to provide a humbucking tone in the middle position. The guitar was only available in Fender’s Desert Sand finish, with a maple ’board and gold anodised pickguard until ’59, when a reboot offered a ‘maroonburst’ finish with a single‑ply white plastic scratchplate and a rosewood ’board.
Let’s be honest. Despite the fact that a 50s Duo‑Sonic in decent nick changes hands for at least a couple of grand these days, that short 572mm scale is not the stuff of lead‑guitar glory. Thumping out chords is pretty much all theses guitars are capable of. In the end, it took until 1964 for Fender to wise up and offer the new Duo‑Sonic II, a tasty wee beast that was shipped with either a 572mm (22.5‑inch) or 610mm (24‑inch) scale. Now things get interesting. You see, the Duo‑Sonic II wasn’t as close a relation to the original models as you would expect. No, it was actually a hardtail version of a new guitar in the Fender catalogue that would become infinitely more iconic. We’re talking about the vibrato‑loaded Mustang. Like the Mustang, the new Duo‑Sonic featured slider pickup on/off/out‑of‑ phase switches and an option of the now highly prized Dakota Red nitrocellulose finish.
The 610mm scale made the new models way more playable than the old Duo‑Sonics. That’s the same as the Fender Jaguar. So why are pre‑’64 Duo‑Sonics changing hands for daft money? Age is a factor. So what if you can’t buy an early 60s Strat; a Duo‑Sonic is still within reach. And Fender didn’t scrimp on the construction of the early guitars. While the collectors’ description of ‘baby Strats’ is pushing it a bit, the pre‑’64 Duo‑Sonics were built to the same standard as their full‑scale siblings. The early ’56 models were fashioned from ash before alder was substituted on the spec sheet: there was no attempt to keep the costs down. Inevitably, some early guitars have been harvested for their pickups, but a number have survived unscathed.
The ’64‑onwards Duo‑Sonics and Mustangs change hands for less money, but not by much. A decent DS will strip you of at least a grand, while an equivalent Mustang trades for around £1,500. Once‑affordable ‘kids’ guitars and subsequent ‘pawnshop prizes’, these guitars became popular with adults such as Kurt Cobain who liked the lightweight bodies, slim necks, indestructible build and cheap price. Jimi Hendrix played one – upside down, of course – during his pre‑ psychedelia R&B Chitlin’ Circuit days, while Rory Gallagher played a Duo‑Sonic/Musicmaster mongrel, with a 572mm scale, believe it or not – albeit tuned up one step. Experimental guitarist Adrian Belew – a man who played with King Crimson, Frank Zappa and David Bowie – is also a fan of the short‑scale Mustang. These are the vintage climbers of the future, still relatively affordable. But for how long? Prices are creeping up steadily and short‑scale geeks focus their attention on late 60s ‘competition stripe’ models and those rare mid‑60s models that came fitted with slab Indian rosewood fingerboards, something that boosts the value, if you can find one.
The new Fender Offset Series versions offer those on a budget the chance to enjoy the easy playability of the brand’s sought‑after short‑scale classics, and thanks to them confirming just how much fun the original guitars are, don’t expect the vintage prices to drop any time soon. Short is – perhaps – the new black.