Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

soundmasterg wrote:Nice guitar! Hope it plays well?

Are you interested in a vintage one?

I'm going to be selling a 1957 Duo Sonic for the original owner soon. It has the gold anodized pickguard in perfect shape, is all original except for the tuners (they are in a baggie and the replacements are vintage correct so no new holes had to be drilled), it comes with the original case, original strap, original pickups, etc. It sounds very nice, and fretwear for something so old is minimal. I'd love to keep it for myself but don't have the money. I see them go anywhere from around $1300 to $1800 on ebay for something this nice. If you're interested I can provide pics. Send me a PM.

Greg

PM sent

Emails sent.

Greg

soundmasterg wrote:Emails sent.

Greg

Reply sent.

Duo-Sonic recieved,thanks Greg!

Congratulations, Mitch. glad it worked out.

WOW! Love those early Duo Sonics and they can still be had for a pittance.

Looks great Mitch, and you're welcome. Enjoy it!

You found the keys to the case in the baggie with the original tuners right?

Btw that strap is original also. I've never seen one in such nice shape after all these years!

Greg

P.S. Gonna miss that neck and those pickups on that thing......AAA+++.

Damn Mitch! Hard to believe that guitar is 52 years old, it's immaculate.

Nice score.

Thanks!My friend Tomo told me that the Duo-Sonic would sound better with the original Kluson tuners installed.I am not sure why.But I am going to have new buttons put on the original tuners and try it.



This is Tomo with is 1957 Duo-Sonic

Bummer about the tuner buttons being smashed.

I am all for original parts though, at least keeping the original tuners on it wil be cool. You should replace only the broken buttons, leave the good ones!

collin wrote:Bummer about the tuner buttons being smashed.

I am all for original parts though, at least keeping the original tuners on it wil be cool. You should replace only the broken buttons, leave the good ones!

Well the problem is that even the good ones are crumbling,so if I tried to turn them they would shatter like the others.Here is some info I got from a webpage about vintage Kluson tuners (they were referring specifically to tuners on Gibson guitars but the same holds true for other tuners made by Kluson):

"The Incredible Shrinking Buttons
One of the interesting things about the tuning buttons is that certain years appear to have had batches which had a slightly different chemical formula for the plastic the buttons were cast from. These start appearing on 1959 guitars. Something funny in the plastic has these buttons age less 'gracefully' than the buttons before or after. As the chemical mixture deteriorated, the buttons became a dark, reddish-brown, shrank, and got very crystalline and flaky. The deterioration can get so bad that the button reaches a point where it will literally crumble in your fingers as you attempt to tune the guitar.

There are a number of different methods that various technicians use to attempt to preserve the crumbling buttons. Some are more successful than others. This page won't go into any of them. Dr. Vintage advocates removing the crumbling tuners and carefully storing them, and buying a replacement set from a vintage parts dealer, or using modern reproductions - this way the guitar is playable, and the original parts can be saved without risking further damage."





However,on further reflection,I think I am not going to put new buttons on the original tuners.I will follow the advice of Dr Vintage.

That's too bad. I've got the double line Klusons on my 430 and the plastic is in great condition.

I think I can buy a set of originals like your for about $200.Think it is worth it to be more authenti'que? Why would original Klusons make the guitar sound better(as my friend Tomo says)than repro Klusons?

I don't really believe they sound better, not 200 bucks worth. It's hard to imagine how they could, but I'm willing to be shown up. I think their desirability is based on scarcity and cool looks.

kiramdear wrote:I don't really believe they sound better, not 200 bucks worth. It's hard to imagine how they could, but I'm willing to be shown up. I think their desirability is based on scarcity and cool looks.

Yeah,I am not gonna buy the originals i saw now,they are the wrong ones anyway.Well,three of them are the same as the originals from the Duo-Sonic and the other 3 are different and are from a guitar with 3 on a side tuners like your Rick.