A 1965 Fender Duo-Sonic that was owned by the late British blues guitar pioneer Peter Green is heading to auction.
The former Bluesbreaker Fleetwood Mac founder might be more associated with his famous “Greeny” Les Paul Standard, which he sold to Gary Moore and now is a hard-working instrument in Kirk Hammett of Metallica’s collection. He played Fender Telecasters and Strats during his latter solo years, too. But this isn’t just some old electric guitar that Green kept around the house to noodle on.
According to Guitar Auctions at Gardiner Houlgate, who is hosting the auction, this has seen some action at what was a pivotal time in his career. It was toward the tail end of the ‘70s that the Duo-Sonic got played.
Green used this Duo-Sonic to track his 1979 sophomore solo album, In The Skies. Recorded in autumn 1977, it marked Green’s long-awaited return after issues with drug abuse and mental health saw him fade from the limelight for most of the ‘70s.
It was also used on its follow up, Little Dreamer, on which Green played lead, Ronnie Johnson played rhythm, and Green’s brother, Mike, did most of the songwriting.
If you own those albums, you’ve heard this Fender short-scale offset in action. If not, Gardiner Houlgate got Jack Kendrew to put it through its paces in a demo video [below], and it sounds incredible.
That this Duo-Sonic sounds majestic and celestial is not just down to the guitar. Kendrew is the player doing great work on the strings, and the guitar is going through a hand-wired Hamstead Artist 60 RT and a Universal Audio Ox Box set to a clone of a Two Rock speaker cabinet. Nonetheless, it is still a reminder of just how much mojo these compact electrics have. And just look at the checking on the finish.
Jimi Hendrix was known to have rocked a Duo-Sonic back in the day. John Lennon played a 1963 Duo-Sonic that was sold not that long ago for £29,000. Pricy for what was ostensibly a student model but then it was owned by a Beatle.
Green’s model is a Duo-Sonic II, which featured a number of revisions from the model Lennon had.
The three-way toggle switch was replaced by a pair of slider switches for each single-coil pickup, allowing for the out-of-phase sounds that Green popularised with his Greeny Les Paul, while the output jack, control knobs for volume and tone are all mounted on a metal plate. It is not clear whether Green's Duo-Sonic had the updated 24" scale or the traditional 22.5" found on the first Duo-Sonics.
Green’s Duo-Sonic goes under the hammer on 3 September and it will be in illustrious company, with a super rare TV Yellow Gibson SG, formerly owned by fellow British blues great Gary Moore, also included in the auction.
And there's a treat for Johnny Marr fans, too. Johnny Marr’s entire rig during his stint with the The is also available, and comprises an EMG-loaded Fender AVRI Strat, with Marr’s signature on the back of the headstock, and his Mesa/Boogie rig. This, being the ‘80s, featured a Stereo Simul-Class 295 power amp, and a pair of rackmountable Quad and Studio preamps.
See Gardiner Houlgate for more details.
