If it sounds like we're typecasting this guitar then rest assured the Duo-Sonic is versatile enough to handle country picking, surf, indie, classic rock, whatever. A clean setting here echoes the clattering rhythm voice of the song's intro while a fuzz box unleashes a racket not unlike the heavy sound Kurt craved. If we had to use a song to describe the tonal range of the bridge pickup, we'll have Smells Like Teen Spirit, please. That clarity is further boosted when you coil-split the bridge 'bucker. So, while this guitar's pickups sound fat, there's maximum note separation, no matter how thick the filth is. Tonally, its scale retains some of the brightness and bottom-end twang of a Strat and Tele, especially if you use 0.010 or higher gauge strings, yet you also get a chunkier rhythm sound.

Dropping the scale length from the 648mm (25.5 inches) found on Fender's Strat and Tele models doesn't just make the Duo-Sonic's strings a bit easier to bend. There is another important factor at play here. So, the Duo-Sonic HS is pretty close to what Kurt was into. He also tweaked his 'Stang vibratos to make 'em hardtails. Kurt liked to modify his guitars, hence his humbucker-boosted short-scale 'signature' Jag-Stang, Mustang and Jaguar models.

While Jimi Hendrix played a Duo-Sonic early in his career, it was Nirvana's Kurt Cobain that sparked the huge interest in Fender student models when he thrashed his way through a bunch of vintage Mustangs in the early 90s. Straight from the box, it impresses with a low, buzz and choke-free action via its slim C neck profile, fat frets and factory-fitted 0.010 to 0.046 gauge strings. Oh, and it doesn't matter what size your hands are. Before we plug in, we have to say, we've encountered guitars at more than twice the price that don't play anywhere near as well as this thing does.

Fender duo sonic