The DuoLectar is a double-necked stringed instrument which has been designed to use a fretboard-tapping playing style. This type of instrument is meant to be touched or tapped, not strummed.

History

The DuoLectar was conceived, built, and played by Dave Bunker in 1955. At the suggestion of Irby Mandrell (father of country singer

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

), Bunker changed the tuning configuration of the lower neck to conform to a standard bass. It was introduced to a live, national TV audience on the

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...

, hosted by

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

and

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

, and then in 1960, Bunker demonstrated his double-necked instrument for the Portland Oregonian newspaper. The DuoLectar was later seen in headline shows at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas from 1964 through 1974. In 1985, Bunker developed a specialized electronic mute for the instrument, later patented, and this new configuration would become known as the

Bunker Touch Guitar The Bunker Touch Guitar is a double- necked touch guitar developed by Dave Bunker. Development Dave Bunker developed and patented the first double-necked tap/ touch-style guitar, which he called the Duo'Lectar. Bunker introduced this new in ...

Until guitarist Jimmie Webster first popularized his ''Illustrated Touch System'' in 1952, all guitars had been strummed. But with Webster's single-neck touch-style guitar and then Dave Bunker's headless, double-neck, DuoLectar touch guitar, these new instruments, while appearing similar to traditional strummed guitars, actually employed an innovative tapping technique. Because of its influence on the guitar industry, Seattle's EMP Museum (now called

Museum of Pop Culture The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...

) displays a DuoLectar guitar and features a video interview with Dave Bunker. Some contemporary artists have gone forward to utilize the tapping method with their own touch-style guitars, including

Emmett Chapman Emmett Chapman (September 28, 1936 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz musician best known as the inventor of the Chapman Stick and maker of the Chapman Stick family of instruments. Career Chapman started his career as a guitarist, recor ...

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

Stanley Jordan Stanley Jordan (born July 31, 1959) is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands. Music career Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, United St ...

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...

Markus Reuter Markus Reuter (born Lippstadt, Germany, 1972Markus Reuter official biography ...

, Chuck Churchman, and Sergio Santucci. Despite this, the touch guitar genre is still a small segment of the industry. Manufacturers that produce the specialized instruments include Bunker Guitars, Warr Guitars, and Mobius (Magatar).

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

VGuitar Forums

Dave Bunker and his electric "touch" guitars

Touchstyle method pioneers
String instruments Chordophones 1955 in music

History

See also

References

External links