Duo’Lectar

Overview

The Duo’Lectar is a twin-neck stringed instrument patented by American luthier David Douglas Bunker in the early 1960s. It places a bass neck and a guitar neck on a single body, with both designed to be sounded by the tapping (or “touching”) technique rather than by conventional plucking. A single player can therefore play independent bass and treble lines simultaneously, in the manner later popularised by tapping virtuosos.

Origin & History

Bunker began experimenting with touch-style playing in the 1950s, decades before two-handed tapping became widely associated with players such as Stanley Jordan and Emmett Chapman. The Duo’Lectar was patented in 1961 and represents one of the first serially produced instruments designed from the ground up around the tapping technique. Bunker continued to refine touch-style designs throughout his career, and his work influenced the lineage that includes the Bunker Touch Guitar and the Chapman Stick.

How It’s Played

The player straps the instrument vertically or near-vertical, with the bass neck on one side and the guitar neck on the other. Strings are sounded by hammering the fingertips onto the fretboard, which produces a clear note without picking. A muting system damps open string vibration so each tapped note rings cleanly. With both hands free across both necks, players can perform basslines, chords, and melodies as if at a piano keyboard.

Cultural Significance

Although it never achieved mass-market success, the Duo’Lectar is historically important as an early formal embodiment of touch-style guitar. It anticipated trends in extended-range and tapping instruments that became visible in rock and progressive music decades later.

Related Instruments

• Bunker Touch Guitar – Bunker’s later touch-style design
• Chapman Stick – the best-known modern tapping instrument
• Warr Guitar – a related multi-necked touch instrument
• Electric guitar – the wider family the Duo’Lectar evolved from
• Bass guitar – paired voice on the second neck

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Duo’Lectar still made?
It is rare and not in regular production; surviving examples are largely held by collectors and Bunker’s estate.

How is it different from a Chapman Stick?
Both are tapping instruments, but the Duo’Lectar uses two distinct guitar-style necks rather than a single wide fingerboard.

Image: Duo’Lectar (1961), photo by David Douglas Bunker, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).