Duo'Lectar
# Duo'Lectar

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), 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, hosted by Eddy Arnold and Red Foley, 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.

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) 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, Eddie Van Halen, Stanley Jordan, Steve Vai, Jeff Healey, Markus Reuter, 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).

