The “Duo” in the name of Vega’s Duo-Tron models referred to it’s dual capability – it could be played as an acoustic or as an electric – thanks to it’s “floating” pickup.

The concept of a pickup suspended off the top of the guitar wasn’t new in the late 1940s, but Vega did one-up DeArmond, Gibson, and other makers of add-on pickups by offering the Duo-Tron with two and even three floating pickups (the E-400 and E-500, respectively). Vega’s tailpiece-mounted controls were also unique.

Based in Boston, Vega was a well-known name in the banjo world, starting in the classical banjo era of the 1890s and continuing through the Jazz Age of the 1920s and on into the folk era of the 1960s, but like most of the great banjo makers (Epiphone being a notable exception), Vega was never quite able to make a successful transition to guitars.

Vega touted the Duo-Tron as “the finest guitar built in America or the world over today”, but few guitarists ventured to find out if the claim was true.