Fender Esquire
| Fender Esquire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1949 (original run), 1951-1969 (second run), with reproductions available later |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Scale | 25.5" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Ash |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Originally had no separate fingerboard (frets were installed directly into one-piece maple neck). Later, separate maple boards, and then rosewood boards were available. |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | 1 Single-coil (some 1950 examples were equipped with 2 pickups) |
| Colors available | |
| Originally blonde | |
The Fender Esquire is a solid body electric guitar manufactured by Fender, and was the first "Spanish" style guitar sold by Fender, and debuted in 1950.[1] Shortly after its introduction a two-pickup version named the Broadcaster was introduced while the single pickup version retained the Esquire name, and The Gretsch Company at the time marketed a drum set under the 'Broadkaster' name, and at their request Fender dropped the Broadcaster name, eventually renaming it the 'Telecaster.' Although the one-pickup Esquire was manufactured first, it is now generally regarded as a variant of the more popular Telecaster.
Early development
The first prototype for the Esquire (and the later Telecaster) was completed by Leo Fender in the fall of 1949. The prototype shared with these guitars the now-familiar slab body shape with single cutaway to allow easier access to the upper frets. It likewise featured the distinctive combination bridge and pickup assembly, with a slanted pickup with individual pole pieces for each string, and three bridge saddles which allowed adjustment of string length in pairs and individual string height. The neck, like the first Esquires manufactured in 1950, was made from a single piece of maple without a truss rod. The neck was attached to the body with four screws and an anchor plate, unlike in traditional guitar construction, where a tenon on the neck is glued into the body. Unlike the Esquire, the neck was wider at the nut, and the head had 3 tuners on each side. The prototype differed from the later production guitars in several other respects: the body was made of pinewood, it was painted opaque white, its pickguard did not extend above the strings, it lacked a selector switch, and its volume and tone knobs were mounted on a slanted plate.[2] Like the production models, it had a removable pickup cover, but unlike the production models, the cover had straight sides.[3] The prototype had only one pickup, as did Esquires manufactured from 1951 onwards.
Over the winter of 1949/50, Fender refined the design. The neck width at the nut was narrowed, and the head modified to accommodate all six tuners on one side. A tone selector switch was added, and the controls were mounted on a plate parallel to the strings. The scratch plate was enlarged.[4] Around the spring of 1950, Fender had completed a neck pickup design, which was smaller than the lead pickup and was encased in a metal shielding cover.[1] However, this last feature was not to make it onto Fender's first commercially introduced guitar, as Fender's distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company (RTEC), had decided that it would be easier to sell the single pickup version of the guitar.[1]
The 1950 Esquire
The single pickup guitar was first manufactured in April 1950, and made its commercial debut as the Esquire in RTEC's Spring catalogue of that year.[1][5] While the guitar pictured in the catalogue was painted black and had a white scratch plate, most of the Esquires produced at the time were painted semi-transparent "butterscotch" blonde and had a black scratch plate. Unlike the pinewood prototype, the bodies (thinner than the Broadcaster's at 1.5", instead of 1.75") were made of solid ash.[1] The dual pickup version was first manufactured in June of that year. Neither version had a truss rod at that time, though in November, the dual pickup version acquired one and was renamed the Broadcaster.[5] Following objections from Gretsch who produced the "Broadkaster" drum kit, this name was dropped, and some guitars were shipped with only the "Fender" logo decal and no model name (commonly referred to these days as the "Nocaster.") until the name Telecaster was adopted. The guitar was designed as an electronic instrument with no acoustic manipulation of the tone. Rather the guitar's pickup was designed and placed to transmit the richest signal for later manipulation by the tone switch and other electronics.
The Esquire from 1951 to present
Following the renaming of the dual pickup Broadcaster, production and promotion of the single pickup Esquire was briefly discontinued. It was reintroduced with a truss rod in January 1951. The only external differences between these second generation Esquires and the Broadcasters and Telecasters of 1951 are the lack of a neck pickup, and the Esquire label on the head. Although the Esquire had only a single pickup, it retained the three-way switch of the two-pickup guitars. This switch modified the tone of the pickup by making it bassier in the forward position, while enabling use of the tone control knob in the middle position. With the switch in the rear position, these tone controls were bypassed entirely for a "hotter" lead tone.
Use of the Fender Esquire by several country musicians is popularly credited for the creation of one of the most distinctive and recognized sounds in American music history. In 1954 Luther Perkins played a slightly modified Esquire, recording the first Johnny Cash songs "Wide Open Road" and "Hey Porter". This guitar can also be heard on all records before "I Walk The Line", for which Luther played an Esquire. All through his career (which ended with his death in a house fire in 1968) Perkins used Esquires in Blonde, White, Black, Red and Sunburst colors. Even though he was given the new Jazzmaster and Jaguar guitars from Leo Fender personally, Luther Perkins always returned to the guitar that had made possible the creation of the legendary "Boom Chicka Boom Sound" that identified Johnny Cash's music.
Like the two-pickup guitar, these Esquires had a routing cavity in the neck pickup position. Thus, with the purchase of a neck pickup and replacement or modification of the pickguard, players could upgrade their instrument to a guitar identical to the Telecaster in every respect except for the model decal. Bruce Springsteen, for example, has long played an Esquire modified in this way. Springsteen has claimed that the guitar he is pictured with on the Born To Run album cover is, in fact, a hybrid of two guitars, a Telecaster body and Esquire neck. However, it is a first-generation Esquire with two pickup routs. The Esquires had Esquire pickguards to cover the neck pickup hole. His guitar has a neck pickup installed, but not connected. [6][7]
In 1966, Paul McCartney purchased a 1964 Fender Esquire model with a sunburst finish and rosewood fretboard: McCartney bought this guitar, a right-handed model which he restrung and played "upside-down," during the Revolver sessions. Also used on "Good Morning, Good Morning," "Helter Skelter", and "Maybe I'm Amazed," among other cuts from his solo career.
Jeff Beck used a 1954 Esquire with the Yardbirds to create the famous guitar parts on "Over Under Sideways Down", "Shapes of Things", "I'm a Man," and "Heart Full of Soul".[8] Beck bought it from the Walker Brothers guitarist John Maus while on tour with them. Mous had hand-shaved the body to be contoured like a Stratocaster. This guitar now belongs to pickup designer Seymour Duncan.
Syd Barrett, the original leader of Pink Floyd, was another prominent Esquire player. His successor David Gilmour, while not as prominent a user as Barrett, used an Esquire with an added pickup (as Springsteen did) on several songs, including "Dogs", "Run Like Hell" and his work on Paul McCartney's album Run Devil Run.[9]
On the single, "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, guitarist Michael Monarch played a single bridge pickup version of the Fender Esquire.
The initial rationale for reintroducing the single pickup Esquire in 1951 had been to offer a more affordable option for musicians who could not afford the two-pickup guitar. However, with the introduction of cheaper student models such as the Mustang, the more expensive Esquire became a less attractive option, and it was sold in smaller and smaller quantities. Consequently, Fender discontinued the Esquire in 1969.
In 1986, Fender Japan began producing the Esquire, based on the 1954 version. It featured threaded saddles and a white pickguard with either a butterscotch blonde or metallic red finish. Some people report that there was also a blackguard version, and a sunburst was also available. These Esquires were imported to the USA, and were incredible guitars in terms of fit and finish. The necks, in particular, were especially nice. Overall, many players prefer this era Esquire to the more recent Mexican-made reissues.
Fender currently offers several '50s Esquire reproductions in their online catalogue. The company considers the Esquire to be a member of the "family of Telecaster guitars." These Esquires are part of the MIM (made in Mexico) series. The Fender Custom Shop also manufactures a 1959 Esquire reproduction as part of its "Time Machine" series, a model distinguished by its top-loading bridge design. It is also notable that the Avril Lavigne Telecaster sold under the Squier by Fender brand resembles an Esquire since it only has a single pickup.
See also
- Fender Telecaster
- List of Telecaster players (includes Esquire players)
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 (Duchossoir 1991, p. 11).
- ↑ (Duchossoir 1991, pp. 8–11).
- ↑ (Duchossoir 1991, p. 35).
- ↑ (Duchossoir 1991, p. 8).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 (Bacon & Day 1998, p. 18).
- ↑ (Bacon 2005, pp. 79, 81)
- ↑ Ten Terrific Telecaster Guitars
- ↑ "Legendary Guitar: Jeff Beck’s 1954 Yardbirds Esquire".
- ↑ A closer look at Gilmour's 1955 Fender Esquire
References
- Bacon, Tony (2005), Six Decades of the Fender Telecaster: The story of the world's first solidbody electric guitar, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-856-7.
- Bacon, Tony; Day, Paul (1998), The Fender Book: A complete history of Fender electric guitars (2nd ed.), Balafon Books, ISBN 0-87930-554-1.
- Duchossoir, A.R. (1991), The Fender Telecaster: The Detailed Story of America's Senior Solid Body Electric Guitar, Hal Leonard Publishing Co., ISBN 0-7935-0860-6.
External links
- Current Esquire Classic, with some history.
- Index of current Esquire models.
- Fender Esquire resource site
- Ten Terrific Telecasters at Fender UK has descriptions of the very first Esquire/Telecaster prototype guitar, and of Springsteen's upgraded Esquire (Archived version accessed 18 October 2006).
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