| Fender Esquire | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1950 (original run), 1951-1969 (second run), with reproductions available later |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Bolt-on |
| Scale | 25. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the 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 guitar sold by Fender in 1950. A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar A single coil pickup is a type of magnetic Transducer for the Electric guitar and the electric bass. An electric guitar is a type of Guitar that uses pickups to convert the vibration of its steel-cored strings into an electrical current which is made louder Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the [1] Shortly after its introduction, the two-pickup version of the Esquire was first renamed Broadcaster, and then Telecaster, while the one-pickup version retained the Esquire name. The Fender Telecaster, also known as the Tele (pronounced Telly is typically a dual-pickup solid-body Electric guitar made by Fender. Although the one-pickup Esquire was manufactured first, it is now generally regarded as a variant of the more popular Telecaster.
Contents |
Early development
The first prototype for the Esquire (and the later Telecaster) was completed by Leo Fender in the fall of 1949. Clarence Leonidas Fender ( August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991) also known as Leo Fender, was an American inventor who The prototype shared with these guitars the now-familiar slab body shape with single cutaway to allow easier access to the upper frets. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles 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. A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a Stringed instrument and transmitting the Vibration of those strings to some other structural component A pickup device acts as a Transducer that captures mechanical vibrations (usually from suitably equipped Stringed instruments such as the Electric guitar The neck, like the first Esquires manufactured in 1950, was made from a single piece of maple without a truss rod. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles 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. Simple and strong the mortise and tenon joint has been used for millennia by Woodworkers around the world to join pieces of Wood, usually when the pieces Unlike the Esquire, the neck was wider at the nut, and the head had 3 tuners on each side. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The prototype differed from the later production guitars in several other respects: the body was made of pinewood, it was painted opaque white, its scratch plate covered the lower bout only, it lacked a selector switch, and its volume and tone knobs were mounted on a slanted plate. This article is about the tree For other uses of the term "pine" see Pine (disambiguation. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles [2] Like the production models, it had a removable pickup cover, but unlike on the production models, the cover had straight sides. [3] Like all Esquires manufactured from 1951 onwards, the prototype had only one pickup.
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 of 1950, and made its commercial debut as the Esquire in RTEC's Spring catalogue of that year. [5] [1] 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. An ash can be any of four different tree genera from four very distinct families; most commonly in a combined form (e [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 a similarly-named drum kit, this name was dropped, and some guitars were shipped without names until the name Telecaster was adopted. Gretsch is a US Musical instrument manufacturer currently being distributed by Guitar company Fender and Drum craft company These unlabelled instruments are now referred to as Nocasters.
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 of 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.
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 scratchplate, 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. (Some people may find it worth noting that Bruce Springsteen, in an interview on a DVD that comes with the 30th Anniversary reissue of his 1975 album "Born To Run", has claimed that the guitar he is pictured with on the album cover is, in fact, a hybrid of two guitars. The body, according to Springsteen, came from a Telecaster and the neck came from an Esquire. )[6] [7] These modified Esquires are not to be confused with the first generation two-pickup Esquires, which left the factory with two pickups, and did not have a truss rod.
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, where it was used on the guitar solo of "Taxman. Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942 is an English rock Singer, Bass guitarist songwriter Composer, " Also used on "Good Morning, Good Morning," "Helter Skelter" and "Maybe I'm Amazed," among other cuts from his solo career.
Syd Barrett, the original leader of Pink Floyd, was another prominent Esquire player. Syd Barrett (born Roger Keith Barrett; 6 January 1946 - 7 July 2006 was an English singer songwriter guitarist and artist Pink Floyd are 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. David Jon Gilmour CBE (born 6 March 1946 is an English Musician, best known as the Lead guitarist one of the lead Singers " Run Like Hell " is a song on the Pink Floyd album The Wall. Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942 is an English rock Singer, Bass guitarist songwriter Composer, Run Devil Run is a 1999 Paul McCartney album that features covers of both familiar and obscure 1950's Rock and roll songs along with three new McCartney [8]On the single, "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, guitarist Michael Monarch played a single bridge pickup version of the Fender Esquire. " Born to Be Wild " is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the American rock band Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is a rock band that helped establish Heavy metal music in the late 1960s along with bands like Blue Cheer and Iron Butterfly Michael Monarch (born on July 5, 1950 in Los Angeles, California) is an American Guitarist.
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. The Fender Mustang is an Electric guitar by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's 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 a butterscotch blonde 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.
See also
- Fender Telecaster
- List of Telecaster players (includes Esquire players)
Citations
- ^ a b c d e (Duchossoir 1991, p. The Fender Telecaster, also known as the Tele (pronounced Telly is typically a dual-pickup solid-body Electric guitar made by Fender. 11).
- ^ (Duchossoir 1991, pp. 8-11).
- ^ (Duchossoir 1991, p. 35).
- ^ (Duchossoir 1991, p. 8).
- ^ a b (Bacon & Day 1998, p. 18).
- ^ (Bacon 2005, p. 79, 81)
- ^ Ten Terrific Telecaster Guitars, from the Fender UK website (Archived version accessed 18 October 2006).
- ^ 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 & Paul Day (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. Hal Leonard Corporation is a US music publishing company headquartered in Milwaukee WI , ISBN 0-7935-0860-6.
External links
- Current Esquire Classic, with some history.
- Index of current Esquire models.
- 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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