If you mention the words Fender and Esquire, most guitarists these days will picture a Telecaster-style guitar with no neck pickup. Fender’s Esquire model actually predated the Telecaster, and indeed the Broadcaster, having first been produced in the spring of 1950.
Although a single bridge pickup was standard, Fender soon began offering a two-pickup ‘double Esquire’ version for a modest upcharge.
Some Esquires were also returned to the factory to have neck pickups installed, and others were converted by owners themselves – often years later. Fender paused Esquire production between late summer 1950 and January 1951, offering only a two-pickup model newly dubbed the Broadcaster. When Esquire production eventually resumed, it became Fender’s official single-pickup single-cutaway option – and things have remained that way ever since.
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Single-pickup guitars were nothing new when the Esquire was released, but most were lap steel or jazzbox-style instruments with the pickup in the neck position. Paul Bigsby was clearly an influence on Leo Fender and during the 1940s he made a single-bridge-pickup guitar for Merle Travis.
Merle’s guitar had what appears to be a three-way selector switch that operated in line with the strings and three control knobs. Leo Fender’s approach was similar and was a laudable attempt to provide Esquire players with instant access to three distinctive preset tones. We’ll discuss those settings later on.
It’s hard to identify any big-name players who have used a single-pickup Esquire throughout their careers. The likes of Steve Cropper, Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons have all played them at some point, but they graduated to Telecasters and other models. Bruce Springsteen’s Esquire already had a neck pickup fitted when he bought it, and there’s no evidence to suggest he ever changed it back.
Toto Gesture
Although better known for playing his Rosanna ’Burst and his more recent affiliation with Music Man, session ace and Toto founding member Steve Lukather also owned and played a 1951 Esquire for decades.
In an interview with Vintage Guitar magazine, Steve revealed how he acquired the guitar in the late 70s: “I already had the Goldtop and ’Burst, and I began to look into other vintage guitars. The Esquire just fell into my lap; I paid 600 bucks for it.”
The Esquire became a studio staple for Steve and he recalled using it extensively on Toto IV
Steve was acting on the advice of his friend Paul ‘Jamo’ Jameson who persuaded him that collecting vintage guitars would be a sound long-term investment. “He actually hipped me to a lot of stuff,” he said. “Had I listened more than I did – because I thought paying a couple of grand for a guitar was insane back then – I would’ve bought everything.”
The Esquire became a studio staple for Steve and he recalled using it extensively on Toto IV. “Anything that sounds remotely like a Tele is that Esquire. It’s me doing my impression of Keith Richards.” He also used the Esquire on sessions with Joni Mitchell and Dolly Parton, and played it on Ringo Starr’s single Let’s Change The World.
When we contacted Steve, he seemed to have few regrets about selling it. “It was clean and sounded and played great,” he says, “but I was cleaning house and some guy offered me a shit ton of dollars for it and I said yes. Vintage gear is getting to the point where it’s so expensive, the crash will occur and values will drop so…”
French Connection
The Esquire now resides in Paris and is owned by Matthieu Lucas of Matt’s Guitar Shop. It’s in fairly remarkable condition for its age with the dirty yellow butterscotch lacquer that is so typical of Blackguards from this timeframe. The finish itself is semi-opaque and the ash body’s grain pattern is clear to see.
There are a few scratches and nicks on the surface, along with a small patch of buckle rash adjacent to the string ferrules, but the guitar certainly hasn’t endured decades of hard gigging in the honkytonks. While there is some finger wear on the fretboard, the lacquer on the back of the neck remains largely intact.
Fender began transitioning from flat-head to cross-head screws in 1951, and this Esquire has a mixture of both
Fender began transitioning from flat-head to cross-head screws in 1951, and this Esquire has a mixture of both. The neck, bridge and control screws are all cross-heads, but the pickup, pickguard and switch screws are flat-heads.
David Davidson of Well Strung Guitars in New York had the opportunity to examine the guitar and told us that there was a 1mega-ohm potentiometer in the volume position and he believed the 7.24k pickup had been rewound.
The neck was initialled ‘TG’ with December ’51 pencil dates on the neck and body. Dowel plugs in the neck pickup cavity indicated that a second pickup was installed at some point and, in addition to a refret, a set of Schaller tuners has been fitted.
The Esquire is housed in a 1970s Fender case with a ‘Steve Lukather’ stencil and case candy that includes a note from Steve along with a photo of him playing the guitar and other documentation.
Is Less More?
Some guitarists hold the view that single-pickup electric guitars are tonally superior, and the most commonly cited examples are Les Paul Juniors versus Les Paul Specials, and Fender Esquires versus Telecasters.
In short, it’s the ‘all I need is one pickup and a cranked up valve amp and I can get every tone I need’ school of thought – and if that works for a player, it’s hard to dispute.
Regarding Juniors, there’s also the simplified controls argument, but if the complexities of a three-way pickup selector flummox you, there could be other issues at play. The touted sonic benefits include greater brightness and clarity, enhanced resonance and improved sustain. Focusing solely on Fenders, it might be interesting to analyse why that may be the case.
The fundamental differences between an Esquire and a Telecaster are one pickup, rather than two (obviously), and different control wiring. Addressing the pickup disparity first, the two factors to consider are lower weight and less magnetic pull on the strings to inhibit vibration. Popping a Telecaster neck pickup on some digital scales we get a reading of 62.4g (2.2oz).
Telecaster guitars vary considerably in weight, but let’s assume they range from 2.7kg to 4.5kg (roughly 6lb to 10lb). Running the numbers, the weight of a neck pickup equates to between ¹/43 and ¹/72 of the overall weight of the guitar. To put that in context, a set of vintage-style Kluson tuners weighs 135g and a set of die-cast tuners is around 175g, which makes the weight argument seem a bit moot.
The decreased magnetic pull factor may have more to it. As someone who has spent more time than is healthy swapping magnets in humbuckers and P-90s, this writer can report there are audible differences in sustain characteristics.
In short, the same pickups hang onto notes noticeably longer with weaker Alnico III than strong Alnico V magnets. This is only discernible, however, with clean or mildly overdriven tones. If you crank up the gain or use a compressor or overdrive pedal, everything evens out.
What’s more, a lack of sustain in Les Pauls with Alnico V-powered Patent Applied For pickups is not a noted characteristic. It’s also worth remembering that Telecaster neck pickups have traditionally been made with relatively weak Alnico III slugs. On balance, the improved sustain argument does seem to have merit, but it’s fairly marginal.
Switching Stuff
Turning to the electronics, Esquires and pre-1968 Teles both had one setting with a preset treble roll-off. Whether it’s applied to a neck or bridge pickup doesn’t make much difference because they’re both dull to the point of impracticality. So let’s keep things simple and assume we’re comparing Esquires with Telecasters with neck/both/bridge switching options.
In this instance, the Esquire’s middle setting corresponds to the Telecaster’s bridge setting because the tone control is out of circuit on the Esquire’s back setting. Whenever a tone control is connected to a pickup there’s some degree of treble roll-off – even when the control itself is turned fully up – and this may be why the Esquire is noted for having a brighter and more cutting tone.
The trade-off is that, for obvious reasons, an Esquire can’t give you neck pickup or neck and bridge in combination tones. A Telecaster can, however, do the wide open Esquire thing if you disconnect the bridge pickup from the tone control or fit a no-load tone potentiometer.
In recent years, the ‘Eldred’ mod has become popular among Esquire players. The ‘neck’ setting is slightly revoiced to produce a mid-heavy cocked-wah tone with ample clarity and more than a hint of P-90 heft.
The question ultimately boils down to whether Esquires justify their ‘too cool for school’ reputation or if they’re guitars that are precisely one third as good as they could be. Esquires have a unique vibe that some players genuinely prefer, but when this writer performs Esquire conversions for clients he invariably finds himself converting them back to Tele specs within weeks.
If you’re a T-type enthusiast, you’ll probably want to own an Esquire as well as a Telecaster, but if it has to be one or the other, then a Telecaster may be the better option.
