Esquire Thoughts

[Block Head Ike]

Never understood the Esquire. Why have just one pickup and the wrong one at that? Now the Fender Acoustasonic Tele, that I understand. Neck PU with a piezo in the bridge for acoustic sound.

OK, so...Yes, the Esquire sports only a single bridge pickup, while the Telecaster has two pickups, but the Esquire is not a Telecaster with a missing neck pickup, but rather a distinct model with its own sound. This is because of its unique wiring and also because the lack of a neck pickup causes less magnetic pull on the strings. This reduced pull gives the Esquire a more percussive attack, more harmonic overtones, and makes it more responsive than a Telecaster.

Some great players have chosen an Esquire for exactly these reasons. Steve Cropper played a ’62 Esquire on all his early recordings, including the classic “Green Onions.â€￾ Up until his untimely death in 1968, Luther Perkins used an Esquire to create his trademark “boomchicka- boomâ€￾ sound while backing Johnny Cash. Bruce Springsteen played a heavily modified ’53/’54 Esquire that he bought in the early ’70s and used on Born in the USA and many more of his famous recordings. Throw in Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Also In 1966, Paul McCartney purchased a 1964 Fender Esquire model with a sunburst finish and rosewood fretboard. Though the guitar was a right-handed model, McCartney restrung it lefty in the style of Jimi Hendrix. During the Sgt. Pepper sessions sessions McCartney used it on "Good Morning, Good Morning," "Helter Skelter."

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. Maus had hand-shaved the body to be contoured like a Stratocaster. This guitar has significant wear and now belongs to pickup designer Seymour Duncan.

Syd Barrett, the original leader of Pink Floyd, was another prominent Esquire player. His successor David Gilmour used an Esquire with an added pickup 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 an Esquire.

Do you understand any of that?

 

[marc88]

I've read that before, that the lack of neck pickup reducing magnetic pull. Is that real? I agree that the unique wiring creates a unique guitar with an obvious place in history, but that one aspect always seemed a little bit like snake oil to me. To be fair, I've never played an esquire....yet. I suppose someday I will play them back to back and know for sure.

 

[jefffam]

Do you understand any of that?

Yes, no need to be smart, I said I did not understand the draw. I don't understand the draw of any one pickup guitar with that being the generally/commonly much harsher bridge pickup, single, HB or P-90, by any maker. It's like leaving the plugs out of 4 cyl of a V8, yeah it saves gas, but you are losing the beauty of the engine. And hey I came up by way of Gibby's, so singles are more rare and only on the cheapest starter models even then. It is all the background we grow up with. Live and learn.

BTW, I actually regularly use the middle Strat pickup too, on all my Strats.

 

[Kerry Brown]

I have three one pickup guitars but no esquire yet. I have a Les Paul Junior, an 80's contemporary strat with a bridge humbucker, and a 60's Harmony Rocket hollowbody with a DeArmond gold foil neck pickup. There is something about one pickup guitars that calls to me. With all three I can get a multitude of sounds. Some sounds are by playing with the tone and volume controls but mostly it's by where and how you pick the strings. One pickup makes you think about your playing.

 

[horax]

Just attach the neck pickup UNDER the pickguard and have a piezo.
A lot of older teles did that, actually.

I used to hate single pickup guitars, but now I love them. My 1966 gibson sg jr is very fun to play, and you don't have to worry about swapping pickup positoins...what you see/hear is what you get! Real easy to dial in and go for broke!

Love it!

 

[mudbug51]

Enjoying my Esquire build! Converted a BSB Affinity Tele to an Esquire and I Love It. In the last 5 or 6 years I have done this several times--eastern Arkansas and Memphis have several of my conversions floating around.

 

[jefffam]

Enjoying my Esquire build! Converted a BSB Affinity Tele to an Esquire and I Love It. In the last 5 or 6 years I have done this several times--eastern Arkansas and Memphis have several of my conversions floating around.

Live and learn. It does do a body good though to think about having some of your builds getting played around the area, true?

 

[mudbug51]

Dude, I would do the conversion and folks would see and hear it and out would come the cash. Blew my mind because I did 'em for me, I never thought anyone would want one. That affinity is a nice little guitar, small and light with a nice tele neck. I'm thinking about doing the kiwi finish on my present one because it looks so cool. I should probably pick up another one because Squier isn't listing them on their price list, this may be the end of 'em.

 

[Block Head Ike]

Yes, no need to be smart, I said I did not understand the draw. I don't understand the draw of any one pickup guitar with that being the generally/commonly much harsher bridge pickup, single, HB or P-90, by any maker. It's like leaving the plugs out of 4 cyl of a V8, yeah it saves gas, but you are losing the beauty of the engine. And hey I came up by way of Gibby's, so singles are more rare and only on the cheapest starter models even then. It is all the background we grow up with. Live and learn.

BTW, I actually regularly use the middle Strat pickup too, on all my Strats.

Not intended to be "smart"...just thought that among the list of players/songs there would maybe be something that would resonate and provide a "Ah Ha" moment for you regarding an understanding of the appeal of the Esquire. My "Ah Ha" moment regarding the "one pickup seems to be enough" phenomenon came from seeing Leslie West and Mountain live in my youth. Leslie played one of those "cheap starter model gibbys" - a Les Paul Junior. He played it not for one song, but all night for an entire show! It was his axe of choice and he got everything he wanted from it. I lusted after, and eventually owned a LPJ of my own and several single p/u Gibson Melody Makers. A single p/u with well-made tone and volume controls can do so much in the hands of the right player. I always believed the long plank of old growth mahogany with a set neck had as much to do with the wonderful tone of a LPJ or Melody Maker as any reduction in magnetic pull. the Esquire, however, being a bolt neck guitar is a different beast. The first time I was fortunate enough to play a real Esquire I was immediately impressed with how much more the tone circuit was doing versus the single tone/volume controls on a LPJ. There are at least three very distinct sounds that can be produced with little effort. Each player may not like all three, but they are there none the less. After owning an Esquire for many years and then selling it when values jumped, I find i miss it - hence my latest build projects. In the mean time, I have several Teles - none are "stock". Guess what was the first thing to go? The neck pickup! In favor of a humbucker, minihum, or P90 depending on which of my Teles. The tele I play the most? MIM Tele Deluxe with the Seth Lover humbuckers...some would say a tele in name only: "strat" neck & humbuckers. So go figure! Anyway, no offense meant by my response, just hoping to pass some knowledge. All I can say is try an Esquire. You might be surprised. There really isn't anything "missing" from it.

 

[Block Head Ike]

I've read that before, that the lack of neck pickup reducing magnetic pull. Is that real? I agree that the unique wiring creates a unique guitar with an obvious place in history, but that one aspect always seemed a little bit like snake oil to me. To be fair, I've never played an esquire....yet. I suppose someday I will play them back to back and know for sure.

In my opinion there may be something to it. An Esquire doesn't really sound like a Tele to me. I guess I should qualify that: An original Esquire and an original Tele played on the bridge pickup only do not sound the same to me. The two builds I have going will, perhaps, shed some light on one aspect that has me curious, that of body mass. I always surmised that besides the magnetic pull thing, there might be a tonal difference due to the absence of a cavity so close to the neck heel on the Esquire. Based on absolutely no research, I think the neck-body connection might transmit more vibration on an Esquire. One of my two builds will be using an "authentic" Esquire body with no neck pickup rout. The other is a Tele body that I will simply be using an Esquire pickguard on. Unfortunately they are not the same wood so I may not learn anything particularly valuable in the end.

 

[Block Head Ike]

There is a lot of uninterrupted "plank" between neck pocket and bridge on a true Esquire body!

 

[horax]

If I remember correctly, the esquire tone selector routs to different wiring options. I read that in the telecaster book by Dave hunter: first position: pickup through tone cap, second position: pickup alone, not through any tone caps, third position: wired through the tone pot.

 

[Mr Bob]

Lots of mileage in using the Esquire as a starting point - as well as the multiple mods of three way switch wiring - here is one of my efforts with a stacked Tele humbucker in the bridge:

Body: Mahogany topped Laminated jag/jazz styled body mahogany top, Ash centre, Alder back (made from blank supplied by NS Custom Guitars)
Finished in metallic miami blue.

Neck: Squier Strat Affinity Neck resanded, clear lacquered headstock.

Elecs: IronGear Steel Twin Bridge pickup with coil split as push/pull on tone. 3-way switch with Esquire style wiring (tone/no-tone/fixed bass). Treble bleed on vol.

 

[marc88]

Hmm, lots of good points made once again. And wow, Mr Bob that guitar is gorgeous!!

 

[Kerry Brown]

I think the extra wood may affect the tone. Here is an E Series MIJ Squier Stratocaster with one humbucker. It has a 24.75" scale. It feels like a very nice Fender neck but it sounds like a Gibson.

 

[spellcaster]

I built an Esquire partscaster last year, based around a 1959 Telecaster neck and a handmade maple body. Instead of the conventional Esquire wiring/pickup scheme, I incorporated a custom-wound Reilander triple-tap pickup - ALNICO 5, 43AWG, TAP @7700, TAP @ 8800, END 10,000 - which is switched by the pickup three-way switch.

 

[marc88]

Spellcaster, I have to plead ignorance here, would you mind explaining that switching system? That thing is beautiful by the way, and there's a long list of things I'd do to get my hands on a 59 tele neck!

 

[horax]

that is a beautiful guitar!!!

 

[spellcaster]

Thanks, guys. It's a standard three-way switch, wired the same way you'd use it on an old Strat. Instead of selecting from three pickups, in this case you're selecting one of the three taps from the pickup.

 

[Robbmonster]

My Affinity Tele was 'Esquire'd' for a while. I quickly realized that (for me) the IDEA of having an Esquire was much more fun than actually HAVING and Esquire.

In the end, apart form being a bit of a conversation starter, there is really no distinct advantage to be had my removing the neck pickup for all-time.

Having said that, if I was going to do it again, a splittable humbucker with several switching options would definitely be the way to go.

Here's mine...