ShortScale.org

So after checking nearly any Tele in nearly any local shop in 2 days, I picked up a beautiful example of a 50s classic Esquire. Think it's the first all new guitar I bought since 1994. The first time I GOT ALL THE HANGTAGS Well the Mex Teles all looked great (exept for the ridiculous road worns), but this one had an extraordinary resonance behaviour and touch that just said "take me, you won't find anything you like better". I also tried the new American Specal Tele today, which is quality stuff if you like, well, jumbo frets. I didn't, and this Mexican Esquire was the one. It's just as nice as the more expensive stuff I tried, concerning the basis - and it's a nice thing to upgrade. I think I like the idea of a complete 2nd Telecaster control assembly I can change with the Esquire one on occasion. + a neck pickup. I can simply hide it under the pickguard if I want it to look Esquire.

Congrats,that's a beauty! I don't think they make those anymore,do they?

It's a current product: http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0131502306

it's a great looking guitar, interesting way the switches control the single bridge pickup too

the neck tint looks much better IRL than on the stock pictures. is it a semi-transparent blonde finish of some sort? I can't tell in the pics.

how do you like the tone switching? it sounds pretty cool.

fender.com wrote:Basically, three-way switching on a single-pickup guitar gives you three preset tones. In the bridge position, the pickup is connected only to the volume control (the tone control is disconnected); this minimal circuitry produces more top-end sparkle than is possible with a Telecaster. In the middle position, the standard tone control circuit is activated. In the neck position, the tone control is again disengaged, but a tone-shaping capacitor rolls off much of the top end and some bottom, producing a darker tone and slight volume loss.

Love white blonde over ash. That's a class look for a tele or esquire any day of the week, with maple or RW fretboards.

MIM Classics are sweet. They do a great job with the necks. Congrats on the new guitar!
I'd suggest experimenting with treble bleed mods on the switch before installing another pickup, there are some great bassy tones you can get out of the bridge pickup by doing that and still have the familiar switch layout as if there were a neck pickup. Though I'm certain the body is already routed for the neck pickup too.

I'd love an Esquire one day, and I'll echo what's been said above: leave it stock for a bit and see how you fare with the switch.

Hot stuff, and great looks to match!

Doesn't sound like something for me to say, but I'd likely leave the thing bone stock.

mage wrote:the neck tint looks much better IRL than on the stock pictures. is it a semi-transparent blonde finish of some sort? I can't tell in the pics.

how do you like the tone switching? it sounds pretty cool.

yes, it's a semi transparent finish. It's tough to catch that in a photograph. the blonde classic series, the Baja and the Squier CV all were like that. Looks pretty cool, woody and glossy at the same time. The bypass position is pretty cool, you get slighty more grind and spank, though the basic sound is not changing. The "neck" position on the other hand is not really useful, as I figured so far. It's not just darker, it's somehow downright dull.

Yeah I'm trying how I get along with it as it is stock, only thing I already ordered is a replacement pickguard for Telecaster that was under 10 € shipped (from China ). There's a lot of options to tweak this beauty, the obvious first choice is to replace the stock 9' Fender strings. I hope for a lot more bottom end from this But in the long run, as it is indeed all routed already, it's an obvious chice to install a 2nd pickup and a custom switching.

How do you get more bottom end from a treble bleed circuit? I thought that the purpose of those is to decrease volume loss when the tone is rolled down tone loss when volume is rolled down. So, does it have any effect when everything is fully on?

Love it. I almost bought a tobacco sunburst version of this a few months ago, but think I prefer the stark white with white pg scheme of yours.

Did you peek under the pickguard yet? Is it routed?

I suppose it's the same bodies they use for all Teles in the classic and classic player series (all that allow a solid ash body at least). It would be strange if they made different for these. The more surprised I was that this guitar I got is minimum 1 pound lighter than the other Mexican Teles they had in the store, and sounded much more powerful with and without being plugged in. It can't be all the missing neck pup that the others are much heavier, they either use the better wood on the Esquires (which would surprise me - parts selection in a mid priced Fender? No.) or I just got a very damn good example of these bodies.

kypdurron wrote:The "neck" position on the other hand is not really useful, as I figured so far. It's not just darker, it's somehow downright dull.

That setting is there to do ungodly things with fuzz pedals, especially octave fuzzes - give it a go. And don't turn it into a tele just yet - m@j@ arrows aside, I really think there is a difference in sound when there's no neck pickup on there. And part of the joy of an Esquire or a Junior is the way the single pickup makes you think about your playing.

benecol wrote: I really think there is a difference in sound when there's no neck pickup on there.

That's a good point. I had some time to play around with it today, and apart from a loosened input jack I had to fix, I like it even better than yesterday. I just tried the guitar on my Twin Reverb today (it was too late for the big beast yesterday) and I totally underestimated the tonal range the Esquire can do on a REAL amp. It sounds just great over an amp that has things like bass response, an effective EQ and POWER. And it can do from warm, soft and smooth to cutting glass and teeth tones like nothing. I don't know what to think about the Laney Lionheart 20 now they had in the shop ... it couldn't do all that. Sadly the guitar is not nearly throwing out enough bass when played through my Champ. Still haven't got decent strings it, though.

So I won't hurry in changing anything. If I stumble over a good affordable set of pups I might snag them, but stay with the 1-pup-setting for some time anyway.

BTW, someone got an opinion on Tonerider pickups? They seem to be raher affordable compared to most boutique and Fender stuff. Upgrade to the mexican pup, or not? The guys at TDPRI also get rather wild about adding a fat backplate plate to their mexican Tele pickups. Is that ... a good idea or is it just what Tele people think must be good, though it actually makes no big difference?

And my Mustang sold just today, which nearly totally refinanced that purchase So I'm down from 4 to one shortscale now.

Beautiful! You can't go wrong with a white Esquire.

Since reading this thread, I've thought about few other guitars. So tell, me, what's the neck like. I feel a gear purge coming on...

it's vintage radius and fretting. But no problem in doing bendings what so ever, it s got a nice sustain when doing so. Maybe I'm just used to it. glossy laquer, nicely tinted. It's thick and in the upper frets somehow wide, I'd compare it to my 93 MIJ Jazzmaster neck. Much fatter and chunkier than a Mustang neck, and also fatter than the necks on the classic vibe Teles. Guess it's the same neck as on the Classic 50s and Baja, all I tried were flawlessly crafted.

Does this help?:

Hugely. I feel a purge coming on...

man what a beauty-- i could live with one of those babies