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Fender Esquire
The Fender Esquire is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Los Angeles. It was the first solid-bodied guitar marketed by the company, and made its debut in 1950.
The first prototype for the Esquire (and the later Telecaster) was completed by Leo Fender and George Fullerton in 1949. The guitar was designed to be an electronic instrument, with no acoustic manipulation of the tone. It introduced the square edged dreadnought shape, with a cutaway on the body next to the neck to allow access to the upper frets. It featured a combination bridge and pickup assembly, which used the pickup from Fender's "Champion" lap steel guitar, with individual pole pieces for each string mounted at a slant, and three bridge saddles, which allowed adjustment of individual string height, but adjustment of intonation only in pairs.
The neck, on the first Esquires manufactured in 1950, was made from a single piece of maple, without a separate fret board or truss rod. It was attached to the body with four screws and an anchor plate, unlike traditional guitar construction, in which a tenon on the neck is glued into a slot on the body. The first neck was wider at the nut, and the head had three tuners on each side. The prototype also differed from later production guitars in that the body was made of pinewood; it was painted opaque white; its pickguard did not extend below the strings; it lacked a selector switch; and the volume and tone knobs were mounted on a oblique plate. Like the production models, it had a removable pickup cover, but with straight sides. The prototype had only one pickup, as did Esquires manufactured from 1951 onwards.
In the winter of 1949/50, Fender refined the design. The neck width at the nut was narrowed to 1 5/8" and, inspired by a Croatian design, the head was modified to allow all six tuners to be installed on one edge. A tone selector switch was added, the controls were mounted on a plate parallel to the strings, and the scratch plate (pickguard) was made bigger. In late spring of 1950, Fender added a second (Champion steel) pickup in the neck position, which was redesigned with a smaller pickup to allow easier picking, and encased in a metal shielding cover designed by Karl Olmstead. This feature did not appear on Fender's commercially advertised instrument, as the distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company (RTEC), preferred to sell the single pickup version.
The single pickup version of the guitar was first manufactured in March 1950, and made its commercial debut as the Esquire in Don Randall's RTEC Spring catalogue of that year. The guitar pictured in the catalog was painted black with a white pickguard, but later Esquires were painted with semi-transparent, blonde acetate lacquer, which over the years faded to a "butterscotch" blonde, and the pickguard was black. Unlike the laminated 1.5 inch thick, pine and ash wood samples, the Broadcaster was 1.75 inches thick and made of solid ash.
The dual pickup version was first manufactured in May and June 1950. Neither of the early Esquire versions had a truss rod. Fullerton’s father, Fred Fullerton, developed the truss rod reinforcement system which is still in use. By October 1950, the revised, dual pickup version had acquired a truss rod and was renamed the Broadcaster. After objections were sent to Don Randall by the Gretsch company, who produced the "Broadkaster" banjo and drum kit, this name was dropped, and guitars were shipped in 1951 with the "Fender" logo decal clipped and no model name. These guitars were referred to as the "Nocaster" until the name Telecaster was adopted in August 1951, after a competition had failed to find a suitable alternative. Television was becoming popular and the name stuck. The single pickup version retained the Esquire name.
The more versatile Broadcaster/Telecaster became one of Fender's most popular models, with dozens of variations produced. After the Telecaster was introduced, the Esquire was marketed as a lower-cost version. Over the following two decades, the availability of other low-cost models saw the Esquire's sales decline and the model was discontinued in 1969.
The Esquire has since been reissued, but has remained a relatively "niche" guitar. Esquire users prefer the model's increased treble over the Telecaster. Although the Esquire was the original model, the popularity and uninterrupted production of the Telecaster means that the limited reissue Esquire models are generally regarded and billed as variants of the Telecaster.
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Fender Esquire
The Fender Esquire is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Los Angeles. It was the first solid-bodied guitar marketed by the company, and made its debut in 1950.
The first prototype for the Esquire (and the later Telecaster) was completed by Leo Fender and George Fullerton in 1949. The guitar was designed to be an electronic instrument, with no acoustic manipulation of the tone. It introduced the square edged dreadnought shape, with a cutaway on the body next to the neck to allow access to the upper frets. It featured a combination bridge and pickup assembly, which used the pickup from Fender's "Champion" lap steel guitar, with individual pole pieces for each string mounted at a slant, and three bridge saddles, which allowed adjustment of individual string height, but adjustment of intonation only in pairs.
The neck, on the first Esquires manufactured in 1950, was made from a single piece of maple, without a separate fret board or truss rod. It was attached to the body with four screws and an anchor plate, unlike traditional guitar construction, in which a tenon on the neck is glued into a slot on the body. The first neck was wider at the nut, and the head had three tuners on each side. The prototype also differed from later production guitars in that the body was made of pinewood; it was painted opaque white; its pickguard did not extend below the strings; it lacked a selector switch; and the volume and tone knobs were mounted on a oblique plate. Like the production models, it had a removable pickup cover, but with straight sides. The prototype had only one pickup, as did Esquires manufactured from 1951 onwards.
In the winter of 1949/50, Fender refined the design. The neck width at the nut was narrowed to 1 5/8" and, inspired by a Croatian design, the head was modified to allow all six tuners to be installed on one edge. A tone selector switch was added, the controls were mounted on a plate parallel to the strings, and the scratch plate (pickguard) was made bigger. In late spring of 1950, Fender added a second (Champion steel) pickup in the neck position, which was redesigned with a smaller pickup to allow easier picking, and encased in a metal shielding cover designed by Karl Olmstead. This feature did not appear on Fender's commercially advertised instrument, as the distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company (RTEC), preferred to sell the single pickup version.
The single pickup version of the guitar was first manufactured in March 1950, and made its commercial debut as the Esquire in Don Randall's RTEC Spring catalogue of that year. The guitar pictured in the catalog was painted black with a white pickguard, but later Esquires were painted with semi-transparent, blonde acetate lacquer, which over the years faded to a "butterscotch" blonde, and the pickguard was black. Unlike the laminated 1.5 inch thick, pine and ash wood samples, the Broadcaster was 1.75 inches thick and made of solid ash.
The dual pickup version was first manufactured in May and June 1950. Neither of the early Esquire versions had a truss rod. Fullerton’s father, Fred Fullerton, developed the truss rod reinforcement system which is still in use. By October 1950, the revised, dual pickup version had acquired a truss rod and was renamed the Broadcaster. After objections were sent to Don Randall by the Gretsch company, who produced the "Broadkaster" banjo and drum kit, this name was dropped, and guitars were shipped in 1951 with the "Fender" logo decal clipped and no model name. These guitars were referred to as the "Nocaster" until the name Telecaster was adopted in August 1951, after a competition had failed to find a suitable alternative. Television was becoming popular and the name stuck. The single pickup version retained the Esquire name.
The more versatile Broadcaster/Telecaster became one of Fender's most popular models, with dozens of variations produced. After the Telecaster was introduced, the Esquire was marketed as a lower-cost version. Over the following two decades, the availability of other low-cost models saw the Esquire's sales decline and the model was discontinued in 1969.
The Esquire has since been reissued, but has remained a relatively "niche" guitar. Esquire users prefer the model's increased treble over the Telecaster. Although the Esquire was the original model, the popularity and uninterrupted production of the Telecaster means that the limited reissue Esquire models are generally regarded and billed as variants of the Telecaster.