1950-69, 1986-PRESENT FENDER ESQUIRE

IT’S PRETTY DAMN cool that the very first commercially produced solidbody electric guitar, the Fender Esquire, can still kick serious butt today; you can’t say that about too many 75-year-olds. Many guitarists often forget that the Esquire came before the Telecaster and that a two-pickup version of the Esquire, which came a few months after the single-pickup version, was essentially the first Broadcaster/Nocaster/ Telecaster. But here I’m just going to focus on the single-pickup version.

Featuring just one single-coil pickup in the bridge position, a volume knob and a tone knob, the Esquire seems like a no-frills minimalist design. However, if you look closely you’ll notice it also has a three-position blade switch. Instead of the usual pickup switching function, this switch ingeniously provides access to three different wiring configurations that enable it to maximize the potential of its otherwise minimalist design. As a result, the Esquire also provides distinctive tones that aren’t available from the Telecaster.