New Classic Vibe Esquires

idiotwindow · April 2021

For those who don't like or "get" single pickup guitars, other options are available.

Noise · April 2021

impmann said:

As a long term player and advocate of the Telecaster, I genuinely don't understand the fascination with Esquires. For me, not having a neck pickup makes the guitar less useful and versatile.

I understand all the flim-flam about the tone control to find those other sounds - but you can do that on a Tele *anyway* plus you can use the tone control on the other pickup settings. And no, the other sounds aren't in the tone control - you can approximate them, but rolling the tone off to near zero doesn't sound like the neck pickup and the two pickup on together chime just isn't in there. I've looked...

There's a school of thought that the neck pickup somehow affects the tone... hmmm, well, I did try an experiment once on my black 72 Tele whereby I ran it without the neck pickup for a gig to see if it made any difference. Nope. Other than I was frustrated by the lack of neck pickup for bluesier numbers and I missed the two pickup sound. A lot.

This constant clamour about single pickup guitars feels like folks making life awkward for the sake of it - and trying to make out its somehow "cooler" to have less of a tonal pallet available. If I'm honest, the first thing I'd do would to an Esquire would be to fit a neck pickup... and looking at the comments above, there was one about being hamstrung by a lack of neck pickup routing, so I'm not alone.

It maybe a fashion thing for some to want to strip things back - or maybe they only ever use the bridge pickup. Good luck to you on both counts if that applies to you. But this old fart genuinely doesn't get it - and never has done and never will.

I used to think similarly untill I converted my Tele. The stock pickups were dire and money was super tight, so I planned to replace them a week or two apart. After a few days with just the (new) bridge pickup, I ordered an Esquire pickguard and rewired it to Esquire spec.

All I can say is it's fun. Much like an LP Jr I suppose. A great, simple, bare bones, snarling rock and blues guitar. At least for me, one of those experiences where limitations are somehow enjoyable and oddly inspiring.

Musicman20 · April 2021

I do wonder where all these thousands of guitars are going. It's great that people love guitar but I really can't stand the fact there is limited edition slapped on everything!

Just a great marketing tool.

The original CVs were great though.

Schnozz · April 2021

Musicman20 said:

I do wonder where all these thousands of guitars are going. It's great that people love guitar but I really can't stand the fact there is limited edition slapped on everything!

Just a great marketing tool.

The original CVs were great though.

Like Gibson's 'Collector's Choice' where only 40 different models are available...And 40,000 collectors.

TTBZ · April 2021

@impmann I do sort of agree, but also as a pretty bog standard rock & metal player I'm on the bridge pickup 99% of the time anyway so it doesn't bother me, I've done plenty of gigs where I never touched the pickup selector. It's the double binding that I really like though, as @Jonathangus says if there's a neck pickup route under there it opens up mod options for a double bound Tele at a reasonable price

also in a cheap guitar like this theres a high chance I'll be swapping out the pickups anyway so it's easy enough to add one when wanted if there's a route. My strat just has a bridge humbucker and it's a load of fun to play, I don't miss having the neck pickup.

As for singlespeed bikes, I love it on road bikes but not mountain bikes. Less to go wrong and most importantly forces me to put in a proper effort on the short climbs we have round here, otherwise I just sit and spin if I've got gears. Not really sure if that translates to guitar though!

sev112 · April 2021

I bought one last year, the surf green one. It is a wonderfully fun guitar and tends to be the one I pick up most apart from my acoustic. I found the range of tones sufficiently different enough that with effects / amp settings there is more than enough versatility . Great value

Alterlifeson · April 2021

Fresh from Lee's FB. It looks like more customer colour teles are on the way for the Esquire haters in the not too distant future:

May be an image of guitar and indoor

Alterlifeson · April 2021

And that confirms there is no neck pickup route.

TINMAN82 · April 2021

Alterlifeson said:

Fresh from Lee's FB. It looks like more customer colour teles are on the way for the Esquire haters in the not too distant future:

The black one must be made for giants.

Funkfingers · April 2021

Nah. It is resting on Danish Pete's stool. Fnar, fnar!

earwighoney · April 2021

The black one without the pickguard looks stunning!

Jonathangus · April 2021

earwighoney said:

The black one without the pickguard looks stunning!

I agree. Looks better with the pickguard off. If only they'd thought to make it like that.

impmann · April 2021

TINMAN82 said:

Alterlifeson said:

Fresh from Lee's FB. It looks like more customer colour teles are on the way for the Esquire haters in the not too distant future:

The black one must be made for giants.

Funkfingers · April 2021

A single pickup electric guitar makes sense for Mr. Strictly-Rhythm. THINK: Malcolm Young, Rick Parfitt. It also makes sense for a lead singer who plays second guitar for a few songs in the set. ("Ready, Freddie?")

The Squier Custom Esquire could be made more versatile by installing a Fishman Powerbridge system. OTOH, that might be missing the point.

idiotwindow · April 2021

Funkfingers said:

A single pickup electric guitar makes sense for Mr. Strictly-Rhythm.

Like Leslie West and Jeff Beck?

Funkfingers · April 2021

Or me, with my 1965 Melody Maker and self-assembled Warmoth La Cabronita Especial.

stonevibe · April 2021

It might have one pickup, but there are bags of tones in an Esquire. Some will argue better sustain, due to the lack of magnetic pull on the strings from a neck pickup.

I'll just say that I love my single pickup guitars and have a couple of Esquire style ones myself in my horde.

Kittyfrisk · April 2021

Alterlifeson said:

Fresh from Lee's FB. It looks like more customer colour teles are on the way for the Esquire haters in the not too distant future:

If this is about the new Esquires. wonder why the green one is in the shot?

Funkfingers · April 2021

Green and orange probably only in shot to illustrate the finish colour options.

Alterlifeson · April 2021

Kittyfrisk said:
If this is about the new Esquires. wonder why the green one is in the shot?

Funkfingers said:

Green and orange probably only in shot to illustrate the finish colour options.

The telecaters you see there are from a not-yet announce run of limited edition customer colour telecasters. I am guessing that Andertons decided to shoot both the esquires and teles in one video. However, only the esquires have officially been announced yet. Wait a few days and we'll hear news of the green and orange teles.

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