The Esquire		Click on Pictures
	Notes: With the help of George Fullerton, Leo Fender developed a prototype of an electric guitar during the winter of 1949-1950 which already had the shape of an Esquire. As the first Fender solid body guitar the Esquire appeared in the Fender catalog No.2 in spring of 1950. Some novel features have been described in it: "The neck is replaceable and can be changed by the owner in approx. 10 minutes" ... "The new adjustable Fender bridge is one of the most important modern guitar developments" and "The player can adjust each string for height from the fretboard and for length, obtaining perfect intonation". Shortly afterwards, the Esquire in July 1950 was exhibited at the NAMM Convention in Chicago and by autumn of that year the Broadcaster with a truss rod and two pickups has been developed. The name Broadcaster was dropped in the beginning of 1951, as the Gretsch company already used the very similar name Broadkaster for her drums since 1949. Until a new name was found for the Fender Broadcaster no model name and only the Fender name was labeled on the headstock, also known as No-Caster. As television became the new craze in the early 50ties Broadcaster and Television were blended and the Telecaster name was born. Parallel to the Telecaster with generally two pickups, the Esquire was equipped mainly with only one pickup and the Esquire was produced until 1969. Materials: Ash body with original blonde finish that has yellowed, Maple neck with Rosewood fingerboard. Hardware: The guitar is completely original to the last cog including tuners, bridge with saddles, pickguard, pickups and wiring, pots and jack, all plastic parts, etc. Facts: The neck stamp dates from February 1968. The body has vintage correct routings. The number of the neck plate is 249XXX and coincides with the year. The pot codes are from the end of 1966 and the original Fender logo has the typical golden color from the transition era mid 1967-68. Condition: The Esquire is in fantastic all original condition. Simply amazing for her age and not easy to find. The original frets have been professionally leveled, polished and recrowned. The original finish has the typical weather checking. Playability: The neck feels very comfy and it is very easy to play. Tone: The Esquire provides with the 3-position switch - unlike the Telecaster - three fundamentally different circuit possibilities: switch forward position = pre-set bassy sound switch middle position = normal pickup sound with real tone conttrol switch rear position = lead sound and no tone control, pickup wired directly to output jack Long live the twang! Case: Original Fender rectangular case 1967 - 1972 period with "Fender tail logo". Interior in mint condition, outside with decent wear and tear but not bad for 45 years of use. Setup: The guitar is currently strung with .010 -.046 strings. The action is set low with no buzz. To Summarize: The meaning of Esquire is "Excellency," and it proves to be absolutely worthy of this name for this model has influenced the history of music and entire generations, regardless of whether rock, blues and country has been played on it. Among the best known players of the Esquire names such as Jeff Beck, Bruce Springsteen and Albert Lee are included just to name a few. This Esquire will certainly be a great asset and addition to one particular player or collection. Sale on Commission