Esquire players, Tell me how you work the cotrols to get the tones you like.

[DNestler]

Hi folks,
I'm a "returning" guitar player after having wandered the mandolin world for years and years. (Still do actually, but I'm adding back guitar.)
I'm also a recovering acoustic player, having jettisoned most of my electric gear in the 90s, I have been re-aquiring gear for a little while.
Years and years ago I started messing with my 80s Squier Telecaster, and right now it lacks a bridge pickup and the switch is wired as a standard Esquire.

I mention mandoin and acoustics because that experience is what draws me to the idea of an Esquire. It's simple in the same way that an acoustic is simple. You just pick it up (plug it in) and go. Having said that I've begun to use the switch and the knobs quite a bit.

The 'bridge' position is why the guitar is special. It's wide open. It's like you can almost hear the electricty. There's nothing buffering the tone. I roll off the volume a bit to tame the treble; I almost never play with the volume all the way up unless I actually need a shave. [Truly, at times I am tempted to toss the switch and the tone knob, and just go with it.]
But I find I use the middle position (tone control wired in) a lot more than I thought I would. Leaving the volume rolled back, I roll back the tone a bit and I am able to play almost acoustically. It's an excellent rhythm sound.
And then just yesterday I actually found a use for the 'neck' position. [The neck position on a Esqire is wired to kill every bit of treble the pickup puts out. It usually sounds like someone has covered your amp with a heavy blanket.] I run it through a Boss SD-1 with the drive at about 4 o'clock, the level dropped to about 8 o'clock, and the tone at about 4 o'clock as well. The tone is something like Randy Bachman got on those Guess Who records. Really horrible for chording (muddy as hell), but wonderful for lead and melody playing.

I'm interested in others' experiences of pushing up against the Esquire's inherent limitations, because that's where the rubber meets the road. So if you play an Esquire, how do you use the controls to give yourself more than 1 tone option?

Daniel

 

[thankyouguitar]

Hi folks,
I'm a "returning" guitar player after having wandered the mandolin world for years and years. (Still do actually, but I'm adding back guitar.)
I'm also a recovering acoustic player, having jettisoned most of my electric gear in the 90s, I have been re-aquiring gear for a little while.
Years and years ago I started messing with my 80s Squier Telecaster, and right now it lacks a bridge pickup and the switch is wired as a standard Esquire.

I mention mandoin and acoustics because that experience is what draws me to the idea of an Esquire. It's simple in the same way that an acoustic is simple. You just pick it up (plug it in) and go. Having said that I've begun to use the switch and the knobs quite a bit.

The 'bridge' position is why the guitar is special. It's wide open. It's like you can almost hear the electricty. There's nothing buffering the tone. I roll off the volume a bit to tame the treble; I almost never play with the volume all the way up unless I actually need a shave. [Truly, at times I am tempted to toss the switch and the tone knob, and just go with it.]
But I find I use the middle position (tone control wired in) a lot more than I thought I would. Leaving the volume rolled back, I roll back the tone a bit and I am able to play almost acoustically. It's an excellent rhythm sound.
And then just yesterday I actually found a use for the 'neck' position. [The neck position on a Esqire is wired to kill every bit of treble the pickup puts out. It usually sounds like someone has covered your amp with a heavy blanket.] I run it through a Boss SD-1 with the drive at about 4 o'clock, the level dropped to about 8 o'clock, and the tone at about 4 o'clock as well. The tone is something like Randy Bachman got on those Guess Who records. Really horrible for chording (muddy as hell), but wonderful for lead and melody playing.

I'm interested in others' experiences of pushing up against the Esquire's inherent limitations, because that's where the rubber meets the road. So if you play an Esquire, how do you use the controls to give yourself more than 1 tone option?

Daniel

50s wiring. I keep the tone control maybe 25% of the way up for a more balanced tone in the middle position. Front is for jazz chords, back is for peeling paint! XD

 

[gimmeatele]

Middle position, tone halfway, volume as desired

 

[EsquireOK]

No, the "wide open" first switch position is not what makes an Esquire special. It's not a special tone. The Tele had the same thing back in the day – it was not at all unique to the Esquire. And FWIW, the Strat had it too. And even with modern Tele wiring, an Esquire doesn't give you any extra "real-world" treble, over a Tele. With switch position 1 versus tone pot on 10, you wouldn't be able to pick out one from the other from a mix (or even in a sonically pure environment most of the time).

What the Esquire gave you over the Tele back then was the ability to tame the treble on the bridge pickup (which the Tele did not provide, as the only bridge pickup setting on it was wide open). This is the exact opposite advantage of why people today say they love the Esquire so much. "That wide open bridge position is what made the Esquire so special!" Well...no. It's actually the reverse. Position 1 on a Tele and position 1 on an Esquire were identical. The special thing about the Esquire was that it gave you much more control over the bridge pickup than the Tele did...in order to make it WARMER...not brighter.

The thing that makes an Esquire special is the concept of pre-sets. It allows you to quickly and stably flip back and forth between full treble (position 1) and a precisely dialed in treble cut position (position 2). No knob twirling, and no having to reposition your tone knob at precisely the right amount of treble cut every time you want to roll the tone off again. Then, you also have the warm pre-set in the third switch position.

So, you have bright, warm, and in-between (adjustable), all at the flick of a switch, all on the bridge pickup. That's what makes the Esquire special. The Tele gave people ONLY full treble on the bridge pickup in the old days. And even nowadays, with modern Tele wiring, you still can't flip back and forth between full treble and a pre-set treble cut, like you can on an Esquire. The Esquire lets you finely control the bridge pickup...and quickly.

Again, the concept of the Esquire is about giving you pre-sets, and being able to tame and warm the bridge pickup – not about providing "extra treble" over a Tele. You run the tone knob down a bit in order to provide a difference between positions 1 and 2. It just allows you to flip back and forth between "tone on 10" and "tone down from 10."

The bottom line is this: For those who live on the bridge pickup, the Esquire is a significantly more refined tool than a Tele.

 

[Peegoo]

Position 3 on the switch was originally intended to allow guitar players to "double on bass" according to Leo. This was during the time before the P Bass existed when all bands had an upright bassist.

The amp you play through has as much (probably more) of an influence on the tone as the guitar does.

If you're interested in exploring the tonal landscape with an Esquire, consider that when the Esquire first hit the streets, guitarists used relatively heavy strings with a wound G. If you've never tried an Esquire that way, give it a shot. Try flats too. It's not necessarily better or worse, but it does change the sound and it may appeal to your ears.

 

[Tele295]

I played an Esquire as my main bar band guitar for years. I would set up my Vibrolux Reverb so the bridge pickup “open” position wouldn’t slice heads off (add the bright switch for Bakersfield country), the middle position with the tone at about 1/2, and the “neck” Position as bassy for organ comps and Santana leads with my Rat. VR was set around 4-4-4-4


There are lots of sounds in an Esquire if you take the time to look for them.

 

[2HBStrat]

No, the "wide open" first switch position is not what makes an Esquire special. It's not a special tone. The Tele had the same thing back in the day – it was not at all unique to the Esquire........

That was only true on the VERY earliest Fender guitars from 1950-1952 as discussed by A.R. Duchossior in his book "The Fender Telecaster." Apparently Fender realized pretty quickly that a tone control was needed

 

[TunedupFlat]

On my main guitar I run a regular volume pot, a no-load tone pot, and no switch. I get all the sounds that were available before and can control them just fine without the switch.

 

[DNestler]

Thanks guys.

EsquireOK, I wasn't really comparing my hand made Esquire with a Tele, or another Esquire for that matter. Just noting the difference between the setting that passes through the tone pot and the one that doesn't.

FWIW, when I was playing through a Marshall MG30-CFX, the potted pickup with the trable all the way up and the non-potted pickup setting sounded exactly the same. But now that I'm back using my Ampeg Jet II reissue, the two switch postions sound different to me. There's more 'hair' on the non-potted setting.

I agree about the strength of the Esquire being it's ability to quickly and easily control the treble of the sole bridge pickup. It's one of the reasons I love it. An unexpected pleasure.

(Now I want a 5 string octave mandolin tuned GDAeb wired as an Esquire too!)

Merci et bonne soirée tout le monde, passez une bonne semaine!
Daniel

 

[Timbresmith1]

Hi folks,
I'm a "returning" guitar player after having wandered the mandolin world for years and years. (Still do actually, but I'm adding back guitar.)
I'm also a recovering acoustic player, having jettisoned most of my electric gear in the 90s, I have been re-aquiring gear for a little while.
Years and years ago I started messing with my 80s Squier Telecaster, and right now it lacks a bridge pickup and the switch is wired as a standard Esquire.

I mention mandoin and acoustics because that experience is what draws me to the idea of an Esquire. It's simple in the same way that an acoustic is simple. You just pick it up (plug it in) and go. Having said that I've begun to use the switch and the knobs quite a bit.

The 'bridge' position is why the guitar is special. It's wide open. It's like you can almost hear the electricty. There's nothing buffering the tone. I roll off the volume a bit to tame the treble; I almost never play with the volume all the way up unless I actually need a shave. [Truly, at times I am tempted to toss the switch and the tone knob, and just go with it.]
But I find I use the middle position (tone control wired in) a lot more than I thought I would. Leaving the volume rolled back, I roll back the tone a bit and I am able to play almost acoustically. It's an excellent rhythm sound.
And then just yesterday I actually found a use for the 'neck' position. [The neck position on a Esqire is wired to kill every bit of treble the pickup puts out. It usually sounds like someone has covered your amp with a heavy blanket.] I run it through a Boss SD-1 with the drive at about 4 o'clock, the level dropped to about 8 o'clock, and the tone at about 4 o'clock as well. The tone is something like Randy Bachman got on those Guess Who records. Really horrible for chording (muddy as hell), but wonderful for lead and melody playing.

I'm interested in others' experiences of pushing up against the Esquire's inherent limitations, because that's where the rubber meets the road. So if you play an Esquire, how do you use the controls to give yourself more than 1 tone option?

Daniel

You might like the Eldred mod for the “Neck position”.

 

[EsquireOK]

That was only true on the VERY earliest Fender guitars from 1950-1952 as discussed by A.R. Duchossior in his book "The Fender Telecaster." Apparently Fender realized pretty quickly that a tone control was needed

That is not only false, but it's common Tele knowledge that it's false. Your statement that they "realized...a tone control was needed" – in response to my discussion about bridge pickups to having tone controls, implying that they needed this control to tame the bridge pickup – is completely opposite of what they realized they wanted from the Tele. A tone control was added in late '52...but it only operated on the neck pickup, in the middle switch position only. So they realized they wanted a tone control...but it was to control the tone of the neck pickup, not of the bridge pickup.

What is commonly called "vintage wiring" these days – i.e. the wiring that Fender finally settled on after several early tweaks in the '50–'52 period – ran from late '52 to '67, and had no tone control for the bridge pickup.

Neither the Stratocaster nor the Telecaster during their classic periods had tone controls on the bridge pickups, and that was by design. The idea for both the Teles and the Strat was that that the bridge pickup was going to be infrequently used, and something players were probably only going to switch to only when they wanted maximum treble, while most of their playing was going to happen on the other pickups.

 

[Twang Deluxe]

Position 3 + OD/Fuzz = woman tone

 

[Telecastoff1]

So much depends on your amp....how it's set up and then work your guitar to blend in the tones you want. It takes time, diligence and practice. And...those setting WILL change over time as your tastes change and you begin to develop your own sound.

 

[PARCO]

On my Esquire when the switch is towards the neck there are no volume or tone controls and it has a cap in the circuit to give it a certain tone. When the switch is in the middle position there is nothing in the circuit, it's direct out. When the switch is towards the bridge I have volume and tone controls. Lately I've been rolling off a little treble with the switch in the bridge position.

 

[Jim622]

On my Esquire when the switch is towards the neck there are no volume or tone controls and it has a cap in the circuit to give it a certain tone. When the switch is in the middle position there is nothing in the circuit, it's direct out. When the switch is towards the bridge I have volume and tone controls. Lately I've been rolling off a little treble with the switch in the bridge position.

That is the first Esquire I have heard of with that configuration. Interesting. I am more standard. Neck - Eldridge - no tone just volume. Middle - tone and volume. Bridge - just volume.

 

[Peegoo]

So if you play an Esquire, how do you use the controls to give yourself more than 1 tone option?

A whole lot of guitar players assume a single-pickup guitar such as the Esquire or Les Paul Junior is a one-trick pony, but that is simply not the case.

Just because there's one tone control does not mean there's only one tone option. How you play is also a tone control.

One of the easiest ways to get a wide palette of tones is to vary where you pick/strike the strings. Near the bridge, it gets super twangy. Over the end of the neck, it's full and round sounding. Combine this with the volume and tone controls, and the world is yer oyster

It takes a little practice if you're used to keeping the picking hand in one spot all the time. Once you get a handle on this, it is pretty mind blowing.

 

[2HBStrat]

A whole lot of guitar players assume a single-pickup guitar such as the Esquire or Les Paul Junior is a one-trick pony, but that is simply not the case.

Just because there's one tone control does not mean there's only one tone option. How you play is also a tone control.

One of the easiest ways to get a wide palette of tones is to vary where you pick/strike the strings. Near the bridge, it gets super twangy. Over the end of the neck, it's full and round sounding. Combine this with the volume and tone controls, and the world is yer oyster

It takes a little practice if you're used to keeping the picking hand in one spot all the time. Once you get a handle on this, it is pretty mind blowing.

That may all be true, but those picking techniques work just as well, if not better, with multi-pickup guitars, too.

 

[Peegoo]

That may all be true, but those picking techniques work just as well, if not better, with multi-pickup guitars, too.

Yes they do.

I added this to the discussion because a lot of players do not vary where they play on the strings.

 

[Wildeman]

Just run the tone pot at around 60% for the middle switch position and ride the switch and volume, same on a Junior minus the switch. I'm building my second Esquire right now, gonna be a sweet naughty pine job.

 

[Joe M]

Interesting, I just brought home a CS Esquire with a pretty unique wiring setup....front position: tone and volume, middle position: volume only, and rear position: what Fender calls "Full Throttle", no volume or tone control; extremely hot signal to the amp. Using my regular amp setup, I found the guitar to be extremely dark-sounding, even with the treble all the way up on the amp, which is kinda unbelievable with an Esquire. So I started experimenting with the amp controls and found that if I turned the volume on the amp way down (around 2) the guitar started acting like I thought it should. I've always been one of those players that sets my amp's volume pretty high and control the over-all volume with the guitar's volume. I know, not the "preferred" way. Always worked for me. Well, with this Esquire, it doesn't; max the guitar volume, lower the amp volume, and it sounds great. I know that this way gives a purer signal to the amp, no volume or tone control in the mix. Of course, I can control those with the guitar, so everything seems to work very well this way. So now, I've set the tone on the amp to a more "normal" setting, volume low and control both those from the guitar. Still not sure about the Full Throttle setting, seems like it would only be useful for searing solos on stage, kinda useless for a mostly at home player like me. I might eventually try the Eldred mod, which I've used on other Esquires that I've owned.