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

[shallbe]

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.

From Fender:

This control arrangement was “simplified” in 1952 to what became known as the conventional Telecaster control layout. After this change, putting the selector switch in the rear (bridge) position delivered the bridge pickup alone, with the rear knob acting as a proper tone control. The selector switch in the middle position delivered the neck pickup alone, with the rear knob again acting as a tone control. The selector switch in the front (neck) position delivered the neck pickup alone with the preset bassier sound and a non-functioning rear knob (as before). In this control scheme, there was no switch setting in which both pickups were on at the same time, an arrangement that lasted until the late 1960s. However, players were quick to discover that the Telecaster’s three-position switch could be precariously balanced in the two “in-between” switch positions to deliver in-phase or out-of-phase sounds (depending on the polarity of the pickups) in which both pickups were on (an unintentional design feature exploited by players to even greater extent on the Stratocaster).

 

[Dostradamas]

Very little actually

Eldred mod

Volume only is generally wide open and sometimes rolled back a hair

Volume and Tone is generally pre set as well tone being rolled back about 30 percent or so and volume same as above

Cocked wah is volume only so wide open mostly

Each position is more treble moving from cocked wah to pickup only

 

[David Barnett]

I stay in the middle position most of the time, and knock a little off the top with the tone control. The #3 position is only used for "stun", and #1 is great with a fuzz pedal.

 

[shallbe]

I've got 2 Esquire builds I gig with. One has the Eldred mod for the front position. The other has a cap that makes it sound more like a P90 pickup in that position. I really like that---no tone control and it thickens up the mids. The plate came wired that way so I don't know what the value is, but I spend a lot of time there.

To me, the volume only positions have a noticeable increase in treble and output. Like going to 11!

 

[EsquireOK]

From Fender:

This control arrangement was “simplified” in 1952 to what became known as the conventional Telecaster control layout. After this change, putting the selector switch in the rear (bridge) position delivered the bridge pickup alone, with the rear knob acting as a proper tone control. The selector switch in the middle position delivered the neck pickup alone, with the rear knob again acting as a tone control. The selector switch in the front (neck) position delivered the neck pickup alone with the preset bassier sound and a non-functioning rear knob (as before). In this control scheme, there was no switch setting in which both pickups were on at the same time, an arrangement that lasted until the late 1960s. However, players were quick to discover that the Telecaster’s three-position switch could be precariously balanced in the two “in-between” switch positions to deliver in-phase or out-of-phase sounds (depending on the polarity of the pickups) in which both pickups were on (an unintentional design feature exploited by players to even greater extent on the Stratocaster).

This is false.

• 1953 Telecaster specs:
  • Neck fingerboard dots change spacing. On pre-1953 models, dots are about 1" (center to center) apart at the 12th fret. On 1953 and later models, the dot spacing is about 1 1/8" center to center.
  • New wiring on a Telecaster. (Note the wiring change was late 1952.) That is, the 3 position switch forward position was the neck pickup with a "woof tone" capacitor (no tone adjustment.) Middle switch position was the neck pickup with the tone knob implemented. Rear switch position was the bridge pickup with no tone adjustment. This wiring used a .05mfd cap soldered between the two pots, and a .1mfd cap between the volume pot's ground and the 3 way switch.
  • Flat-side ("poodle") guitar-shaped cases used during 1953.

http://www.guitarhq.com/fender2.html#tele - the best resource out there for old Fender specs changes over the years...not to mention that I've handled more than a few over the decades.

There were many user mods performed back then, including, most famously, by Steve Cropper – as well as Leo Fender's infamous inconsistency of specs.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

This is false.

• 1953 Telecaster specs:
  • Neck fingerboard dots change spacing. On pre-1953 models, dots are about 1" (center to center) apart at the 12th fret. On 1953 and later models, the dot spacing is about 1 1/8" center to center.
  • New wiring on a Telecaster. (Note the wiring change was late 1952.) That is, the 3 position switch forward position was the neck pickup with a "woof tone" capacitor (no tone adjustment.) Middle switch position was the neck pickup with the tone knob implemented. Rear switch position was the bridge pickup with no tone adjustment. This wiring used a .05mfd cap soldered between the two pots, and a .1mfd cap between the volume pot's ground and the 3 way switch.
  • Flat-side ("poodle") guitar-shaped cases used during 1953.

http://www.guitarhq.com/fender2.html#tele - the best resource out there for old Fender specs changes over the years...not to mention that I've handled more than a few over the decades.

There were many user mods performed back then, including, most famously, by Steve Cropper – as well as Leo Fender's infamous inconsistency of specs.

Just curious...what was Cropper's famous mod, for those of us who don't know?

 

[Hodgo88]

Tone control rolled off a hair (250k audio taper .1uf cap), ride volume as needed.

Frankly the reason I like Esquires is because they are more tonally constrained than a Tele, and that forces me to look at other parts of the equation (hands, amps, pedals)

 

[ElvisNixon]

I usually set up my base tone in the middle position which is rolling the tone knob down about a quarter and the volume control down a bit less than that. I can get any sound I personally can get out of a low wind PAF without as much gain. I set my amp for this base tone and make up for the lower output by running my amps a little higher than with a PAF.

Position one is always just about perfect for solos and getting extra cut through a mix.

On a vintage style Esquire I use position 3 for Wes Montgomery and jazz stuff as well as doing B3 imitations a la Danny Gatton.

I have fallen in love with the 2020 70th Anniversary Esquires with the Tim Shaw designed PU which he designed after an early Esquire in the Songbird Museum. It’s an amazing pickup. Fender could sell them like hotcakes if they sold it separately.

The capacitor in position 3 sounds like it has a dramatically lower value capacitor and has very useful sounds more like a Tele bridge PU.

I haven’t opened up the control plate to look at the cap value or if there’s anything else non-standard in the wiring. It doesn’t sound like it does. Just has a more usable capacitor value.

 

[EsquireOK]

Just curious...what was Cropper's famous mod, for those of us who don't know?

I don't know the entire functionality of his switch, but I do know that he had the modern-day middle position added (and used it almost exclusively).

 

[Old Deaf Roadie]

I've got 2 Esquire builds I gig with. One has the Eldred mod for the front position. The other has a cap that makes it sound more like a P90 pickup in that position. I really like that---no tone control and it thickens up the mids. The plate came wired that way so I don't know what the value is, but I spend a lot of time there.

To me, the volume only positions have a noticeable increase in treble and output. Like going to 11!

That is very interesting to me. My #1 is an Esquire build, but I used an actual P90. It can sing sweet or bite your head off just as easily.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

I don't know the entire functionality of his switch, but I do know that he had the modern-day middle position added (and used it almost exclusively).

Do you mean he wire the middle position for series instead of parallel?

 

[Fretting out]

I stay in the middle position most of the time, and knock a little off the top with the tone control. The #3 position is only used for "stun", and #1 is great with a fuzz pedal.

Set phasers to stun!!!

 

[Diminished7]

I usually set up my base tone in the middle position which is rolling the tone knob down about a quarter and the volume control down a bit less than that. I can get any sound I personally can get out of a low wind PAF without as much gain. I set my amp for this base tone and make up for the lower output by running my amps a little higher than with a PAF.

Position one is always just about perfect for solos and getting extra cut through a mix.

On a vintage style Esquire I use position 3 for Wes Montgomery and jazz stuff as well as doing B3 imitations a la Danny Gatton.

I have fallen in love with the 2020 70th Anniversary Esquires with the Tim Shaw designed PU which he designed after an early Esquire in the Songbird Museum. It’s an amazing pickup. Fender could sell them like hotcakes if they sold it separately.

The capacitor in position 3 sounds like it has a dramatically lower value capacitor and has very useful sounds more like a Tele bridge PU.

I haven’t opened up the control plate to look at the cap value or if there’s anything else non-standard in the wiring. It doesn’t sound like it does. Just has a more usable capacitor value.

I was waiting for someone to chime in on the jazz route with an Esquire. I find this a really unexplored option. I've heard some really great tones from them. As you mention you can get some really smooth vocal tone on position 3 and get that deep 3-D piano like tele tone as well. Best of both worlds!

 

[SixStringSlinger]

My Esquire is an old Squier Tele that's been re-wired from scratch.

It has a Cavalier Fat Lion pickup and 250k controls (I don't remember the actual measurements, but they're not far off; I don't remember the tone control's cap's value, but it's nothing special). The tone control uses a no-load pot.

The wiring is standard volume-and-tone in the middle position (the tone control's no-load pot allowing me to switch it out), Eldred in the "neck" (so volume control and a fixed cap; again, I forget the value, but it goes for a Luther Perkins thing), and straight-to-jack in the bridge (so no controls, caps, anything).

I mostly use the middle position, higher volume and lower tone to rock, lower volume and higher tone to twang, adjusted as needed. I use the Eldred when I want that effect, or when I want something "warmer" but different than turning down the tone control. And finally, straight-to-jack for a quick solo boost or just to scare people.

 

[jvin248]

.

My Esquire and Junior taught me to be a better player. They showed me how to be versatile not the guitar.

My current Esquire has a 16kohm hot ceramic humbucker split with a 4-way for the usual options; pickup is lowered with screw poles raised for more separation.

On just a SC Esquire I'd suggest the Arlo Cocked Wah mod rather than Eldred/etc.

.

 

[EsquireOK]

Do you mean he wire the middle position for series instead of parallel?

No. I mean he had the middle position that you get in "modern wiring" added to his guitars that originally came with "vintage wiring." The modern middle position is both pickups on, in parallel. The most commonly used name for what Fender started doing in the late '60s is "modern wiring."

 

[thegaijin]

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.

Flats for the win. Like Peegoo says, try ‘em. I was surprised at the difference they make.

 

[tlsmack]

I go with a hot pickup and no switch. There is tons a variety of tones just in the volume knob with a hot pickup. I like to set the amp pretty bright, which makes the tone knob more "usable" to my ear.

 

[P Thought]

Ol' Lester, my homemade esquire, doesn't have a switch. I get what I get from volume and tone controls, pick selection, pick attack, and picking position. That and the Don Mare "Hayride" pickup, which doesn't need much help in the first place.

 

[El Tele Lobo]

No. I mean he had the middle position that you get in "modern wiring" added to his guitars that originally came with "vintage wiring." The modern middle position is both pickups on, in parallel. The most commonly used name for what Fender started doing in the late '60s is "modern wiring."

Oh, I understand. At first I thought you were talking about Esquire wiring. It makes sense now.