A late 54, early 55 white guard Fender Esquire anyone? This has rapidly become our store favourite so read on...

Prior to the introduction of the Broadcaster in October 1950, the Esquire was the first guitar offered by the fledgling Fender company. These were offered in single or double pickup configurations. Re-introduced by the company in 1951, the Esquire represented a more cost effective alternative to the Broadcaster/Telecaster. As their construction was identical to the Telecaster, Fender did offer an option whereby you could have the neck pickup fitted at an additional charge.

What is there not to like about this guitar? Sunburst was offered as a Telecaster finish in 1955 (though later discontinued) and its this what revered guitar finisher Clive Brown chose to do for this guitar in August 2013 (as you can see from the stamp in the control cavity). 

As those of you who are aware of Clive's work can attest, his attention to detail  is astounding. There is a slight shadow underneath the pickguard and the body has been lightly reliced and aged to match the neck which  still has the original lacquer. The afformetioned has worn nicely as you'd expect. It has been refretted though this work has been done sympathetically and the original decal is still strong. 

Hardware shows signs of use but not extensive corrosion. The pickguard is a repro made by Clive but all of the rest of the hardware is correct and in very nice shape.

Electronically all the components are correct though there has been some rewiring so that it works as a standard telecaster. The bridge pickup is a a 54 flat pole piece pickup as found on the earlier blackguard telecasters and sounds insanely good!

The guitar comes with aa old tweed hardshell case, whilst not original, it is a bit of a cool relic in its own right and has some interesting looking stickers on it...

This guitar has a wonderfully lively tone with plenty of twang. The bridge pickup is raunchy with smooth top end as you'd expect from a pickup from the golden era. The neck pickup complements thing nicely offering a smooth tone. The soft V of the neck is very comfortable and the worn in feel is a joy to play.

This guitar oozes mojo and has sounds phenomenal. Don't mis out, grab it before it gets away.