Esquire by Fender
The Fender Esquire is a solid body electric guitar manufactured by Fender, and was the first guitar sold by Fender in 1950. Shortly after its introduction a two-pickup version named the Broadcaster was introduced while the single pickup version retained the Esquire name. The Gretsch Company at the time marketed a drum set under the 'Broadkaster' name, and at their request Fender renamed it the 'Telecaster.' Although the one-pickup Esquire was manufactured first, it is now generally regarded as a variant of the more popular Telecaster.
The single pickup guitar was first manufactured in April 1950, and made its commercial debut as the Esquire in the Spring catalogue of that year. While the guitar pictured in the catalogue was painted black and had a white scratch plate, most of the Esquires produced at the time were painted semi-transparent butterscotch blonde and had a black scratch plate. Unlike the pinewood prototype, the bodies (thinner than the Broadcaster's at 1-1/2", instead of 1-3/4") were made of solid ash. The dual pickup version was first manufactured in June of that year. Neither version had a truss rod at that time, though in November, the dual pickup version acquired one and was renamed the Broadcaster. Following objections from Gretsch who produced the Broadkaster drum kit, this name was dropped, and some guitars were shipped with only the Fender logo decal and no model name (commonly referred to today as the Nocaster) until the name Telecaster was adopted.
Following the renaming of the dual pickup Broadcaster, production and promotion of the single pickup Esquire was briefly discontinued. It was reintroduced with a truss rod in January 1951. The only external differences between these second generation Esquires and the Broadcasters and Telecasters of 1951 are the lack of a neck pickup, and the Esquire label on the head. Although the Esquire had only a single pickup, it retained the three-way switch of the two-pickup guitars. This switch modified the tone of the pickup by making it bassier in the forward position, while enabling use of the tone control knob in the middle position. With the switch in the rear position, these tone controls were bypassed entirely for a hotter lead tone.
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