page_title: Fender Esquire
section_title: Early development
hierarchical_section_title: Fender Esquire / Early development
caption_attribution_description: Fender Guitar Factory museum 1. Leo and early models Fender Broadcaster Esquire 1st prototype in 1949
context_page_description: The Fender Esquire is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Fender, the first solid-body guitar sold by Fender, debuting in 1950. Shortly after its introduction, a two-pickup version was built. It was soon renamed the Broadcaster later that year; 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 dropped the Broadcaster name, eventually renaming their guitar the "Telecaster". The more versatile Broadcaster/Telecaster has since become one of Fender's most popular models with dozens of variations produced. Once the Telecaster was introduced, the Esquire became marketed as a lower-cost version. Over the following two decades, the availability of other low-cost models saw the Esquire's sales decline and the model was discontinued in 1969.
  The model has since been reissued but remains a relatively "niche" guitar. Esquire users today prefer the model's increased treble over the Telecaster.
context_section_description: The first prototype for the Esquire (and the later Telecaster) was completed by Leo Fender and George Fullerton in the fall of 1949. The prototype shared with these guitars the now-familiar square edged, dreadnought body shape with single cutaway to allow easier access to the upper frets. It likewise featured the distinctive combination bridge and pickup assembly, with their slanted Champion steel pickup with individual pole pieces for each string, and three bridge saddles which allowed adjustment of string length in pairs and individual string height. The neck, like the first Esquires manufactured in 1950, was made from a single piece of maple without a truss rod. The neck was attached to the body with four screws and an anchor plate, unlike in traditional guitar construction, where a tenon on the neck is glued into the body. Unlike the Esquire, the neck was wider at the nut, and the head had 3 tuners on each side. The prototype differed from the later production guitars in several other respects: the body was made of pinewood, it was painted opaque white, its pickguard did not extend above the strings, it lacked a selector switch, and its volume and tone knobs were mounted on a slanted plate. Like the production models, it had a removable pickup cover, but unlike the production models, the cover had straight sides. The prototype had only one pickup, as did Esquires manufactured from 1951 onwards.
  Over the winter of 1949/50, Fender refined the design. The neck width at the nut was narrowed to 1 5/8", and the head modified to accommodate all six tuners on one side from a Croatian design Leo liked. A tone selector switch was added, and the controls were mounted on a plate parallel to the strings. The scratch plate (pickguard) was enlarged. During late spring of 1950, Fender had added a second (Champion steel) pickup in the neck position. It was soon redesigned to pick around more easily with a smaller pickup, and encased in a metal shielding cover designed by Karl Olmstead (tool & dye makers Race & Olmstead). However, this last feature was not to make it onto Fender's commercially advertised guitar, as Fender's distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company (RTEC), had decided that it would be easier to sell the single pickup version of the guitar.
caption: 1st prototype of 1949 (replica).
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