All Along the Watchtower

The Fender Stealth Esquire Custom shop Relic built by John EnglishPosted by Dave under Guitar , Blonde , Fender Telecaster , Guitars
Click HERE for the full Fender Stealth Esquire photo gallery

The Fender Stealth Esquire Custom 50 Relic built by John English. If a person combined the best features of a ‘50s Fender Esquire, some cool features from the rare Tavares Model 1967 Maurader/Swinger, and also add the craftsmanship of world renowned luthier John English, what you’d get would be an amazingly novel guitar, both fun to play and performance oriented. The coolest deception: “Only your guitar dealer has to know” (I think that was actually the slogan of an advertisement in the ‘60s). It’s like you (and only you) know the secret and therefore, the edge, making the Fender Stealth Esquire a very cool new secret weapon.
From its outward appearance the Fender Stealth Esquire built by John English looks like an Esquire. However, borrowing a trick from the famous Fender Tavares Model 1967 Maurader/Swinger (see the book by Norm Harris with David Swartz “Norman’s Rare Guitars”), there are two additional special pickups under the pickguard (hence the name “Stealth”). The Fender Stealth Esquire features a 5 way switch that allows the player to switch between the three individual pick ups, and two combination pick-up settings, just like on most Fender Stratocasters today. With this five position switch, a guitarist sitting in the crowd watching and listening to you will be amazed at the variety of tones coming from what appears to be a single pick up Fender Esquire.
Fender Stealth Esquire Photo Gallery
This guitar feels and looks great! The attention to detail on this Fender Stealth Esquire is so cool. The back of the neck is worn in perfectly and therefore plays so smooth and fast. The Relic process is totally believeable. Under the black pickguard is the paint can ring/circle just like on most of the original Fender Black Guard Telecasters and Esquires. Look at the photo… this is great to see. The top has the four nail holes (two under the pickguard, one next to the screw hole under the electronics control plate and one under the bridge) like a ’50s Fender Esquires, Nocasters, Broadcaster and/or Tele. And the two tooling holes are on the back of this Esquire! The lacquer blonde finish on the Esquire shows the “halo” effect like many of the ’50s Fender Esquire and Telecasters. The serial number is on the bridge plate like a mid ’50s and prior Tele and Esquire instead of on the neck plate as on later Fender tels and Esquires. This halo effect was not so noticeable when the guitar was new in say 1953 but with a little age the halo shows itself. The halo effect is said to have been cause by the way Fender painted the guitar bodies. Fender used a lazy susan and laid the guitar on its back, put four small nails in the top of the guitar body and then painted the top and sides while slowly turning the lazy susan. Next fender would turn the guitar body over and paint the back and the sides would be painted again as the end grains of the sides needed additional paint. When painting the sides of the body some additional paint would always end up on the top and back right around the edges and this created the halo effect old vintage Fender Esquires and Telecasters are so known for. The neck plate has a English signature for the builder.
All of these small details add up and show the incredibly fine craftsmanship of the late John English! I list even more features below. Though this features list looks similar to what is on other web sites sush as the Fender web site, there is more detail below than anywhere else. I give you neck depth, pickup DC resistance and other information that may be useful. It is interesting to me anyway.
Quicktime download

Provided above, are four videos of me checking out this Fender Stealth Esquire. You will have to download Quicktime to view them (if you don’t already have it). In the top video, I am playing the Fender Stealth Esquire through a 1958 Tweed Deluxe (we blew the speaker) through a four twelve Marshall Cab at 8 Ohms. The next three are the Fender Stealth through a favorite 1951 Fender tweed Deluxe (100% stock including metal pre-amp tubes) exploring each of the five pick up settings. We have the videos arranged from top (most distorted) to bottom (clean-est tone).
On all videos I play a passage on the bridge pickup, then push the switch forward to the second position and attempt to play the same passage with the bridge and middle pickup on together. I next push the switch forward to the third position and attempt to play the same passage with just the middle pickup on. I then push the switch forward to the fourth position and attempt to play the same passage with the middle and neck pickup on together. And lastly I push the switch forward once more to the fifth position and attempt to play the same passage with just the neck pick up on. Click HERE to hear a semi-clean tone Fender Stealth Esquire video exploration and then Click HERE to hear a clean-er tone Fender Stealth Esquire video demonstration (all demonstrations venture through all five pick-up positions in the same format discussed previously so you get a feel for the Fender Stealth Esquires tone and versatility).
This is a marvelous guitar.
Some specs;• Relic• Weight: 7.4 pounds• DC Resistance of pickups; Bridge 8.25K Ohms, Middle 8.14K Ohms, Neck 7.8K Ohms• Neck depth: approximately .905” 1st fret .937” 5th fret, .967” 8th fret .990” 12th fret• Back of the neck: heavily sanded “smooth”• Fingerboard: very nice track marks• Unique Features : Neck and Middle Pickups are Hidden Under the Pickguard• No. of Frets : 21 Vintage Frets .090” width• Strings : Fender Super 250R, Nickel Plated Steel,• Body : Premium Lightweight Ash• Neck : 1-Piece Maple, ‘54 “U” Shape• Width at Nut : 1.650″ (42 mm)• Model Name : Builder Select Esquire Heavy Relic LTD (John English)• Pickguard : 1-Ply Black (with paint can ring on the bottom side)• Hardware : Nickel/Chrome• Pickups: 1 Custom NoCaster® Vintage Tele® Single-Coil (Bridge), 2 Custom Handwound Tele Single-Coil (Neck-Mid) hidden under pickguard. The middle and neck pickups are about the size of a Stratocaster pickup (.629” without cover) and not at all the size of a Tele neck pickup (.566” with metal cover).• Scale Length : 25.5″ (648 mm)• Introduced : 1/2006• Bridge : Vintage Style Esquire Bridge with Three 3 Solid Steel Saddles (similar to the first 250 original fender guitars built)• Series : Custom Shop Limited Edition Series• Controls : Volume, Tone both in parallel with each pickup or pickup combination• Color: (487) Vintage Blonde,• Pickup Switching : 5-Position Blade: Position 1, Bridge Pickup. Position 2, Bridge and Middle Pickup. Position 3, Middle Pickup. Position 4, Middle and Neck Pickup. Position 5, Neck Pickup.• Accessories : Deluxe Limited Edition Black Hardshell Case (Black Interior), Strap, Cable, Limited Edition Certificate• Machine Heads : Fender/Gotoh Vintage Style Tuning Machines• Fingerboard : Maple, 7.25″ Radius (184mm)• Case : Deluxe Limited Edition Black Hardshell Case with Black Crushed Velvet Interior and Embroidered Limited Edition Logo• Serial number found on bridge plate instead of neck plate (similar to Fender specs pre 1955)• “English” engraved on neck plate COOL!!!• Non-phillips head vintage style (straight-slot) screws• Model Number : 927-5000-487
At present, this amazing guitar is on loan to me as a courtesy from www.guitarsale.com and will soon be returned to www.guitarsale.com. This particular guitar is the heaviest Fender Stealth Esquire built by John English, that www.guitarsale.com has in stock. Check out all of the John English Fender Stealth Esquires that GuitarSale has in stock by clicking HERE.
Check out all 5 John English Fender Stealth Esquires guitarsale.com has in stock by clicking the individual links below. Enjoy!
Fender Builder Select Stealth Esquire Heavy Relic LTD by John English Serial No. je095
Fender Builder Select Stealth Esquire Heavy Relic LTD by John English Serial No. je066
Fender Builder Select Stealth Esquire Heavy Relic LTD by John English Serial No. je078
Fender Builder Select Stealth Esquire Heavy Relic LTD by John English Serial No. je014
Fender Builder Select Stealth Esquire Heavy Relic LTD by John English Serial No. je053
Barry Clark at guitarsale is an expert on these Stealth Esquires. Call Barry (barryc@guitarsale.com) at 800-343-9795 for an on hand description of any of these wonderful Fender Stealth Esquires.
Guitarsale contact info
Outside the U.S. 574-251-3500Fax 574-251-3346
Hours: M-F 8-9, Sat 9-5, Sun 12-6 EST
Retail Showroom hours: Mon. thru Fri. 10:00 to 7:00, Sat. 9:00 to 5:00 EST(GMT -5:00)
Mail GuitarSale4004 Technology DriveSouth Bend, IN 46628USA
“Fender Esquire” = the beginning “Fender Stealth Esquire” = the evolution
Note of interest;
Is the Fender Esquire a single pickup version of the Fender Telecaster? Or is the Fender Telecaster a double pickup version of the Fender Esquire?
Let’s examine the truth!
In the beginning God said; Let there be Music, and asked Leo to create the Esquire… or something like that. Anyway, “Esquire” was the first name that appeared on both the single pickup and double pickup models of what would become commonly known to the world as the Telecaster body shape. Most people think of the Fender Esquire as a single pickup version of the Fender Telecaster, but in the beginning it just wasn’t so! In the beginning and before any Broadcaster, NoCaster or Telecaster… Leo Fender built possibly (plus or minus) 60 Fender Esquires, including both single pickup and “DOUBLE” pickup versions branded as Esquires. It is believed that many of these first 60 Fender Esquires were built without a truss rod to reinforce the neck, and therefore around 1950 Fender recalled these “no truss rod” Esquire necks. They were to replace these with new necks that featured truss rods for reinforcement. This was a good thing, but the replacement necks may have not had Esquire on the peghead. These necks were possibly branded Broadcaster, No-Caster, or Telecaster. This is just a theory and may be the reason that the original Fender Esquire guitars are so extremely rare. In all of my years of going to guitar shows and searching for vintage guitars and collecting guitars, I don ‘ t remember ever holding an original “No Truss Rod” Fender Esquire in my hands (regardless of whether it was a one pickup or two pickup model). I know what the word rare means, I’ve owned an original Gibson Explorer!
In evolutionary terms the name Telecaster is the third or fourth different name given to the two pickup Esquire. First obviously there was the two pickup Esquire, second the two pickup Broadcaster, next (and this is why I say three or four) the two pickup No Caster (the headstock just had the Fender logo, no model name) next came the two pickup Telecaster which remained the name from late 1951 through and up until today I bring this up because people say an Esquire is a single pickup Fender Telecaster and my thinking is the opposite of that. Contrary to popular thinking, a Fender Telecaster is really just a two pickup version of a Fender Esquire, because in the beginning the single pickup and the double pickup were both branded Fender Esquire! Morale to the story: A Fender Esquire is not a single pickup version of the Fender Telecaster, a Fender Telecaster is the double pickup version of the Fender Esquire! And now the Fender Stealth Esquire features three pickups for more versatility and musical inspiration.
“Fender Esquire” = the beginning “Fender Stealth Esquire” = the evolution
If you have made it this far, please comment by using the comment feature below. I would love to hear your feedback. Everyone’s opinion is valuable to me.