Introducing the new Brad Paisley Secret Agent Esquire Neck Pickup!

[Mincer]

What? Yup, you guessed right- a neck pickup for an Esquire...that's hidden:

Read about it here.

When is a one-pickup guitar not a one-pickup guitar? To answer that riddle, we’ll let you in on a little secret.
Brad Paisley and Seymour Duncan are both big fans of the Fender Esquire—a single-pickup guitar that curiously still has a 3-way switch that selects tonal variations on the bridge pickup. Brad wanted to add some neck-pickup versatility while still maintaining the classic Esquire look. Enter the Secret Agent, a neck single-coil that resides under the pickguard, stealthy, hidden from sight. (Get it?) Seymour went with a medium-output ceramic bar magnet to help the Secret Agent accomplish its mission. Because it’s further from the strings with less magnetic pull, this design provides a full, warm, almost jazzy neck-pickup tone, which perfectly complements the Esquire bridge model’s bark and snarl. It all adds up to what Brad calls “my favorite Tele neck pickup.”
Want to turn your Esquire into an undercover operation? You’ll need the Secret Agent. The Brad Paisley Signature Custom Shop “Secret Agent” Esquire Neck Pickup. Hand built in Santa Barbara, CA.

 

[Masta' C]

Customers: We'd really like a dedicated '59/Custom neck pickup

SD: Here's a hidden pickup for the 0.5% of you that own Esquires!

Cool concept. Strat guys have been wanting something like this for years.

 

[jeremy]

my esquire doesnt need a neck pup. i dont love tele neck pups in general, a firebird pup in the neck kicks ass though. if brad likes it, it cant be bad though. great tone, great chops

 

[ItsaBass]

Hmmm.....

It doesn't sound bad. Can't think of a use for it, though...and an Esquire is my main guitar.

It doesn't sound like anything I can't get from a Tele neck pickup...and if I'm using a neck pickup, I've got not problem showing it. And I like the 3rd position on an Esquire, especially with the simple Mike Eldred wiring, which is like running a tone pot on 0 with a very low valued cap. It sounds snarly and aggressive; I use it more often than I use position 1.

The 3rd position Brad Paisley demonstrated as an example of a near useless tone is the same basic thing that was on Teles until 1967...and people have been modding it all along. So it's not a "failing" specific to the Esquire, but also to its much more popular big brother. If anything, it sounds better on the Esquire, because it's the snappier bridge pickup going through the dark circuit, rather than the darker neck pickup of a Tele.

It'd be cool to actually see the pickup...and it's price. I'd like to actually play it to be able to judge it better. I'd be curious to see it used at normal height in the bridge position of some other guitar than an Esquire or Tele. Might be nice and cutting and aggressive used that way.

 

[elelpe]

I've been wondering if Hot for Tele/QP neck would do exactly that.

 

[Lewguitar]

Hmmm.....

It doesn't sound bad. Can't think of a use for it, though...and an Esquire is my main guitar.

It doesn't sound like anything I can't get from a Tele neck pickup...and if I'm using a neck pickup, I've got not problem showing it. And I like the 3rd position on an Esquire, especially with the simple Mike Eldred wiring, which is like running a tone pot on 0 with a very low valued cap. It sounds snarly and aggressive; I use it more often than I use position 1.

The 3rd position Brad Paisley demonstrated as an example of a near useless tone is the same basic thing that was on Teles until 1967...and people have been modding it all along. So it's not a "failing" specific to the Esquire, but also to its much more popular big brother. If anything, it sounds better on the Esquire, because it's the snappier bridge pickup going through the dark circuit, rather than the darker neck pickup of a Tele.

It'd be cool to actually see the pickup...and it's price. I'd like to actually play it to be able to judge it better. I'd be curious to see it used at normal height in the bridge position of some other guitar than an Esquire or Tele. Might be nice and cutting and aggressive used that way.

Strong magnet. Probably pull like crazy on the strings. That would defeat the whole purpose of keeping it a distance from the strings to reduce magnetic string pull.

 

[GilmourD]

Personally, I'd rather have a Tele neck pickup that sounds like a Strat, kinda like what the Fender Twisted Tele is supposed to do. I've been finding that a lot of neck pickups that aren't Strats just sound dull and woofy, although some vintage PAFs with big coil mismatches sound good in the neck, too.

 

[Lewguitar]

Personally, I'd rather have a Tele neck pickup that sounds like a Strat, kinda like what the Fender Twisted Tele is supposed to do. I've been finding that a lot of neck pickups that aren't Strats just sound dull and woofy, although some vintage PAFs with big coil mismatches sound good in the neck, too.

I've tried what are regarded as being the best Tele neck pickups with a Strat sound.

Pickups from Fralin, the Duncan Custom Shop and from Joe Barden. None sounded as good as a real Strat pickup.

So what I have in my now old MIJ Fender Tele Custom on the left is a Strat neck pickup with a Custom Shop Jerry Donahue.

 

[Masta' C]

One of the Meteora bodies I ordered has a Tele configuration and I opted to have it routed for a Strat pickup in the neck to be paired with a traditional Tele pickup in the bridge...the way Teles should have been all along

 

[Mincer]

I'd love for this idea to be expanded. You could make a Strat with a middle pickup under the pickguard (and away from my pick & fingers)..or have all 3 pickups under a pickguard for a cleaner look.

 

[GilmourD]

I'd love for this idea to be expanded. You could make a Strat with a middle pickup under the pickguard (and away from my pick & fingers)..or have all 3 pickups under a pickguard for a cleaner look.

In the A. R. Duchossoir Strat book isn't there a picture of a Marauder prototype with all the pickups under the guard?

 

[Lewguitar]

One of the Meteora bodies I ordered has a Tele configuration and I opted to have it routed for a Strat pickup in the neck to be paired with a traditional Tele pickup in the bridge...the way Teles should have been all along

I sort of agree with you.

But in 1950 the Strat pickup hadn't been invented yet.

Fender could have switched to it though.

I dunno why they didn't.

Maybe the country guys who played Teles didn't like the look or the sound or something.

Maybe they noticed the increased magnetic string pull from the Strat pickup.

IMO, it does change the "twang" and sustain of the bridge pickup.

That might be the reason right there.

 

[idsnowdog]

In the A. R. Duchossoir Strat book isn't there a picture of a Marauder prototype with all the pickups under the guard?

Yes the Marauder had pickups under the pickguard. I would think neo magnets would make a good hidden pickup.

 

[Lewguitar]

https://customshop.seymourduncan.com...ent-tele-neck/ $130

I was wondering about where the magnet was on this pickup. Looks like it's on it's edge and the coil is wound around it. So no pole pieces.

 

[Masta' C]

Yeah, same concept as the old Hot Stacks, the Fuglybucker, Slug, El Diablo, etc.

 

[ICTGoober]

I think this is a great solution for guys who think that middle pickup is in the way. Very cool concept, one I think many people will want to explore. Heck, who knows where this might sound good?

Doesn't Taylor offer a hidden pickup on one of their TZ's?

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, I'd love a hidden middle pickup on a Strat. Or a set of hidden pickups, which might change the way we design guitars.

 

[Masta' C]

Yeah, I'd love a hidden middle pickup on a Strat. Or a set of hidden pickups, which might change the way we design guitars.

Heck yeah! The idea of hidden pickups in itself is pretty cool. Getting the middle pickup out of the way on a Strat would be an amazing use for a purpose-built pickup like the Secret Agent.

Maybe this trend will catch on and perhaps we'll see some other options come about using this concept.

I know I've been on a Meteora kick lately, but this was one of the prototypes from several years ago. No visible pickups...doesn't get cleaner than that!

 

[Lewguitar]

I can sure see using a hidden pickup as the middle pickup in a Strat. It would have to combine well with the neck and bridge pickups and get that sound we're used too though. Probably wouldn't be a huge market for it although I'd think Duncan could sell enough of them to make it worthwhile for them. You'd need a new pickguard too. Maybe custom. Now it's starting to get expensive. :sad:

 

[ItsaBass]

So how do ya mount the damned thing? It has no mounting ears that I can see. Foam underneath, with the pickup pressed against the bottom of the guard? That would, sadly, limit its use to only its intended purpose: hidden under a guard. And what are the basic specs?
Can you get it without the unsightly Duncan logo? Really interested, because it might just fit the bill in the bridge position of a guitar I'm building.