My 1st Esquire build

Re: My 1st Esquire build

Pete Galati said:
This is the closest I'd come to an Esquire before:

WashburnKubickiTele.jpg


But it wasn't really intended to be an Esquire. Just a spare parts guitar that was easy to stick together.
Click to expand...

That's pretty sweet. Just stick a black pickguard on it and it would be really awesome.
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

ErikH said:
I LOVE it. Bridge plate from a Strat trem for the hardtail, route the Tele bridge pickup slot for a humbucker. That's wonderful. I bet it plays and sounds good too.
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That Strat bridge plate is from a Schecter Strat whammy bar, from back when they still sold hardware. They were one of the best hardware companies I knew of. That must have been late '70s or early '80s, I'm not sure by now.

This is the brass block that goes with that:

SchecterBlock.jpg


It's a pretty decent guitar I guess. It has a pleasant tone. That's a Tone Zone humbucker, and the Kubicki neck plays really well. Very flat fretboard, with a not so mild V conture on the back.

tubeman87 said:
That's a nice Esquire there man, good job. You should throw some Callaham knobs on there, they are super nice. :approve:
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I like those Callaham knobs. Glendale makes some really cool knobs too.

The barrel knobs on the single coil Esquire I just stuck together, those I'm not really crazy about their feel. They're a larger diameter than chrome dome type knobs, so they aren't real good for rolling off the volume real fast.

mrturtle_91 said:
That's pretty sweet. Just stick a black pickguard on it and it would be really awesome.
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Thanks all.

I was setting a black pickguard on there the other day do see if that would work. It would require reshaping parts of the pickguard. It's not really a Tele body, it's made by Washburn. And then the neck is set back a bit so that the polepieces sit on the bridgeplate in a more or less good spot. Nothing on that guitar was meant to go together. Oh, and that's a Strat neck, not a Tele neck.

I guess the best way to do it would be to send a tracing to one of those pickguard places that can work from them.

Pete
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

I got the Esquire control plate assy mostly wired up last night.

This morning a package showed up with a couple Callaham knobs. Great knurls!

And a Duncan Antiquity 11024-22

http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/antiquity/telecaster/1102422_bridge/

PigglyEsquireNewKnibsPickupTop.jpg


PigglyEsquireNewKnibsPickupBot.jpg


Glendale probably won't have the CRS bridgeplates for a couple months.

This is with the actual Esquire pickguard. I think I put that on last week:

PigglyEsquireNewPickguard.jpg


The one that came had a glossy mirror like black surface, so I had to sand that off with a couple fine grades of sandpaper, and then buff the sandpaper marks off with 0000 steelwool and rubbing compound. Kind of looks like Bakelite now.
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

i have those knobs on my esquire as well. great freakin knobs!!
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

ive never found a set of knobs that i liked so much, i mean they are just knobs, but i freaking love them!

can you tell i like em?

i really like em
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

jeremy said:
ive never found a set of knobs that i liked so much, i mean they are just knobs, but i freaking love them!

can you tell i like em?

i really like em
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Even if I don't like the guitar when I'm done with it, it'll have good knobs.
Which is all that really matters!

PigglyEsquireKnobsOn.jpg
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

The pickup has been installed for a few days, and I just got around to wiring in the control plate today, and testing it. I think I like the whole Esquire thing. Nice ring to the sound.

My setup needs a little tweaking, but it's lots of fun so far.

PigglyEsquireWiredIn.jpg

PigglyEsquireStrungUp.jpg

PigglyEsquireStrungUp2.jpg
 
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Re: My 1st Esquire build

This thread is really giving me GAS, can't wait to get started on my Esquire! Nice work, Pete!
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

JumpMarine said:
This thread is really giving me GAS, can't wait to get started on my Esquire! Nice work, Pete!
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Thanks. I'm enjoying this one, and all of a sudden, I'm wishing I'd tried the Esquire thing a long time ago. Hate to sound like one of those people who just had a revelation but... I think I might understand what Esquire freaks were talking about!

I miss that neck pickup though.

You gotta get to work on yours!

Pete
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

HA!!! I have been there and done this same guitar with the same PUP and same knobs! I had a Callaham Bakelight guard on mine though.

Cool fiddle.


DSC03193.jpg
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

B Bent said:
HA!!! I have been there and done this same guitar with the same PUP and same knobs! I had a Callaham Bakelight guard on mine though.

Cool fiddle.


DSC03193.jpg
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Looks good B Bent. Similar finish too. They're almost twins!

I resisted joining the blackguard crowd, but it just sort of dragged me in when I turned this one into an Esquire.
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

Nice work, Pete. I started accumulated more hardware for my project. I still need the control plate, tuners, bridge and a pickup ring. I know where I'm getting it all from, just need the funds to get it. :)

Greg, yours is/was cool. It was great until you went and screwed it up by putting the other pickups in it. :rolleyes: :D :laugh2:
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

ErikH said:
Nice work, Pete. I started accumulated more hardware for my project. I still need the control plate, tuners, bridge and a pickup ring. I know where I'm getting it all from, just need the funds to get it. :)

Greg, yours is/was cool. It was great until you went and screwed it up by putting the other pickups in it. :rolleyes: :D :laugh2:
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Thanks

If you've got the body and neck, that's a lot of the cost out of the way already!

I'm thinking of doing the Esquire type circuit with that natural finished single humbucker Tele on the first page of this thread. Probably just using humbucker type values like 500K pots, and .022 caps. The resistor, I'm not so sure about. Because the wiring diagram I followed for this one uses a 3.3K, but it looks like early Esquires probably used 2.5K

So..... 2.5K with a 250K pot, so maybe 5K would be a good value for 500K pots.

One of the Esquire variations someone on TDPRI uses just basically replaces that resistor with a trim pot. What I should probably do is test things on one of those prototyping boards that the effects builders use to test new circuits on.

Pete
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

Pete Galati said:
Thanks

If you've got the body and neck, that's a lot of the cost out of the way already!

I'm thinking of doing the Esquire type circuit with that natural finished single humbucker Tele on the first page of this thread. Probably just using humbucker type values like 500K pots, and .022 caps. The resistor, I'm not so sure about. Because the wiring diagram I followed for this one uses a 3.3K, but it looks like early Esquires probably used 2.5K

So..... 2.5K with a 250K pot, so maybe 5K would be a good value for 500K pots.

One of the Esquire variations someone on TDPRI uses just basically replaces that resistor with a trim pot. What I should probably do is test things on one of those prototyping boards that the effects builders use to test new circuits on.

Pete
Click to expand...

No body and neck yet. Those will come next year, one piece at a time. I've got a box started with all the hardware in it though just waiting to get used...LOL. Patience is a virtue.

I'm in the air on what I want to do wiring wise. I've thought about eliminating the 3-way completely and just going volume and spin-a-split, or volume, tone, and 3-way with one position being split. Or, volume, spin-a-split, 3-way with Esquire wiring. The control plate will have the 3-way slot in it so even if I decided to go just volume and spin-a-split at first, I can always add the 3-way in later.

A breadboard is a wonderful thing. I have one that I use quite often when messing with pedal circuits.
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

What kind of diagram did you use? That doesn't look much like the one on Seymour's page. I don't remember that one having a cap between the tone and volume control.
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

ericmeyer4 said:
What kind of diagram did you use? That doesn't look much like the one on Seymour's page. I don't remember that one having a cap between the tone and volume control.
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I used the esquire wiring diagram found at mrgearhead.com, which is run by Fender. You can find some not always accurate wiring diagrams of most Fender guitars there.

But this one at the Duncan website is the same schematically:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=standard_esquire

standard_esquire.jpg


I also have a lot of pictures that were given to me, and some I've collected from ebay auctions, of Telecaster wiring. I like seeing how unaltered Telecasters were wired before FMIC started running things. Especially the Pre-CBS years.
 
Re: My 1st Esquire build

I just ordered this body yesterday morning for my next Esquire attempt. Sorry if these images don't show up. Comcast is giving me problems AGAIN.

This is Alpine White, it's a 4Lb. 1oz. Swamp ash body.

I plan to use the maple Allparts V neck that I'm using on my MIJ Tele.

AlpineWhiteFront.jpg


AlpineWhiteAngle.jpg


I got some of the flat top style Callaham knobs for this one. Also another one of the Duncan Antiquity copies of the early '50s Tele pickup, and a Bakelite Esquire pickguard. A B/W/B pickguard would probably be more appropriate for this body, but I already ordered the Bakelite one before I picked the body out. I was kind of hoping a body I'd want would surface somewhere, and I decided that this one would work out.

Pete
 
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