# NGD: Fender MIJ 1986 Esquire



## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

I've been looking for one of these for a while and it finally arrived. 1986 Fender Made in Japan ('62) Esquire. The pickup sounds great in the first two positions (bridge and middle) but the forward 'cocked wah' is somewhat muffled. Time for some pickup experimentation. Step one: learn to solder


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Freekin gorgeous!!! Congrats. I also have a Esquire and converted it to a Tele right away. Got 2 JS Moores and sounds great.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

marcos said:


> Freekin gorgeous!!! Congrats. I also have a Esquire and converted it to a Tele right away. Got 2 JS Moores and sounds great.


Thanks, Marcos. It's got some dings, scrapes and bruises from 30 years of play, but it's still really solid. I'm going to go read about JS Moore right now. Thanks.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

This looks killer!
I'm waiting to add an Esquire to my setup. Since playing a beautiful partscaster Esquire Swervin55 put together, I've had the need, loosely put of course.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

looks nice-
bound teles are classy.

regarding the pickup- take a look at what capacitors are on the switch.
that muffled cocked wah can be fixed by using a different value cap.
ill have to look it up, but the standard esquire type setup was also too muffled for me-
using a nice fender reissue pickup.
i went with some other value to get it to scream, like a proper cocked wah.

id go with swapping the 30 cent part before getting into pickup swaps, may be all thats needed.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

vadsy said:


> This looks killer!
> I'm waiting to add an Esquire to my setup. Since playing a beautiful partscaster Esquire Swervin55 put together, I've had the need, loosely put of course.


Ha. I know Swervin55  Very knowledgeable guy. He puts together some beautiful guitars and has done setups on several of my guitars. Great guy.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

JethroTech said:


> Ha. I know Swervin55  Very knowledgeable guy. He puts together some beautiful guitars and has done setups on several of my guitars. Great guy.


Hah!
I'm on this forum because I bought a guitar from him. He also does a great job on setting things up and making them play exactly how you want it.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Please excuse my limited knowledge on Esquires, but what is the selector switch for? Is there different tunings in each position for the single pickup?


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

yeah- you generally get a straight volume position, no tone pot to attenuate the signal.
then a position that engages the tone pot.
then a position that applies a cap to give a bassy sound- they used this originally to create a bass presence in a band without a bass.
at least, thats the standard old fender setup.

i dont have the straight up option on mine, and use 2 caps to get different preset tones.
middle position gives me a bassier kind of rythmic sound, akin to the middle position on a telecaster,
then a position tuned for a screaming cocked wah sound- just like finding a spot on a wah pedal and leaving it there.

i dont like tele or strat neck pickups- so i find my esquire more versatile for me.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

+1 to what Fraser said. I have 2 Esquires and they are both as described above: (Bridge) No tone control just straight volume, (Middle) Tone and volume and (Neck) a 'cocked wah' sound, or rolled off sound--almost like a wah-wah pedal that is sort of half engaged.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Sweet Esq, Jethro!


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## rhh7 (Mar 14, 2008)

Congratulations, what a beautiful guitar!


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