Past GP columist- Our love of Telecaster/Esquires revisited

[3-50Esquire]

So many accolades has surrounded the famous Telecaster as it is known today. It has truly become an icon in the country field where it began (Jimmy Bryant & Jimmy Wyble).. and crossed over into the R & B field (Curtiss Mayfield), blues (Muddy Waters, BB King and Gatemouth Brown), rock (Beck,Page & Clapton), psychedelia (Pink Floyd's Sid Barrett), jazz (Ted Greene, Howard Roberts, Bob Bain & Barney Kessel) and the Tele masters like James Burton, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Amos Garrett, Albert Lee and Jerry Donahue... Why.. Because it's was born of functionality, balance, fidelity and raw tone!!

The Esquire/Broadcaster/Telecaster idea was a natural progression of Leo's insight into Spanish guitars from his solid Hawaiian steel instruments and Paul Bigsby's Merle Travis prototype so visable on the SoCal bandstands. Thanks to the pioneering help of George Fullerton, Charlie Hayes (the Fender salesman who asked for a new guitar), Dale Hyatt and Don Randall it became a reality. With much criticism at the 1950 trade show, the Esquire took off slow at first. The true reality of the Fender solidbodies lack of feedback and great steel guitar like tones right at your fingertips.. enabled the guitarist to be majestic and full of great guitar tone at almost any volume. Fender's new guitar picked up speed and many others followed. Freedom at last!

To begin with, the original Fender Spanish "Esquire" guitar featured a two or four way matched pine body. These earliest of Esquires actually have quite a bit of acoustical volume in comparison to the generally heavier ash bodies. Pine was too soft and impractical even though it sounded good. Only the original black Esquires used pine (some were actually white like the first few '49 prototypes) and the guitar was recently reissued by the Custom Shop. During that fertile period a dozen two pickup Esquires were built with the steel guitars ash wood and blonde finish which began the tradition we enjoy today. The ash hardwood was a perfect choice for great sustain and ringing high end tone.

I've discovered the lack of a truss rod also gives it a more woody tonality. Of course the reinforcement of the neck was soon implimented with the introduction of the Broadcaster version in October of 1950. Neck wise, I enjoy my early '50 Esquire V neck since it's so similar to the Nov '56 Strat I use. The full fit in the curve of the hand is really a very serious handful. After nearly five months of trimmed decals (which I prefer to call "The Fender Guitar).. the Telecaster name was first used in August of 1951.. the very month I was born! No one could even come up with a name after Don Randall's contest was promoted. So the Television, a relatively new and then popular invention inspired the Telecaster name. Radio broadcasting to TV broadcasts was the first jump.. the stratosphere was next...

I especially enjoy the original alnico 2 pickups and their perfect placement. Very rich sounds are available right next to the nodal point by the neck. Great for jazz tones and warm rhythm playing. The angled bridge pickup (borrowed from the 1949 Champion steel pickup) sitting on the metal bridge plate gives the stinging Fender tone a real ring and scorching sound. Woods that were used were already naturally aged and perfect tone generators. Today you can tap virtually any fifties Fender neck and listen to the solid ping tone! And when the body and neck both coincide tonally and harmonically.. you have the ultimate Fender guitar!

My personal experience with the Tele began during the late sixties with a '60 Telecaster Custom I bought for $80 with a tweed Champ amp. After playing a new '64 Duo-sonic and then a '54 Strat for a few years, I was ready to try the Grandaddy of them all. My few country friends had the fifties blond neck models (as we called them) and they certainly had a cool look I thought. We were playing outdoor Love-ins in those days with high volume (Twins w/Showman cabs) and I had to be very careful so as not to get the howling sound (leftover air in the pickup winding). Some earlier Teles didn't seem to have that feedback problem I found. Their coils were dipped in the wax longer. The brilliant lead pickup was my main attraction. Certain songs just called for the bright and blazing Tele Tone to the Bone!

Comfort wise.. I was just getting used to the contoured Stratocaster.. yet I stuck it out even though the body edges were so sharp. The normal Tele small radiused edges weren't so bad but took some getting used to. I know of a few original fifties contoured Teles too. Some feel the fact that the Tele stays upright next to your body like an acoustic guitar is more preferable. I also discovered from interviewing Danny Gatton that the overall way the Tele neck is positioned to your body while standing up is farther extended away from you as compared to a Strat. This is due to the lack of the horn as on the P-bass and Stratocaster. Some players prefer that slightly farther position.

During the seventies I had bought and sold a few fifties Esquires and Telecasters to some British players like Clem Clemson with Humble Pie. One refinned '53 I found in OB I sent up to Gene Parsons in Mendicino for a Parson/White String Puller for Jimmy Page. He then switched out the maple neck for the rosewood neck from his Yardbirds Tele and still plays it today. Through the years I started using them more often for sessions and rockabilly stuff while playing with Rosie (Flores) & the Screamers. Phil Kubicki (original Fender Custom shop luthier) built my Wildwood Tele Custom. It has the rare blue green dye injected top and back as used for the Wildwood Fender acoustics. Arlen Roth also had his blue/green Wildwood Tele done around that same time. Being in the studio rental business since the seventies, I can say that many famous producers utilize the Telecasters great sounds on countless records. I remember being in Oxnard watching Jeff Beck use his Tele on a train boxcar while doing Rod Stewart's video shoot of "People Get Ready" and thinking.. what a fabulous Fender Telecaster sound he gets!

Even though most of us play other popular guitars, we always seem to come back to the great Fender Telecaster guitar. To sum it up.. those ol' Telecasters we've come to love and admire really started the whole solidbody bandwagon and still kickass! Thank you Clarence Leo Fender for having the insight to start it off right!!

Robb Lawrence

[butnut]

Your love of Tele's runs deep...great story, thanks for sharing. Keith love's his too! (see bottom of this page)

[Marcondo]

Some of my friends in the LA area played in bands with Rosie Flores was wondering if you knew any of these guys Robb? Steve Duncan drums He played for Rick Nelson Desert Rose band and the Hellecasters and jack Daniels Highway 101 and guess who. Both those guys played in Rosies band.

[3-50Esquire]

Originally posted by Marcondo
Some of my friends in the LA area played in bands with Rosie Flores was wondering if you knew any of these guys Robb? Steve Duncan drums He played for Rick Nelson Desert Rose band and the Hellecasters.

I've met a few other players who worked with Rosie over the years including Steve Duncan. I worked many gigs with the Hellecasters while teching for Jerry Donahue. Wish I'd seen some Rick Nelson Stone Canyon Band gigs! Steve is one of my favorite drummers and really a super nice guy.

I grew up with Rosie and her equally talented brother Roger. They lived near my folks home and went to a nearby High School. We would jam with Paul Cowie (local blues guitar hero/early Burst player from "King Bisquit Blues Band" now in Portand), Dave "Flash" Flood (John Dopyera's apprentice from National/Dobro), and Dave, Billy & guitar great Lee Barnes from the "O. D. Corral" etc. We still get together for her family's Christmas eve party and have great fun Yule Tide jamming.

During the early 80's we rehearsed and played gigs at the infamous Trancas nightclub restaurant in Malibu and at the popular "Belly Up Tavern" in Solana Beach. Also worked on some fun reggae tunes with her using the rare Fender 4 pickup Marauder guitar. She is very talented musician and soulful singer. Recently she's achieved some acclaim in the country field while living in Nashville. I really enjoy her rockabilly sense and cool lead playing. She's got some great guitars too. Rosie did an Epiphone endorsement recently with that beautiful turquoise green Casino. She's also been profiled in the past Fender literature too.

Thanks for the post about Rosie. She's still the Sweetheart of the Rodeo!