1956 Fender Esquire Blonde

My favorite Fender is the under appreciated Esquire. I love Esquires. It’s not simply a one pickup Telecaster. It does something even a Tele can’t do-It sends its one pickup directly to the output, bypassing the tone control. Makes a difference. It also tends to sustain better than a Tele. This is because it has only one pickup. The magnet in a pickup affects the vibration of the strings. One pickup has half the magnetic pull of a two pickup guitar so the strings are able to vibrate more freely in a single pickup guitar. Jeff Beck knew it early on. This is a 56. Hard V neck profile that get rounder as you move toward the 12th fret. There were some changes between early 56 and late 56 but they were, other than the changed neck profile, mostly minor (moved string tree, moved logo). By 56, the flat pole pickups were gone and a staggered pole pickup was introduced. Some call that an improvement. Some don't. This guitar has been pretty heavily played and the frets appear original. It plays well but will need a fret job soon. It is all original but the ash tray/bridge cover is missing. I will include a vintage one from another 50's Esquire. The original guard is missing a corner. I will include a Fender repro-you can leave it or swap it out. There is a hairline crack under the low E tuner-common on Esquires and Teles. Nothing to worry about. Weight is 7 lbs 7 ounces. The case is the original red lined tweed "knuckle buster" in very good condition. I think this Esquire is for a player. It would be a nice addition to any collection but it wants to be played and you wouldn't want to disappoint an Esquire, would you?