* Hold – In Store – 1950 Fender, Limited Edition, Reverse Esquire, Heavy Relic, Aged Black, 2022, APAC September Show Guitar

Leave it to the Fender Custom Shop to devise an imaginatively feature-filled return to Fender’s very first Spanish-style electric guitar—the venerable Esquire. Based on the 1950 original and enhanced as only the Custom Shop can, the Limited Edition Reverse Esquire Heavy Relic will delight players sure to find it a literal blast from the past.

Distinctive design touches abound here. The single Custom Shop hand-wound ’50/’51 Blackguard pickup is the earliest spec known, built using larger magnets with thinner wire that produce a loud and lively sound with major mojo and great “touch tone” dynamics. The pickup is mounted at a reverse angle for fatter highs and tighter bass, and the reverse control plate puts the volume control in perfect position for finger-controlled volume swell action. Further, the three-way switch delivers “Cocked-Wah” Esquire wiring, in which the forward switch position has a fixed tone cap that sounds like a wah pedal in mid-travel.

The two-piece select ash body has an off-center seam and wears a battered Heavy Relic lacquer finish in a choice of Aged White Blonde, Aged Black or Aged Cimarron Red. The one-piece rift-sawn maple neck has a chunky 1957 “soft-V” profile, topped by a vintage compound-radius fingerboard (7.25” to 9.5”) with 21 medium vintage (47095) frets. Other premium features include single-ply parchment pickguard; reverse Nocaster® bridge with RSD compensated brass saddles for thick vintage tone with improved intonation, vintage-style tuning machines, bone nut, and disc string tree. Also includes deluxe hardshell case, strap and certificate of authenticity.