This Used 2021 Fender Custom Shop '50's Esquire Relic Telecaster Master Built by Dale Wilson in Faded Butterscotch Blonde is here on consignment. The neck is straight, the frets are still crowned, and the truss rod functions properly. Included with the guitar are the original gardshell case and certificate of authenticity.
There’s something wonderfully pure about an Esquire. One pickup, one volume, one tone, and a slab of ash and maple between you and the amp. No unnecessary bells and whistles — just the sound and feel that made the earliest Telecasters such enduring classics. This Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt 50s Esquire, built by the legendary Dale Wilson, takes that simple formula and turns it into something pretty special.
The Faded Butterscotch Blonde finish over an Ash body gives this Esquire exactly the look you'd hope for from a vintage-inspired Blackguard-era instrument, and at just 6 lbs 10 oz, it is exceptionally comfortable on a strap. The combination of lightweight ash and a single pickup makes for an incredibly direct, lively instrument that responds immediately to your hands and your amplifier.
The neck is equally compelling. This guitar features a plain-grain Maple neck with Fender's substantial 10/56 V profile, measuring .880" at the 1st fret and .980" at the 12th. It's a real neck — substantial enough to fill your hand without becoming cumbersome — and it has the kind of reassuring feel that makes you want to keep playing.
The 7.25"–9.5" compound radius gives you the comfortable, vintage feel you'd expect down low while gradually flattening as you move up the fingerboard. Add 6105 Narrow Tall frets and a 1.65" bone nut, and you've got a neck that combines old-school character with excellent playability.
And then there's the pickup. The Esquire is equipped with a hand-wound Blackguard bridge pickup, giving this guitar its entire tonal voice from that single bridge position. There's a reason players continue to obsess over the earliest Blackguard Telecasters: the bridge pickup has an immediacy and authority that works beautifully whether you're digging into country twang, pushing a vintage amp into breakup, or simply playing clean and letting your picking dynamics do the work.
The controls are exactly what you'd expect: Master Volume, Master Tone, and a 3-way selector switch. Yes, even with a single pickup, the traditional Esquire control layout remains — because sometimes the best guitar is the one that doesn't give you 47 things to think about.
And that's really the appeal here. This is a beautifully executed, hand-built interpretation of one of Fender's most elemental designs. Dale Wilson's Masterbuilt craftsmanship, a lightweight ash body, big V-shaped maple neck, hand-wound Blackguard pickup, and a convincingly aged Faded Butterscotch Blonde finish add up to an Esquire with tremendous character.
It comes complete with its Certificate of Authenticity and original hardshell case.
If you like your Telecasters stripped down, loud, responsive, and unapologetically old-school, this Esquire is about as good as it gets.
