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Brad Paisley teams up with Fender for a signature Esquire

It’s hiding a secret surprise under its sparkly aesthetics.

Brad Paisley Signature Fender Esquire

Image: Fender

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Country superstar Brad Paisley has joined forces with Fender to launch his latest signature model with the brand – his take on its original “one-pickup wonder,” the Esquire.

The guitar is built with a custom paulownia body, with a spruce top and back. This lightweight combination of woods, according to Fender, creates a resonant and “acoustic-like” instrument. Bolted to this is a maple neck with a 9.5-inch radius fretboard, with a classic V-shape on the back of the neck to give a nod to the instrument’s origins, without sacrificing playability.

Aesthetically, the guitar features a road-worn black sparkle finish, and – appropriately enough – a custom paisley-patterned Esquire pickguard.

Under this, however, the guitar hides. a secret weapon. This guitar is actually no one-pick up wonder at all, as in the neck position is the Secret Agent, a single-coil pickup that Paisley designed with Seymour Duncan specifically to fit under an Esquire pickguard without pulling on the strings too much – or interfering with the general sleek vibe of the guitar. In the bridge position is a Fender ’64 Tele single-coil bridge pickup. This allows it to retain the open, aggressive sound the Esquire is known for, but offer more versatility than its vintage counterpart.

Paisley said of his choice of signature guitar: “Why an Esquire? The aggression of one pickup, one steel bridge, brass saddle, nothing in the way, a great piece of wood. There’s nothing like it.”

“The Esquire is a streamlined, working-man’s guitar,” he added. “It’s really important to me that you hear an echo of the past in the stuff that I do, and in that sense, this guitar encompasses what I try to do musically. It has a retro feel, but at the same time, it’s progressive, with a new style of pickup that hasn’t been done before.”

Hear Paisely demo the guitar in the video below:

The Brad Paisley Signature Esquire lists for £1229. Find out more over at fender.com.

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