Whitstable Guitars
A selection of good quality, used guitars and specialising in imports from Japan since 2008
1984 Fender Esprit Elite Autumn burst
Not for sale
This will be the 6th Fender Esprit I have owned & like the others, is once again, a fantastic guitar.
This example is a 1984 Esprit Elite made at the famous Fujigen Gakki factory finished in Autumnburst with creme binding and is in excellent condition. The back is near perfect (see pics) & there is no fretwear. Areas like the bridge and the headstock are superb.The pickups are original.
Such a lovely looking instrument. An Alder body together with Maple carved cap and neck. A set neck. The guitar is well balanced & the tone chambers obviously reduce weight. I have gigged with this quite recently & found it very comfortable for the whole evening.
The bodies of these guitars were cleverly routed & the resultant tonal chambers give this guitar a great sound. They were originally designed to rival the Gibson ES-335's and despite their short run (just 2 years) and limited numbers (apparently just 4000 Master Series guitars in total, that includes the Esprit, the Flame & the D'Aquisto) they are highly rated & very collectible. This model being an "Elite" makes it particularly rare. Every other Esprit I have owned has been a "Standard".
The differences on an Elite are as follows:
1. The neck pickup has coil splitting by use of the chrome microswitch giving a fantastic range of sounds
2. Each tone pot is a "TBX" control. This offers a midway tone boost
3. There is a "micro tune" adjuster for each string at the bridge
4. Snowflake Markers on the fretboard
5. 5 ply binding around the body
6. Pearloid buttons on the tuners
The tuners work well. There is no tarnishing on the hardwear & all in all it really is a beauty. Note the "Elite" trussrod cover.
This guitar has sat in it's case most of the time since purchased in 1984
The "Made in Japan" paper sticker is still present on the back of the headstock. The first time I have seen this. Note the "Fender Stamped pearloid tuners serial number on the back of the headstock is really faint but reads 40401365.
It is a "new" guitar in everything except age. I was so lucky to find it & I am sorry but I certainly won't be selling it.
The guitar was complete with unused "Fender" Strap, lead, tools, handbook, warranty card & shop tag
So, to sum up, I love the colour & love the style but most of all I love the sound & playability. A real classic for the future as this magazine article from several years ago confirms.
All in all, to me, the perfect guitar (and I am lucky enough to have played a few!)
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Webs.com who have hosted my site for many years are shutting down their operation on 31st August leaving me no option but to have a new website built.
This also coincides with me going away from 25th August to 16th September 2023 when the guitars will all go into storage.
In short, this means that I will be continuing to operate whitstableguitars.co.uk but I will be unable to handle any sales until after the 16th September.
I will however receive emails so can deal with anything on my return on a "first come, first served" basis.
The website will look similar but not the same. Otherwise, everything will continue to be the same but hopefully better as webs.com have been consistently unreliable over the past few years.
Thank you. Rob