Squier’s Paranormal Esquire Deluxe Is Another Instant Classic

Squier has basically mastered the art of making a cool, but cheap Tele-style guitar at this point.

Squier should be my website’s main sponsor at this point, as I’ve covered about as many as I can as a one-man operation. My love of Squier is rooted in my love of Fender’s modular designs that are easily upgraded, repaired, or modified to suit the player. While I may be attached at the hip to my cheap Mexican Fender Strat, there’s always been a Squier Tele or two not too far from me as well.

So naturally when I got the chance to review the Squier Paranormal Esquire Deluxe, I had to try it out. I’ve already reviewed this over on Ultimate-Guitar, which was a much more objective review that focused on the specs, pricing, and overall playing experience. As many of you know who follow this site, it’s more opinionated, a little less technical, and more about how I connected with the guitar.

As for this Esquire Deluxe, I’m a huge fan.

Some Quick Notes First

Now I want to highlight a few things to keep in mind. Not necessarily bad things, but just notes. First off, that’s not going to be a real wide range pickup, though you can and should upgrade it to one from Fender’s store. I do think they could have gone a bit more creative with the 3-way switching as well, perhaps tossing the relatively basic Esquire mode where you skip the tone pot for something like the two coils out of phase? Here that mode actually bypasses both volume and tone, though through my rig I can’t hear much of a difference versus standard mode.

Demo

Why I Love It

I love single pickup guitars. That’s really it. I kind of believe in the psuedo-science that they have less magnetic pull, thus some difference in sound. However, I think having a humbucker here would still equal the same magnetic pull of two single coils at the end of the day…

But single pickup guitars feel so accessible to me. No bells or whistles to hide behind, you just have to play them and make them sound good. They’re light, simple, easy to repair or mod, and I can bash away with a lot of gain.

What you end up with is a seriously fun playing experience, that also looks and punches, above its weight class. The mocha finish on this specific model is gorgeous in my opinion, and I’d love to see this guitar get beat up and naturally relic’d. Plus this guitars are about $430 USD, and at a time when gear prices continue to rise, I love it. You really don’t need to shell out the $1000 + dollars that most influencers would have you convinced of. Grab one of these, it’s a Fender Les Paul Junior, and just like the Noventa, it’s a killer single pickup guitar. Highly recommend you grab your own!