American Songwriter reviews the Fender Brad Paisley Signature Esquire

[@toliskoskinas]

Probably the best demo so far for this guitar 👍🏻

[@simonpark843]

I got one of these a few months ago and I love it. Everyone's different, though.

[@demanfredo]

Excellent playing and demo Brother!!!

[@hajwitlox6548]

I'v put the SD Secret Agent into a Squier CV-50. In the bridge i use a Seymour Duncan APTL-1 BK Alnico2 pro. I didn't enjoy it under the pickguard as a Brad Paisley Esquier. String height is now as heigh as with a normal neck pu. This means it's now a litle louder than the bridge. When put in the middle position its gives a great chimey combination. In neck position it's got a lovely warm articulate vibe. The Seymour Secret Agent is an expensive Pickup (over here in the EU) iit's got a ceramic magnet. It doeasn't sound better than a G&L MFD neck PU-ceramiv too- though, and that's much cheaper...but ok, i'v got it new, unused through ebay for 100$ less then when bought new over here so no sweat. When under the pickguard, on my guitar anyway...it sounded muffled.

[@MagnumOpus007]

Great demo and excellent playing! Do you note a big volume drop when going from bridge to neck? It sounds like there's a significant volume difference in the video.

[@Bobby_Digital37]

Sounds great! And looks great, don’t like the grey sparkle color of the other on... Gonna save up some cash and buy one of these for sure!!

[@goosegaskins]

You ever end up snagging one?

[@josephcorcoran8714]

First of all you are an outstanding guitarist Secondly that guitar sounds amazing. What were you running it through?

[@nicolasmayrand7157]

Hey nice playing !! Curious on what amp you used for the video thanks man

[@lance134679]

Seems the neck pickup is a bit quiet under that pick guard.

[@studmuffin1212]

It is, but that has nothing to do with the pick guard. It's solely due to the difference in the pick up heights. Simply lowering the neck pick up evens things out nicely. Not sure why Fender would ship them out like that, but it's an easy fix.

[@LoveMusic9973]

Sounds great to me. ❤️🎸🎸🇬🇪🇺🇸

[@goosegaskins]

Holy cow, you make this guitar sing. I get the feeling you can make a bucket sing, too, though…

[@josephcorcoran8714]

I suppose if I dislike the volume difference that much I can buy a Tele neck pickup and pick guard. I may get a different pick guard anyway. I love Brad but he’s already got the whole paisley thing claimed.

[@averyhulon8693]

Thank you

[@nicolasmayrand7157]

What amp u used man nice playing !!!

[@andreastropeatropea1693]

👌👌

[@slimturnpike]

Cool sofa. Are the bridge and neck pickups balanced in terms of all-around output?

[@dadude7]

I think everybody wants to know that!

[@rsaathoff]

The neck pickup is 10k but it sits lower. Seems even so, like therr neck is a bit lower volume. Is the secret agent a gimmick?

[@studmuffin1212]

Out of box, the neck pickup was quite a bit quieter. But issue is not the pickups per se, it's the height they come set at. Simply lowering the bridge pickup will even out the volume difference and really make the neck pu come alive in the middle position (although you will lose a tiny bit of "spank" from the bridge pu when you do that).

[@slimturnpike]

@@rsaathoff I agree, in the demo the neck pickup seems out of balance with the bridge

[@slimturnpike]

@@studmuffin1212 OK but if you lower the bridge pup to match the volume of the neck, you're left with a guitar with an overall lower output. Doesn't sound like an ideal solution.