[sproul07]

Is it possible to fit a regular Strat neck pickup into a 50's reissue Esquire instead of a lipstick? I simply don't like the sound of lipsticks

 

[washburned]

Although nothing is impossible, I put a Tele neck pickup in a Strat and there was lots of room left, so going the other way would probably involve a lot of modification.

 

[rollingdam]

you will lose the unique sound of the Esquire by adding a pickup and wiring-buy a cheap strat instead.

 

[peter benn]

If by "lipstick" you mean a tele rhythm pickup, you may be making your mind up too quickly. Pickup and height adjustment are important.

Otherwise, +1 to rolling dam.

 

[sproul07]

Well believe me I do like the sound of an Esquire just normally, but adding that neck pickup, for me, would just give me more to play with. And I don't think buying a cheap strat is an alternative. I already have 2 strats and I love that bite of the Esquire bridge pickup, can't find that on a strat.

 

[zdogma]

Jerry Donahue uses one, it sounds pretty good if you do it right.

It won`t fit in the pickguard, you`ll need to have it routed for a strat pickup (they`re wider), and possibly rout the cavity (i`ve never put one in I`m not sure if it will fit in the front routed slot in the body).

The new teles have a big ``bathtub`` cavity so you can put in whatever you want, but you still need to mod the pickguard.

You can get a custom wound tele neck that sounds more like a strat (I have an underwound lollar neck that is quite bright and sparkly), even removing the cover from the neck pickup is a good starting point (costs nothing and no mods, but you need a big soldering iron to get it off, like an 80 watter).