The Slowhand Esquire – ROB C MUSIC

The Latest incarnation of my Paramount Telesonic is better than ever after being given the Slowhand treatment.

The Paramount Gets Active

After going through several iterations over the last four years, the Paramount PE200 Telesonic has received my ultimate make-over… Well almost the ultimate. There is one more thing I plan to do to this guitar when the time is right (when budget allows!).

I recently modified two Strat-style guitars with a Fender midboost circuit as used in the Eric Clapton signature Strat and I’ve really got heavily into them. For live playing they really suit me and I’ve become addicted to the whole format of the Clapton boost circuit.

After enjoying the way the tone cleans up via the guitar volume pot without losing any sparkle or dropping too low in level I’ve come to really depend on this functionality with a driven amplifier when playing live.

A Cost-Effective Solution

My Paramount “Tele”, which I set up to be a single-pickup Esquire some time ago was languishing in my studio for too long and was crying out for some relevance again, so I thought about “Claptonizing” it. The two Strats I’d already done myself had proven how successful the format is for my uses, so it was only a matter of budget and how long it would be before I could spend the money on the “Slowhand Esquire” project.

Months later I stumbled upon what appeared to be a copy of the Clapton boost circuit at a more affordable price than the original Fender circuit board. However, this is just the board and not the potentiometers and components that come with the original kit. It was still more affordable though especially if I found alternatives to the rather expensive potentiometers from the Fender kit when sold individually.

My solution was a cheaper, mini 50k audio pot for the volume control, a normal A250k pot for the mid boost control and a 250k audio pot with a push/push switch for the tone control. I wanted to try the wiring with a standard tone control because I heard that Eric Clapton’s personal guitars (which are the same as the Master-built Custom Shop models made by Fender) use a traditional tone control. Also I wanted a push/push switch to select between the hotrail in the bridge and the piezo pickup under the saddle.

It was a handy excuse to choose not to opt for the TBX tone control and save some money!

Circuitboard Comparison

This circuit board appears to be the same ciruit as the Fender version (same number of transistors, inputs & outputs to the controls etc.), but it’s smaller than the Fender circuit board. I carved out the cavity for the board to sit and drilled through to the control cavity as well as carving out a bit of space in the wiring channel under the pickguard for the battery to fit properly.

What I really love about this install is that the battery can be replaced without dismantling any of the guitar or loosening the strings. As long as I have a small screwdriver to hand I just need to remove the pickguard. That’s another advantage to the Esquire format. There is no neck pickup to complicate the removal of the guard.

Soundwise I’d say that this boost circuit functions and behaves exaclty like the Fender circuit, except there seems to be less gain from the mid boost (about 3 to 5 dB by my non-scientific testing). It’s difficult to know exactly because comparing it to either one of my Slowhand Strats, the guitars are very different: Pickups, bridge, different brand and types of pots etc.

Overall

Regardless of why these differences exist, whether it’s the circuit itself or the different guitar platform this is definitely a Clapton Boost circuit and it sounds great in this guitar. The Alnico V hotrail (the brand is Fleor) has plenty of bite and cleans up perfectly with the volume control (the hotrail is a lower wind than many common, affordable rails… it’s 9k). The piezo works well with the boost too, but without a capacitor placed across the pickup to ground (I used a 103) it’s very bright. The bright-cut cap works well and the piezo pickup just provides an alternative tone for clean playing (although it copes with overdrive very well too). I will likely not use it that much, but it’s there.

The reason it’s there at all is mostly because I like the general sound of the guitar with this saddle assembly on it. The attack is warmer than typical Telecaster saddles. It doesn’t twang like a traditional Tele, but I don’t want a traditional Tele… obviously!

Future Plans

At some point, the next and probably final mod will be a replacement neck. My Bullet Slowhand has a nice new rosewood-board neck with stainless steel frets and I want to get a Telecaster version for this guitar. That will be in a future update.

I will at some point showcase this guitar in a video.

Thanks for reading.