Fender Japan Art Canvas Esquire Hiroshi Nagai No 1 & No 2

24 Oct 2022 by Jef |

4,2 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Fender Japan Art Canvas Esquire · Source: Instagram/fender

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These Fender Japan Art Canvas Esquire models come in two distinct eye-popping finishes. Designed by Hiroshi Nagai, a leading figure of the “City Pop” art style. The No 1 and No 2 models are both limited to only 30 pieces each.

Art Canvas Esquire

As ever Fender Japan has all the best-looking releases. These new Art Canvas Esquire models are based on a simple one-pickup guitar design, but they both have pretty eye-catching designs. No.1 is a model based on blue, which depicts the iconic palm tree and a car, and No.2 is a model that depicts a nostalgic evening view. Both designs are created by Hiroshi Nagai and use the “City Pop” art style.

No 1

No 1 and No 2 feature a plain ash rear

Specifications

Both guitars come with similar features. These include an ash body and a U-shaped maple neck fitted with 21 frets. Where they differ is that No 1 has a maple fretboard, whilst No 2 comes with a rosewood fretboard. Both fretboards have a 9.5″ radius, so they should feel pretty comfortable.

No 2

Esquire Tones

They each feature a single American Vintage ’58 Single-Coil Tele bridge pickup and a three-position selector, along with a master volume and tone control. Personally, I have always loved the Esquire pickup configuration and have found it perfect for getting a good tone fast. The pickup selector does the following:

Three-Position Blade Switch settings

Position 1. Bridge (Tone control off),
Position 2. Bridge (Tone control on),
Position 3. Bridge (Tone control off, preset treble roll-off)

Hardware includes a traditional Telecaster bridge with three compensated brass barrel saddles. These are paired with a set of vintage-style tuners and they have a bone nut.

Limited Run

Overall, I really like the designs and the plain ash backs work well for me visually. The front graphic is so strong and I like the simplicity in the finish elsewhere. These are a highly limited release and currently, they are only for sale in Japan. With only 30 of each model on offer.

I guess they will sell out quickly, just like the Heather Brown model did in 2021. If you want one, you may have to find a good Fender dealer in Japan to find them.

MSRP – YEN 198,00 each