Springsteen Esquire Club

I looked but didn't a club dedicated specifically to Bruce's Esquire.

Here's mine, from the BUSA - Human Touch/Lucky Town era:

Details:

First put together in 1988 without any relicing.

Completed in detail, including grain pattern in 1992.

Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pups.

American Standard Bridge

Dunlop Strap locks

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/6596/bruceguitar21.jpg


http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2998/picture115hf8.jpg

looks like this is a club you can join with no strings attached

looks like this is a club you can join with no strings attached

:lol:

Yeah, I was working on the neck when I snapped that pic.

I looked but didn't a club dedicated specifically to Bruce's Esquire.

Here's mine, from the BUSA - Human Touch/Lucky Town era:

Details:

First put together in 1988 without any relicing.

Completed in detail, including grain pattern in 1992.

Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pups.

American Standard Bridge

Dunlop Strap locks

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/6596/bruceguitar21.jpg


http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/2998/picture115hf8.jpg

Thats a pretty thorough job there. How did you do the grain pattern?

Hey bossoholic -

Here's some pics of my Springsteen mod c.1975 BTR. I have a '52 Tele AVS that I modded. I bought an aftermarket neck with vintage specs, nitro finish, black fret markers with the wider spaced octave markers. I installed Schaller locking tuners, a period "Fender Esquire" decal, a round string retainer for the G & D strings (actually an old strap button with a flat underside), and a Fender string tree for the B & E strings. I also added a Springsteen signature to the back of the headstock. The standout feature is a recreation of the leather pickguard of that BTR period with the "man under the streetlight" scene. Check it:

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/BigKahune/ThinPG.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/BigKahune/ThinPGcu.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/BigKahune/BruceSig-HeadstockBack.jpg

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/BigKahune/BruceSig-HeadstockBack-cu.jpg
.

And a couple more pics:

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/BigKahune/ThinPG-1sm.jpg

And here's a comparison:
http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww249/BigKahune/BornToRunLPG-s.jpg
.

Awesome BigK!

Glad to see you here!!

More 'inspired-by' than an all out springsteen clone.....

not finished yet, its my work on guitar:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/K5-KYL/Springsteen%20rep/Photo0272.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/K5-KYL/Springsteen%20rep/Photo0275.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g37/K5-KYL/Springsteen%20rep/Photo0270.jpg

Has an 8-hole 1-ply guard now.

kylef -

Nice looking Tele. Great job on the neck/headstock. :cool:

.
A bit of an update here. Mark N pointed me to Dru Whitefeather for a concho strap, which I purchased. Of course, I planned out another mod for my 52 Tele AVS. The BTR neck is already on it. I swapped the leather pickguard for a 1-ply matte black and swapped the 50s tray bridge for a modern Gotoh. My 52 now is modded to look like Springsteen's Esquire of the late 80s and 90s era. I'm not doing any aging/relicing. The three items - concho strap, bridge and matte pickguard work for me. I like it a lot. I can swap mods fairly easily whenever I change strings. And thanks to Mark N. Here's a couple pics:

52 Tele AVS modded to Springsteen's Esquire c1990:
http://usera.ImageCave.com/BigKahune/TheGuitar90s-mod.jpg

http://usera.ImageCave.com/BigKahune/TheGuitar90s-strap-1.jpg

.

I'll update this thread with some photos of the new clone:

On stage with Matt Ryan, of Bruce in the USA
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6003/mattwithclone2.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/mattwithclone2.jpg/)


Studio shot
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/623/guitar004.jpg (http://img441.imageshack.us/i/guitar004.jpg/)

I am a new guitarist and a big fan of Bruce. Am trying to decide between 3 Fenders:
A. Fender Custom Shop Limited 1950s Esquire Electric Guitar
B. Fender American Vintage Series '52 Telecaster Electric Guitar
C. Fender Vintage Hot Rod 52 Telecaster

I would never say money is no object but I can afford the Custom Esquire. Plus, "Poor boy want to be rich, rich man want to be king. And the king ain't satisfied til he rules everything"

Help me decide since I am a newbie!

Sorry,

Don't check this thread but once or twice a month.

But, I'd say the order you have them on your list is the way I'd prioritize 'em.

Bossaholic, yours look absolutely stunning!!!
Here is the one I gave away:-)
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/bgaldal/bilde1.jpg

Fellow Springsteen fans! Here's my attempt at a replica of the Boss's iconic Fender Esquire. For a whole bunch of reasons, "Born To Run" is a key milepost in my life. And I really noticed Telecasters & Esquires for the first time when that album (and the cover photo) appeared. Thus, my replica aims to recreate "The Esquire" at that particular time in its "career"...

As you no doubt already know, in it's earliest appearances, when Bruce and the band were playing colleges, clubs and other small venues, the guitar sported a brown leather pickguard with a colorful oval design at its center, and keystone-style Kluson tuning machines. Circa 1973-74, the guard was swapped for a black leather guard with the famous "man under the streetlamp" design under the strings, and Schaller machines. This is the version that appeared on the cover of "Born To Run" in 1975. In it's pre-Springsteen days, the guitar had multiple pickups and a second jack channel just ahead of the stock channel. In the BTR cover photo, an aluminum plate covers this channel, but no output jack is present. Not long after the BTR tour, the leather guard was replaced with a stock 8-screw B/W/B guard, and the chrome-covered neck pickup was swapped out for an uncovered Phil Petillo wind. At some point in this latter time frame, the forward jack channel was filled with a wood plug, and the aluminum plate was moved to the rear and used for the output jack once again.

I snagged a copy of photographer Eric Meola's book "Born To Run: The Unseen Photos" ($3.23 on Amazon!!) to help with the fine details. Here she is!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/blackbelt308/bruce2.jpg

Of course, most people are used to seeing "The Esquire" like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/blackbelt308/bruce2bw.jpg

The body is one-piece swamp ash (~4 lbs) from USACG. I was talking with Tommy one day and he sent me some photos of a bunch of bodies that had just been cut. I spied one with a similar grain pattern to "The Esquire" and quickly asked Tommy to set it aside for me. I worked up a "mocha" mix of Bartley's grain filler to darken the grain lines a bit, and then used a mix of super blonde and garnet shellac to get the color I wanted. Finished the body off with several coats of satin nitrocellulose lacquer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/blackbelt308/bruce3.jpg

The neck is an Allparts TMO-V that was finished and lightly aged by Matt Jenny of MJT. He did a great job on it!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/blackbelt308/bruce6.jpg

The "man under the streetlamp" guard was made by M.K. Holloway. She's made a few of these before, and I asked her to "age" mine a bit. Fantastic work!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/blackbelt308/bruce4.jpg

The pickups are Fender Nocasters, although the bridge pup is overwound and reads 9.86K on my meter. I've always thought that the CS Nocaster pickups were a reasonable approximation of the BTR era sound of Springsteen's guitar, and that's why I chose them. Bright and ballsy.

Additional hardware of note: Gotoh machines with Schaller style keys (I have yet to track down clear evidence as to what was on "The Esquire" at that time; probably Schallers but I like the Gotoh machines better). The saddles are from Marc Rutters (slot-compensated Broadcaster), as is the wonderful "twisted jack cup" and the '57 knobs! The aluminum jack plate and the control plate with the extra pot hole were home made.

Lastly, kudos to Bob from Brookwood Leather for replicating the black leather strap that the Boss was using at the time the cover photo was taken! He did a fabulous job and clearly now has a new product on his hands!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v12/blackbelt308/bruce7.jpg

And you'll notice that I felt obliged to also reproduce the Elvis fan club button!

Thanks for lookin'!
Rick

I love it...

Blackbelt308~ nice job man right down to the "Elvis" badge... where did you get the graphic for that?

... again, Sweet!

.
Charcoal Burst and Blackbelt -

Very nice work guys.

Oh My!!! This is such a cool thread! Love em all guys!! NICE!

This is for Bruce.

^^Who's gravestone is that leaning up against, FrankMc?

Must be Robert Johnson.

It is Robert Johnson's headstone at the Little Zion Church, north of Greenwood MS on the Mony Highway. It is near the plantation where he died. Here's a photo showing the headstone.
I've also included my J-45 at the grave, Bruce has one of those too.

No mod here just my 52 AVRI regular factory production run "Bruce" tele. I saw the graining and said, "uh--- Bruce." a bit later-- it was in my living room. It's like a Fender employee set out to make a "Bruce"-like body. Uncanny resemblence I thought.
http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae236/Huntster01/2012_0223EBAY-Items0001.jpg

I would like to submit my "Tribute" to Bruce Springsteen's Telecaster/Esquire. I started with a 2005 52AVRI and this is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/jjpish/IMG_6661.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/jjpish/IMG_6663.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/jjpish/IMAG0163.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/jjpish/IMAG0164.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/jjpish/IMG_6662.jpg

Now that is super cool!!! WOW!!!

Thank You Mark

That must have taken some time to do! I love it!