Springsteens Esquire

[Bruce_99]

Originally Posted by chet

What issue of Rolling Stone was that?

NOVEMBER , 2007, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE #1038


BTW another Springsteen Esquire/Tele Rolling Stone:

d6b1_1.JPG


http://cgi.ebay.com/BRUCE-SPRINGSTEE...QQcmdZViewItem

[Bruce_99]

Originally Posted by dougpc

Forget the guitar, I'd like to know where Bruce acquired his new head of hair. He may be the only guy on the planet who has more hair now than he did in the 80s.

HIS HAIR:

tour030808.jpg

On Saturday, March 8 -- in between Buffalo and Uniondale stops on the Magic tour -- Springsteen turned up for a surprise performance at a benefit for the Ranney School, the 21st Annual RSPA Panther Ball at the Eagle Oaks Country Club in Farmingdale, NJ. Hair slicked back, Springsteen strapped on a guitar to play "Glory Days" with Tim McLoone and the Shirleys

taken from: backstreets.com

[Bruce_99]

Originally Posted by badlands

Thanks Stevie!!

another one:

boss_tele_esquire.jpg

[badlands]

Originally Posted by DavidE

I'm always surprised how many people are into Bruce's guitar! Here are a few more shots of my replica. It's not a 100% slavish copy as far as the wear is concerned...most of that is genuine because I play the crap out of it. But the hardware and parts are pretty close to what the guitar looked like, say, post BTR, but before he put the 3-ply guard on. You can see the Petillo frets in one shot pretty well. They are SS and a pain to deal with but what the heck, they look cool.

Cheers,
David

Cool!

What kinda pickups have you put in it??

[DavidE]

Badlands,
I made the pickups myself, shooting for that BTR era tone. They're pretty standard stuff...Alnico 3 in the bridge and Alnico 5 in the neck. I forget the res. readings but not that high...how you wind it matters more than just the res. reading.

cheers,
David

[chet]

Originally Posted by dougpc

Forget the guitar, I'd like to know where Bruce acquired his new head of hair. He may be the only guy on the planet who has more hair now than he did in the 80s.

LOL! It was the nineties but he was seeming to have a receding hairline there for awhile.

[Bruce_99]

Originally Posted by Mark N

David...that guitar of yours is totally cool!!! Where'd you get that strap btw...looks similar to the one Bruce used on the TOL and Human Touch tours

I´m searchin for this kinda strap for a long time and found this today:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HAND-MADE-CUSTOM...QQcmdZViewItem

[Mark N]

wow that looks real close to it hmmm...I wonder how I could sneak that one by...lol. Thanks!

[tyroneslothrop]

It is just good hair-styling... THE BOSS DID NOT HAVE HAIR GRAFTING!!!!!

What are you insinuating?

;)

[DavidE]

Oh yeah, the strap. I got it in the early 1990's at a small shop here in CA. I never knew the maker, but Springsteen seemed to have the exact same one right about the same time. Little Steven had one too. Shortly thereafter, I talked to Petillo about it and someone made up a 1/2 dozen or so straps that looked similar but were wider and the conches were different. Those are the straps he used during the TOL tour. By sheer coincidence Nacho bought the same strap as me, right around the same time, in a small shop near Boston where he was living at the time. It's still the favorite strap for both of us.

Cheers,
david

[Gareth John]

I've also been looking for one of those straps, couldn't find one anywhere. What is it about Bruce's Tele that we all like?

[mikfer]

Originally Posted by Gareth John

I've also been looking for one of those straps, couldn't find one anywhere. What is it about Bruce's Tele that we all like?

That it's been USED like a Tele should be. Lord knows the man hasn't pampered that instrument.

[badlands]

This is one great thread!

[Gary in Boston]

I was back stage at a Bruce gig about five years ago and there was a rack of guitars just for him off stage. There were a bunch of Tele types. Some with capos some with a label on the upper bout saying for instance "Born To Run" or " Fire " etc. THE GUITAR was in the rack as well or at least its clone. This is when it had those rail pick ups in it. I briefly ran my hand over the neck and body, I wasn't supposed to of course but hey you pass this way once. The body finish was........ beat would be a kind word. It was down in the texture of the wood. Almost like there was no filler used when finishing it. It was also a bit flaky sort of like shellac that was popping off a weathered garden seat. The neck was smoother with ware spots in all the Bruce chord areas. Plus there were dent in the frets possibly from capo use? There were also a couple of newer Butter Scotch Teles in the rack one with regular looking pickups and one with those rail ones.

Almost as fascinting was: 1) there were tv screen in the floor to the L&R of his mic with the words and chords to the set list that night. Hey, I could have played along if they needed me 2) His mic stand actually went downn below the stage at least 6-8 feet so he could hang on it w/o it falling over.

The making of a legend is interesting. Great show by the way and the back stage stuff was cool.

Gary

[DavidE]

Hey Gary,
That's pretty cool stuff about being back stage, thanks for sharing! I had been wondering how they anchored the mic stand the way he swings around on it like a trapeze artist. The shaft itself must be something more substantial than an actual mic stand. Probably some nice schedule 40 pipe they had chrome plated or something.

The Esquire is pretty beat for sure, and I think that's why we are attracted to it is because it's genuine wear and it essentially follows every step of his career. Kind of like Willy Nelson's Trigger. Anyway, that thing was actually pretty nice when Bruce got it, having been refinished fairly recently at the time. But in 20 years of repair work I've seen sweat do some pretty horrendous things to guitars...and we all know Bruce sweats just a little.

Cheers,
David

[sanhozay]

I gave the Petillo frets a shot but when the guitar needed a dressing changed back over to the Fender-style medium jumbos. Phil's a sweet guy and very accommodating but his frets are not for everybody. He knows his stuff and is very caring so I simply can't say anything negative about the exchange, other than the guitar came back and wasn't anything I expected. Damn, those pyramid shaped frets!

Anyway, I’ve been a fan of Bruce since `78 and have probably stood through 30 shows, loving them all. He’s a high energy performer who invests so much. His guitar playing can be deceptively advanced - Born To Run has lots of layered riffing - and his chord arrangements have always been as clever as the poetry. Sadly, I think he gave up the gunslinger role after Darkness when he delegated guitar duties to Stevie & Nils. His acoustic playing has always been stellar but that slide stuff is nasty. I think his best tone was vintage Tele through the Bassman or Marshall. I’m On Fire is full of great licks; very lyrical. Do not love the over tracked sonic chaos of the last album and was really disappointed in Magic, especially after The Rising - an amazing record.

Bruce should do a stripped down old school R&B blues based album with the E-Street. That would rule!

[chet]

Originally Posted by Bruce_99

NOVEMBER , 2007, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE #1038


BTW another Springsteen Esquire/Tele Rolling Stone:

Attachment 9883


http://cgi.ebay.com/BRUCE-SPRINGSTEE...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks, it's turns out I have the Nov. 2007 issue but forgot I had it.

[Gareth John]

There's some really great shots of the guitar on the Wings for Wheels documentary. I like to pess pause on those bits. That's a great story Gary. It's a shame he's retired that guitar now, I'm going to see Bruce in may.

[allen st. john]

It's a shame he's retired that guitar now, I'm going to see Bruce in may.

I don't think that he retired the guitar so much as it kind of died of natural causes. Or just plain wore out.
He was playing it for a song or two up to the Rising tour.
I think if he could play it without it falling apart, I'm sure he would.

You'll love the show. He's really playing as well now as he ever did, I think and I've seen just about every tour back to 1980.

best
allen

[Califiddler]

Great thread! Two questions:

1) So was the body originally a Tele or an Esquire?
2) In that photo from the Ranney School benefit, is Bruce playing a Strat?

[Mark N]

on the Wings for Wheels documentary he said it's a combination of a Telecaster body and Esquire neck...

on another note was reading the review from the Cincinatti show last night...I guess it was a bummer and quite a rushed set...wonder what was up?

http://www.backstreets.com/news.html

[chet]

We better quit kiddin' him about his hair.

The show I saw in Omaha on 3/14 was great. He seemed like he was enjoying himself onstage.

Two hours should be enough for anyone- audience and performer-wise.

[chet]

Originally Posted by Califiddler

Great thread! Two questions:

1) So was the body originally a Tele or an Esquire?
2) In that photo from the Ranney School benefit, is Bruce playing a Strat?

I think the Backstreets article says that someone gave him the guitar to use.

[allen st. john]

on another note was reading the review from the Cincinatti show last night...I guess it was a bummer and quite a rushed set...wonder what was up?

I guess everyone's entitled to an off night, but Bruce seems to generally approach every show as though it's the listener's first...and maybe his last.

A couple of guitar related things.
At the ASPCA benefit, Bruce played a blackguard tele with a humbucker in the neck a la Keith. Never seen that before.

And here's a guitar he played in the earlier leg of the Magic tour. It's either vintage or very heavily relic'd, (unlike most of his other tour guitars which are not.)
There's a story about a black vintage Tele he rented for a video shoot (with a pinup decal). He couldn't get it out of his mind--GAS strikes the rich and famous too--but it turns out the shop had sold the guitar already.
Bruce tracked down the buyer and made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
(I would hope a trade was involved.)
Wonder if this is the guitar?

[Gareth John]

The black tele with the pin up on it has a rosewood neck and is seen on the Bruce Springsteen Un/plugged DVD. It's a late 60's I think. I got my black 77 because it looks a bit like that guitar. There's also the black tele he used on the Roy Orbison black and white gig, I think that was a maple neck, black with a white guard.

Oh yeah, found this replica whilst searching http://www.rocknrollrelics.net/springsteenesquire.html

[badlands]

Originally Posted by Gareth John

The black tele with the pin up on it has a rosewood neck and is seen on the Bruce Springsteen Un/plugged DVD. It's a late 60's I think. I got my black 77 because it looks a bit like that guitar. There's also the black tele he used on the Roy Orbison black and white gig, I think that was a maple neck, black with a white guard.

Oh yeah, found this replica whilst searching http://www.rocknrollrelics.net/springsteenesquire.html

Cool

They call it "The Guitar".... well if theres one The Guitar Bruces Esquire surely has done it for me.

btw spent the Easter at my parents place and found a magazine with lots of pics of the Boss and the Esquire, i bought that magazine when i was ten years old!

[Bruce_99]

Here´s a pic from the March 22 / Cincinnati, OH / U.S. Bank Arena show with a clone of his "TELESQUIRE" with Joe Barden PU´s:

tour032208d.jpg

[Telehackster]

Originally Posted by allen st. john

There's a story about a black vintage Tele he rented for a video shoot (with a pinup decal). He couldn't get it out of his mind--GAS strikes the rich and famous too--but it turns out the shop had sold the guitar already.
Bruce tracked down the buyer and made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
(I would hope a trade was involved.)
Wonder if this is the guitar?

That one (not the one in the photo above) is the "naked lady" guitar, a '63 Tele with a rosewood fingerboard--and an image of a naked Asian lady on the back. You can see it in the MTV "Plugged" concert, and he used it a fair amount on the Human Touch/Lucky Town tour. Springsteen seems to have not only a lot of Teles but several black ones.

[Bruce_99]

'63 Fender Telecaster

This is the "naked-lady-guitar" (it has a sticker of a naked oriental woman on the back), which can be seen during the "MTV Unplugged" show. Bruce bought it in the early 90ies.
There is a nice story about this guitar:
It was rented as a property for a photo shoot in New York. Later, Bruce couldn't get it out of it his head, finally telling Kevin Buell, his guitar tech, "I don't know what it sounds like but it felt great". Unfortunately, all Bruce knew about the guitar was that it was "a black Tele with a naked lady". It was tracked through the photographer to the shop where it was rented, but it was already sold. Bruce bought it back from the guy who bought it.

BRUCE 63 TELE.JPG

[Bruce_99]

better pics from the "Naked Lady":

BRUCE_63_Telly.jpg

Bruce_63_telly_2.jpg

[badlands]

Cool!

Hey Stevie next time i go to Germany i´ll buy you a beer or two

Thanks for the pic´s!!!

[Bruce_99]

Originally Posted by badlands

Cool!

Hey Stevie next time i go to Germany i´ll buy you a beer or two

Thanks for the pic´s!!!

Ha, ha..

I know for shure that Swedish rockers love German beer and Jaegermeister too..

BTW: Here are my own two reasons to pick up a Tele:

Tele_Heros.jpg

One is called Bruuuuuce & the other named Keef

[allen st. john]

Thanks for the info on the naked lady.
I've got that show on VHS but haven't watched it in a long time.
I've got the CD and I play it a lot--especially red-headed woman and Light of Day.

Guess he was going through an identity crisis.

New wife.
New band.
Rosewood board tele.

allen

[Gareth John]

Light of day has some really cool guitar playing, I especially like Springsteen's tone on that song.
I've not seen that replica Bruce is using before. Is that a Fender job? custom shop?

[Bruce_99]

I´ve seen his own "clone" last year in Paris, France front row... (and at the German shows too..)

It looks like a 52 RI (5-hole blackguard) to me. But it has a relic-job, modern 6-saddle bridge, 2 butterfly-style string trees and Joe Barden PU´s.
I don´t know who made this modifications..

IMG_0262.jpg

[Taipan]

Bruce_99 - Thanks for all the insight into all that is Bruce. I am loving it.

[Bruce_99]

And a big THANX to DavidE for his informations !!

Here´s some more stuff from the MAGIC-Tour 2007/2008:

THE Esquire was only played in Boston, November 2007:
"Thunder Road" - "..Well I got this guitar And I learned how to make it talk"

The show starts with a Relic 62 Custom (with CS logo on the back of the headstock)

hartford_1.jpg

then he switched between a butterscotch blackguard:

hartford_2.jpg

and black one

brucespringsteen8_a.jpg

and a vintage natural (looks like a clone of THE Esquire)

IMG_1592.jpg


All Tele´s have the same modifications:

• relic`d
• modern 6-saddle bridge
• Joe Barden PU´s
• 2 butterfly style string trees

[Mark N]

the cutom tele still has the 3 way bridge on it no?

[Bruce_99]

Originally Posted by Mark N

the cutom tele still has the 3 way bridge on it no?

Yep, you are right. The 62 Custom has the vinatge 3-saddle bridge

today_show_5.jpg

[Bruce_99]

62 Custom Telecaster - Fender Custom Shop

Here´s a pic with the CS logo on the back of the headstock

BRUCE 62 TELE - HEADSTOCK.JPG