Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run" Fender Esquire

An image can be a powerful thing. Of the many hundreds of thousands of images that adorn the various album covers throughout history I think it is fair to say that the image on the cover of Bruce Springsteen's legendary album "Born to Run" is one of the most indelible of all time. Bruce with a half smile leaning against Saxophonist Clarence Clemons with a well worn Fender Esquire slung across his torso. To this day it is impossible to think of "The Boss" without that beloved guitar by his side.

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The earliest known owner of Bruce's famous Esquire was a recording studio in New York City (presumed to be Colombia Records) during the 1960's. At some point the studio then sold the guitar to a New Jersey based luthier named Phil Petillo at a liquidation sale. When Petillo purchased the guitar, it had already been outfitted with four pickups and had a second input jack installed and it took him a bit of time for him to restore it to good working order after years of abuse in the studio. It was from Phil Petillo in the early 1970's that Bruce acquired the instrument, and as the luthier was to later recall,"The Fender Esquire guitar he plays he [Springsteen] bought from me for $180."

One of the many mysteries that swirl around this guitar is when exactly did "The Boss" get his hands on one. Petillo has said it was sometime around 1969 or 1970, but this was purely from his own recollection, and he was never able to produce any sort of receipt to verify the sale. However, from photographs from Springsteen during that period it is clear that the instrument he was playing was a yellow Gibson Les Paul that he finished himself while working at a surf shop. It wasn't until around 1972 that Bruce was first photographed with the famed Esquire. Thus one can reasonably deduce it was during that year that Springsteen bought it from Petillo.

Bruce with the Esquire in 1973

Another big mystery about the guitar is...what is it really? Bruce Springsteen himself has been on record as stating that the guitar is a Telecaster body with an Esquire neck, but then again he might be only referring to the fact that the body was styled as a Tele with two pickups rather than just the one that came equipped on an Esquire. Esquire's were routed for two pickups and Phil Petillo has stated that when he received the instrument it had already had a very large route and came with a neck pickup already in place. It really is impossible to say without any dispute what the guitar really is. At the end of the day it has been so modified and changed over the years I think this a question that will just have to remain unanswered.

Another unanswerable question is, what year was this guitar made? The body is made of ash, which means that it was manufactured prior to 1959 and most probably was made around 1953 or 1954. When it comes to the neck, the details get a little murkier. It is generally accepted that the neck was made somewhere between after that period. The neck has a soft v-shaped profile that Fender crafted for their necks around 1955 and 1957. Thus it has been generally accepted that the body is older than the neck and that it was installed at some later point.

The serial number on the guitar famously carries an asterisk which could have been applied in the Fender factory or just as easily after the fact by the recording company. What is known is that Fender would sometimes make a neck and not actually attach it to a body for upwards of a year. Additionally they might manufacture a guitar completely, apply the serial number and not ship the instrument for some time. This is another mystery that will just have to remain unsolved.

Bruce's Famed Esquire (The Later Years)

After Bruce bought the instrument from Phil Petillo he used it consistently as his number one live and studio guitar almost exclusively. Additionally, he continued to have all work done on the guitar to be completed almost exclusively by Petillo. Over the years, Petillo has installed his own hot-wound custom pickups into it, re-freted it completely a number of times with his own patented fret wires, and installed his own custom string-tree on the headstock. Bruce particularly loves the feel of the neck on the Esquire and has subsequently asked Petillo to shape all his Tele necks to match the profile of this guitar.

Petillo also later added a six saddle bridge to the guitar in later years, replacing the originally stamped three saddle bridge. When it comes to the pickguard, it is generally accepted that it has been swapped out numerous times time during its life. On the cover of Born to Run, the guitar has a seven screw black pickguard with a small sticker on it. As is well known, these guitars were originally manufactured and installed with only five screws. On the cover of the Human Touch album, the pickguard is missing the sticker and is white lined. It is also possible that the guitar may have even began its existence as a solid white pickguard model.

From April 2009 to February 2011 the guitar was on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio as part of their temporary exhibit, "From Asbury Park to The Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen". Visitors were offered an unprecedented closeup view of this world famous instrument (full disclosure, I was one of those visitors, and yes it was awesome).

There are very few artists who have attained the level and success of Bruce Springsteen. He is part of a pantheon of rock and rollers like Paul McCartney, Bono, or Mick Jagger who can be instantly recognized anywhere around the world. When one thinks of Bruce Springsteen, the image that usually gets conjured in one's head is that of him onstage, sweating buckets, veins popping, and trusty Fender Esquire slung low around his waist.

An image can be a powerful thing.