On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Esquire-Telecaster composite
Not on view
Bruce Springsteen used this modified Fender guitar, composed of a Telecaster body and an Esquire neck, as his primary instrument in countless live performances and recordings from 1972 until about 2005. On the iconic Born to Run (1975) album cover and tour poster, Springsteen faces away from the viewer with this guitar slung over his back. The instrument also appears on the covers for Live/1975–85 (1986), Human Touch (1992), and Wrecking Ball (2012). Springsteen told the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, "When I put it on, I don’t feel like I have a guitar on. It’s such an integral part of me."
Technical Description:
Ash body, one-piece maple neck with walnut “skunk stripe”; 25½ in. scale; yellowed and worn butterscotch finish; bolt-on neck with black dot inlays; silver “spaghetti” Fender logo decal on headstock; two single coil pickups, three-way selector switch, volume and tone controls; chrome bridge and knobs, nickel tuners, black pickguard; Telecaster body with Esquire neck, replacement six-saddle bridge and Schaller tuners, body routed out under pickguard for multiple-pickup system (no longer present)
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
