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Post subject: Pics - My 52 Tele AVS modded to Springsteen Esquire c.1975
Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:07 pm
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My summer mod project turned out well. Got a nice blank neck with appropriately spaced octave markers (black dot). Installed Schaller locking machines, vintage butterfly guide, button guide, and a vintage "Fender Esquire" decal on the headstock. Installed 8 hole pickguard complete with "man under the streetlight" scene. Still looking for a leather worker to engrave a edge border channel and do the streetlight scene on the pickguard. It's easy to swap back and forth between setups when doing a string change - just swap neck and pickguard. Both setups play and sound fantastic (just one minor bridge height adjustment on the high E is only difference). My buddy says I ought to do a relic job on it - no way.

<Update 11/29> I got my leather pickguard - >>> Check out the pics on page 3 of this thread. <<<

[b]My 52 Tele AVS

Image

Swap neck and pickguard for the "Born to Run" mod - pickguard similar to Springsteen's leather pickguard c.1975
Image

here's a comparison
Image

<Update 11/29> I got my leather pickguard - >>> Check out the pics on page 3 of this thread. <<<
Here's a new comparsion with my new leather pickguard:

Image
.


Last edited by BigKahune on Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:18 am, edited 17 times in total.

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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:12 pm
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:shock:

What the hell happened to the neck you had? It looks beautiful!

I love Springsteen but I love 52's even more the way they are.

To each their own, its just a 52 is my DREAM guitar.

Keep rockin.

CC

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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:17 pm
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Celtic Cyclonus wrote:
:shock: What the hell happened to the neck you had? It looks beautiful! CC


I have it. As I said in the post, I just swap between the two necks when I feel like it. - - one body, two necks, two pickguards . . .


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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:45 pm
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Ah, right, cool.

You should buy a standard and stick it on that and mod it to $"%+. You could have a whole other guitar!

CC

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Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:26 pm
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Celtic Cyclonus wrote:
Ah, right, cool.

You should buy a standard and stick it on that and mod it to $"%+. You could have a whole other guitar!

CC


+10 on that.
When I was looking for a Tele I knew I was going mod it so I took a look at the standards and even some squiers and decided on the MIM standard. before I did the mods it sounded great but after swapping the pu, tuners, bridge it's a different beast altogether.

It's like like the guy I heard of who is getting Fender to build a Custom Shop Nocaster for him and he says when he recieves it he's going to mod it. That to me seems crazy.

To each their own indeed.


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 2:14 am
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eww..no thank you, change it back!


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Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 12:37 pm
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Maybe the camera angle, but I like the '52 Tele AVS as it was.

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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:30 am
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Go back to the Gotoh tuners.

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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:47 am
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Okay, I'm getting the picture that everyone loves the 52T. I agree. I love mine, it plays great (it's easy to swap back when doing a string change). Fender really does a great job on 'em.

I've had a lot of fun with this mod. The nice thing about Fenders is the bolt on neck allows you to make some big mods without permanent changes. Anway - the Springsteen modded neck is from a after-market licensee with vintage specs, but unlike my original AVS neck (which is kind of slim U), the after-market neck is the vintage fat U. In comparison its like a baseball bat, but I find it plays just fine. In fact I like it and it seems to have a slightly beefier tone.

I got a couple emails on the "man under the streetlight sticker". Actually that pickguard of c1975 was black leather, engraved with a border trace and the "man under the streetlight" scene looks like it was painted/stained right on the leather with some engraving to highlight certain lines. And yes, the scene was done in color (photo research).


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Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:38 pm
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Hello Big Kahune,

"Man under the Streetlight"
In my wildest dreams I never would have got it :shock:
35 years later I see the light. Many thanks.

Nice guitar, play the heck out of it.

Cheers


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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:59 am
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[quote="BigKahune"]Okay, I'm getting the picture that everyone loves the 52T. I agree. I love mine, it plays great (it's easy to swap back when doing a string change). Fender really does a great job on 'em.

It amazes me that Fender has not tributed the Springsteen mongrel Telecaster/Esaquire after all these years. He has played his soul out night after night after night and at some point in all those nights, over all those years, that legendary BTR Tele with it dings, chips, scrathes and various mods over many years , continues to rear it's thrashed and banged out head. Even during the Super Bowl half time show it was there in Glory Days.

Hats off to you Big Kahuna for doing what Fender should have done years ago.... :lol:

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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:09 am
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Man, I am a huuuuge Springsteen fan and Fender should take notes on this mod. You nailed it!! What's up with that pickguard!!? I have been thinking of modding a Bruce mock-up guitar and I am now inspired!! I gotta have that frickin' picture 'Man under the Streetlight' I have heard the stories surrounding that sticker--so now its NOT a sticker!? I thought those were control tone pre-amp switches under the strings? I have not had the honor of seeing Bruce play back in the 70's so this is too cool to see his famous 53 Esquire-tele here modded out. Now you just gotta play the Hell out of it and sweat all over it and then put it next to Bruce's axe in the R&R Hall of Fame for comparison. Hell, lend it Bruce for a few years and let hin grind away on it and give it back to you Bossifide! At first I thought Fender did a custom repro job when I saw this!! And yours has the 'MUTS" sticker on it. I wonder why Bruce changed his? I noticed he has had several changes over the years. 3-ply 2 ply, etc. I am enlightened!! I have never seen a Springsteen guitar modded this way that included the famous 'MUTS' sticker--its just flamin' rediculously awe-inspiring. You must dig playing that axe! Wow--you must have taken some time for this. I love it! Would you sell these? Your Born to Run Cover mock up blew me away! Fender have any openings? Give this guy a job. They wont do it--Big K did! I joined this forum today just so I could reply to this post.
Dont put the original neck back on! This is a great tribute to the Boss. Hell, the Boss should play this thing at the Rock 'n Roll HOF gig coming up!!! Hats off to the Big K!


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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:23 am
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Mr Bill, HarryCallahan, MagicRat - Thanks for the praise guys.

MagicRat - No, I'm not selling these (there's probably legalities in there somewhere). It's actually an easy mod if you got an assembled Tele - just mod the pickguard and the neck, or in my case, I modded a new neck. The total cost of the mod, with the new neck, was under $300. If you go with a new neck, you should have some experience with setting up a new neck - you gotta adjust the angle (on a vintage that means sanding or shimming), adjust the action, the intonation (and if it comes without a nut, that needs to be setup too). Or you could have a shop set it up for you. And yes, it turned out great. In fact, a couple of my buddies who are huge Bruce fans wanted to have pictures taken with the guitar, which I let them do. The guitar is a 52T AVS with a Fender licensed replacement neck with vintage specs (except for the 12th fret marker spacing). It's setup beautifully, plays and sounds like a dream. I really like the sound from the vintage spec pups.

Bruce was into leather goods, like everyone else in the early to mid 70s. Here's a link to a article (in Spanish):
http://www.joseperdicion.com/la-guitarr ... elecaster/
Scroll down to the third image and you'll see a young, rail thin Bruce, about 1973 with his Esquire sporting an earlier engraved leather pickguard with a scene on it (there's no mistaking the iconic graining of that guitar).

Below a blowup from the BTR shoot of the engraved black leather pickguard with the MUTS scene (I picked that shot from BTR because the lighting reveals the engraving lines better than a straight on shot, and you can see the leather bulging up on the horn and by the neck joint). There have been a lot of stories about it, but that image should clear things up for you. You should be able to save the pic and then zoom to easily see it's engraved and painted/stained right on the leather. Yes, back then there was a signal booster UNDER the pickguard to deal with the impedence of long jack cords - needed for Bruce's stage antics. As you can see in the blow up, the light squares were the windows in the building across the street from the man under the street light, not switches.
Image

I'm still looking for a leather worker/shop to try and dup that PG for me. Meanwhile, my simple solution works great and looks great. As to why Bruce gave up the PG - I don't know. I'm guessing after he started touring with it, his gallons of sweat began to ruin it - salt stains, swelling when wet, shrinking when drying out. I'm was hoping he was able to save it, but I haven't seen it on the list of items in the RR-Hall of Fame display. Does anybody know if it's there?


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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 3:56 pm
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Thanks for the online-tip class on making the 'MUTS' PG. I am going to attempt this using my HP printer. You are a great help with this. I never dreamed I would one day be doing this.

The Spanish article you linked up was very knowledgeable with some great shots of Springsteen's guitars. I didn't realize he used a tremelo. He has a few built with them attached I see. Funny I have never seen him play them in concert. I do know he uses several different teles throughout a show. I always wonder if Kevin his guitar guy ever drops them as Bruce throws them like a frisbee offstage to him.

Let us know if you ever find or make the elusive leather MUTS PG.


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Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 6:56 pm
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Hello Big Kahune,

It's like the Rosetta Stone discovery.!

Many Thanks.

Cheers.


Last edited by Mr Bill on Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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