# The Guitar that Broke Folk up for auction: Mike Bloomfield's Tele **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360 "2015-10-21T15:07:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/1 "2015-10-21T15:07:45Z")
Saw this on a guitar board and thought I would share. Bloomfield used this Telecaster on Like a Rolling Stone, other classic Dylan and Paul Butterfield music and used it at the Newport Folk Festival when Dylan went Electric. Dylan’s Strat was recently rediscovered, authenticated and sold, I think for around $1million. [http://entertainment.ha.com/itm/musical-instruments/electric-guitars/mike-bloomfield-s-1963-fender-telecaster-blonde-solid-body-electric-guitar-serial-l11155/a/7114-85126.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515](http://entertainment.ha.com/itm/musical-instruments/electric-guitars/mike-bloomfield-s-1963-fender-telecaster-blonde-solid-body-electric-guitar-serial-l11155/a/7114-85126.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515) Shame the next owner was a lefty and put a cutaway into it. As GE Smith says in the linked vid “unfortunate.” Also interesting to note it has a 1 5/8" neck - super narrow!! The standard is typically 1 3/4" or perhaps 1 11/16", (except for freakin’ Rickenbackers, Epiphone archtops, some Gretsches - unplayable, all of them!!!) Interesting to consider where this specific guitar rates in the “List of Important Guitars.” Hendrix’s Monterey Pop and Woodstock Strats; Clapton’s stolen sunburst Les Paul (inspired in part by Bloomfield’s interest in 'bursts), Pagey’s #1 Les Paul, a few of the Beatles guitars and basses; Duane Allman’s guitars, etc…Bloomfield was hugely influential on the electric blues/rock players that came right after him, and playing on Dylan is a ticket for immortality, even if he individually isn’t discussed as much anymore except by guitar geeks. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/2 "2015-10-21T15:22:37Z")
Wow, “The guitar that broke folk up” and/or “The guitar that killed folk.” That’s a heavy weight to bear. I’d imagine it will climb well north of it’s current 30K? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/3 "2015-10-21T15:25:31Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Wow, “The guitar that broke folk up” and/or “The guitar that killed folk.” That’s a heavy weight to bear. > > I’d imagine it will climb well north of it’s current 30K? You’d think for sure. If a Dylan-head bid the Strat up to $1million, this is the next best thing, so a few hundred thou would seem more likely that five figures. But what do I know? ETA: oh yeah, I got the byline wrong. “The Guitar that Killed Folk” - even more dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/4 "2015-10-21T16:25:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > You’d think for sure. If a Dylan-head bid the Strat up to $1million, this is the next best thing, so a few hundred thou would seem more likely that five figures. But what do I know? If you scroll down below the videos, you’ll see that it says “Estimate: $60,000 - up”. There are only 3 days left on the auction and there’s no reserve, so it could sell for as little as the $30,000 current bid. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/5 "2015-10-21T16:30:03Z")
I read the story and will watch the videos later. A lefty bought a Bloomfield guitar and _altered_ it? Jesus wept. And by altered I really mean made it no longer recognizable as a Telecaster. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/6 "2015-10-21T16:52:10Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I read the story and will watch the videos later. A lefty bought a Bloomfield guitar and _altered_ it? Jesus wept. > > And by altered I really mean made it no longer recognizable as a Telecaster. As you well know, Guitarists have a long history of modifications. We are practical/cheap/poor, often have to deal with the guitar we have, and easily hypnotized by trends. Les Pauls routed for Floyd Rose locking tremolos anyone? Every now and then, you get a true revolutionary, like EVH and his Frankenstrat or Les Paul and The Log, but for the most part? Butchers, the lot of us. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/7 "2015-10-21T17:05:04Z")
Did anyone catch the PBS show where they found the Dylan guitar? He just left it in an airplane and the pilot tried to get it back to him, but they blew him off! Stuck it in the closet for years and then his daughter ended up with it (as I recall, but I drink). ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/8 "2015-10-21T17:11:37Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > As you well know, Guitarists have a long history of modifications. We are practical/cheap/poor, often have to deal with the guitar we have, and easily hypnotized by trends. Les Pauls routed for Floyd Rose locking tremolos anyone? Every now and then, you get a true revolutionary, like EVH and his Frankenstrat or Les Paul and The Log, but for the most part? Butchers, the lot of us. As someone who put Grovers on a 60s SG Special (which required reaming out the holes, of course) I totally get what you mean. But if one of Paul’s Hofners magically ended up in my hands, I promise you I would play it left-handed rather than alter a molecule of the guitar. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/9 "2015-10-21T17:39:18Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > As someone who put Grovers on a 60s SG Special (which required reaming out the holes, of course) I totally get what you mean. But if one of Paul’s Hofners magically ended up in my hands, I promise you I would play it left-handed rather than alter a molecule of the guitar. Ha. You know damn well it’s symmetrical. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/10 "2015-10-21T18:15:49Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Ha. You know damn well it’s symmetrical. Hofner violin basses are symmetrical? News to me - I am not saying they are not, just that I didn’t know that was a standout note on them. You can just switch the strings? **Gato** - we had a thread on that History Detectives - it was interesting, but man did they sound clueless about guitars… Here is it: [Dylan's Newport Folk "gone electric" Strat auctioned - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709797) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/11 "2015-10-21T18:42:50Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > As someone who put Grovers on a 60s SG Special (which required reaming out the holes, of course) I totally get what you mean. Oh, and by the way, I think it can be said that the Guitar that Killed Folk also shifted the attention back from acoustics to electrics - and thereby saved a few old Martins and Gibsons. Some high-end vintage acoustic dealers I know refer to to the late 50’s and early 60’s as the The Great Folk Scare, when players were modding acoustics with funky pickguards, inlays, converting archtops to flattops, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/12 "2015-10-21T19:32:43Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **Gato** - we had a thread on that History Detectives - it was interesting, but man did they sound clueless about guitars… _History Detectives_ is the worst show on PBS\*. They dumb it down to about grade-school level. And that Elise is simply horrible! \*Which makes it better than 90% of all other stuff on the tube. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/13 "2015-10-21T20:44:32Z")
This Machine kills folk. No, wait, that was a [different guitar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_machine_kills_fascists). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/14 "2015-10-21T20:46:17Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > This Machine kills folk. > > No, wait, that was a [different guitar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_machine_kills_fascists). Woody Guthrie wrote that on a few guitars. Always makes me smile. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2015, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/15 "2015-10-21T21:07:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Hofner violin basses are symmetrical? News to me - I am not saying they are not, just that I didn’t know that was a standout note on them. You can just switch the strings? > > **Gato** - we had a thread on that History Detectives - it was interesting, but man did they sound clueless about guitars… > > Here is it: [Dylan's Newport Folk "gone electric" Strat auctioned - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=709797) Yeah symmetrical is a shape kind of thing. You would want to get a setup on taking possession, but you wouldn’t have to butcher it. Take a look at Pauls bass. Doesn’t that stand out as symmetrical? It’s basically like a violin. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/16 "2015-10-22T02:31:33Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Yeah symmetrical is a shape kind of thing. You would want to get a setup on taking possession, but you wouldn’t have to butcher it. Take a look at Pauls bass. Doesn’t that stand out as symmetrical? It’s basically like a violin. Okay. You mean the shape; yes it is fine flipped. As a player, I have to think through the control layout, the bridge, tailpiece, etc. Most bridges are compensated specifically to the strings going low to high, and reversing some is a big deal. Whether they look cool / the same flipped is a minor part of the equation. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/17 "2015-10-22T03:01:37Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Okay. You mean the shape; yes it is fine flipped. As a player, I have to think through the control layout, the bridge, tailpiece, etc. Most bridges are compensated specifically to the strings going low to high, and reversing some is a big deal. Whether they look cool / the same flipped is a minor part of the equation. The salient point is the butchery done to the Bloomfield piece. It was done to overcome non-symmetry. It isn’t an issue with hofner basses. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/18 "2015-10-22T03:32:04Z")
Call me a pervert, but I kind of like how it looks. ---
**Author:** ![groovie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d6d6ee/32.png) [@groovie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groovie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/19 "2015-10-22T09:30:58Z")
[Dan Erlewine sets up the guitar in question.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5oCY-1dnso) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360/20 "2015-10-22T10:16:11Z")
For fans of old guitars the two volumes of Deke Dickerson’s [The Strat in the Attic](http://www.amazon.com/The-Strat-Attic-Thrilling-Archaeology-ebook/dp/B00DPGQSC0) make compelling reading and yearning material with lots of great discoveries discussed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guitar-that-broke-folk-up-for-auction-mike-bloomfields-tele/735360.md?page=2)