Mike Campbell bought his 1950 Fender Broadcaster at Nadine’s Music, on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, at a point when the band was still scraping by. At the time, he only had a Firebird and a Fender Twin Reverb, while Tom Petty was using Campbell’s sunburst Stratocaster through a late-1950s Fender Tweed Deluxe. Campbell felt they needed more gear before trying to bring the band into Denny Cordell’s sessions.
He spotted what he thought was a Telecaster, but the salesman explained it was actually a 1950 Broadcaster, an early pre-Telecaster Fender model. The salesman had him plug it into a blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, and Campbell immediately felt it was “his sound.” The price was $600, which was a fortune for him at the time, since he was making about $60 a week and his wife Marcie was pregnant.
It was beautiful, with a maple neck and a one-piece ash body with a rich butterscotch finish and a black Bakelite pickguard. It had brass bridge saddles, with a white-cloth wrapped bridge pickup with raised pole pieces and a slim silver neck pickup. I tried to look around at other guitars but kept coming back to stare at it.
The salesman took the Broadcaster down and handed it to me. It was light. The neck fit my hand perfectly. I strummed an A chord; it rang like an acoustic. The ash body was loud and clear, and the neck vibrated softly in my hand.
Mike Campbell [3]
Since the store would not do layaway, Campbell brought in the old Mudcrutch PA system and put it on consignment. The salesman valued the PA at $1,200, enough for the Broadcaster plus another guitar. Campbell walked out with the Broadcaster and a 1972 Gibson 1954 reissue Goldtop Les Paul with P-90s. Tom was angry at first when he found out Campbell had traded away the PA, but after Campbell plugged the Broadcaster into the Twin Reverb and played it, “all was forgiven.” Also, a couple of days later, Tom accidentally sat on his Firebird and snapped the neck in half.
The Exact Model
The guitar is usually called his Broadcaster, although there has been some debate over exactly what it is. Ask Zac noted several details that do not line up perfectly with a stock early Broadcaster, including the string tree, logo placement, pickup details, and 12th fret marker spacing. His view was that it may be a mix of early Fender parts rather than a completely original Broadcaster. [2] For the purposes of the Heartbreakers story though, the exact parts breakdown matters less than the way Campbell used it.
Campbell recorded “Breakdown,” “American Girl,” and “I Need to Know” with this guitar. It can also be seen in live footage on songs like “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.” Tom also used the guitar himself on the recording of “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” so although it is mainly known as Campbell’s guitar, it still has a direct place in Petty’s recorded work.
[American Girl] was one of the first songs I played that guitar on, It was like, ‘Hey, that’s us. That’s our sound. Well done, Mike!’
Mike Campbell [1]
One thing Campbell was particular about was the condition of the neck. He did not want his techs cleaning off the built-up grime and grease, because he felt that was part of the guitar’s history and feel. That fits the way he talked about the instrument in general. It was not treated like a museum piece. It was a working guitar, and a lot of its character came from the years of use.
He eventually retired the Broadcaster from touring, mainly after it was nearly damaged by moisture while the band was traveling to Japan. Since then, Mike has mostly kept it safe at home, usually close by his chair when he records.
The first time we went to Japan, we had our gear sent over in a boat, When I opened up the Broadcaster’s case, it was all damp from seawater or whatever. I thought, I don’t want it to get damaged. It’s too valuable. I don’t know what it’s worth nowadays — enough to buy a house probably.
It’s right next to my chair when I record, I still use it all the time. This is the guitar that didn’t get away, and it never will. It’s got that sound, and that’s that.
Mike Campbell [1]
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