If you attended a concert at Hollywood Bowl between 1981 and 2013, the bench you sat on might now be part of  Fender guitar history. The vibrations and resonance from that fondly remembered Beach Boys, Tom Petty, Black Sabbath, Radiohead or Stevie Wonder show lurk deep within the pores of this Fender Front Row Esquire, the bodies of which are built from wooden bench seats removed from “The Bowl” in 2014.

Now you can own a piece of Hollywood Bowl history in the form of a Fender Custom Shop guitar crafted from “100-year-old Alaskan yellow cedar”, reclaimed from the original bench boards that have been resonating with the sounds emanating from this legendary venue for decades! 

Built by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Yuriy Shishkov, every guitar has a different original “seat number” in the body, so each guitar is truly unique. 

“That natural sunlight, the rain and the wind … it just makes it, obviously, look kind of old,” says Yuriy Shishkov, while cradling one of the Alaskan yellow cedar "blanks" sawn from the Bowl benches. “But inside, if you look at this piece, it looks like it just was cut yesterday — but this is about 100 years old!”

Truetone Music has acquired the most sought after of these builds, Seat #1. This is the last of this series, and the only Seat #1 Front Row Legend built by Yuriy, making it a true collectors piece, as well as a bonafide part of music history!

 From its humble beginnings as a makeshift stage to its now-legendary status as one of the best concert venues in Southern California, the Hollywood Bowl is part of the rich tapestry of Hollywood history. This natural outdoor amphitheater has hosted performances by some of the most well-known and respected artists of every musical genre; from Frank Sinatra to Jimi Hendrix and everyone in-between, the Hollywood Bowl has been bathed in pure musical magic for decades. Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Yuriy Shishkov captured and distilled that mojo, adding a healthy infusion of Fender's timeless style and history with the incredible Front Row Legend Esquire. This guitar is crafted from 100-year-old Alaskan yellow cedar reclaimed from the original bench boards that have been resonating with the sounds emanating from “The Bowl” since 1919. The heritage of the Front Row Legend Esquire doesn't stop with the wood; its design is based on the legendary single-pickup precursor to the Telecaster. This guitar has the same punchy tone and snappy attack that vintage Esquire guitars are known for, but with the added touches only a Masterbuilt guitar can have. Vintage enthusiasts are sure to love everything about this guitar from its ‘60s-style “Oval C”-shaped quartersawn maple neck, 7.25"-radius fingerboard and vintage frets, to its original-spec Broadcaster bridge pickup, oxidized brass hardware and push-pull volume pot for additional tonal flexibility. The wood's original patina, with its cracks, bolt holes and scratches is preserved, and the boards were hand-selected for the coolest and most distinct markings. Every guitar also has a different original "seat number" on the top of the body, so each is truly unique. An ultra-thin satin finish is then applied to preserve the look of the wood in its original condition. Hold a piece of history in your hands and join the ranks of the legends that have graced the Hollywood Bowl's stage with the Front Row Legend Esquire.