When Bob Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, it was a watershed moment for the trajectory of popular music – and the Telecaster that his foil, Mike Bloomfield, played on that day was instrumental in ‘killing folk.’ Now, Eastwood Guitars has recreated the guitar for the masses – including its rather garish cutaway – in the form of the Mad Cat MB63. Bloomfield’s early ‘60s Tele – its neck is stamped August ’63 – was later used across Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited album. It can reportedly be heard on seminal tracks, including Like A Rolling Stone and Tombstone Blues, but it was still in one piece at the time. It was only later, after Bloomfield swapped it for a ’54 Gibson Les Paul in 1965, that the cruder-than-crude cutaway was made by its new owner for better access to the upper frets, with no concern for the instrument's history. So, while the guitar never looked like it does now while in Bloomfield’s hands, Eastwood’s recreation of the electric guitar is being used as a way of honoring its most famous player. “The Eastwood Mad Cat MB63 tips its hat to one of the great troublemakers in guitar history,” it says. “The original wasn’t precious. It had that famously rough upper horn cutaway and a straight-to-the-point, workmanlike feel. It looked like someone simply decided it needed to be different and made it so. That’s the spirit we wanted to keep.” It pairs a swamp ash body with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard, and is kitted out with Eastwood-branded single-coil pickups, a T-Style Chrome bridge, and vintage-style tuners. Crafted to a 25.5" scale length, it also has a 12" fretboard radius, 20 Jumbo frets, and aged white inlays. It has been designed to look worn and pre-loved – complete with that gruesome cutaway.
“Taking inspiration from the vintage car world, we decided to add a clear coat over the distressed body finish to seamlessly blend the old with the new,” Eastwood explains. “At its core, this is still a no-nonsense single-cut with all the snap, bite, and clarity you’d hope for. It’s for players who like their guitars a little rough around the edges and a lot big on personality.”
Priced at a not-too-shabby $1,399, it certainly saves players the job of taking a hacksaw to their own beloved Teles, and stands as one of 2026's most unique guitar tributes. The original guitar sold for $275,000 in January 2025, so Eastwood’s version is also a damn sight cheaper. See Eastwood Guitars for more.
