“Actually, I used one guitar and one amp. I had a 12-watt Morgan PR12 1×12 combo and my ’69 Gibson SG — which I bought new in Australia when I got into my first real band.” Rick Springfield said this to Guitar World, describing what he used for a specific album. One guitar. One amp. And he’s never been big on pedals: “I’m just a straight-into-the-amp kinda guy. I’ve never been really big on pedals. On the album, we put a lot of the effects in afterwards.” The same guitar — the 1969 Gibson SG purchased in Australia when he was twenty years old for his first real band — is confirmed as the guitar on “Jessie’s Girl”: “While talking about Jessie’s Girl, the interviewer asked if the song was recorded on a ’69 SG. Springfield confirms that it was.” The guitar he bought new in Australia. “Jessie’s Girl” is one of the most celebrated pop-rock singles of the 1980s — a song that has never left radio rotation since its 1981 release, that won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1982, and whose guitar riff is among the most recognizable in American pop radio history. The guitar was a Gibson SG he’d had for over a decade. The amp was whatever was available. He is not a gear collector by instinct; he is a songwriter who happens to play guitar. For the stage: Fernandez guitars, “not $5,000 and I get to throw them around in excitement.” The songwriting is the job. The throwing is the performance. The ’69 SG is the history.
Richard Lewis Springthorpe — Rick Springfield — was born on August 23, 1949, in Guildford, New South Wales, Australia. He began his musical career in 1969 with the Australian pop group Zoot and subsequently moved through several bands and a failed attempt at an American music career in the early 1970s before relocating permanently to Los Angeles. His breakthrough came with the Working Class Dog album (1981) and the single “Jessie’s Girl” — which spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earned the Grammy. His dual career as musician and actor (he was a regular cast member of the daytime drama General Hospital from 1981-1983, playing Dr. Noah Drake) gave him a crossover celebrity that went beyond conventional rock music audiences. Subsequent albums including Success Hasn’t Spoiled Me Yet (1982), Living in Oz (1983), and Hard to Hold (1984) maintained his commercial position through the mid-1980s. He has released twenty-five studio albums and continues recording and touring. He is seventy-six years old. The ’69 SG is still around.
Background: Guildford Australia, Zoot, Los Angeles 1970s, Working Class Dog 1981, “Jessie’s Girl” Grammy 1982, General Hospital
Springfield’s specific trajectory — from Australian pop musician through failed first American career attempt through eventual breakthrough — is one of the more extended and more specifically biographical career arcs in this guide. His move to Los Angeles in the early 1970s — when he was in his early twenties, relatively unknown outside Australia, without the commercial success that would have guaranteed a welcoming American music industry — required both persistence and a willingness to start from the beginning in a new market. The early 1970s American career attempts documented in his autobiography Late, Late at Night (2010) were frustrating and demoralizing; the eventual breakthrough with Working Class Dog in 1981 was a decade in the making.
The General Hospital double identity — pop rock star and daytime soap opera doctor simultaneously — is the specific biographical fact that gave Springfield a specific kind of celebrity that most rock musicians don’t have: visibility beyond music to an audience (daytime TV viewers) that might not otherwise have encountered his music. The intersection of the two identities gave “Jessie’s Girl” a promotional advantage that a purely music-industry career would not have provided. The song became ubiquitous partly because Springfield himself was ubiquitous — in music stores, on the radio, and in millions of American living rooms during General Hospital’s broadcast.
His relationship to the guitar — as a songwriter’s tool rather than as an instrument of virtuosic display — is the foundational context for understanding his gear choices. He is not a guitar-first musician in the sense that his technical approach, his gear collection, or his specific instrument and amplifier choices define his musical identity. He is a songwriter who plays guitar to support the songs he writes. The ’69 SG on “Jessie’s Girl” is not famous because of any specific tonal character it brings to the recording; it is famous because the song it helped record is famous. The gear serves the song.
The Rig: Rick Springfield’s Guitars, Amps, and Effects
Guitars
1969 Gibson SG (Primary Career Guitar — “Jessie’s Girl” and Bought New in Australia): Rick Springfield’s most historically significant guitar is his 1969 Gibson SG — bought new in Australia when he joined his first real band. The Guitar World interview confirms: “Actually, I used one guitar and one amp. I had a 12-watt Morgan PR12 1×12 combo and my ’69 Gibson SG — which I bought new in Australia when I got into my first real band.” The confirmation that this guitar was used for “Jessie’s Girl” — the most significant single recording of his career — makes it the specific artifact that connects the guitar to the song’s Grammy Award and its multi-decade radio omnipresence. The 1969 Gibson SG’s specific character: the thin double-cutaway mahogany body, the 24.75-inch scale, the PAF-derived humbuckers of the era, and the specific resonant warmth of mahogany-body construction. Bought new in Australia in 1969, it traveled with Springfield through his career moves, survived the failed early American attempts, and was still in his collection when the breakthrough came in 1981.
The ’69 SG’s specific historical significance within the Springfield story: it was purchased for “my first real band,” used across the career up to and including the Working Class Dog sessions, and represents the continuity of a musician who has not replaced his primary instrument when a better-funded career allowed him to acquire more expensive alternatives. The SG remained. It was the right guitar for the songs.
1959 Fender Stratocaster (Songs for the End of the World): The Guitar World interview about Songs for the End of the World (2012) documents a 1959 Fender Stratocaster as a primary guitar: “Springfield explains what gear he used on Songs for the End of the World, first listing a ’59 Stratocaster. ‘There’s a ’59 Strat that’s got a great sound.'” The 1959 Fender Stratocaster — from the late pre-CBS era, before Fender was sold to CBS in 1965 — is one of the most celebrated vintage electric guitars in rock history. Its specific character: the original alder body, the maple neck, the single-coil pickups of the original design, and the specific tonal character of pre-CBS Fender construction that collectors and players consistently describe as exceptional. A 1959 Stratocaster is a genuinely historically significant instrument, and its presence in Springfield’s collection documents the vintage guitar dimension of his guitar life alongside the practical “throw it around on stage” philosophy.
Gibson ES-175 (Songs for the End of the World): “I’ve got an old Gibson 175, I used the SG, a Duesenberg 12-string and Duesenberg 6-string I’m fond of.” The Gibson ES-175 — the full-hollow archtop jazz guitar associated with Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, and Pat Metheny — is a tonally distinct alternative to the solid-body SG and Stratocaster. Its fully hollow construction, single or double floating humbucker, and archtop design produce the specific warm, clean jazz tone of the classic acoustic-electric archtop guitar. Its presence in the Songs for the End of the World sessions reflects the broader harmonic and tonal palette Springfield explored on that album.
Duesenberg 12-String and 6-String (Songs for the End of the World): “A Duesenberg 12-string and Duesenberg 6-string I’m fond of. They’re kind of like boutique amps; not a lot of people know about Duesenberg, I think, but they’re really good. It’s really one of the coolest 12-strings I’ve ever seen.” Duesenberg Guitars — a German manufacturer producing boutique semi-hollow and solid-body guitars with specific vintage-inspired designs and high-quality construction — are unusual enough to require Springfield’s brief explanation (“not a lot of people know about Duesenberg”). His specific praise for the 12-string (“one of the coolest 12-strings I’ve ever seen”) reflects the genuine enthusiasm of a guitar collector encountering an instrument that surprises him.
Fernandez Guitars (Stage, “Not $5,000 and I Get to Throw Them Around in Excitement”): The most practically honest guitar statement in this guide comes from the rickspringfield.us fan site Q&A: “On stage, Fernandez guitars, great out of the box guitars. They’re not $5,000 and I get to throw them around in excitement.” Using specifically priced, specifically not-precious instruments for the stage — guitars he can throw around without financial anxiety — reflects the specific philosophy of a performer who prioritizes stage energy (throwing guitars) over instrument preservation. Fernandez Guitars (the Japanese manufacturer, not related to Spanish classical guitar makers) produce quality production-level guitars that provide reliable performance at accessible prices. His decision to use them live rather than his ’59 Stratocaster or ’69 SG reflects exactly the wisdom one would expect from a performer who has been doing this for five decades.
Son’s Gibson Les Paul (Historical Stage Use): The rickspringfield.us Q&A also documents: “I used an old Marshall from the ’60s as a guitar amp and my son’s Gibson Les Paul.” Using a family member’s guitar is one of the more distinctive gear situations documented in this guide — borrowing his son’s Les Paul for stage use rather than his own instruments.
Amps
Morgan Amplification PR12 1×12 Combo 12W (Primary Studio Amp, “One Guitar and One Amp”): Springfield’s primary studio amplifier — confirmed for the specific context of “one guitar and one amp” — is the Morgan Amplification PR12 1×12 combo. At 12 watts, the Morgan PR12 is a low-wattage tube combo that produces the specific warm, natural tube saturation of a small amplifier pushed into its operating range. Morgan Amplification (founded by Joe Morgan in 2003, based in Mooresville, North Carolina) produces high-quality, boutique tube amplifiers known for their exceptional tonal quality and playability. The PR12’s 12 watts through a single 12-inch speaker represents the “one amp” dimension of Springfield’s studio minimalism: a small, simple, great-sounding tube combo that provides everything needed for recording without the complexity of larger rigs.
Bogner Shiva (Studio, “Most of the Time”): “After being asked what gear he uses, Springfield answered: ‘Most of the time I used the Bogner Shiva amp. And sometimes we used software.'” The Bogner Shiva — the flagship amplifier of Bogner Amplification (founded by German-American amp designer Reinhold Bogner, based in Los Angeles) — is a hand-wired, high-quality tube head or combo known for its extremely warm, responsive, harmonically complex tone. The Shiva is associated with players who value tonal richness and dynamic response over sheer gain — consistent with Springfield’s “straight-into-the-amp” philosophy. The Bogner Shiva’s clean and driven channels provide both the warm clean tones for the acoustic-influenced passages of his recordings and the specific tube saturation that gives his harder rock material its warm edge.
Naylor Amplification (Early Touring Studio): “I use a Naylor Amp at the studio.” Naylor Amplification — a boutique Texas-based amplifier company — produced high-quality tube amplifiers in the 1990s and early 2000s associated with clean American tone with warm harmonic complexity. Their presence in Springfield’s studio history reflects his consistent preference for boutique, high-quality tube amplification over mainstream commercial amp choices.
Vintage 1960s Marshall (Historical Stage, “An Old Marshall from the ’60s”): “I used an old Marshall from the ’60s as a guitar amp” — the vintage Marshall from the pre-JMP era (before 1973) providing the specific vintage British tube character of the early hard rock and pop-rock recordings. Pre-1973 Marshall amplifiers (the “Plexi” era) are among the most sought-after vintage amplifiers in rock — their specific warm, harmonically complex character at high volumes being the foundational British rock amplifier tone.
Effects
“I’ve Never Been Really Big on Pedals” (Foundational Philosophy): Guitar World 2012: “I’m just a straight-into-the-amp kinda guy. I’ve never been really big on pedals. On the album, we put a lot of the effects in afterwards.” This is Springfield’s complete statement on effects — guitar straight into amp, effects added in post-production (in the studio context) rather than in the signal chain. His stage and studio approach reflects the same preference as Wino Weinrich (Series 2 #182) and Buck Dharma (Series 2 #188): the guitar’s natural character and the amp’s natural response are the primary tone, with effects (when used) added after rather than integrated in the live signal chain.
Software Amp Modeling (Supplementary, Post-Production): “Most of the time I used the Bogner Shiva amp. And sometimes we used software. There are actually some advantages to mixing the software amps with real amps; they cover a really good sound range.” His acknowledgment of software amp modeling — as a supplementary tool that covers tonal territory real amps don’t — is pragmatic rather than ideological. He is not an anti-modeling purist (like Phil X with his explicit “aversion to amp modeling”); he uses real amps primarily because they sound great, and uses software when it complements the real amps’ character. The pragmatism of a songwriter: use whatever produces the right sound for the song.
Tape Recording with Pro Tools Transfer (Songs for the End of the World): The Guitar World interview documents a specific recording approach: “We recorded the whole album on tape and transferred it to Pro Tools.” Recording on tape (analog) before transferring to digital (Pro Tools) combines the specific warmth and harmonic richness of analog tape saturation with the editing flexibility of digital audio workstation production. The tape-first approach — unusual in contemporary pop-rock production — reflects Springfield’s attraction to the vintage recording character of the albums that defined his musical reference points.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy
Rick Springfield’s playing style is the most song-service-oriented in this section of the guide — the approach of a musician who plays guitar in service of the song’s melodic and harmonic requirements rather than as an expressive instrument for its own sake. His specific guitar work on “Jessie’s Girl” — the specific riff that opens the song, the chord work that supports the melody — is remembered as part of the song, not as guitar playing separate from the song. This is the specific quality that distinguishes him from the guitar heroes in this guide: his guitar playing is so well-integrated into the songwriting that it cannot be separated from it.
His tone philosophy is the songwriter’s philosophy applied to gear: the right sound for the song, achieved with whatever combination of guitar and amp produces it most efficiently. One guitar. One amp. Effects added afterward if needed. The Morgan PR12 at 12 watts with the ’69 SG — one guitar, one amp — was sufficient for the specific album he was making. The Bogner Shiva for most studio work. The Fernandez guitars for stage throwing. The software amps when they cover the tonal range the real amp doesn’t. Pragmatism rather than dogma.
His “vintage guitar” interest — the ’59 Strat, the ’69 SG, the ES-175 archtop, the Duesenberg surprise — reflects the same sensibility as Buck Dharma’s (Series 2 #188) guitar collecting curiosity: a musician who loves guitars as objects and sounds, who finds unexpected pleasures in specific instruments, and who can describe the surprise of discovering a “really cool 12-string” from a manufacturer most people don’t know. The gear curiosity exists alongside the songwriter’s pragmatism: he uses what’s right for the song, and he finds joy in the discovery of what that might be.
How to Sound Like Rick Springfield
Guitar: Gibson SG (1969 or any equivalent SG with PAF-style humbuckers) — the foundational instrument of “Jessie’s Girl” and his core catalog. The SG’s specific resonant mahogany character and PAF humbucker warmth suit the mid-range pop-rock guitar of his commercial peak. A 1959 Fender Stratocaster for the vintage single-coil alternative; any quality single-coil Stratocaster for accessible equivalent.
Amp: Morgan Amplification PR12 (12W, 1×12) for the studio simplicity of one guitar/one amp. Bogner Shiva for the broader studio palette. Both are boutique, warm, harmonically complex tube amplifiers consistent with his straight-into-the-amp philosophy.
Amp Settings (Bogner Shiva / Boutique Tube Combo — Studio/Live):
| Control | Setting (0–10) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | 4–6 | Moderate — pop-rock requires clean-to-edge-of-saturation, not high gain |
| Bass | 5 | Natural — the SG’s mahogany provides warmth already |
| Mid | 5–6 | Present — the pop-rock guitar melody lives in the midrange |
| Treble | 5–6 | Bright — the melodic riff character needs treble clarity |
| Reverb | 3–4 | Natural studio reverb — the “effects added afterwards” philosophy |
No pedals in the main signal chain. Guitar straight into amp. Add effects (reverb, delay, chorus) in post-production if the song needs them. Or throw the Fernandez around on stage if you prefer the performance over the preservation.
Influence & Legacy
Rick Springfield’s influence on pop-rock guitar is specifically the influence of a songwriter whose specific guitar choices — the SG, the straight-into-the-amp philosophy, the service-to-the-song orientation — produced one of the most beloved pop-rock guitar riffs in American radio history. “Jessie’s Girl” remains one of the most played songs in American radio history; its guitar figure is one of the most recognized in pop music. That the figure was played on a guitar he’d had for over a decade, through a modest amp, with no special effects, documents the principle that the song matters more than the gear.
His connection to Phil X (Series 2 #190) as a fellow musician in the pop-rock tradition that Bon Jovi represents reflects the shared commercial context of arena pop-rock. His connection to Susanna Hoffs (Series 2 #193) of the Bangles as a parallel figure in the early-to-mid 1980s pop-rock moment — both artists whose breakthrough commercial moment was in the first half of the 1980s, both with connections to the Australian music scene — reflects the broader cultural moment.
Internal Links:
- Phil X of Bon Jovi, a fellow musician in the pop-rock tradition with a similar straight-into-the-amp philosophy at #190
- Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles, a parallel figure in the 1980s pop-rock moment at #193
- Buck Dharma of Blue Öyster Cult, whose ‘never used pedals back in the day’ philosophy parallels Springfield’s approach at #188
- Barry Melton of Country Joe, a fellow veteran rock musician who has been playing since the 1960s at #192
Frequently Asked Questions: Rick Springfield Guitars & Gear
What guitar did Rick Springfield use on “Jessie’s Girl”?
Springfield confirmed to Guitar World that “Jessie’s Girl” was recorded on his 1969 Gibson SG — “which I bought new in Australia when I got into my first real band.” The guitar was purchased new in Australia in 1969 and was still in his collection and in use for the Working Class Dog album sessions over a decade later. It represents the continuity of a working musician who found the right instrument early and kept it through his career.
What amplifier does Rick Springfield use?
Springfield’s documented primary studio amplifiers include the Morgan Amplification PR12 1×12 12-watt combo (“actually, I used one guitar and one amp — I had a 12-watt Morgan PR12 1×12 combo and my ’69 Gibson SG”) and the Bogner Shiva (“most of the time I used the Bogner Shiva amp”). Historical amps include a Naylor amplifier (studio, earlier period), a vintage 1960s Marshall (stage), and his son’s Gibson Les Paul with the same Marshall. He also uses software amp modeling as a supplement: “There are actually some advantages to mixing the software amps with real amps.”
Why doesn’t Rick Springfield use pedals?
“I’m just a straight-into-the-amp kinda guy. I’ve never been really big on pedals.” Springfield’s preference for guitar-direct-to-amp reflects both his recording approach (effects are “put in afterwards” in post-production) and his general musical philosophy as a songwriter-first guitarist: the song’s character comes from the guitar’s natural tone into the amp, not from effects processing. When effects are needed, they’re added in the mixing process rather than baked into the live signal chain.
What guitars did Springfield use on Songs for the End of the World?
“It’s a mix. I’ve got an old Gibson 175, I used the SG, a Duesenberg 12-string and Duesenberg 6-string I’m fond of. There’s a ’59 Strat that’s got a great sound.” The album’s guitar palette spans hollow archtop jazz guitar (Gibson ES-175), hard rock solid-body (Gibson SG), vintage Fender single-coil (1959 Stratocaster), and boutique German semi-hollow (Duesenberg 6-string and 12-string). The album was recorded on tape before being transferred to Pro Tools.
What guitars does Springfield use on stage?
“On stage, Fernandez guitars, great out of the box guitars. They’re not $5,000 and I get to throw them around in excitement.” Springfield uses Fernandez production guitars for live performance specifically because they are accessible enough in price to be thrown around during energetic stage performances without financial anxiety. He has also documented using his son’s Gibson Les Paul on stage with a vintage 1960s Marshall amplifier.
What is Rick Springfield’s connection to Australia?
Born in Guildford, New South Wales, Australia in 1949, Springfield began his career in the Australian music industry with the pop group Zoot in 1969. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1970s to pursue an American career. His 1969 Gibson SG — his most historically significant guitar — was purchased new in Australia for “my first real band.” His Grammy-winning career in America reflects the specific path of an Australian musician who built his commercial breakthrough in the United States after a decade of effort.
What is Rick Springfield’s relationship to General Hospital?
Springfield was a regular cast member of the US daytime drama General Hospital from 1981 to 1983, playing the character Dr. Noah Drake. His dual visibility as both a pop-rock musician with a #1 hit (“Jessie’s Girl”) and a daytime television actor gave him crossover celebrity that reached audiences beyond the music industry’s conventional reach. The intersection of the two identities helped “Jessie’s Girl” achieve the extraordinary radio ubiquity that it has maintained for four decades.
