The legendary guitar scene in Back to the Future, where Marty McFly electrifies the “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance with “Johnny B. Goode” and “Earth Angel,” has long puzzled attentive fans. Among the many time-travel quirks, one glaring detail stands out: the guitar itself.
During his unforgettable performance, Marty uses Marvin Berry’s cherry red Gibson ES-345. While casual viewers might not notice, dedicated Back to the Future enthusiasts and guitar experts have repeatedly pointed out a significant historical inaccuracy: the Gibson ES-345 wasn’t actually released until 1958 – a full three years after the film’s 1955 setting.
This detail has sparked decades of fan discussion, with many wondering why the filmmakers didn’t opt for the Gibson ES-350T, a model released in 1955 and famously used by Chuck Berry himself. Now, nearly 40 years later, Michael J. Fox, who portrayed Marty McFly, has finally shed light on this “temporal inconsistency” in his new memoir, Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum.
In his book, Fox acknowledges this “temporal inconsistency” as something “guitar aficionados and Back to the Future fans have pointed out again and again.”
He humbly notes that this particular detail is primarily “noteworthy only for the thousands of Future heads who clock every detail in the movie and parse every quirk in the timeline continuum.”
Contrary to fan theories, the guitar’s inclusion was not a hidden Easter egg. Fox explains that the film’s art department chose the ES-345 simply because its appearance resembled the iconic wine-red guitar that Chuck Berry famously played and “duckwalked” across stages worldwide.
Fox himself seems rather unconcerned about this particular timeline discrepancy. He stated, “both the ’55 and ’58 versions of the Gibson electric are rare and beautiful instruments; for me, it makes little difference which I played. I’ve always loved the Gibson E line: big, imposing guitars yet hollow-bodied and therefore lightweight. Even a little guy like yours truly could sling ’em and fling ’em and still make ’em sing.”
Beyond the guitar’s anachronism, this iconic scene is also famous for introducing a “bootstrap paradox.” For those who love intricate time-travel plots, you’ll recall that Marty’s 1955 performance of “Johnny B. Goode” directly inspires Chuck Berry’s cousin, Marvin, to share the song with Chuck. This chain of events leads Chuck to write and release the song in 1958, which Marty then learns and takes back to 1955, completing the paradox. It’s a clever, mind-bending joke crafted by filmmakers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale.
Interestingly, in June, Fox and Gibson initiated a public search for the actual ES-345 guitar used in the film, which mysteriously disappeared after its release. Fox appealed to fans in a video, humorously stating, “We need your help, we’re trying to find the guitar I played in Back to the Future. It’s somewhere lost in the space-time continuum, or it’s in some teamster’s garage.”
In other news, Fox has made an official return to acting after a five-year hiatus. He is set to appear in the popular Apple TV+ dramedy Shrinking, marking his first role since 2020’s The Good Fight. His supporting role in the series holds particular significance, as his character also lives with Parkinson’s disease – a condition Fox has bravely managed since his diagnosis in 1991. He was drawn to the project after learning that a lead character, played by Harrison Ford, was diagnosed with the same condition on the show.