Jerry Garcia's Guitars: A Short History

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In particular I need to thank Micheal Robinson of Eastwood Guitars for his permission to use the clips of R.J. Ronquillo demo'ing their custom shop Wolf and Tiger replica guitars. You can learn more about them here:

One of the reasons I love making these is that I learn so much doing it. I have never followed the Dead, separate from always enjoying Garcia's acoustic side projects with David Grissman. So diving into the history of his electrics was all new to me. To that extent, please be kind if my sources don't match yours or your memory. As I say, "please add it to the comments for everyone to enjoy", but be nice. :)

Thanks for watching.
All the best,
Keith

[Haesslich]

Additional trivia: they changed their name from the Warlocks to the Grateful Dead because there was an east coast band also called the Warlocks and they wanted to avoid confusion. Unnecessary, as it turned out, the the east coast Warlocks ended up changing their name as well - to the Velvet Underground.

[royceporter]

I lived in the Bay area for many years. My wife bought me a fly rod for Christmas one year and we went to Golden Gate Park to the fly casting ponds to try it out. While there, we began to hear the sound of drums coming from the polo grounds. We were curious as to what was going on, so we walked over to the polo grounds. We crested the hill and saw hundreds of people streaming into the polo fields, all of them just walking around the track. Three gentlemen in particular caught our eye: a grandfather, father, and son. They were walking the track passing a joint between the three of them. More and more people streamed into the polo fields and we finally found out what was going on. Jerry Garcia had just died. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a celebration of life such as I saw that day. I will never forget it. RIP Jerry Garcia.

[thejamnasium]

the greatest guitarist ever in my meaningless opinion. never falls back on stock licks. always improvising. always pushing forward. always melodic and tasteful. as someone put it, inside a Jerry solo "whole worlds are turning, becoming and dissolving within single notes"

[DingleBerry]

Funny story about Jerry’s ashes in the Ganges: Bob weir decided to do that as he said it came to him in a dream. Jerry’s late wife was furious because the Ganges is or at least was the most polluted river in the world, Jerry had never been to the Ganges, never been to India and it was of no significance to him whatsoever. Some time later when they spread his remaining ashes in the SF bay, it was a very windy and rough day on the bay. Most, if not all of Jerry came right back into the boat. So really Jerry’s ashes were spread on the side of a rental boat and in the jackets of his closest friends and family.

[paulcoleman]

This is like being handed the holy grail with Keith saying "There you go!". Man oh man...

[violinmiata]

In 2000 I was in my second year of violin making school and the school took a trip to the Smithsonian to have a hands on view of the violin collection. It was the end of a very long day and I was helping the curator Gary Sturm put instruments back into the collection closets in a back storage room. Gary told a story of when he showed the Grateful Dead the same room thinking they would be into the enormous collection of rare guitars. Gary laughed when he noticed that the Dead were way more into the mandolins and banjos in the collection! There are amazing things locked away there including a completely insane collection of kazoos, all perfectly cataloged and preserved!

[noahherne]

Always loved, never forgotten, never really gone….

[aacciiddffaaccee]

Love that you did one of these for Jerry Garcia. Long shot, but I'd love to see one on Bob Weir's guitars. He has a tone all his own.

[bherward]

Great topic. Most people don't know how Jerry was responsible for a lot of what we take for granted not in pro live rigs.

[jfredknobloch]

We were an Alembic repair station… In Jackson Mississippi. This was back in 1975 or so… I say we but it was really Donald Thomas and Charlie England and we had one of the first basses that they produced with one of their preamp‘s for said bass… It was astonishing how clean it was and how accurate the instrument was. We were designing tuned enclosures for guitar and bass using resonant frequencies to design ports for speaker cabinets to improve their efficiency. We were also building copies of A2’s and A7’s for theaters and churches etc.… And we experimented with the Grateful Dead philosophy of placing the PA behind the band. That was the genesis of the in the round concept of the bluebird café. I knew it would work but I never had any idea how well until we did it. I am looking very much forward to this Jerry Garcia guitar thing! They broke a lot of ground!

[BearfootBob]

Grateful Dead "Reckoning" is a Master-Class in acoustic lead playing. A lot of bluegrass pickers had way more speed and agility, but Jerry is drawing something deeper out of the guitar, it's like he breathes through it.

[wrenchhead]

The Dead were an absolutely magic band. I don’t think there will ever be another guitar player like JG.

[johnthemachine]

The Dead's relationship with Guild deserves a video of its own.
Weir designed one of Guild's most rare/legendary acoustics around the time of Working Man's Dead, an F50R with Artist Award neck/headstock/arched back. Allegedly 6 were built by Carlo Greco and Bob still owns his. John Denver's double pickguard Guild F50R "Artist Award" which he played in the first half of the 70s is one of the Weir designed F50Rs.

[generaljj]

These vids are just outstounding. Jerry was one of if not the most melodic player. THE beard seemed to have arrived with the SG.

[cliberg]

“Grate” episode, thanks!
Saw the Dead approx. 150 times ‘72 thru ‘95, still miss ‘em dearly…

[keithjerszyk]

Such a unique player who blended so many styles to form his own. I was fortunate to have seen the Dead over 30 times. I was lucky enough to see the last Dead show at Soldier Field back in ‘94. Then that very day on the 9th of August 1995 Jerry died, I was on my way to Hampton Beach, NH to see Bob Weir. To my surprise the show went on as a tribute to his suddenly lost friend. I miss those days!

[joshoptical]

THIS is the video for me. What a privilege to see those guitars up close. Thank you Keith.

[redwaveofketchup]

Thank you for this. I first saw the Dead in Chicago in 77, they had a run of 7 or 8 shows in a row at the Auditorium Theater. Then in 81 at Alpine meadows and I was "on the bus". I went on tour, supporting myself selling photos of the band. I ended up seeing 362 shows, including the incredible European tour in 1990. My last was the Shorline show you mentioned in 1995. Little did I know it would be my last. I am now 65 years young and look back at that time as a true highlight of my life. I was lucky enough to meet Phil and Bob, but never Jerry, but I hope to see him when I walk through the final door of this life.

[davidwonpu]

To me, Tiger is the most iconic signature guitar ever in terms of a custom-made instrument. Only Prince’s Cloud guitar can compare. Subtle hint for Keith’s next episode!

[Asp]

Growing up, my dad and I had radically different tastes in music. We could really never see eye-to-eye on a lot. However, one day in high school, I remember my dad popping in "American Beauty" into the cd player of his car, and I was immediately captivated. I think it was that moment that started us on a journey to see and listen to as many artists as possible, regardless of whether or not we both liked the music. I know Jerry Garcia was and is immensely important to my dad, and while I'm not a guitarist, I really enjoyed learning about the different guitars, especially knowing the kind of music they made and what it means/still means to me and my dad.