Conference rdvax::grateful

     <<< Note 196.0 by BIODTL::FERGUSON "the rainbow is growing a beard" >>>
                         -< Instruments the Boyz Use >-

Yeah Jc,  I saw something about this.  The older one he used most recently 
(make sense?) was a wolf or a tiger....the newer one is called "Rosebud"
I believe and is custom made by the same man...Doug Irwin sound right?

You can buy a Rosebud sticker - looks like a skeleton in a Hawaian grass
skirt or something like that.....

I have an article somewhere about this - if I find it I'll add some of
it in here.

bob

    
    
    Yes, they are custom made by the same man.......forget his name,
    probably as you said, Doug Irwin.
    
    I wanna know WHO makes Phil's bass!!!! :^)
    
    Hogan

Jerry has been using the "rosebud" (lady skeleton in a hula skirt) guitar for 
at least a year; I rmember seeing it at last year's MSG shows...

Fog

    I'll always remember the scene in the first Grateful Dead movie where
    Phil shows his guitar and comments on how it looks ordinary but
    if you open it up it can do all these neet things.  Didn't Phil
    try a fretless bass for a while??? Irwin or Erwin does make Jerry's
    guitar...he uses new strings each night and goes through a 2 hour or
    so warm-up prior to every show
    
    rich

>       <<< Note 196.4 by WFOV11::BUTZE "Quick beat of an icy heart..." >>>
>                -< strings are made in long island (i think) >-

Yup, Jerry's strings are made in LwonG Igwiland [my best L.I. accent applied].
Don't remember where I read that (guitar player or maybe rolling stone).

>    guitar...he uses new strings each night and goes through a 2 hour or
>    so warm-up prior to every show
 
Jerry warms up 2 hrs / show ?

No wonder why you never [at least I've never seen it] see Jerry tuning up is
guitar!

      I don't know if he still uses one but Phil used to play
    an Alambic bass......custom of course.
    
    Sean

re:     <<< Note 196.5 by BIODTL::FERGUSON "the rainbow is growing a beard" >>>
    
>Jerry warms up 2 hrs / show ?

>No wonder why you never [at least I've never seen it] see Jerry tuning up is
>guitar!

     You never see Jerry tuning his guitar because Steve Parish is the one 
     who does it.

>Jerry warms up 2 hrs / show ?


In addtion to the pre-show warm up ... on nights when there is no show
he says he plays for at least 4 hours to keep his fingers in shape 
(from a Guitar Player interview).

Jeeze and I think I'm a hot sh*t when I practice for a full hour.





Jim

RE                      <<< Note 196.7 by SA1794::GLADUG >>>

>>No wonder why you never [at least I've never seen it] see Jerry tuning up is
>>guitar!
>
>    You never see Jerry tuning his guitar because Steve Parish is the one 
>    who does it.

fair enough.  but, i have never seen jerry, in the middle of a set, switch
guitars because it is out of tune ...

has anyone?

ronnie earl usually works 2 guitars;  he beats one until it is out of tune
adn then he uses the other one.  he has someone to fix broken strings and
do the tuning ...  some very hots sets, he'll switch 4 times!

    Jerry tunes all the time,.. hes a finatic.
    
    I try to play at least 3 hours a day,.. but then again,.,. I do have
    a day job,. unlike Mr. Garcia :-/
    
    I say a minimum of two hours of practice is necessary for anyone
    serious  about their musicaianship...
    
    								/
    

    What about the occasional songs done in different tunings? They must do
    them, although I don't think I've ever seen or heard then changing
    their tuning.
    
    My personal guitar hero, Richard Thompson, usually plays one guitar (OK,
    two if he's in the band and needs an electric so he uses his old
    Strat), and retunes between songs, usually while he's talking to the
    audience. And usually the audience is knowledgable enough to ask for
    songs in the same tuning that he's in.
    
    Scott
    

    I've never noticed Bob or Jerry with an open tuning or with a capo
    on their guitar or anything. Does anybody know of any instance
    where they did this? I would think they experimeneted around with
    these novelties at one time or another,.. but I can't remember any
    either. Good question.
    
    								/
    

     <<< Note 196.13 by STAR::SALKEWICZ "It missed... therefore, I am " >>>
>    I've never noticed Bob or Jerry with an open tuning or with a capo
>    on their guitar or anything. Does anybody know of any instance
>    where they did this? I would think they experimeneted around with

yeah, on Bear's Choice Bob says something like, "I'm gonna strap on this
insidious device called a cheater" meaning a capo just before they go
into some tune (dark hollow??)....

as for tunning up JC,  why do ya think those 70 tapes have 5 minutes 
between toons! :)


bob

    Oh yah,. thanks Bobo
    
    								/
    

    tune by ear. is that possible ....Jerry also has Carple Tunnel Syndorme
    and curvature of the spine from his work...(my spelling is getting 
    horrribbbble)
    
    rich

	RE: the capo stage talk...didn't one of them also say
	"these things can make you lose a finger" or something...

	Debess

    the capo stuff...  both quotes are correct...  it was a valentines day
    show...  feb 14...  don't remember the year off the top of my head
    though...  it's either for a dark hollow or the monkey and the
    engineer...  can't recall the setlist exactly either...  :^/
    
    					da ve

    re: JC
    
    They often tune while onstage. If Jerry breaks a string, Steve usually
    replaces and tunes it. Jerry used to have a O-scope type tuner on top
    of his stack but I haven't noticed it lately since being exiled to the pit.

 I think all that talk was before a Dark Hollow. It is on the Bear's Choice
CD.

Shawn

    
    Bobby uses the capo on "Dark Hollow", then Jerry grabs it to use on
    "Been All Around this World."  Both used it on the second fret.....
    Those two tunes are the sweetest live acoustic tunes I've heard them
    play, just Bobby and Jerry.  Amazingly peaceful.....
    
    DAve

RE:  The capo 

2/14/70, St. Valentines day.  Great show.  I wonder if they'll ever play
acoustic shows as the Grateful Dead again?

RE: Tuning on stage.

I'll have to take a closer scan w/ my binoculars this coming run.... I love
to all the junk they have on stage.  Someday, I'd love to be in the 1st
10 rows... someday.

For albany, deb and I sat behind stage about as low as security allowed you
to go (had some great mushroom pizza before the show :-) During drumz, I 
had my binocs glued to the action behind stage.  I could practically read 
the things written on the monitors... interesting experience being backstage.
There is a whole other soundboard they use for drumz!

/jc, backstage sunday.

	Not really an instrument question, but, I was wondering, where do the
[massive?] speakers that handle the bass hide ?  Under the stage?  Under the
soundboard?  All over the place?  Up in the air?

	Since the ear can not discern where bass comes from, they could be
just about anywhere... they must be pretty large to get that tremendous
bass.

I picked up Gan's book, "Conversations with the Dead" (I figured it has to 
have a least one paragraph by Healy about the Wall of Sound, and that is 
justification enough for me to buy the book :-).

Actually (haven't gotten up to Healy's interview yet) something in the JG
interview intrigued me.  Gans was talking to JG about how or why he switched 
to a Strat, and Jerry talked about the special effect loop wiring etc.

I'd like to see a sorta "Guitarography" of Jerry and Bob (Phil to?), where
some here ( / ?) maybe can list what years Jerry and Bob used what kind of
guitars, and most important, what was the main characteristic sound of that
guitar, as exemplified by a representive tune/tape or two.
(Extra credit : analyse their effects boxes :-)
(Extra-extra credit: Analyse the particular strings used. :-) :-)

Fer example, Jerry used to play a hollow body Gibson before the Strat. 
Now I seem to recall Jerry wielding this kind of axe in the photos in 
LIVE/DEAD, so is it correct to connect the rippin' kind of sound in
St. Steven -> The 11 from that album/period as the "Gibson-y" sound?

By '72, Jerry sounded real different - (that " '72 sound" - Hey!!).
(I thinking of the Europe '72 China->Rider jam as a representive sound)
So, thats the "Strat" sound?   Actually, I think I can hear that Europe 72 
sound on late 71 tapes.

josh

    
    That is correct I believe, Josh......definitely a Strat for the '72
    shows.  I recall reading that Jerry switched to a Fender guitar in the
    early 70's because Bobby was playing a Gibson and the Fender
    complimented the sound of Bobby's guitar, whereas 2 Gibson guitars
    produced a somewhat 'muddy' sound in general.  It sounds like a Gibson
    that Jerry plays on "Live/Dead"
    
    Dave
    

re:   <<< Note 196.24 by BARFLY::BELKIN "the slow one now will later be fast" >>>

> Fer example, Jerry used to play a hollow body Gibson before the Strat. 
> Now I seem to recall Jerry wielding this kind of axe in the photos in 
> LIVE/DEAD, so is it correct to connect the rippin' kind of sound in
> St. Steven -> The 11 from that album/period as the "Gibson-y" sound?

On the Family Dog video, which is from 2/4/70, Jerry is playing a Strat...
Never really thought about it before till now, but that's pretty close to '69.

I always thought that the Live/Dead sound from '69 was from the use of a
Strat, not the Gibson, but that was/is just a guess.  

Maybe some of the older heads can remember.   Jim H ?  ;-)

Ken

    Yes Jerry started with a Gibson,.. switched to a strat and that Europe
    '72 sound is the classic strat sound. He now plays a custom made axe,
    bnut custome made by whom I can't remember at the moment. Hogan
    knows...
    
    Bobby also started with a Gibson,.. which I think he stayed with for
    most of the 70's unbtil he did a stint with Ibanez. Not sure where
    he's at now,.. 
    
    Phil,.. I don't know at all really what he has/is used/using. I suspect
    its custom made because I never can recognize it.
    
    Thats about it for me,.. brain is tapped.
    
    							/
    
    
    

Jerry was playing a Strat by '70 at the latest.  As ken mentioned, that family
dog video shows Jerry playing a strat.

The axe Jerry has now is custom made by so guy on the west coast.  It is set
up almost identically to a strat.

    Jerry started off with a Guild Starfire hollow-body. Then he played
    a Les Paul Custom and an SG (check out the photos in Live Dead). Then
    he played a maple-neck Strat during the early seventies (IMO the best
    tone he ever had). In '75 or so he was playing a Travis Bean guitar
    with an aluminum neck and rosewood fingerboard! Since then he's had
    a couple different models built by Irwin. His late seventies guitar
    is different than the one he's playing now. It was smaller and more
    streamlined. Jerry uses 11's (like all great players); I think he
    likes Dean Markleys (like all great players). Jerry uses a blackface
    1964 Fender Twin amp.
    
    Bobby usedto play an ES-335, then he switched to the Ibanez. Now he and
    Phil are using Zon guitars (at least they were a couple years ago), a 
    small maker of real expensive high-end instruments. I saw an ad for
    a Mesa Boogie amp in the Want Advertiser about 2 years ago that said
    'formerly owned by Bob Weir'. 
    
    - Dave

    
    
    >>             <<< Note 196.29 by GOOROO::CLARK "are we not men?" >>>
    
    >>Jerry uses 11's (like all great players)
    
    :^) :^) :^)
    

    
    	Yah,. .but everybody who uses .011's is not a great player,..
    
    	:-) :-)
    
    							/who_recently_switched
    							to_.011's_himself

    
    
    Are .011's thin or fat?
    
    
    Steve-O_who_is_a_drummer_and_wouldn't_know_these_things

    re .-1
    
    way fat. As fat as a lot of people use on their acoustics. But they
    sound grate!
    
    - old fat Dave

> Maybe some of the older heads can remember.   Jim H ?  ;-)

	:-) 	HA!	HA!	HA!	:-)

RE:          <<< Note 196.26 by FURTHR::HANNAN "Beyond description..." >>>


>Maybe some of the older heads can remember.   Jim H ?  ;-)


  Watch it!  :^)



 Jim who thought Garcia used a telecaster in there somewhere too.

RE:     <<< Note 196.34 by LEDS::MRNGDU::YETTO "child of countless dreams" >>>
                    -< I guess I'm not the only one!  ;^) >-


>> Maybe some of the older heads can remember.   Jim H ?  ;-)

>	:-) 	HA!	HA!	HA!	:-)




 You watch it too!   :^)

re:             <<< Note 196.29 by GOOROO::CLARK "are we not men?" >>>
   
    >    Bobby usedto play an ES-335, then he switched to the Ibanez. Now he and
    >Phil are using Zon guitars (at least they were a couple years ago), a 
    
    Phil used to use an Alembic bass. I think the new one is a Doug
    Irwin though. Don't quote me on that, however. I don't know if 
    you noticed but he has 2 basses on stage now and seems to be
    preferring the new one lately.
    

re:     <<< Note 196.35 by CSLALL::HENDERSON "No great hurry, whattya say?" >>>

>>Maybe some of the older heads can remember.   Jim H ?  ;-)
>
>  Watch it!  :^)
>
> Jim who thought Garcia used a telecaster in there somewhere too.


	You mean in the *real early* 60's before the dead were the dead ;-)

	/Ken ;-)

RE          <<< Note 196.38 by FURTHR::HANNAN "Beyond description..." >>>
  >                -< before that, it was a Sears special ;-) >-



              You mean the kind with the amp built into the case? :^)



>	You mean in the *real early* 60's before the dead were the dead ;-)

         
          :^)



Jim

I did notice that new bass... used it last night after drumz... primarily
green in color with nice bass/gold knobs (6 knobs at the bottom!)

    Phil's basses:
    
    Pics from the old days show him with Guild Starfire basses, often
    highly customized (Cassidy used these with Airplane/Tuna too) then he
    went to Alembic (as did Cassidy) in the early 70s.  In more recent
    years, I've seen him with a Doug Irwin, G&L L2000 (briefly) and a
    headless Modulus Graphite 6 string.
    
    I think Bob is also currently using a Modulus.  Anyway, they both have
    been endorsing the company the last few years.
    
    							Brian

    I Recently picked up a magazine called simply enough "Guitar Player 
    presents The Grateful Dead". It is basically a magazine about the Dead
    from a guitarist point of view. There are a couple new interviews with
    Bob & Jerry and some good color photos of both of their guitars includ-
    ing their effect racks. Also detailed are the histories of Jerry's Doug
    Irwin produced instruments and Bobby's Modulous guitars. Jerry also
    states in an interview that he should have two new guitars by the end
    of the year. This mag is on sale now wherever you can get Relix or any 
    guitar magazine.