Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia, the lead guitarist of the Grateful Dead, played a mix of commercial guitars early on and custom instruments from luthier Doug Irwin later. In the 1960s he used a Guild Starfire, then P-90-equipped Les Pauls, and in 1969 a Bigsby-equipped Gibson SG. His "Alligator" Stratocaster, a customized 1957 model, was modified regularly by Alembic technicians between 1970 and 1973.

After buying an Irwin-built instrument on the spot he asked Irwin for a custom guitar, which became "Wolf". Irwin then built "Tiger", a 13.5-pound guitar named for its mother-of-pearl tiger inlay, which was Garcia's main guitar from 1979 to 1990. "Rosebud", its spiritual twin with a hollowed maple core, was lighter and relied on heavily in his final years; it is now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1976 he also tried Travis Bean guitars with aluminum necks, adding a TB1000A and a TB500.

Amp accounts differ, from a Fender Twin Reverb feeding a McIntosh 2300 power amp and Alembic cabinets to a Fender Twin and Showman combination in 1967. Pedals reportedly included a Mu-Tron Octave Divider, MXR Phase 100 and Boss units. His constant experimenting with custom wiring means his tone is hard to copy from a gear list.