| Author | Message | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 72 Registered: 2-2003 |
Hello, Stumbled on this photo of Jerry playing some sort of an Alembic Tribute Styled guitar. Just wondering if anyone knew exactly what this guitar is, Looks like it has an effects loop as well as some sort of inlay or sticker beneath the bridge, I also notice the body contours are more sharper than a tribute and the headstock is "scalloped" (is that right), .......anyway..... - Tom  | ||
| hollis
Advanced Member Username: hollis Post Number: 387 Registered: 11-2003 |
It looks like that's Tiger, although a little hard to tell from this angle. It's a Doug Irwin git fiddle. If I read things right, this one was built after Mr. Irwin and the fine folks at Alembic parted company...... | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1962 Registered: 6-2000 |
I looks a little more like a Cripe guitar to me. | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 73 Registered: 2-2003 |
Hi... Hollis that definitely not "Tiger" go here to see Tiger up close http://dozin.com/jers/guitars/tiger/info.html Hi Mica, thanks for answering. "Cripe" guitar, never heard of them. I am assuming this was made after "tiger" wish i could see what that inlay is at the bottom.... | ||
| hollis
Advanced Member Username: hollis Post Number: 388 Registered: 11-2003 |
sorry double post. (Message edited by hollis on September 30, 2004) | ||
| hollis
Advanced Member Username: hollis Post Number: 389 Registered: 11-2003 |
Thanks for the correction... Hey Mica, can you tell us any more about this instrument? | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 74 Registered: 2-2003 |
AHHHH... great call Mica. http://www.resurrectionguitars.com/articles.html scroll down 4 pictures from the top of this page: "GUITARMAKER’S IDEA WAS DEAD RECKONING When Steve Cripe needed an evaluation of his work, he sent it to Jerry Garcia. The late Grateful Dead guitarist loved it." - Tom | ||
| hollis
Advanced Member Username: hollis Post Number: 390 Registered: 11-2003 |
Right on! | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 75 Registered: 2-2003 |
 That was easy enough for a change, after getting the name!. - Tom | ||
| hollis
Advanced Member Username: hollis Post Number: 391 Registered: 11-2003 |
If only getting the bucks together for a Further was so simple...... | ||
| zappahead
Member Username: zappahead Post Number: 95 Registered: 10-2002 |
Its a cripe guitar, almost sure of it. How you can tell are the simple fingerboard inlays and the firecracker logo too. Cripe made at least 2 guitars for Jerry and he played them as his mains with the Dead until he died. Also the rosewood appearing top looks like a Cripe too. All his other Tribute looking guitars have coco bolo tops. | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 76 Registered: 2-2003 |
I hear ya Hollis, Im still scraping together pennies for my Tribute 4 String Bass, that I will have someday...really I will, I must. Zappahead, that is in fact a Cripe you are right, and that inlay is the DEAD Lightning bolt. they have a great picture of the whole guitar on that link I posted. - Tom | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 77 Registered: 2-2003 |
 Definitely not as nice as a Tribute...But interesting. | ||
| poor_nigel
Advanced Member Username: poor_nigel Post Number: 241 Registered: 7-2003 |
This guitar was actually covered in the Showcase section in Artists under the Greatful Dead thread. In the thread it listed this URL, which goes through Jerry's guitars in chronological order and lists the Cripe guitar and has a pic, too. The pic on Collector's Choice is much better. Just FYI. URL from thread: http://dozin.com/jers/guitar/history.htm | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 78 Registered: 2-2003 |
great link, there is alot of good info there, thanks. - Tom | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 102 Registered: 12-2003 |
Next to my custom Alembic, this is the most incredible guitar I've ever played. Tim and Pat O'Donnell, who continue Stephen Cripe's legacy, do some fantastic work. Here are a couple pictures of my own Tiger and Alembic inspired Resurrection Lightning Bolt. It's much heavier than Bear, weighing in at around 10 pounds. The top is a variety of rosewood, very similar in color to morado. The body is a five layer sandwich of rosewood, maple and mahogony and the neck is a nine piece sandwich of the same. The fretboard is the very same opium bed rosewood that the top and back of Jerry's Lightning Bolt were constructed of. They still had a few pieces leftover. Regards, Jonathan     | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 79 Registered: 2-2003 |
WOW.... Im sure the pictures dont really do it justice, but that really looks outstanding!!!! Im still partial to alembics curves but again very very nice!! did I read that they use "enviormentally friendly" woods only? - Tom | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 103 Registered: 12-2003 |
Yeah, Pictures never do these poor things justice. I hear you about the Alembic curves...you can't beat 'em. When Bear is sitting next to my Bolt, you can really appreciate the wonderful lines that many Alembics have. The feel I was going for was pure Jerry when I ordered the Bolt...a brass ornamented piece of musical folk art...and that's what I got. With the Alembic, I was after pure beauty of form and function, and that's precisely what they delivered. I love them both for different reasons. And, I'll tell you, it's hard to beat the punch and sustain of a 10 pound neck through guitar!!! On the subject of inlays. What many may not know is that the headstock inlay on the Cripe and Resurrection guitars is an exploding firecracker. That was Stephen Cripe's passion and ultimately the way he died. Jonathan | ||
| lbpesq
Junior Username: lbpesq Post Number: 37 Registered: 7-2004 |
Jonathan: I noticed one difference between Jerry's "Bolt" and your "Big Bear" (as opposed to your new Alembic Little "Bear"). Your's has Alembic-style fret markers as opposed to Bolt's standard dots. Did you order it this way, or has Resurrection adopted the style. Bill, the guitar one | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 104 Registered: 12-2003 |
Bill, Funny you should ask that. I ordered it that way from Resurrection. I figured if you're going to design a fancy instrument, it'd be a shame to litter the fretboard with little dots! I was later informed that those oval MOP fret markers are, in fact, an Alembic copyright. Technically, they weren't allowed to be used, but neither Tim nor myself knew that at the time. Susan was really cool about it when she saw the pictures I sent her. I was a little embarassed, to say the least. The moral of the story...if you're having a custom instrument built by someone else, choose your second favorite shape for the fret markers. Jonathan | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 80 Registered: 2-2003 |
I read the about the way Mr. Cripe passed and I have to say thats more than a little eerie having an exploding firecracker for the headstock logo .....ahhh the irony. I took a better look at the resurrection site, they have some nice models I especially like the "fishy hollowbody". I noticed you do not have the effects loop, I suppose you also can custom pick PUP's etc with resurrection. - Tom | ||
| poor_nigel
Advanced Member Username: poor_nigel Post Number: 243 Registered: 7-2003 |
If you are going to go, dying in an explosion is probably one of the least painful ways. I hope I go quick like that when my time comes. What an outstanding guitar! I just love the brass work and the woods are certainly special. I like all aspects of the guitar, except that it ain’t a bass, but the brass is really special to me. Maybe Susan can 'get em back' if I order a custom Alembic bass with similar brass work on it. Naw! It would cover the neck lams, which is sacrilege to me. Besides, I know she has too much integrity. Last word on the subject – Wow, what a great guitar! | ||
| kmh364
Senior Member Username: kmh364 Post Number: 550 Registered: 9-2003 |
If you ck that dozin.com thread that echo008 posted, it shows an unfinished Cripe guitar that is referred to in the site as "Stealy"...is this the unfinished guitar Jerry never got before his untimely death, or was this "Bolt II"? There is no other explanation of text other than a full anterior and posterior shot of the unfinished guitar and the title "STEALY". | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 105 Registered: 12-2003 |
As I understand it, having spoken to the guys at Resurrection, Jerry's next guitar was called Eagle and it is quite different from his two bolts, Lightning and Top Hat. Check out this link: http://www.vintageoneguitars.com/OtherGuitars.html Jonathan | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 81 Registered: 2-2003 |
very different indeed I cant beleive its valued at 100k !!!!, what exactly are they referring to when the say "recycled from a 19th century Asian opium bed" I mean what is a 19th century opium bed? - Tom | ||
| hollis
Advanced Member Username: hollis Post Number: 396 Registered: 11-2003 |
I would imagine that it's a berth in an opium den "leased" to those partaking of the fruit of the Somnifera(sp?)poppy...... | ||
| davehouck
Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 897 Registered: 5-2002 |
A quick search suggests that an opium bed is a style of bed frame, apparently typified by multiple slats and curved legs. http://www.teak-collection.com/pages/product-detail_qt.asp?SP_ID=&SKU=BD411 | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 82 Registered: 2-2003 |
... thanks for taking the time to search...guess Im feeling lazy tonight. - Tom | ||
| davehouck
Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 898 Registered: 5-2002 |
Well I decided I just had to know. When I first read it, I thought opium bed, flower bed; didn't make any sense to me. | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 83 Registered: 2-2003 |
thats true.... the words "opium bed" seem to conjure exotic far away thoughts....not that the wood isint rare... it seems like it is but Im a little disappointed ...not - Tom | ||
| lbpesq
Junior Username: lbpesq Post Number: 38 Registered: 7-2004 |
My understanding is that Cripe used the old opium bed for wood in Bolt. I'm not sure about Top Hat, but I wouldn't be surprised. I suspect Jerry had a cosmic giggle or two knowing about his guitar's past life. Bill, the guitar one | ||
| kmh364
Senior Member Username: kmh364 Post Number: 556 Registered: 9-2003 |
Ah, I see. I wonder where they got that pic and that name? It's posssible the incomplete guitar shown is neither Bolt nor Top Hat but another Cripe altogether. BTW, anybody that digs the Dead should ck out that Dozin.com sight. It's quite a nice all-round treasure trove of all things "Dead". There is a link to a live music archive on that site that will knock a Deadhead's socks (er, um, Birkenstocks? LOL!) off. I'm so psyched about it, I'm gonna start another thread on it, so there! LOL! | ||
| kmh364
Senior Member Username: kmh364 Post Number: 558 Registered: 9-2003 |
BTW, I had no idea there were so many Garcia "replica" guitar luthiers out there. Besides Alembic and Resurrection/Cripe there's Reuter, Moriarty and Michas (are there more?). I had no idea Wolf, Tiger, Rosebud and (now) Bolt were that popular. It's not like you see bar bands in every Burg playing them. Who said you can't teach an old Deadhead new tricks. Up until recently, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a "Cripe" guitar nor did I know Jerry played anything other than the Doug Irwin/Alembic jammies I witnessed him playing up until his timely death. | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 85 Registered: 2-2003 |
heres one more... sort of..... http://www.carverdoug.com/guitars/jerry_garcia.htm - Tom | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 106 Registered: 12-2003 |
I spent a lot of time looking for luthiers who build Garcia "replica's" before finding Resurrection. Lieber Guitars is another company who does a very decent Tiger. Matt Moriarty is rumored to produce the most exact Tiger of all. I think he charges around $6000. Jonathan | ||
| davehouck
Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 904 Registered: 5-2002 |
Interesting site, Tom; thanks! | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 86 Registered: 2-2003 |
Hi, Am I seeing things right...is Lieber using the "Irwin" Logo as well?? - Tom | ||
| echo008
Member Username: echo008 Post Number: 87 Registered: 2-2003 |
nevermind my last post... I see from the site "Tom (Lieber) became involved with some recording and performance giants. In 1974, while with Doug Irwin, Tom shared design credit for guitars going to Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead." - Tom | ||
| jalevinemd
Intermediate Member Username: jalevinemd Post Number: 107 Registered: 12-2003 |
That Michas rendering of Tiger et al sat on Ebay a couple of months back with an asking price of $5500. Needless to say, it didn't receive a single bid. Phil Gawen of Phiga guitars does his own rendition of the Bolts. Check out: http://www.philgawen.com/customb.htm If you look hard enough, there are plenty of people out there doing the Alembic, Cripe, Irwin thing. Some are obviously closer to the originals than others. Most, to me, are six string eyesores. Jonathan |
