| Author | Message | ||
| dfung60
Advanced Member Username: dfung60 Post Number: 249 Registered: 5-2002 |
There's a fairly large auction of Jerry Garcia memorabilia, including a number of guitars happening in San Francisco at Bonhams auction house next week. You can see the catalog here: http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=Catalogue&iSaleNo=15537 Ram Rod Shurtliff was Jerry Garcia's guitar roadie in the early days of the band. The lots include a white Travis Bean guitar. I don't know whether this is "the" white Travis Bean (I think that one was actually sold in the other big auction a couple of years ago with the Irwins). There's also a guitar which looks to me like a modified Alembic which is credited as an Irwin. You can read more about it here: http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=3507437&iSaleNo=15537&sServer=http://images2.bonhams.com/&sPath=2007-02/17/7392486-55-1.jpg This is the guitar that has been discussed on this board before - described here as the first Irwin, built while he was at Alembic, and bearing the Alembic logo on the back. Viewings of the collection are this weekend in San Francisco. David Fung | ||
| jahnahisti
Member Username: jahnahisti Post Number: 71 Registered: 9-2005 |
Today's the day! | ||
| kmh364
Senior Member Username: kmh364 Post Number: 2129 Registered: 9-2003 |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070508/en_nm/gratefuldead_dc | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1161 Registered: 12-2002 |
there's no mention of the Irwin alembic being sold,just the gibson-guitar/strap/picks etc...! | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1442 Registered: 6-2002 |
It boggles the mind why someone would pay twice as much for the pearly white Travis Bean as for the Alembic (Irwin claim notwithstanding). | ||
| adriaan
Senior Member Username: adriaan Post Number: 1443 Registered: 6-2002 |
Keavin, just follow the original thread:http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=3507437&iSaleNo=15537&sServer=http://images2.bonhams.com/&sPath=2007-02/17/7392486-55-1.jpg ! | ||
| dfung60
Advanced Member Username: dfung60 Post Number: 251 Registered: 5-2002 |
The reason that Travis Bean went so high is that it appears that this is "the" Travis Bean, the main one that Jerry used for a number of years. The full description of the Bean says that he did have a number of Beans, but this was the only Artist (which has a contoured top). The contoured top is visible in most of the photos of Jerry with a Bean. Just because somebody says he had only one Artist doesn't mean that it's true, but you can presume that auction house would have amended the description prior to the auction if it had been challenged. So, the provenance of this instrument is pretty solid, at least at this point. The Irwin has an colorful history as well, but isn't a guitar that Jerry played publicly. Since his famous Irwins went for nearly a million, it pulled this one up a lot as well. It goes without saying that Jerry is famous for having played very few guitars, which greatly increases the value of instruments that he owned and have proof. In the first of the big "guitar hero" auctions a number of years ago, it was interesting to read the descriptions of some of Eric Clapton's guitars from the catalogue (this was a fund raiser for his Crossroads rehab center). Many of the guitars had comments like "somebody gave me this one and it didn't play very well" or "this is a backup stage guitar that I never used". Of course, he sold Brownie too then. David Fung | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 2354 Registered: 7-2004 |
David: What Irwin? You mean the Alembic with the eagle logo added to the peghead? Or did Irwin, by sheer coincidence, build a guitar that looked exactly like an Alembic, put an Alembic logo on the back of the guitar, label it "Irwin #25" (though it was allegedly Irwin #1), all at around the same time that Alembic made a guitar with serial #25 for Garcia? I've asked it before and I'll keep on asking this until I receive a reasonable answer (which, I really don't believe exists): If this guitar and the famous "Wolf" guitar on which the Further is based were really Doug Irwin instruments, why on earth would he put Alembic logos on them? (It is undisputed that this guitar auctioned off yesterday has an Alembic logo on the back. It is equally undisputed that "Wolf" originally had an Alembic logo on the peghead and Irwin replaced it with his own "eagle flying over the earth" following the Dead's Europe '72 tour.) Anyone? Bill, tgo | ||
| the_mule
Senior Member Username: the_mule Post Number: 650 Registered: 1-2004 |
I personally never doubted the fact that both are Alembics that Irwin modified and put his own logo on. But it really doesn't matter much now, since even Alembic seems to have put this case to rest. Wilfred | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 4570 Registered: 6-2000 |
I still notify anyone holding an auction or publishing details about the inaccuracies. My efforts rarely are acknowledged and the "story" is published anyway. I know I don't need to repeat myself here. On another subject of history, I've even had respected authors tell me that they wouldn't go against the previously published inaccuracies, though our records paint a different picture. As frustrating as this can be, it's much more interesting to keep building great guitars and basses, so that's what we focus our daily activities around. | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 1158 Registered: 10-2002 |
"On another subject of history, I've even had respected authors tell me that they wouldn't go against the previously published inaccuracies, though our records paint a different picture." That's a real shame as Blair Jackson's otherwise excellent 'dead gear' book would have been an ideal opportunity to tell the correct story. Graeme |
