Description
A year before the Grateful Dead’s 50th Anniversary, Trixie Garcia and I began an informal discussion about her father’s guitars. I asked her which of Jerry’s guitars was his favorite, which was her favorite, and which may be the tribe’s favorite? She told me that Jerry’s favorite was the Tiger, hers was the Tiger, and the tribe’s seemed to be the Wolf!
We launched the project so that the Garcia Family Tiger was intentionally designed to be part Wolf in relation to the wood species used to craft the instrument. Unlike Jerry’s original Tiger, which was made from cocobolo, we tapped figured maple similar to his Wolf for a new hybrid build that respected the vision and love from everyone including Jerry, his family, and fans.
The Anniversary Tiger collaboration was 50 years in the making, resulting in a new instrument that evokes comfortable familiarity in both appearance and tone, influenced by conversations with Trixie and the legacy of Jerry’s performances using those two iconic guitars.
