Jerry is playing a stock looking strat Springfield Creamery

[gr8fullfred]

Waldo,

Nice job on the China Rider evolution. Jerry sounds like Jerry in everyone of course, but clear evolution in the tone. Really helpful to listen to them one after the other, because we humans have not that good audio memory. Where would we be without youtube?
Where is the apparently pro shot video from that the Rosebud version footage is from?
Gotta like the train with the headlight!

[NWPines]

Thanks Waldo, that was fun! Great way to spend some time at work while the boss is out of town!

[mgbills]

Waldo...you freeegin' ROCK! Awesome set of China's. Love it!

[wht1]

The Springfield Creamery Strat is either a 1954, 1955, or early 1956. The grain in the body is clearly ash - they changed to alder bodies in mid-56 for sunburst finishes. Alligator was also an ash bodied Strat, which is reported as a '57. It likely was a blond finish before it was refinished in natural. Fender continued to use ash bodies for blond finishes all the way thru the 60s.

[Rusty the Scoob]

The Springfield Creamery Strat is either a 1954, 1955, or early 1956. The grain in the body is clearly ash - they changed to alder bodies in mid-56 for sunburst finishes. Alligator was also an ash bodied Strat, which is reported as a '57. It likely was a blond finish before it was refinished in natural. Fender continued to use ash bodies for blond finishes all the way thru the 60s.

Interesting point, and welcome to the forum!

Ash has a kind of mid-scoop to the tone, at least on basses, with a tight, clear bottom. Jerry must have consciously or unconsciously preferred that tone.

[jenkins]

hey waldo when did jerry use a crest power amp for his guitar? I know the gd went to crest in the 80's but i didnt think jerry ever used it for his guitar. In the screenshot he clearly has his mac in his rig still.

Did he try it for a single show/tour or something?

[waldo041]

hey waldo when did jerry use a crest power amp for his guitar? I know the gd went to crest in the 80's but i didnt think jerry ever used it for his guitar. In the screenshot he clearly has his mac in his rig still.

Did he try it for a single show/tour or something?

late 89 thru spring og 90.

http://www.wald-electronics.com/preampmods.html

peace,
waldo

[zambiland]

I always thought this one was Photoshopped- even the finger

But I never noticed the fret markers on that one! "Jerry Garcia teaches "Play By Numbers"!" All guitars should come like that.

Dan Erlewine built this for Jerry. There's some interview with him about it out there somewhere.

Edwin

[tigerstrat]

Jerry is also seen using this "stock"(* we don't really know do we?) Sunburst '55-or-'56 in photos from 7/26/72 in Portland (about a month earlier)... a photo from 7/18/72 Jersey City (one of my BOAT Dark Stars btw) shows him playing the Alligator strat.

If by that, we deduce (sans pics) that the Sunburst was first played on 7/21/72 Seattle (for the beginning of the West coast tour), then the final "pre-sustainer block" Alligator show was 7/18/72.

[ScubaGeek]

I realize this is an old thread, but I noticed the debate about the age of the Strat Jerry's playing in the Sunshine Daydream film. In short: no way was it new. Never mind the worn finish on the fingerboard. Look at the headstock: that's a pre-CBS headstock, it was made no later than 1965, which was when Fender switched over to the larger style headstock (as seen on the Strat Jimi played at Woodstock, the one David Gilmour can be seen playing in the Pink Floyd KQED and Live At Pompeii films, and also the ones Ritchie Blackmore and Lowell George used during the 70's). Fender didn't switch back to using the pre-CBS style headstocks until the early 80's. So there's no way that guitar was new in 1972.

And it also has a maple fingerboard (actually, a one piece maple neck) which on a pre-CBS Strat was only available during the 50's. Fender switched over to rosewood fingerboards during 1959, I believe. So that neck, if not the rest of the guitar, was made circa 1954-1959.

[ScubaGeek]

I always thought this one was Photoshopped- even the finger

But I never noticed the fret markers on that one! "Jerry Garcia teaches "Play By Numbers"!" All guitars should come like that.

Dan Erlewine built this for Jerry. There's some interview with him about it out there somewhere.

Edwin

Do we know exactly WHEN Jerry used this guitar? I think I've only seen about two or three photos of him playing that guitar, so I'm guessing he didn't use it often.

[RiverRat]

http://www.rukind.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=309&t=7092&hilit=alligator+timeline

"Other Strats used on various dates from 8/28/72 thru 11/26/72 and Spring '73."

Give shows from that period a listen and let your ears be the judge. We never nailed down any definite dates but the differences between Gator V3 and the other Strats should be apparent.

[jenkins]

Hey Waldo- quick question about his use of the crest power amp in 89-90.

I was under the impression the crest was the power amp for his midi rig, am I wrong about that?

Was the crest used for everything and they just had the Mac there for the hell of it?

Interesting that he used the Mac for that era, which was a high point of their whole career and apparently Phil's favorite tours they ever did, I think bobby's too.
His time was truly epic on those runs. Personally I like his 70's tone better but nobody can say his tone wasn't totally epic during that run

[jenkins]

Do you guys really think that strat is bone stock?
I find it hard to believe.
I wouldn't think it's had much done to it but I would think it wouldve at least had a blaster installed.
IMO the stratoblaster isa crucial part if his early 70's tone. Set at 7db boost iirc, the blaster helps fatten up your tone on the single coils by pushing the output and driving the preamps just a little bit more.

But overall this thread is a great example of how Jerry always sounded like Jerry. His gear effected his tone obviously but you could always hear his trademark tone, and more really style cutting through. Just the way he hit notes, picked and choices of chord voices he used was an intricate part of achieving his tone.
Even on acoustic he still sounded like jerry, reckoning, his acoustic tone is a monster. It almos has a little grit to it. No distortion at all but the way he digs in in some chords and notes is just phenomenal. Mind blowing acoustic tone IMO.