Chat about Equipment Info
 #130895  by Jack Straw
 
brbadg wrote:LMAO!!!!! Great thread !
Yeah...I had a feeling this would go to the Nudie suits when I posted asking about the guitar, but it was the only pic I could find at the time. Over the top, yes, but I think they were pretty cool too....especially Jerry's jacket. Can you imagine what that is worth now? :cool:
 #131255  by TI4-1009
 
 #131281  by RiverRat
 
Here is a list of shows where the Walnut Strat may have been used:

12/10/72- Winterland Arena - San Francisco, CA
12/11/72- Winterland Arena - San Francisco, CA
12/12/72- Winterland Arena - San Francisco, CA
12/15/72- Long Beach Arena - Long Beach, CA
12/31/72- Winterland Arena - San Francisco, CA
02/09/73- Roscoe Maples Pavilion - Palo Alto, CA
02/15/73- Dane County Coliseum - Madison, WI
02/17/73- St. Paul Auditorium - St. Paul, MN
GATOR 02/19/73- International Amphitheater - Chicago, IL **** Nudie Suit ****
GATOR 02/21/73- Assembly Hall (University Of Illinois) - Champaign-Urbana, IL
GATOR 02/22/73- Assembly Hall (University Of Illinois) - Champaign-Urbana, IL
GATOR 02/24/73- University Of Iowa - Iowa City, IA

One of the most likely Walnut Strat shows is St Paul 2/17/73. There were a lot of technical difficulties for Jerry and the whole band in the first set. Jerry has guitar troubles in the middle of Wharf Rat and again during the lead break after the Streetcats verse in Looks lIke Rain... For the rest of the show, it definitely sounds like Jerry is using a guitar with a tone that sounds more like Gaelic Park than any of the Europe 72 shows.

Also, Roscoe Maples was the debut of the proto Wall and elements are seen again at the Champaign shows. The noise cancelling mics were not used at one of the shows where Jerry was using the Walnut AND wearing the Nudie jacket. It's my belief that they skipped using the proto WoS components between 2/9 and 2/19, the gear was sent straight from Palo Alto to Chicago and they just used the 72 sound system for the 3 shows in between. Jerry's tone changes after 2/19 and this may have been the result of a switch to a different Twin than he was using prior.
 #131924  by pablomago
 
A lot of lap steels had numbered markers on the fretboard. (My '47 National, for one) I think Dan was going for that kind of thing.

One time I saw the Dead at Winterland in the Nudie suits (except Phil) and the Rowan Brothers opened. They had coats with little light bulbs that flashed on and off all over them. When they came out onstage, the stage lights were off and all you'd see was the flashing lights. Most of the people I knew at the time thought it was cheesey (and felt the same thing about the Nudie suits) and I often wondered if the Rowans might have been more successful if they hadn't worn those coats.
 #132064  by PrestonWong
 
pablomago wrote:A lot of lap steels had numbered markers on the fretboard. (My '47 National, for one) I think Dan was going for that kind of thing.

One time I saw the Dead at Winterland in the Nudie suits (except Phil) and the Rowan Brothers opened. They had coats with little
led lights that flashed on and off all over them. When they came out onstage, the stage lights were off and all you'd see was the flashing lights. Most of the people I knew at the time thought it was cheesey (and felt the same thing about the Nudie suits) and I often wondered if the Rowans might have been more successful if they hadn't worn those coats.
I think coat could be the reason behind huge success..There are different opinions about it
 #132177  by tigerstrat
 
The Erlewine Strat in 1973, outdoors!

Actually ...it can't be Kezar Stadium or Watkins Glen because those had a big striped pavilion over the stage.

My guesses are
5/13 Iowa State Fairgrounds
or
5/20 UC Santa Barbara

Image
 #132186  by TI4-1009
 
No mater how many times I check this thread I aways read it "Jerry Brown's numbered fretboard strat??"
 #140530  by ScubaGeek
 
Since nobody's really answered the question, the walnut Strat was a guitar Dan Erlewine built for Jerry. It's not a souped up pre-CBS Strat or anything of that sort. I believe I read where Dan said it was made from the same bunch of walnut that he used for Albert King's Lucy.

If Dan feels he defiled a "valuable Strat", it must have been another guitar, not the walnut Strat he was talking about.

As for the Nudie suits, I always had the impression the band only wore them for one night only. I forget which book I read that in. I remember showing my mom a couple photos in one of the books showing the band in the Nudies, and she said it somehow "didn't look right" for the Dead, like it was too flashy for their trip or whatever.