Grateful Dead Music Forum

About 7 months after stringing up the prototype, here's my first crack at a more authentic "Tiger."

I'm calling it a "tribute" rather than a "replica", because it differs (by design) in a number of respects from the guitar that Irwin built for Jerry.

The body is made from granadillo (a/k/a "black cocobolo"), western big leaf maple and padauk. The neck is padauk, western maple and ebony. The wings are chambered. The wood, brass work and fret wire weigh 7.59 pounds. Loaded with hardware, pups and electronics, it comes in at 10.8 pounds -- close to the real thing (which, I'm told, does not weigh the whopping 13.5 pounds previously reported). Super-IIs, SDS-1, Waldo buffer and OBEL. Nitro lacquer finish.

Once again, here's a link to a pile of photos of the build process for anyone who's interested. https://photos.app.goo.gl/g178gXj3HT9bVJCz6



A few photos...

a couple more...

Dayum!! Absolutely stunning work Bob!!

Ok Bob... I want one!

Amazing! One of the nicest-looking tributes I've seen. You must be proud!

Outfreakinstanding!

That is outstanding. Thanks for posting photos. I'll definitely be referencing them as I build mine. I'm curious about the construction method though. Why a three piece body instead of two?

Thanks for the feedback folks!

thistle3585 wrote:Why a three piece body instead of two?

The short answer, Thistle, is because that's how Irwin built Jerry's guitar.

I read somewhere that Tiger was supposed to be a thru neck (like Wolf), but that approach was abandoned in favor of the current set neck, and Irwin added the brass stringing to hide the center-section seams.

That seems plausible, but I'm a little dubious. After all, Rosebud also is a 3-piece body, and so is at least one other Tiger-esque guitar of Irwin's.

I can think of a couple reasons why Irwin might have chosen that method by design. But all I know for sure is it opens up a lot of opportunities when it comes to sourcing hard to find lumber like cocobolo (it's a lot easier to find boards that are 6" wide rather than 9...).

Thanks for your response. I wondered if it was a lumber sourcing issue. Cant believe the increase in cocobolo over the last two years. I am going to use bubinga on my build. Thanks again for the photos. Looks fantastic. I'm envious of your inlay. Looks great.

Exquisite! But we've come to expect that.

Nice touch using the "Irwin Tribute Clamps".

Wow!!! Very nice!!!

Very nice. Is it for sale??

Cosmopolis wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 3:06 pm Very nice. Is it for sale??

This one is not available. But it won't be the last. PM me if you're interested in the details.

I've received a couple of emails asking about the carve. The reflection of the tree branches in the photos above has thrown some people off. Here a couple more photos that are clearer.

Stunning as usual Bob!

Really awesome, great job!