[jdsmodulus]

Well let's talk about it...I have so much to say about the gear I don't know where to start but here. Please post your favorite parts, your favorite memories, or your take on "the end of the road". I saw every show from Rosemont Horizon 3.09.93>to Soldier Field 7.09.95 give or take a few and I'm feeling nostalgic today so; that being said, lets talk about gear from that period, what you have, what you WANT to have, and what you could NEVER have! peace JD

SHINE IT BACK

[Chuckles]

In-ear monitors.

I want 'em.

Though I should point out that some people have thought that this actually made for a decline in the quality of the Dead's performances during this time... everyone keying on their own sound, listening less to others or even Jerry's move towards the more "acoustic" sound from Bolt because maybe he liked how it sounded in his personal mix...

[pjcenedella]

I really hated the Cripe guitar.

[jdsmodulus]

Well thats a start, for me I LOVED the Bolt guitar it was so Jerry! and as far as the in ear monitors, I never heard Jerry sing better but the band as a whole did suffer because at the time it was somewhat new tech. They took it to far when the started "yelling" at each other.

[strumminsix]

The GD were always yelling at one another. You can hear it throughout alot of tapes!

I loved how "smooth" the band sounded overall. Things seemed to go well or the struggling parts seemed less obvious.

I love the Bobby shorts but can never have them. I just don't have the legs for 'em!

[jdsmodulus]

The GD were always yelling at one another. You can hear it throughout alot of tapes!

I loved how "smooth" the band sounded overall. Things seemed to go well or the struggling parts seemed less obvious.

I love the Bobby shorts but can never have them. I just don't have the legs for 'em!

The Bobby shorts are something I'll never quite forget! I think Weirs tone then was very heavy but appropriate, I think when you listen back to the tapes, you can hear him "Yell" at Jerry through his tone this is really why I think he played so much then. There was also a bit of mid life crisis maybe looking at other bands of that time period. I just don't see how Bob could sound that way for only a short period.

[mttourpro]

and as far as the in ear monitors, I never heard Jerry sing better but the band as a whole did suffer because at the time it was somewhat new tech.

Really....he could barely read a teleprompter in 94-95, let alone sing as well as he did for decades before.

As for equipment, I never understood exactly why Vince refused to use a B-3 and Leslie as his organ sound was dismal to say the least. His typical keyboard sounds were pretty weak also IMHO.

Vince's playing was actually pretty good in 93---prolly his best year with the band....as for my "take" on the end of the road, I saw a lot of shows those 3 years and it was painfully clear to me that they were going downhill fast beginning as far back as early 94. Fall of 94 was horrible and you all know the rest. I myself swore after seeing 7 shows in the summer of 95 that I'd never travel far to see them again.

[tigerstrat]

It's been determined that the thin guitar sound you seem to be referring to (which I also deplored 98% of the time) was not attributable to Bolt, which was fully capable of amazing electric guitar sounds, as evidenced by JG's sounds with iton JGB '93, f'rinstance.

Also, I thought Vince continued to strengthen and was better in 95 than in 93... his role was changing and he needed to have JG's back a lot more. It's almost like he got blamed for Jerry disintegration- poor guy.

[strumminsix]

As for equipment, I never understood exactly why Vince refused to use a B-3 and Leslie as his organ sound was dismal to say the least. His typical keyboard sounds were pretty weak also IMHO.

I seem to recall Vince being told NO ORGAN. Seems that the boys were sick of the HUGE HEAVY B3 for the past 10+ years with Brent

[Maybeck09]

Yeah. I believe its in the Gear book (Blair Jackson). They veto'd Vince playing a B-3. But I agree, his sound and tone sucked. On stage, especially with Hornsby playing a baby Grand onstage, Vince just sounded like he was on some Radio Shack kit. Really plinky sounding.
As for the thin guitar sound, I think in general that Bolt was thinner sounding. It apparently did Not have a piezo pickup in it which many people attribute to the "acoustic" sound he got. But it wasn't as dense of an instrument as Tiger or Rosebud and frankly Jerry was turned down more in those years as his playing suffered. One side benefit was that Weir and in many instances Hornsby, when he played with them, had to step up and play a greater role as Jerry just wasn't up for it.
I'd given up on shows by then and after leaving California (where there seemed to be a show a month). Just looking back at vids its pretty obvious the decline in Garcia especially '95. He just seems barely there and a fraction of the presence he once was.

[deadguise]

I only would go to one show a year in the 90's for tradition's sake. After seeing them them since the mid-seventies, the nineties shows were somewhat unbearable.

[seamones]

I think the Cripe was responsible for that tone. I was not so sure awhile back so I compared the Sugaree from 1995-07-08 - using Rosebud to a Sugaree from a show in 1993, North Carolina I think, when he was on the Cripe. There is clearly a difference. Round, warm, trademark vs tinny, thin, piezo-y. I thought the in-ear and lack of stage speakers was to blame but clearly not.

Speaking of in-ear, in GREATLY improved the harmonies. It could be quite the contradiction at times when many things would be going wrong on stage, but the band would belt out harmonies like you had never heard before!

Vince: yes, poor guy. Just so wrong, wrong, wrong. But not his fault he got hired. I'll never forget 93 Oakland, Birdsong. Fairly lackluster first set, but Jerry finally gets something going in the Birdsong Jam and the whole place is starting to pick up on it. Vince then comes in over the top and just squashed it. We watched as Jerry slowly turned his head in what I interpreted as disbelief and glare at him.

Anyway, last show was Portland; really, really hard on me. Decided I would never travel again and sat out the East coast summer tour ( I was never full time tour head, but would have caught 2-4 cities for 4-8 shows) Sometimes I regret that and then I remember listening to the 95 Giants shows that I would have been at for sure, and I am a-ok.

[tigerstrat]

Cripe gripers:

Compare the guitar sounds on this late 93 TWLWMYD w/ Bolt



vs. THIS early 93 TWLWMYD w/ Rosebud



Obviously the audio quality is not very comparable on these two vids, so turn the first one UP full, the 2nd one DOWN to about 40% to at least line up the overall volumes. The other diff is that Jerry never seems to step on his overdrive in the November version, or possibly has it at a much lighter setting, post-keyboard solo. Oh well... moving on...

<edited to links because I didn't see my posted vids> Got your back - BbB

[Emoto]

I only would go to one show a year in the 90's for tradition's sake. After seeing them them since the mid-seventies, the nineties shows were somewhat unbearable.

I'm with you one this, man. For the most part, the later years just made me sad. Jerry's decline was so obvious, that it was hard to watch or listen to.

[wisedyes]

From just a tonal point of view, regarding the Dead'd 90's sound, I didn't like it too much. Jerry's guitar was thin, the "acoustic" sound of it to me always sounded very over-processed and not really like an acoustic at all, and his overdrive of the period I thought was harsh sounding. Vocally, obviously the man was not in peak form - there times I wished they would just play all Bobby and Phil tunes it was so hard to hear.

Vinnie's keyboards - yeah, the "Radio Shack shit" posted earlier sums it up pretty well for me. Whatever he was using didn't sound, I guess organic is as good of a term to use as any - it always sounded like a bad keyboard patch of a piano, or organ, or whatever. It often reminded me of a freaking merry-go-round, honestly.

Weir's guitar tone was extremely aggressive in the 90's, but I realize that he had to be more upfront as Garcia declined more and more, so he gets a pass on that from me.

I had pretty much given up on them by '92 or so - only going to local shows to see friends, hang out , and carry the torch, but not expecting much from the band themselves by then.