Jerry Garcia Wolf Guitar Auction

Guernsey’s, Brooklyn Bowl, New York 31 May

One of the most important custom guitars in rock ’n’ roll history is coming up for auction again, 15 years after its last sale helped set a world record. Jerry Garcia’s Wolf was built by luthier Doug Irwin in the early 70s. Now its musician owner – who wishes to remain anonymous – has chosen Guernsey’s auction house in New York City to auction it in late May, with the full proceeds going to charity.

Irwin would build five guitars for Garcia during his lifetime, with Wolf being the second – Garcia’s first, Eagle, was made by Irwin when he was still working at Alembic. The late guitarist first used Wolf at a private 1973 gig with Merl Saunders in New York City for the Hells Angels, and was primarily used during the band’s iconic 70s era. Its moniker was given by the cartoon wolf sticker the band leader added below the bridge, and it would later be turned into an inlay by Irwin.

The guitar was the subject of some drama following Garcia’s death in 1995 with Irwin reclaiming the Wolf guitar following a lawsuit with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead (Garcia left the Irwin guitars he had built him in his will; the band claimed they were the Grateful Dead’s rightful property). Irwin would take ownership of the guitar and it was sold at a Guernsey’s auction in 2002 to its current owner for over $700,000. Also sold at the auction was Tiger, another one of the guitars Irwin built for Garcia. That guitar sold to Jim Irsay, owner and CEO of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, for $850,000 including commission. The sale of each guitar ($789,500 and $957,500 with commission) surpassed the $497,500 world-record value at the time for Eric Clapton’s ‘Brownie’ Strat.

A One-Off

Garcia was known for his love of unique instruments and Wolf is a testament to Irwin’s meticulous craftsmanship. Wolf’s core is amaranth (also known as ‘purpleheart’ and renowned for its strength) and laminated on both sides with maple and purpleheart, with the top and back featuring bookmatched curly western maple. Wolf’s fiddleback maple and purpleheart neck runs through the middle of the body with a gaboon ebony fingerboard. The guitar was originally fitted with Strat single coils, though Garcia was keen on experimenting with new pickups and the guitar’s electronics reflect a progressive approach to tone-shaping, too. There are two subminiature switches for the pickup coil switches and two quarter-inch jacks: one went to Garcia’s amp, and the other to his effects loop, with the master volume located after the effects loop. There is also a subminiature switch to toggle the effects loop in or out.

The Wolf hasn’t been in hiding for the last 15 years since its last appearance at auction – far from it. The guitar’s owner clearly believes it’s a guitar that should be played and it has been seen on stage in the hands of a number of other players, including Warren Haynes, Neal Casal with the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Ryan Adams when he played with Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh in 2005, Jimmy Herring and John Kadlecik. Guersney’s has already suggested that the Brooklyn Bowl auction event will see celebrated musicians play Wolf one last time before it finds a new owner. So the question is, who will now give Wolf its new home?

May will also see another big event for Deadheads. Long Strange Trip, Martin Scorsese’s six-part documentary on the band, will show on Amazon Prime following its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

www.guernseys.com