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Lightning Bolt.  Aririved in the mail in 1993. Stephen Cripe, a 39-year-old Florida woodworker who spent years building custom interiors for Caribbean yachts, decided to try his hand at making a guitar. Using a few photos and a well worn “Dead Ahead” video., he knocked off Irwin’s design of Tiger with a few flourishes of his own, like carving the body out of a piece of East Indian rosewood recycled from a 19th century Asian opium bed. It had an acoustic piezo pickup built in. Built “totally by feel”, the cocobola through-body neck has a recycled Brazilian rosewood fingerboard (note: Jerry’s interest in the rain forest) with an unusual accuracy in the higher end allowing him to play where he usually avoided. Unfortunately it was in the shop for the last tour. ” Garcia was amazed when it came around,” said band mate Bob Weir, “at the guesswork he had to make — and got right — to give that guitar Irwin’s look and feel. It was astounding.”  Garcia gave the piece to San Francisco repairman Gary Brawer to fix the electronic guts, but it was a miracle guitar. He pronounced the piece “the guitar I’ve always been waiting for” and began playing the instrument exclusively. It came to be called Lightning Bolt. Garcia met with Cripe briefly backstage at a Florida concert and commissioned a second guitar for $6,500, known as Top Hat, although Garcia almost never played it. Cripe, whose hobby was making fireworks, died in May 1996 when his work shed blew up. He used an exploding firecracker as the insignia on his guitars’ headstocks. n April of ‘95 Jerry ordered the backup “Top Hat”. 1994- Summer Tour Jerry brings back out Rosebud but in the fall back to Lightning Bolt. 1995- Lightning Bolt was in the shop on the last tour. In his final show at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995, Garcia started out playing Rosebud, but midway through the show, the guitar developed problems. Garcia strapped on the tour’s spare guitar — Tiger, out of mothballs for the occasion — and finished his final concert on his old trusty ax.
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Lightning Bolt. 

Aririved in the mail in 1993. Stephen Cripe, a 39-year-old Florida woodworker who spent years building custom interiors for Caribbean yachts, decided to try his hand at making a guitar. Using a few photos and a well worn “Dead Ahead” video., he knocked off Irwin’s design of Tiger with a few flourishes of his own, like carving the body out of a piece of East Indian rosewood recycled from a 19th century Asian opium bed. It had an acoustic piezo pickup built in. Built “totally by feel”, the cocobola through-body neck has a recycled Brazilian rosewood fingerboard (note: Jerry’s interest in the rain forest) with an unusual accuracy in the higher end allowing him to play where he usually avoided. Unfortunately it was in the shop for the last tour.

” Garcia was amazed when it came around,” said band mate Bob Weir, “at the guesswork he had to make — and got right — to give that guitar Irwin’s look and feel. It was astounding.”  Garcia gave the piece to San Francisco repairman Gary Brawer to fix the electronic guts, but it was a miracle guitar.

He pronounced the piece “the guitar I’ve always been waiting for” and began playing the instrument exclusively. It came to be called Lightning Bolt. Garcia met with Cripe briefly backstage at a Florida concert and commissioned a second guitar for $6,500, known as Top Hat, although Garcia almost never played it. Cripe, whose hobby was making fireworks, died in May 1996 when his work shed blew up. He used an exploding firecracker as the insignia on his guitars’ headstocks.

n April of ‘95 Jerry ordered the backup “Top Hat”.

1994- Summer Tour Jerry brings back out Rosebud but in the fall back to Lightning Bolt.

1995- Lightning Bolt was in the shop on the last tour. In his final show at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 9, 1995, Garcia started out playing Rosebud, but midway through the show, the guitar developed problems. Garcia strapped on the tour’s spare guitar — Tiger, out of mothballs for the occasion — and finished his final concert on his old trusty ax.

  1. gratefuloneindeed posted this
Tags: grateful dead guitar

Date: 02.16.11 Time: 21:49 PM
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