Tiger (guitar)

Tiger (guitar)

Tiger was Jerry Garcia's main guitar from 1979 to 1989. It was built by Sonoma County luthier Doug Irwin. The Tiger is named after the tiger inlaid on the preamp cover located on the guitar's top, just behind the tailpiece. The body features several layers of wood laminated together face-to-face in a configuration referred to as a "Hippie sandwich" by employees of Alembic Inc., where Irwin worked for a brief period in the early 1970s. The combination of several heavy varieties of wood, plus solid brass binding and hardware results in an unusually heavy instrument that tips the scales at 13½ pounds. After Garcia began using a new Irwin guitar (known as "Rosebud") in December 1989, Tiger became his backup guitar. Due to a problem with Rosebud during the Grateful Dead concert on July 9, 1995, Tiger was the last guitar Garcia played publicly.