Jerry Garcia - "Alligator"

Graham Nash gave Garcia the Stratocaster known as "Alligator" in 1970.  The body was a 1957 swamp ash Strat.  The maple neck was from a 1962 Stratocaster.

Jerry and Alembic started customizing the guitar.  They added military style black top-hat knobs, a brass nut, brass hardware to replace a broken pickguard, wood filling of the tremolo cavity, silver paint shielding for the electronics, a new tailpiece and bridge, brass string-tree, new super-tall frets, an Alembic preamp circuit, and of course, stickers.

Stickers included Harley-Davidson and the Alligator with a knife and fork that gave the Strat its name.  Garcia used the guitar from 1971 through 1973, when he retired it from Grateful Dead tour duty.

1957 Fender Stratocaster - Natural with stickers

No comments:

Post a Comment