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Phil Lesh Appreciation Society: Enter the Philzone... v2.0
- Thread starter j-raj
- Start date
Somehow or other, no matter what they did to it, the idea of it being “rightfully “ in the hands of a deadhead doesn’t ring true for me.I’m a deadhead too, but I’m going to do all I can to get it to Phil.
deepestend
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- Feb 21, 2003
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Yes. Hard to believe after all that it was sold in an unclaimed storage lot.
I disagree for a couple reasons. One is I followed this story as it was happening in a Facebook group, and the dude who bought this is the guy who facilitated the return of Rick Turner’s pretzel to Cutler, so I would imagine he’s sensitive about things like that. Secondly, Phil put up some of his Ken Smith basses and other items for auction, who’s to say he even wants a bass he played part time, for 5 years 40 years ago? That’s a blip in his 50 plus year musical career. One would think Phil has the means to reaquire this bass if he wants to.
I respect that the guy tracked down the original pickups, got it to Rick Turner to restore and is lending it out to be played on stage - it’s a lot better than the alternative of say, Tiger, sitting in some executives office com curing dust.
I stand corrected, a little googling reveals Tiger was lent out, but not a bunch. As of 2020, the only person to use was Warren Haynes in 2016. Joe Exotic was supposed to use it in a live stream, but I can’t tel if it happened. There are a lot of Tiger replicas out there, you may have seen one of them.
I know Wolf has been lent out a bunch.
For sure. I was curious when it was played out - because I was under the impression it never was - and the article I read said it was only played out that one time. Article easily could be wrong, so I’m not going to die on that hill - plus I hate arguing about trivial crap on the internet.
I do know I was at a JGB show in a bar, there were probably 100 people there, nothing between the crowd and the stage. Sitting on the stage was a Tiger replica and a couple people next to me were whispering about how a multimillion dollar guitar was just sitting there. Fast forward about a month later, I went to a Garcia Project show. Poorly promoted. Probably 20 people there. Guitarist there had a replica. Same two dudes are losing their minds that “there’s Tiger again” and “the Tiger master must live in Minnepolis”. After the show the guitarist was pretty cool and showed people his gear and said he had a replica built by ScarletFire and mentioned the dude in JGB had one too. Fortunately those two guys had split - I mean, who am I to burst someone’s bubble if they think they stumbled upon a bar room show and the guitar player is swinging one of Jerry’s axes.
EdwardofHuncote
I Still Dream of Jeannie
- Aug 21, 2013
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I just think it's great the bass was restored from the nearly destroyed state it was found in, and is finally being used again to play the music it was made for. I'm guessing if Phil wanted to, it could be arranged easily.
What's hard to believe is it was sold in an unclaimed storage unit in 2014. Betty Cantor-Jackson famously lost hundreds of her reel to reels in a an unclaimed storage unit in 1986. The Dead organization made a deal to get most of the tapes back in 2016, and probably started talks a little earlier. So, how they could miss something like Mission Control being just auctioned off after losing those incredibly valuable tapes for so long is ridiculous.
Nice article, though.
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
I think no one was looking. Phil moved on a long time ago. The GD were very forward looking and had little nostalgia for the past.
I wish I had the winning bid on that locker! I bet it was a lot less than what the salvage company got for the bass.
After reading Phil’s autobiography, I was left with a distinct and frankly unsurprising impression that they were terrible managers. So all of those artifacts and relics were stowed in these storage lockers and then just forgotten or overlooked in half-ass record keeping. The guys were totally absorbed in the music and not in all the ancillary apparatus that such a venerable cultural phenomenon might merit.
For sure, just surprising given that this one seems to fall on Deborah Koons Garcia, and she's the one that sued over the Irwins back in the late 90s. But she probably never saw what was inside the storage unit. A shame, who knows what happened to Jerry's open tapes of bluegrass shows and the first time he met Grisman and jammed with him. Artwork, who knows what... Would be interesting to know what else was in there.
I seen them a bunch at Brooklyn Bowl and Portchester.. AWESOME shows...
Funny thing - they did a Led Zepplin cover thing at Brooklyn Bowl. Little did we know it was with no singing.
Not sure of the overall reaction but, my group was ready to hit the road pretty early.
Yeah, they smash as musicians but, I think the crowd at least wanted to hear some attempt at Robert Plant lol
From my experience later in life learning and absorbing these songs, The Greatest thing about it is that you the Freedom of these songs allows you to enjoy yourself and NOT feel like a slave to a normal cover band....
I mean, I may OD on something if I had to make money in a Tom Petty Cover band.... But, to have freedom, enjoy the songs AND make money seems damn good.
I seen them a bunch at Brooklyn Bowl and Portchester.. AWESOME shows...
Funny thing - they did a Led Zepplin cover thing at Brooklyn Bowl. Little did we know it was with no singing.
Not sure of the overall reaction but, my group was ready to hit the road pretty early.
Yeah, they smash as musicians but, I think the crowd at least wanted to hear some attempt at Robert Plant lol
From my experience later in life learning and absorbing these songs, The Greatest thing about it is that you the Freedom of these songs allows you to enjoy yourself and NOT feel like a slave to a normal cover band....
I mean, I may OD on something if I had to make money in a Tom Petty Cover band.... But, to have freedom, enjoy the songs AND make money seems damn good.
Bustle in your hedge grow was the zeppelin thing! I saw them at Ardmore music hall. I think they only played 2 or three shows
deepestend
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JRAD was Bustle beforehand... at least the core. They played here and there for years. Did all instrumental Zep. They added Tom Hamilton to make it JRAD
Anyone got any tips for getting to the tone Dan Horne has here? I like his attack.
Bass solo starting around 22:30 for a good glimpse of his tone.
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Well, I'm pretty damn late to the party here, seeing as I've been a Deadhead since 1988 and played in several GD cover bands over the last 20 years, but with my newly acquired 1967 Guild Starfire I, I've developed an interest in Phil and Jack Casady's modifications and overall approach to gear, since I'm looking to seriously upgrade my rig.
I gotta say, after reading almost every post in this thread (including pt.1), I have answers to questions I didn't even know about. Of course, as soon as I think I have "the answer" to my rig upgrades, another post comes along to challenge that. Ha!
Anyways, here's a pic of the Guild, and I'll be around. Cheers!
I gotta say, after reading almost every post in this thread (including pt.1), I have answers to questions I didn't even know about. Of course, as soon as I think I have "the answer" to my rig upgrades, another post comes along to challenge that. Ha!
Anyways, here's a pic of the Guild, and I'll be around. Cheers!
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
Welcome! My '67 Starfire looked just like that when I got it! What's the serial number?
