Jerry Garcia's Tiger Guitar: The Original
In May of 2023, we had the privilege of being able to get in the shop with Doug Irwin and Jerry's original Tiger guitar. We spent 5 days with Doug and Tiger. While the stars aligned, we went on the journey of preserving Doug's incredible work to an extreme degree of precision.
Until now, every Tiger replica made was just that — a replica. Today, we are the first and only to offer industrial-grade reference copies of Tiger. The Diamond Series limited edition release we did with Doug's Irwin Certified collection are the very first builds built from these references by yours truly.
Preserving Tiger
Between the shape of the wood and carving work, the finish, and the age of the guitar, it is a challenge to truly perfect the build without seeing it. We first started exploring how to preserve and create reference copies with the Osiris Mission Control bass . Thanks to Brady Watson of IBILD Solutions and their technology, we were able to perfectly preserve every detail of Tiger, 1:1 to the original, in ultra-high resolution scans.
Restoring Tiger
In Doug's shop, we did some restoration work to ensure Tiger was ready for whatever was next. Being able to work on the legend itself, with the legend himself was a once in a lifetime experience.
Forever Grateful
Having the opportunity to get hands-on with Jerry's Tiger with Doug was something else. There is only one word for it: GRATEFUL!
