Doug Irwin is an American
luthier
A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
Etymology
The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
who designed five custom guitars for
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 196 ...
of the
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
. The guitars he built for Garcia included
Eagle (
Alembic
An alembic (from , originating from , 'cup, beaker') is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids.
Description
The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts:
* the "" ...
),
[
]
Wolf,
Tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
,
Wolf Jr. (headless) and
Rosebud.
[
]
Doug also built more than 50 other guitars and basses including a bass for
Pete Sears
Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock ...
and a bass for
Phil Lesh
Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30 ...
. Two other guitars are documented as being built by Irwin: Rosewood and a Les Paul type guitar. These two guitars appear in the one and only D. Irwin Guitar Company sales brochure.
After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Jerry's will directed that his Irwin-made guitars be returned to Doug Irwin. After a legal battle with the remaining members of the Grateful Dead, the parties settled and agreed that Doug would receive "Wolf" and "Tiger" and GD Productions would keep "Rosebud" and "Wolf Jr." (Wolf Jr. is sometimes referred to as "headless" and was never played by Jerry in concert). In the agreement Doug was to sell Tiger and Wolf at auction. Wolf went for $789,500 including the
buyer's premium
In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by th ...
, Tiger sold for $957,500 including the buyer's premium. It is believed that at the time, Tiger's price was the highest ever paid for a guitar at auction.
Eagle, the first guitar that Doug Irwin built under his own name, and the first Irwin guitar purchased by Jerry Garcia was auctioned via
Bonhams
Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought t ...
on May 8, 2007, for $186,000, inclusive of the buyer's premium.
[
]
External links Doug Irwin Official Website
References
Guitar makers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
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