Jerry Garcia replica Frankenstein "Alligator" Stratocaster. Most Grateful Dead fans are familiar with Jerry Garcia's famed "Alligator" '55 Fender Stratocaster, that was his first heavily modified guitar by Alembic techs. Before the guitar took it's Alligator namesake, the techs at Alembic nicknamed it the Frankenstein. While most replicas of this guitar are from it's last incarnation, this replica is period accurate to the infamous Grateful Dead Europe '72 Spring Tour. The Alligator sticker was added to the guitar at the end of the Europe '72 Spring Tour while the guitar was still in this 2nd incarnation. This is the point where the 3 ply pickgaurd replaced the original 1 ply pickgaurd that had broken. I am not sure if the Alligator sticker was already on the 3 ply pickgaurd or if Jerry added it. It is also entirely possible that the pickups were changed at this point as well. I've often thought it sounded different on the summer tour. Seymour Duncan supposedly rewound the bridge pickup during Alligator's recent restoration. They reported that it was an Alnico V. Zooming in on pics from the Spring '72 tour, the G poles are lower than the D poles on the pickups indicating the '54 -'55 stagger (Alnico III). The pickups in Alligator today appear to have the '56 stagger (Alnico V) This replica is just like the original to the last detail, except a couple minor and practical improvements. The guitar has also been relic'd to give it an authentic road worn look like the old workhorse. All relic'd areas have been resealed to protect the wood,, including the back of the neck, which has created a very fast feel.. Despite the guitars short 3 year time in roration from '71 - '73, it saw some serious playing time as the Grateful Dead were playing their longest shows along with rigorous touring schedules. The body is swamp Ash and the neck is an official Fender 50's series neck with the soft V back contour. The frets have been leveled and redressed to correct a typical factory fret job. It is adorned with the Harley Davidson and Keep On Truckin' stickers that were present at the start of the tour. The hardware consists of a handmade brass tailpiece, standard nickel ABR 1 tune o matic bridge that has been filed down on the bottom to acquire any desired string action, a vintage style Fender 50's single ply pickgard, a Walnut pickgaurd patch, Raytheon control knobs, CTS pots, 5 way pickup selector switch (the 3 way selector switch on Alligator has been reported to have had the detents filed away allowing all 5 positions), hand hammered brass jack under plate, standard Fender jack plate, handmade maple tremolo cavity cover plate, handmade scalloped brass string nut, brass footman loop string tree for low E, A, D and G strings, standard vintage string retainer for the B and high E strings, Schaller mini tuning machines (Alligator had full size Schaller tuning machines that hit one another during tuning). The pickups are Kent Armstrong Icon '57 Alinco III's that are all the same wind and polarity just as the vintage pickups were. The G and D poles are equal height on these pickups. While most replicas of this guitar have Alinco V pickups, the pickups in Alligator were early Fender Alinco III's. Originally Alligator was thought to be a '57 Strat, however when it was prepared for auction the Fender factory date written on the bottom of the neck heal and insinde the tremolo cavity revealed it was in fact a '55 and therefore had Alinco III pickups. The pickups are individually shielded and grounded to the ground buss for virtually noiseless operation just as the pickups in Alligator were. Single coil pickups are normally not shielded resulting in 60 cycle hum. This guitar is as or even more quiet than a humbucking equipped guitar. It has a 250K volume, 1Meg ohm tone for the neck pickup and a 250K linear tone for the middle and bridge pickups just as Alligator was wired per photos prior to it's auction. It has an Alembic Stratoblaster wired direct to the output jack with the gain trim knob removed and accompanying resistor so to be period accurate to the original Stratoblaster prototype in Alligator. All cover plates are shielded with foil tape and grounded to the earth ground and all cavities have been painted with military grade shielding paint. The battery for the Stratoblaster has been mounted inside the rear tremolo cavity for ease of replacement, instead of underneath the jack plate in Alligator. Also, the earth ground is to the bridge post inside the body instead of to the tailpiece on the outside of the body like Alligator. I used Schaller mini tuning machines to prevent them from touching during tuning. Those are the only changes I made purely for practical upgrades. The standard values on the volume and middle and bridge pickups give you that familiar vintage Strat tone only a little boosted by the Stratoblaster. The 1 Meg ohm tone gives the neck a bit more clarity than the typical Strat, but can be rolled off to get that familiar creamy neck tone. This guitar, like Alligator, sounds best plugged straight into a tube amp with nothing more than a wah pedal in between. Just roll off the volume for rhythm and crank it up for leads. Sure it can be used with effects pedals, but Jerry played his through 4 Fender Twin Reverbs simultaneously. If you loved the tones of Europe '72, this guitar is for you. It comes with a brand new vintage looking tweed Road Runner case with that familiar plush red interior like the old Fender cases. The video is of the guitar plugged into a Crybaby Classic Wah (off) and then straight into a Fender Blues Jr. Tweed. Background music is the Grateful Dead Dark Star from their Europe '72 part 2 release. Listening with headphones or decent computer speakers will give you the best indication of it's sound. Smart phone speakers don't do it justice
