Check out my review, unboxing and demos of my new SCARLET FIRE GUITAR HERE.

Here is a quick demo of the new Phred Instruments Bolt:

First Impressions:

A nicely built guitar with that great bolt body and neck shape that plays nice and easy. Although Phred’s guitars seems a bit on the small side (I’m a big guy), the sound of the guitar with the stock pickups sound pleasing. When comparing to my other Tiger guitars (Phred and Warmouth) outfitted with Dimarzio Super II pickups, I do like the sound of the super II pickups better. The Neck feels a bit like a strat and plays very smooth and fast. The action is a bit too low (nut and saddle) for my tastes, but some may like it. The Phred comes with a buffer and 9volt that seems to be matched well with the stock pickups. I would switch it out to a Waldo buffer (my preference) but it may be fine for most folks. I think this guitar shipped with 10s, but I have a custom set that I use that Id probably be happier playing with.

All in all, its a decent guitar for the $600 price. If you are looking for the shape, i don’t think you could loose. To me, the build quality does not compare with a Lieber, Phiga, Mororiarity or other custom $5k – $20k guitars, but it does the trick and makes the sounds – and for the price, it works. Ill be keeping a Phred in my arsenal for something different to play now and then and as a backup. I am interested in seeing and trying the Phusion guitar at some point as well.

Tools of the trade: Warmoth Tiger, Phred Bolt, Phred Liger

Check out my review, unboxing and demos of my new SCARLET FIRE GUITAR HERE.

We are pleased to announce the first phase of shows for The Garcia Project’s SPRING TOUR 2015:

April 3 Buffalo, NY – Tralf Music Hall with Workingman’s Dead [TICKETS]

April 4 Rochester, NY – Montage Music Hall with John Bloom and Casey Bloom [TICKETS]

April 10 – TBD

April 11 – TBD

April 17 Oneonta, NY – Oneonta Theater with Acoustically Speaking Quartet [TICKETS]

April 18 Stafford Springs, CT – Stafford Palace Theater with Acoustically Speaking Quartet [TICKETS]

April 24 – TBD

April 25 – TBD

April 8 – TBD

April 9 – TBD

April 15 – TBD

April 16 – TBD

April 22 – TBD

April 23 – TBD

April 29 -TBD

April 30 TBD

May 1 Worcester, MA – Electric Haze with Acoustically Speaking Quartet & Mike Young [TICKETS]

May 2 Sommerville, MA – Davis Square Theater with Acoustically Speaking Quartet [TICKETS]

Many more dates will be announced soon. See you in the Spring!

We added a new date to the “Tiger Tales” 2014 tour! We will be performing a very special show at the Historic Memorial Hall in Wilmington, VT on November 7. Check out the facebook RSVP event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1546963645518490/

The 50th anniversary of The Grateful Dead is in 2015 and Tom Lieber has constructed a very fine musical instrument as a tribute. His new guitar is based on the ‘Tiger” and “Rosebud” guitars that Doug Irwin and Tom Leiber built for Jerry Garcia. When Jerry Garcia asked Irwin to build a guitar with no limits, Irwin wanted to build one that could not be easily reproduced. He selected unique, hard to work with woods and Irwin and Lieber came up with a unique shape for the guitar as well.

The new, 50th anniversary guitar is based on the iconic shape and the same build quality as the “Tiger” but is made with more standard maple wood and reproducible consistency. He is offering the guitars at $6,400 each and has sold almost all of them. I recommend that you get in touch with Tom right away if you want one of these for yourself.

Tom stopped by The Oneonta Theater (one of our most favorite places to perform our show) on October 11 to let me try out his new masterpiece. Upon first look, I was stunned by the simple elegance and beauty of the guitar. The fit and finish was top notch and the guitar just seemed to glow! The real test though would be how it played.

After finding an extra guitar strap, I picked up the guitar and started with “Sugaree” The low ends were nice and spanky and gurgely – just like they should be. Then I went into “Deal” and my bass player, Dan Crea and drummer Bob Mckeon joined in. Again the lows were nice and defined and I could start to feel how it was going to play. I went into the solo and bent some high notes. WOW. it was right there in the zone. I completely fell in love and did not want to give the guitar back. I next went through all of my effects. I noticed that this guitar reacted a bit differently to my effects than the Warmoth “Tiger” that I normally play. The effects all sounded great and once I started getting used to it, the guitar felt very comfortable in my hands.

The neck is fast and easy to play. I was hearing and seeing things in my mind that I could not visualize when playing my Warmoth. I could hear new musical passages and couldn’t wait to spend the many hours playing it that I really feel I need to get comfortable enough to do those passages effortlessly.

The body is partially hollow. I was told that Irwin’s “Tiger” was built the same way. The wings are completely hollow while the “neck-through” area is solid. Irwin initially built Jerry’s guitar as a neck through, but then him and Tom realized something was wrong and made it a set neck guitar. They had to fix many mistakes and that is where the ornamental brass came into play. Tom’s “Tiger” is made the same way, but no brass was used except for the nut and the woods were more consistent.

Tom let me play the guitar for the whole show. There will be a recording coming up on archive soon. Feel free to ask me or Tom and questions and if you are in the market for a Jerry style guitar that plays and sounds amazing, this is the one!

For more information about the 50th anniversary guitars, contact Tom at [email protected]

http://www.lieberguitars.com/guitars/garcia/

Here is an article recently published by UPSTATE LIVE magazine:

Local Upstate, N.Y. band – The Garcia Project has been on the move lately and wowing audiences from the East Coast to the West with their recreation of Jerry Garcia Band shows for the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. The Garcia Project has come from playing little festivals in Upstate like The Strawberry Jam to Fiddlers Picnic and has gained a strong following in their home state. There’s just something about seeing this band live, you can’t help but close your eyes and kick off your shoes to spin barefoot in the grass wherever they are playing the sweet music of Jerry Garcia.

The band recently spent some time on the West Coast [home to the Grateful Dead] where they celebrated Jerry’s 72nd birthday at the Jerry Garcia Birthday Celebration in Santa Cruz, C.A. where they opened for and sat in with Los Angeles Grateful Dead legends, Cubensis. While in California the band was also invited to be VIP guests of the Jerry Day celebration in San Francisco – a huge honor to any GD family member.

This year’s Jerry Jam in Bath, N.H. was another milestone for the Garcia Project, not only were they the Friday night headliners but they had none other than JGB’s Melvin Seals sitting in on the keys for that event. The show can be heard on the Live Music Archive – https://archive.org/details/TheGarciaProject2014-07-25

With such success this past summer the band will be looking forward into the Fall season with a main stage appearance at this year’s Wormtown Music Festival in Greenfield, M.A. Sept. 12-14, where they will be opening up for Dopapod and Max Creek. Making their way from the side stage to the main stage is an accomplishment bands strive for when first starting out and the Garcia Project has made the leap and audiences are welcoming them with open arms.

If you haven’t seen this band yet and you are a fan of JGB or the Grateful Dead, you must get out to see them – and run, don’t walk to their next appearance. You can catch them on Sept. 20 where they will be opening for New Riders of The Purple Sage at the Autumn Equinox Festivalat Page Farm in Croydon, N.H. They will return to the Capital District to play the Rustic Barn in Troy, N.Y. on Sept. 27 with special guests Knot Dead. The band will then head to Glens Falls on Oct. 24 for a special evening at the Wood Theater where they will recreate a classic JGB show for fans. This band is on the move and a must see for any Dead Head. For more show dates please visit the Garcia Project online.

UpstateLIVE’s Jim Gilbert recently had the opportunity to speak with Mik and Kat from the Garcia Project about why they were drawn to Jerry’s music and where they find their inspiration……….

Continue reading the article and a special interview with Kat and Mik here:
http://upstatelive.com/2014/09/10/the-garcia-project-will-make-you-smile-smile-smile/