Fender Celebrates Jerry Garcia By Replicating His Famous 'Alligator' Guitar

Fender is celebrating Jerry Garcia's 80th birthday with a masterbuilt replica of the Grateful Dead frontman's beloved modified Stratocaster, better known as the Alligator.

Jerry received the guitar as a gift from Graham Nash circa 1970 as a thank you for contributing to Nash's Songs for Beginners album.

The instrument quickly became one of Jerry's favorite guitars, but it wasn't long before he and longtime guitar tech Steve Parish began making alterations and repairs, including a custom brass bridge, a brass plate on the lower bout of the pickguard and Schaller M6 tuners.

"Jerry loved it," Parish recalls of the guitar's early days in the Grateful Dead's quiver. "He played this on the most iconic tour of the Grateful Dead's history: Europe '72. He was just at his peak of playing and this guitar was the one."

While most of the modifications were aimed at improving the instrument's performance, Jerry and Parish also famously slapped three stickers on the guitar, including the smiling Alligator decal that gave the guitar its name.

Fender masterbuilder Austin MacNutt was tasked with taking apart the original guitar and replicating it for 100 other players.

"This guitar is a piece of American history," MacNutt said. "There is so much history behind each alteration and modification to the guitar; to have the opportunity to have the original for a day, take it apart, look inside and replicate it has been an honor."

Watch Parish and MacNutt discuss the Alligator Stratocaster via the player above.

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