Jerry Garcia’s Travis Bean TB500 Guitar Set for Auction
Jerry Garcia‘s Travis Bean TB500, one of the more significant guitars in rock history, will be auctioned off on December 6th in Beverly Hills, California. The instrument was played during the recording sessions for Terrapin Station and at over 90 Grateful Dead concerts during the late seventies, most notably the Dead’s three-night stint at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in 1976. Steve Parish, Garcia’s longtime guitar tech, has vouched for the instrument’s authenticity, noting that it was Garcia’s third most played guitar and has a sticker affixed to the body that reads, “Ass, Grass or Gas/Nobody Rides Free.”
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Exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, the TB500 is the last of the important Garcia instruments to come up for sale and is expected to fetch between $150,000-$200,00. Other notable lots include Jimmy Page’s Roland G-707 synthesizer, a Hofner bass made specifically for Paul McCartney, a Kramer Ferrington guitar owned by Mick Jagger, a 1954 Fender Telecaster played and signed by Keith Richards, a Martin D-18 acoustic guitar owned by Tom Fogerty and two guitars that belonged to Johnny Cash. Handwritten lyrics – including Bob Dylan’s “Tamborine Man,” Jim Morrison’s “L’America” and George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” – are also up for grabs.