Odd looking little shape, ain't it?  Of course, the picture tells next to nothing about how the guitar actually looked.  Will we have a chance to see pix of the Peanut Susan referred to?

Wow, I've been a Dead Head for 27yrs. and have never seen (in pix or in person) Jerry play anything that looked like that. Far out, man! LOL!  
 
BTW, just for the connection to the Dead alone, I feel like Wayne and Garth meeting Alice Cooper in Wayne's World when it comes to Ron and Susan....(say while genuflecting) We're not worthy, we're not worthy!

Don't feel too strange, Kevin.  I've been a Dead Head for even a few years longer than you.  I'd never seen or heard of these Peanuts.  That is until Sunday, when, within 1/2 hour I stumbled across an interesting site purporting to chronicle all the guitars JG played AND read Susan's note.  That site (http://www.nii.net/~obie1/deadcd/garcia_guitars.htm) was where I ran across the picture I posted.  
 
Wierd,huh?

I'm gonna guess that because of the color of Jerry's beard and the relative lack of girth that this pic is ca. '70 -'73 or so.  
 
I would kill to be able to shoot the s**t with Susan for an afternoon and hear all her Dead Head recollections. Susan, if you're out there, the dinner and drinks are on me if you'll spill your guts, LOL!
 
(Message edited by kmh364 on July 13, 2004)

Cool site, Bill. I hope Susan ck's it out for authenticity's sake. I'd be interested to hear her take on Doug Irwin's statements. She's very passionate about Alembic's history, as is rightly so.  

How many peanuts are there?!?! The one in the photo definitely has a different neck than the one at the factory (it has some nice pinstripe inlays that run the length of the fingerboard around the A & B string positions). If the one above is a Les Paul Custom neck, then the construction is different too. Neat stuff!  
 
(btw guys, please take no offense to the brainwashed deadhead comment~ but I cant bare to read the gospel according to Scully, Harrison, McNally & Jackson)....  

Yeah, the pictures are great.  But the multiple accounts don't always read quite the same.  Very much like the varying accounts of Messers Scully, Harrison, etc.  At least whoever put the site together posted more than one viewpoint where he did.  
 
It's all pretty much a good example of what Susan was talking about.  I respect the fact that Alembic doesn't spend much time rehashing what everyone did in the past.  It must be frustrating when there are so many gossips about.  
 
On a pleasant note, I'm curious about the peanuts too.  I'd like to know more about the thinking and experimentation that went into them.  
 
Bill

Ck out Jerry's Harley Strat as well. It's clearly been Alembicized.

Yes.  That Strat was the first guitar I heard Jerry play.  What a blend of Fender and exotic.  It was always my favorite.

Jerry was always pushing the envelope with everything he did and was never statisfied with the status quo. Guitars were no different. I think that Strat was used almost exclusively for the Europe '72 tour and album (Susan would know best,I think). I love the sound of Strats, and I loved Jerry's sound on that tour.
 
(Message edited by kmh364 on July 14, 2004)

That body looks for all the world like an ancient Rickenbacker Electro, doesn't it?  I remember seeing Robbie Robertson playing a similarly-shaped guitar on Saturday Night Live a long while back.

What first drew my attention to the one in the shop was the similarity in shape & proportion to the Turner's built for Lindsay Buckingham.....

Hey Mike,
 
I haven't heard those names tossed about for awhile. Here's a short list of folks associated in one way or another that went to work for the Dead that started at Alembic:
 
Kid Candelario
Jackson
Sparkie
Herd
John Cutler
Steve Parrish
Johnny Hagen
Bob Matthews
 
Ahh, the stories I could tell, oh well someday when I'm not making instruments I'll write that book.
-Susan

Mike,
 
Can't say that I agree with the statement that Lindsay's guitar and the peanut guitar are similar. Since the prototype for Lindsay's guitar was made at Alembic and still resides here, I can stand them side to side. Other than they are both made out of solid Mahogany, the peanut is a neck through and much smaller in proportion.
 
-susan

Hi Susan,
 
It was just the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it. Being seated on a stand on the floor, my perspective was askew~ but originally I thought it could be a spin on the Beatle bass or an early Turner design.  
 
It's a neat shape & I imagine a doubleneck based on it would be comfy, though maybe a little neck heavy.... Im sure once #6 is refinished and out of the closet you'll end up w/ some orders for replicas.....
 
Did you or Mica get a chance to run that TRS / effects loop for my order by Ron yet?!?  
 
-Mike