1973 D. Irwin, Custom “Wolf”

At the beginning of the Wake of the Flood sessions Jerry Garcia was presented with a custom guitar that would become his primary axe for some time to come. Known as the “Wolf”, this axe, made of purple-heart & curly maple, was handcrafted by luthier, Doug Irwin.

One day in 1972, Garcia was in Rick Turner’s Brady Street store when he spied the axe hanging in the corner and bought it on the spot for $850. The unique construction of the infamous Wolf would shape Jerry’s sound for the 1973 tour and play an important role on subsequent recordings.