Grateful Dead co-founder Bob Weir has created an all-new signature electric guitar with D’Angelico Guitars, continuing their long-standing relationship.
Years of product development and road-testing on tour with Wolf Brothers and Dead & Co. – most recently during the latter band’s residency at the Las Vegas Sphere – have resulted in the Bobby Weir 3.
It follows in the wake of two predecessors, the progenitor Deluxe Bob Weir SS and Deluxe Bob Weir Bedford. Five custom-painted Bedford models, notably, raised $160,000 at auction in 2021, benefitting a trio of charities.
A robust semi-hollow guitar, D’Angelico promises “a huge variety of unique tones” via the guitar's pair of custom TV Jones “DA-Tron” humbuckers, and push-pull knobs that unlock their inner- and outer-coil pairings. It's a feature that allows players to “conjure Weir’s notoriously slinky tones.”
This is combined with a desire to offer “the perfect balance of airy warmth and Weir's long-sought ‘clang of cold steel’” sounds. Controls comprise a three-way toggle switch, two Volume and two Tone pots, and a Master Volume control.
Construction-wise, it offers a single laminated maple cutaway body with five-ply binding and a 22-fret, ebony fingerboard that caps a slim C-profile neck for a 25” scale length build.
Premium fittings come via Jescar fretwire, a custom D’Angelico Shield tremolo tailpiece, and Grover locking tuners.
Elsewhere, players can find a Gold Tune-O-Matic bridge with Roller Saddles and a Graph Tech Tusq nut.
Gold locking strap buttons are also a handy, gig-ready feature, and a dual truss rod allows for easy action adjustments.
“I’ve been on an endless quest to find a tone that makes me really sit up and beg,” says Weir, who helped found The Grateful Dead in 1965. “I don’t remember where it was, but I was on stage at a soundcheck. I plugged it in, cranked it up, and said ‘this is it – this is what I’m looking for.’ I knew it.”
“Bobby is forever driven to go deeper and deeper into the mystery that is great guitar tone,” adds D'Angelico's EVP of Product Development, Ryan Kershaw. “We’ve been incredibly fortunate to join him on his never-ending journey, and I’m thrilled with the results that we got this time around. There’s no doubt that this is our best work yet – I hope it’s an inspiration to many players.”
To mark the hat trick of signature models, a limited run of 10 hand-signed guitars have been made available through select, USA-only dealers.
Succeeding the Bedford’s charity contributions, two of the Bobby Weir 3 signatures will be auctioned for Headcount, a non-partisan organization that uses music to promote democratic participation and encourage people to register to vote.
The D’Angelico Bobby Weir 3 costs $2,199, and is available in two colorways: Satin Trans Wine, and Matte Stone.
Head to D’Angelico for more information on the new signature guitar, and visit Headcount to learn more about Participation Row.
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