Grateful Dead sound

hey dudes, i can play about 14 full dead songs (i improvise my own solos-the ones that arent tabbed at least) but i was thinkin "how can i get this to sound more 'jerry-like'? can anybody help me out? or with the chords, they make me wonder too because alot of times it doesnt seem like Bob Weir was playing the chord, seems like it came from Pigpen/Brent Mydland/Vince Welnick/forgot the other guys name- anyways they were all pianists of the grateful dead, but 3 of them died so ya know...anyways back on track here, i heard somewhere that Grateful Dead tabs are only useful around the camfire, and that Bob Weir really doesnt play those chords ( like in 'i know you rider' D C G D, but he does in that one though), i heard that he plays out of the dorian scale usually when playing live. so , long story short, how can i get a grateful dead sound while keeping somewhat of a structure in my guitar playing?

for anybody that didnt know
bob weir- 'rhythm guitar player'
jerry garcia- if you dont know jerry garica...

how can a rhythm guitar player 'not' play rhythm?
i just checked one of my dead books that has pics in it, and sure enough, theres a pic of bob weir playin live, and guess what scale he's usin? the DORIAN!

[Edited by Incidents Happen on 12-30-2001 at 01:11 AM]

Best rhythm players react to the soloists notes. Best rhythm players actually try NOT to play the notes the piano player or the soloist are playing. So he tries to 'fill in the blanks' it takes time, and dedication to your craft.

As for Jerry GARCIA's sound, I don't know..

lalimacefolle is bang-on about good rhythm players. To get a different perspective, it may help to listen to the interplay of Steven Stills and David Crosby on the Creosby, Stills & Nash album. The 'rhythm' part is actually done by fingering a chord and picking individual strings. (Slow-mo Shredding? :D)

For Jerry's sound you could try to acquire the same gear, but I think the main ingredients are humbuckers and [u]fresh[/u] strings of medium gauge.

aah i see. well the rhythm part was out of curiousity, i want to be a lead player ( not a rhythm player, i already do rhythm).
anyways the guy that Jerry would buy his Guitars from (since like 1970) is prolly either dead or in Tennesee somewhere. So i think i'll just end up buying a Gibson Les Paul (Classic or standard, which one?), and get some real phat amp.

'last I heard Paul Reed Smith (PRS) was alive and well, and raking in obscene amounts of cash for his custom guitars.

And don't go knocking rhythm guitarists. It gets kinda lonely up on stage without your rhythm section. Do some research on a fella named Fred Green if you think rhythm guitar is just a matter of strumming chords!



[Edited by Lordathestrings on 12-30-2001 at 05:31 PM]

Joe PASS, you know that guy that was so good it was obscene, said that it was sad because all those new players could solo but could never play the backing track in a song, so he always had to do it.
You know, nobody is going to hire you, if you want to be a pro. If you go 'I can shred on the myxolydian mode, and then do some two handed stuff while I alternate pick the rest of the stuff with my thumb' the guy will hire you if you make the band sound better, and that implies 98% of the time playing good rhythm...

Originally posted by Lordathestrings
'last I heard Paul Reed Smith (PRS) was alive and well, and raking in obscene amounts of cash for his custom guitars.

And don't go knocking rhythm guitarists. It gets kinda lonely up on stage without your rhythm section. Do some research on a fella named Fred Green if you think rhythm guitar is just a matter of strumming chords!



[Edited by Lordathestrings on 12-30-2001 at 05:31 PM]

Jerry Garcia's guitars were made by a man named Doug Irwin, btw. And he's gotta be at least 50 somethin years old now...not prs.

im not knockin rhythm players, i just think lead is more interesting.

I'm sorry, man; I screwed up big-time. I had heard that his guitars were made by the same guy that did Santana's.

dont worry bout it. jerry's acoustic guitars (most of em at least) were Top end Takamine (sp?).
but all electrics were Irwin's.