Article Contributed by Gabriel David Barkin
Published on 2026-04-23
Auctioneer Kody Frederick | The Box - SF | April 22nd, 2026 - photos by Gabriel David Barkin
Hundreds of historic items from the personal collections of Jerry Garcia’s daughter Trixie and longtime Grateful Dead roadies “Big Steve” Parish and Lawrence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff were auctioned yesterday in San Francisco. “Treasures From The Golden Road” featured over 300 lots of items including sound gear, instruments, backstage passes, handwritten set lists, original Jerry Garcia artwork, vintage t-shirts, and more.
The “big ticket” items included several guitars and other stringed instruments owned by Garcia, including these gems (the high-bid sale prices shown include the 28% auction fees):
• A 1939 Gibson Super 400N archtop guitar Garcia used on recording sessions with David Grisman (including the duo’s 1993 album Not for Kids Only) and in the video for “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (from the soundtrack for Wayne Wang's 1995 movie Smoke). SALE PRICE $256,000.
• An Alvarez-Yairi DY 74CJG acoustic guitar, custom made for Jerry Garcia in 1988 by renowned Japanese luthier Kazuo Yairi. Garcia appeared in an Alvarez ad holding this model. SALE PRICE $256,000.
• An Alvarez Denver Belle Whyte Eagle banjo. SALE PRICE $224,000.
• A 1988 Dobro Model 64 square neck resonator guitar with “Tree of Life” fretboard inlay. (Auction notes said, “As far as we can surmise, this instrument never made it to the stage.”) SALE PRICE $44,800.
With no charitable beneficiary listed in the auction promotional materials, it’s fair to assume the proceeds are going directly to Big Steve, Ram Rod, and Trixie. For the roadies, consider it a pension. For the younger Garcia, an inheritance. But perhaps there’s more to it.
Trixie Garcia explained her impetus for the auction this way:
“After the Grateful Dead 60th in Golden Gate Park, I was like, ‘I have these fucking instruments that are like little prisoners in my house that aren't getting any love or playtime.’ It was a mentality change for me. I wanted my instruments to be played.”
It’s uncertain whether the new owners of Garcia’s guitars will share them with musicians. Time will tell.
“I wasn’t going to make it a contractual obligation, but it’s my hope that these things get out and get played,” Garcia said.
Parish echoed Garcia’s sentiment.
“We don't want these guitars to sit in their cases and never be played.”
He went further down that path, adding:
“My whole life on the road started in 1968 with [the Dead]. Ram Rod and I were both what you call ‘pack rats.’ We kept everything, you know? And we were lucky enough to eventually have barns and garages to put it all in. So we have all this stuff – and our kids, they’re never gonna be able to deal with it.”
Bidders were happy to take this stuff off their hands. The interest in collectible items with a direct or even tangential connection to musical history has peaked in recent years.
In March, Garcia’s “Tiger” sold for a bid price of over $11 million – and it was not even the most expensive item purchased that day. (A guitar owned by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd topped out at over $14 million.)
To his credit, and in line with the younger Garcia’s and Parish’s wishes for the guitars sold yesterday, purchaser Bobby Tseitlin didn’t just put “Tiger” in a cage. Derek Trucks played the famous beast on stage several times during the following weeks.
But it’s not just the marquee items that attracted buyers. A nondescript, off-the-rack black leather belt worn by Garcia sold for $1,600.
A white plastic scooter helmet owned by Garcia and featuring sticker remnants and various doodles by Jerry (“with chin strap”) exceeded the high pre-auction estimate of $800 by over 450%.
Some buyers may just want to own something that once belonged to their musical hero. Others may see it as an investment.
Other items might have more distinctive value. Garcia’s 1975 Mesa Boogie Mark I guitar amplifier was used on stage and then found a home in his living room. The wooden case was marked by cigarette burns and stains.
Parish said this was a common feature of items owned by Garcia:
“When you look at all [Trixie’s] dad's stuff, he always had a cigarette. Even if you look inside some of his paperwork, there’s his cigarette. Cigarette burns on everything.”
Other items of note included a Dusty Strings harp owned and presumably played by Garcia, Ram Rod’s own RIAA Platinum Sales Award for Workingman's Dead, a set of Steal-Your-Face imprinted golf balls, and several original Garcia airbrush artworks, each of those selling for between $2,880 and $16,000.
The auction was held at The Box, an event venue on Howard Street. Parish and Trixie Garcia were in attendance, along with about a dozen bidders. Most of the bidding came from online and phone-in collectors. Several of the items being sold were on display in the event space throughout the day.
The first item up for bid was a California auto license plate that said HES GONE. Auctioneer Kody Frederick brought down the hammer and sold it for a bid of $1,200 (plus fees).
This was the first of several license plates up for sale that were “thrown onto the stage” at Dead shows and recovered by Parish. Others included DARKSTAR (NY, top bid $1,250), SUGAREE (WA, $900), and AIKO (SC, $800).
A cowbell played by Mickey Hart at the closing of Winterland topped out at $6,400.
Parish, sitting in the back of the room, provided commentary before bidding opened:
“We had to weld the seams for Mickey so they wouldn’t rattle... Mickey didn’t like it, so we peeled it off. He said it was distracting.”
That wasn’t the only time Parish added background information. For one amplifier, he chimed in with corrections when the auctioneer attributed an amplifier to the wrong user.
“No, that was Lesh’s amp. This is a tube amp, [Bobby’s and Jerry’s] were solid states.”
In the end, all the years combine and melt into … an auction.
As the song says, “Nothing comes for free; there's nothing you can hold for very long.” Maybe not, but you can certainly pay a high price and hold onto it until you die — or at least until the next auction.
And perhaps during that stretch, you can share the love.
Trixie Garcia would be happy to know that caring for these items means sharing too. In fact, she’s on a mission to make this happen.
“I wrote a letter to the Grateful Dead board and asked them to take [Jerry Garcia’s] guitars out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”
“Everyone, and my dad especially, hated museums – and it's such a dead space for a musical instrument, right? Because again, it's no life for these guitars.”
“It’s like that orca that’s trapped in a swimming pool in Florida.”
Big Steve concurred.
“Auctions are fun, but it’s the memories that are priceless.”
