David Lindquist

IndyStar

Update: Grateful Dead bass player Phil Lesh spent time with Jerry Garcia's "Tiger" guitar Tuesday night at Lesh's California restaurant and music venue, Terrapin Crossroads. Chris McKinney made a photograph of Lesh holding the guitar that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay sent to San Francisco this week. Lesh is not part of the Dead & Company tour, which makes a June 17 stop at Noblesville's Klipsch Music Center.

Chris McKinney, curator of Jim Irsay's rare guitars and collectibles, traveled to San Francisco to let members of the Grateful Dead become reacquainted with one of the band's storied instruments.

Jerry Garcia's one-of-a-kind "Tiger" guitar was purchased by Irsay at auction for $957,000 in 2002. Garcia's death in 1995 brought the Grateful Dead era to a close, but his band mates Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart perform together as Dead & Company.

With the "Tiger" guitar available during Dead & Company rehearsals, Irsay and McKinney are opening the door for vocalist-guitarist John Mayer to play the instrument on upcoming concert dates. Reached in San Francisco this afternoon, McKinney said Mayer has yet to play the guitar.

The band, which also includes bass player Oteil Burbridge and keyboard player Jeff Chimenti, will play a free show tonight at the Fillmore, a 1,150-capacity venue in San Francisco. Dead & Company will perform on June 17 at Noblesville's Klipsch Music Center.

Tiger, the 1979 handiwork of California luthier Doug Irwin, has been displayed at the Indiana State Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Visitors to Irsay's office at Colts headquarters on 56th Street can see Tiger displayed in a cabinet behind the owner's desk.

One of the heavier guitars around (13.5 pounds), "Tiger" served as Garcia's primary guitar from 1979 to 1989 — when Irwin's "Rosebud" creation took over. Tiger is named for artwork on a plate that covers the guitar's wiring and a battery.

During a teleconference interview in April, founding Grateful Dead member Weir talked about Irsay's ownership of the guitar.

"You know, the guitar was made to be played," Weir said. "Even if it someday ends up in a museum, I think half the time it should be trotted out and played, because that’s what it was built to do. I know that Jerry would feel that way."

Dead & Company, Phish will play Klipsch Music Center

Weir said he'd be happy to hang out with Irsay, who purchased the original manuscript of Jack Kerouac's groundbreaking book "On the Road" for $2.46 million in 2001. Neal Cassady, whose adventures factor heavily in the manuscript, mentored Weir in the 1960s.

"Hopefully he’ll be in town when we come through Indianapolis," Weir said of Irsay.

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.