
“The first one I put my signature on the back of the headstock, I had to sit and look at it for a little bit, taking it in.”
Following a long road from Saskatchewan to California, this master builder lands in Corona, to painstakingly reproduce Jerry Garcia’s “Alligator’ and other gems.
Like everything in the Grateful Dead’s orbit, each of Jerry Garcia’s stage guitars has been pored over by Deadheads, with data on their usage rivalling baseball-stat-level analysis. Dedicated fans can hear the differences between each of these iconic instruments—not just because of their tones, but in the type of music and playing they inspired. So, it’s only natural that each 6-string has its own subset of fans. Some love to hear and see Wolf and Tiger—custom instruments built by Doug Irwin, both of which have their own merch, including T-shirts, hats, and miniature replicas. And some prefer Garcia’s deep-cut Travis Bean era. A large cadre of others prefer Alligator, the Stratocaster that Graham Nash gave to Garcia as the Dead embraced cleaner, country- and folk-inspired sounds.
Oddly enough, until now, some of the finer details about Alligator and its extensive modifications remained improbably unknown. A quick visual inspection will catch the brass control plate and unique bridge assembly, and maybe even the brass nut. The details of what lies inside, however, have been less reported. So, when Fender set out to create a Custom Shop Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster, master builder Austin MacNutt took on the monumental task of analyzing the finest nuances of the original in order to painstakingly recreate each and every one.
Master builder Austin MacNutt joined the Fender Custom Shop team in March 2022.
Photo by Han-Su Kim
When he took on the project, MacNutt was already familiar with Alligator and some of its unique attributes. “I’ve seen pictures of it,” he says, “but not detailed shots. There’s not a lot of great pictures of it from back in the day.” MacNutt was given one day to spend with the guitar and collect all the necessary data. “That day when we brought it in,” he recalls, “we opened it, and the room was just silent—everyone taking it in for a good minute or two before anyone even touched it. We pulled it out, put it on the table, and started taking it apart. To get to disassemble it is such an honor.”
MacNutt knew he had his work cut out for him. “There’s a lot of strange stuff on it,” he says. “It’s one of a kind, for sure. It was definitely a work in progress, like a test bed, where they’re trying out different things.” He took extensive notes and photos on everything from the guitar’s boost circuit and the unique metal bar that serves as a string retainer, to more refined details, like the scalloping on the brass nut and unique hammer-pattern on the control plate. “I was writing down how thick this thing is, what size this screw is, how long is this screw,” he explains. Surprisingly, when he disconnected the neck joint, MacNutt discovered that Alligator—believed to be a 1957 Strat—was actually assembled by ground-floor Fender employee Tadeo Gomez back in 1955.
“That day when we brought it in, we opened it, and the room was just silent—everyone taking it in for a good minute or two before anyone even touched it.”
Over the course of a couple months, MacNutt set about creating a prototype for a limited edition run of instruments. When we talked in mid-November, the production of those guitars was under way, and MacNutt sat at his computer with a rack of six in-progress Alligator builds behind him. When MacNutt talks about the process, his face lights up. It’s not lost on him that the Alligator model is a full-circle project with deep personal roots.
Growing up in a musical family in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, both of MacNutt’s parents played country music. His older brother is also a guitarist and helped Austin find his way to classic rock when he got started playing around the age of 11. While MacNutt’s first guitar was a Hondo Paul Dean II, it wasn’t the Loverboy guitarist’s signature model that really inspired him. It was his dad’s 1963 Fender Jaguar that was often laying around the house. He says he felt that the Jaguar was special even before he started playing.
MacNutt’s first build was a Tele copy with a Jerry Garcia-style flourish. Here, he works on an actual Fender Telecaster.
Photo by Han-Su Kim
“My dad tinkered on his stuff a lot,” he reminisces. “He worked in a music store. When I was real little, I have faint memories of being in the basement where all the parts are. It was always fascinating to me.” Austin took to tinkering at a young age and, after high school, he decided to attend the Guitar Craft Academy in Hollywood.
During the program, he built his first guitar, a Telecaster-style instrument with some auspicious modifications. He explains, “The bottom horn was kind of like some of Jerry Garcia’s Alembic builds, with the little thumb. Three P-90s, a wraparound bridge, the big Strat headstock on it, ebony build with no face dots. It was a lot of weird stuff. A lot of times, people’s first guitars are filled with strange choices.”
The folks at the Guitar Craft Academy must have noticed something special in Austin’s work, because once he finished the program, they offered him a job. “Before, I was working at a grocery store, saving up money to go there, and I didn’t know what I was gonna do next,” he explains. “At the end of it—honestly, I wasn’t even sure I was gonna stay in L.A.—they offered me a job.”
The painstakingly detailed Custom Shop Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster prototype.
Photo by Han-Su Kim
He found teaching to be a great experience. “It was a perfect opportunity,” he says with a warm, appreciative tone. “Not only did I get to work there, I kind of got to continue my education by continuing to keep the rate at which I was doing all that stuff up.” But that wasn’t the only opportunity that came from working at the Academy.
“We brought Ron Thorn [of L.A.’s Thorn Custom Guitars] in for a day, and he’d go over inlay work—he’s a master of inlay,” he says of the esteemed luthier. The two hit it off and Thorn invited the up-and-comer to join him at his shop. Starting first as a part-time employee, MacNutt eventually moved on after five years of teaching to join Thorn Custom Guitars full time. In the small, dedicated shop, MacNutt gained loads of new experience. “I was resawing wood, fretting, truing boards, picking the wood, gluing body blanks, whatever needed to get done,” he says. “I got to learn a lot of skills under the whole umbrella of guitar building.”
But in 2018, Ron Thorn took a job at Fender and closed his shop. MacNutt moved on to Xotic and also began running his own shop, where he focused on repair work. Along the way, he stayed in touch with his old boss. And when there was a position available in the shop, Thorn gave him a call. “I jumped at the chance,” MacNutt says.
“A lot of times, people’s first guitars are filled with strange choices.”
Last March, MacNutt joined Fender as a master builder and says there have been “whirlwind aspects of it, definitely diving in and just getting the lay of the land.” It’s not lost on him that, like many builders, his first build was a Telecaster copy, and now he gets to build the real thing. “The first one I put my signature on the back of the headstock,” he says, “I had to sit and look at it for a little bit, taking it in.”
By the time we spoke, about eight months later, MacNutt estimated he’d built about 100 Fenders. In the shop, he spends his days bouncing between various builds and says he gets to work on a nice variety of instruments. “It’s a good mix between spec pieces—things I want to build—and something a customer or a dealer has ordered,” he points out.
His favorite spec piece so far was a special one: a copy of his dad’s ’63 Jaguar. “I pitched it to a dealer, and they loved it,” he enthuses, “and they wanted me to go ahead and do it. I had my dad take pictures and send them to me. Nobody else knows that guitar, but it was special to be able to do that.” He adds that it was weird to play a copy of the guitar he’s admired for his entire life. “There’s a few paint chips on the back that I remember noticing when I was a kid. To see the paint chips on there, they’re strange.”
MacNutt and longtime Grateful Dead crewmember Steve Parish take a close look at the Alligator prototype.
Photo by Han-Su Kim
The Alligator project drew on the same inspired, detail-oriented skills. “When that opportunity came up, I knew the guitar,” he exclaims. “Ron pitched it to me, and immediately, I was on board.” While MacNutt was the expert on his dad’s Jaguar, he turned to former Grateful Dead crew member Steve Parish—who made some of the guitar’s modifications—to give his Alligator prototype an enthusiastic thumbs up (and there’s a video to prove it).
Re-creating the iconic Alligator has a unique angle. “To see a vintage Strat like that heavily modified, you’d never see that now,” he says, shaking his head. “But in the early ’70s, it was just an old guitar—‘Let’s hack it up, let’s customize it.’” And reproducing his reproduction is another endeavor. “Up until this point,” he says, “I’ve been building different guitars, and I relic them however I want them to look. Whereas with these, I’ve got a template that I stick to. That’s been a new experience. It’s fun the whole way through.”
Looking ahead, MacNutt sees a lot of builds in his future and is plotting out some new spec pieces. But he feels like the Alligator will loom large for quite some time. “I know that guitar pretty well at this point. I’ll come across a picture of it on a random Instagram post now, and it’s like, ‘Hey, there it is!’ It feels strangely like a part of me now.”
- Fender Announces the Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster ›
- Fender Custom Shop Introduces the Nile Rodgers Hitmaker Stratocaster ›
- Fender Custom Shop Releases Master Built George Harrison "Rocky" Stratocaster ›
- Fender Custom Shop Announces the Terry Kath Telecaster ›
- Fender Custom Shop Factory Tour Video - Premier Guitar ›
Explore two standouts to take your Fingerstyle guitar playing to the next level! PG contributor Tom Butwin demos the Walden G270RCE and the Riversong Stylist DLX, showcasing their unique features and sound.
An all-analog ’60s-inspired tremolo marries harmonic and optical circuits that can be used independently or blended to generate phasey, throbbing magic.
Spans practical, convincing vintage trem tones and the utterly weird. Hefty build quality.
Big footprint. Can’t switch order of effects.
$299
Jackson Audio Silvertone Twin Trem
jackson.audio
Almost any effect can be used subliminally or to extremes. But tremolo is a little extra special when employed at its weirder limits. Unlike reverb or delay, for instance, which approximate phenomena heard in the natural world, tremolo from anything other than an amp or pedal tends to occur in the realm of altered states—suggesting the sexy, subterranean, and dreamy. Such moods can be conjured with any single tremolo. Put two together, though, and the simply sensual can be surreal. Modify this equation by mating two distinctly different tremolo types, and the possible sound pictures increase manifold.
The all-analog, U.S.-built Jackson Audio Silvertone Twin Trem accomplishes this by combining a syrupy harmonic tremolo—the likes of which you’d hear from an early-1960s brown-panel Fender amp—and an optical tremolo like that in a Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve amp or black-panel Fender. Both effects can be used independently, but it’s when the two are blended that the Twin Trem shines.
Doppelganger Effect
The Twin Trem’s optical and harmonic circuits are obviously not identical twins, but each is operated via its own 3-knob array consisting of speed, depth, and a smaller volume knob that will boost or cut the output of the individual circuit. Both tremolo types modulate at speeds slower than what you hear in amplifier equivalents. I don’t have a Silvertone Twin Twelve tremolo on hand for comparison. But the slowest speed from a mid-1960s Fender optical tremolo matched the rate of the Twin Trem’s optical circuit at about the midpoint of its range. At its slowest, the optical side will cycle through minimum and maximum volume in just a little under a full second, which feels molasses-slow, stretching and enhancing the ramping effect. Maximum speeds on the Twin Trem are closer to the maximum on the old Fender. But that’s still a pretty rapid modulation rate and the Twin Trem’s range-y depth controls make fast modulations sound extra alien.
If you’re sensitive to such things, the dedicated volume controls are great for overcoming the perceived volume drop that goes with any tremolo. There’s much more gain available than what you need for that purpose, and slathering on the volume gives the pulses a burly quality that’s tough but can obscure some nuance. The ability to create disparate volumes for each circuit means you can slightly foreground one tremolo type or the other, opening up an even wider tone palette and highlighting unique interrelationships between modulations.
Double Shots Make Dizzy Daze
The Twin Trem’s optical tremolo side (if you open up the back you can watch the pulsing diode that activates the opto-resistor) exhibits the throbbing tendencies one associates with black-panel Fender amplifiers. In fact, the Twin Trem sounds uncannily like the old Vibrolux I used for this test, but with more speed, range, and intensity. On its own, it’s a convincing stand-in for a 1960s Fender, Gibson, or Silvertone circuit.
One of the coolest things about the harmonic tremolo is how it often doesn’t sound like tremolo at all. In a harmonic tremolo circuit, high and low-frequency bands are split and volume-attenuated out of phase from each other, creating a bubblegum elasticity in the modulations. At slow speeds the harmonic tremolo’s phasey attributes take center stage (clip 1). And though the modulation texture is less swirling than what a simple phaser produces, the more vowel-like pulses lend a sleepy, mysterious aura to the modulation.
Though I did not use the pedal in stereo, I did utilize the effects loop, inserting a delay between the harmonic and optical tremolo, creating a little extra wash in the harmonic tremolo sweeps (clip 2). You can go crazy with possibilities here: How about inserting a multiple-tape-head-style delay for maximum syncopated mayhem? But the most traditional application for the effects loop is to simulate the reverb-into-tremolo order found in many mid-1960s amps. Again, it’s a great option when you need ’60s reverb/tremolo combo amp vibes and there’s no such animal around.Audio clip 2, which showcases the Twin Trem’s effects loop, also captures the two tremolos working together. And even at this fast-twitching speed you can hear the phaser-like wash softening the front end of the harder optical pulses that are situated downstream. Some dual-trem settings can produce chaos. But the best ones are thick, eerie, and propulsive in ways that can completely transform a song’s ambience.
The Verdict
The Twin Trem is just short of 300 bucks, and it’s easy to rationalize such a significant expense when you consider that you get two distinct tremolo sounds that you can mix, match, and switch between very readily. Maximizing the investment probably requires a little extra thirst for the unusual. Not all combined settings are money. Some rhythmic syncopations will drive you batty, and without the benefit of digital control you can disappear down little rabbit holes trying to find an elusive, perfect subdivision between modulation tempos or replicating a texture you found the previous week. It’s also too bad that you can't switch the order of the circuits. These are very minor traps, however. In general, the Twin Trem is forgiving and easy to use. And if you get in a meditative place with the pedal, and let it do the driving from time to time, the riffs will practically write themselves.
Bonnaroo announces its 2025 lineup featuring Luke Combs, Hozier, Queens of the Stone Age, Avril Lavigne, and more.
This year features headline performances from Luke Combs on Thursday, Tyler, The Creator on Friday, Olivia Rodrigo on Saturday, and Hozier on Sunday. Further highlights include John Summit, Dom Dolla, Avril Lavigne, Glass Animals, Vampire Weekend, Justice, Queens of the Stone Age, and the first-ever Roo Residency with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard performing three sets over three days. In addition, Remi Wolf will lead the “Insanely Fire 1970’s Pool Party” 2025 SuperJam, Bonnaroo’s legendary tradition. The complete Bonnaroo 2025 lineup is below.
Bonnaroo tickets go on sale tomorrow, Thursday, January 9 beginning at 10 am (CT) exclusively via bonnaroo.com. Guaranteed lowest-priced tickets are available during the first hour of sales, from 10 am - 11 am (CT). 2025 ticket options include 4-Day General Admission, 4-Day GA+, 4-Day VIP, and 4-Day Platinum, along with a variety of camping and parking options starting at just $25 down with a payment plan.
The 2025 festival will offer some exciting new features for Bonnaroovians, including the “Closer” RV and Primitive Camping accommodations that guarantee closer proximity to Centeroo, regardless of which day fans choose to enter The Farm. Among this year’s most exciting additions will be The Infinity Stage, a brand-new, one-of-a-kind venue – presented in partnership with Polygon Live – boasting spatial sound, synchronized lights, and an unprecedented three-dome, open-air design to create the world’s largest, most immersive, 360° live music experience.
Bonnaroo also offers upgraded ticket types for those who prefer an elevated experience. GA+ tickets include unlimited access to the Centeroo GA+ Lounge, with relaxed seating, dedicated food for purchase, air-conditioned restrooms, and hospitality staff to assist with all festival needs; a private bar with drinks for purchase plus complimentary soft drinks; complimentary water refill station; a dedicated premium entrance lane at both gates into Centeroo, and more. VIP and Platinum guests will enjoy the same perks plus additional exclusive upgrades, including dedicated close-in and on-field viewing areas; unlimited access to VIP and Platinum Lounges; express lanes at the Festival Store, commemorative festival gifts, and so much more. To learn more about VIP and Platinum, please seehttp://www.bonnaroo.com/tickets.
A wide range of Camping & Parking options will be available in Outeroo including Primitive Car Camping, Glamping, RVs, Backstage Camping, Accessible Camping, Groop Camping, Community Camping, and more. Premium Outeroo Camping Accommodations include pre-pitched Souvenir Tents, cool and comfortable Darkroom Tents, weatherproof Luxury Bell Tents, and spacious 2-person Wood Frame Safari Tents for the ultimate Bonnaroo camping experience. Cosmic Nomads On-Site Daily Parking passes will be available for ticketholders not camping. For details on all accommodation options, please visitwww.bonnaroo.com/accommodations.
Complete Lineup
THURSDAY, JUNE 12
Luke Combs
Dom Dolla
Sammy Virji
Marcus King
Green Velvet
2hollis
Insane Clown Posse
Joey Valence & Brae
Daniel Donato's Cosmic Country
Wilderado
Max Styler
Azzecca
The Lemon Twigs
Wisp
Sofia Isella
Kitchen Dwellers
Dogs In A Pile
Die Spitz
Hey, Nothing
The Droptines
FRIDAY, JUNE 13
Tyler, the Creator
John Summit
Glass Animals
Tipper
Goose
The Red Clay Strays
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Megadeth
Wallows
Foster the People
Slightly Stoopid
Flipturn
Of the Trees
JPEGMAFIA
Marina
Tape B
MJ Lenderman
BossMan Dlow
INZO
Levity
Mannequin Pussy
Leon Thomas
Cults
Aly & AJ
Matt Champion
Detox Unit
Rachel Chinouriri
Eater
Ginger Root
Bebe Stockwell
Effin
SATURDAY, JUNE 14
Olivia Rodrigo
Avril Lavigne
Justice
Nelly
GloRilla
Mt. Joy
RL Grime
Beabadoobee
Tyla
Jessie Murph
Modest Mouse
Gorgon City
Flatland Cavalry
Hot Mulligan
Action Bronson
Crankdat
Dope Lemon
Gigi Perez
Wave to Earth
Claptone
Jade Cicada
What So Not
Daði Freyr
Ziggy Alberts
ROSSY
Destroy Boys
The Stews
Thee Sinseers & The Altons
AHEE
SUNDAY, JUNE 15
Hozier
Vampire Weekend
Queens of the Stone Age
LSZEE
Remi Wolf
Raye
Royel Otis
Dispatch
Role Model
Barry Can't Swim
Treaty Oak Revival
Big Gigantic
Jack's Mannequin
ATLiens
Bilmuri
Saint Motel
James Arthur
Alex Warren
Zingara
Natasha Bedingfield
Alexandra Kay
Goldie Boutilier
Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge
GorillaT
YDG
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Roo Residency: 3 Sets, 3 Days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday)
Remi Wolf’s Insanely Fire 1970’s Pool Party Superjam (Saturday)
The fast-rising Okies use solid-state amp heads, baritone guitars, and a bit of Peavey magic to bring their nightmare-rock to life.
Oklahoma City sludge rockers Chat Pile have had a busy few years. Their 2022 LP, God’s Country, broke them internationally, and their critically acclaimed 2024 follow-up, Cool World, solidified them as one of the most exciting heavy bands of the moment. We spoke with bassist Stin and guitarist Luther Manhole about the record for our November 2024 issue.
Now, we bring you the band’s first official Rig Rundown, filmed ahead of their show at The End in Nashville last fall. Tune in to see how Stin and Luther conjure the band’s brutal soundstorms on the road.
Brought to you by D’Addario.
Bari Blast
Manhole’s main machine is this baritone 6-string, an Ernie Ball Music Man BFR Axis Super Sport, finished in “starry night.” Luther took a tip from tourmate and Agriculture guitarist Richard Chowenhill and slapped some tape over his neck pickup near the first string to prevent it from catching on the edge of the humbucker. It’s tuned to drop A, with Ernie Ball Mammoth Slinky strings.
Quite the Quilter
Back at home, Luther and Stin lean on big vintage amps, but on the road, Luther brings out this Quilter Tone Block 202, which is plugged into an Ampeg VT-40 combo amp that’s been gutted to run just as a 4x10 cabinet. Luther digs the icier, cutting tone from the 10″ speakers.
Luther Manhole's Board
Manhole’s board is minimalist: All he needs is a TC Electronic PolyTune, a Suhr Riot for dirt, an Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy (which is set for a wobbly chorus effect), and a TC Electronic Hall of Fame for reverb—pedals he’s used for over a decade. An Acoustic PBIS08 supplies the quartet with power.
Peavey Power
Around 2007, Stin went on a hunt around Oklahoma music shops for a Peavey T-40. He finally found one—in a total “Wayne’s World moment”—that belonged to a country singer who had passed away. Since the band’s formation, this “hot and clangy” white T-40 has been Stin’s tool for crafting Chat Pile’s elephantine, bottom-heavy sound. He uses the 5-string Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalts (.060–.125), omitting the .040 string, and plucks with orange Ernie Ball Everlast .73 mm picks for strong, percussive attack.
Building Blocks
Stin’s signal runs to this Quilter Bass Block 802, which blasts through a Trace Elliot 4x10 redline cab with horns—the cab that’s been used on every Chat Pile recording to date.
Stin's Board
Stin probably thinks Manhole’s board is excessive. He packs just his Boss TU-3 and a Tronographic Rusty Box, each with their own individual power supply plugged into a power bar that’s fixed to the board.