Background
I have been a Grateful Dead fan for the past 17 years of my life. It was indeed a slow burn for how much I would appreciate the cosmic genius of Jerry and co. Like many I started with the Workingman’s Dead / American beauty Era. I gravitated to that era due to my love for groups like CSNY and Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne. The great songwriting, good harmonies and inventive leads drew me in. I then dove head first into the live shows. My first live record was Europe 72 and then live Dead. After those records I could really see what the fuss was about.
As I grew older I became more fascinated with Jazz, and decided that would be my path in college. While my record collection grew with the likes of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and all things John McLaughlin, many of my friends suggested I try giving the Dead’s mid seventies records Wake of the flood, Blues for Allah and Terrapin Station for size. To my surprise I was floored by how much the band had grown since 72. The songs were more complex and Jerry’s playing seemed to have grown leaps and bounds. Another thing that captured my ear was the 76-77 shows tone was so different. There was a fat, warm, but bright reverb drenched tone that made me smile ear to ear. After some google searches and photo archives I found a Jerry wielding a strange looking guitar with an aluminum neck. This caused me to go into a deep dive to figure out what this strange instrument was. Low and behold it was a Travis Bean TB-500 with some modifications for Jerry. This would include a third middle pickup and an Onboard effects loop.
Jerry would use this guitar for the majority of 76 and the spring runs of 77. He would then switch back to his newly modified wolf. While his time using the Travis Bean would be short compared to his use of Wolf or Tiger, but there remains a lot of reverence for those 76 and spring 77 shows. Lots of Jerry disciples would try to recreate these tones with Kramer knock offs or if they had the means by purchasing an orignal Travis Bean. Today there are a few more options to achieve the famous Travis bean Tones. When Eastwood guitars announced they would be doing a tribute series to Jerry Garcia, my inner Deadhead face was stolen right off my head (see what I did there..). They announced first a Wolf tribute, and later on a Tiger and finally a Travis Bean Tribute.
I have been a fan of the design and quality of Eastwood guitars since I had first played one of their Stratotone H44 tribute guitars many years ago. I agreed with their ethos of making vintage style guitars with modern playability at attainable price point. Since being a fan of Eastwood, I decided to reach out to Michael Robinson (CEO) of Eastwood and offer my services of reviewing and making content for the Grateful Dead guitars. Having been a Jerry Garcia Disciple, I knew I could approximate the Jerry spirit in these instruments. Unfortunately a pandemic had stopped production for Eastwood which made all the Grateful Dead Tribute guitars back ordered and Mike had sent me a TBD on when I could receive a model to demo. Two years later I received an email asking if I was still interesting in making some demos/Content. I couldn’t respond yes fast enough. Within two weeks the ETB-500 was at my doorstep.
Hands On
I felt like a kid on Christmas day opening up the box that would reveal the new shiny white ETB500. Eastwood was kind enough to also send a gig bag with the instrument, which is both comfortable and solid. Upon my first feel of the neck, the profile felt like a vintage C. Not too thick, but not a toothpick either. I will preface this review that this guitar doesn’t have an aluminum neck, but a silver painted neck to replicate that look. In order to do the aluminum neck the price point would be at least triple the costs, which as stated above is not Eastwoods Ethos. The frets were in great shape, no sharp ends or uneven frets. I can safely say I have paid double the amount for a guitar that didn’t have nearly the nice fret job that this ETB500 has . After feeling and inspecting the neck, I looked at the unique switching system. A toggle switch for each pickup. This model has 3 custom voiced P-90s. I would put them between a Jazzmaster and Gibson style P-90. Warm, Articulate and plenty of high end. After a good play through of each pickup, I gave the Onboard Effects Loop (OBEL) a try with a chorus pedal, phaser, and of course some Mu-Tron Style filter love. This essentially allows an unadulterated sound for any effect within the loop. For Mu-Tron style pairs this is essential in order to trigger the filter. The guitar was relatively light compared to my heritage H150 ( les Paul style). Access to the 22 frets is similar to an SG or a double cut les Paul. Playing through a Durham SAM 15 ( Tweed style) and additonal reverb got me very close to the spirit of those 76-77 shows.
Specs
Body: Solid Mahogany
Neck: Set Maple Neck
Fingerboard: Rosewood, Dot Markers
Scale Length: 24 3/4"
Width at Nut: 1 11/16"
Pickups: 3x Custom-Wound SCs
Switching: 3 Mini on/off switches
Controls: OBEL Effects Loop, Master Volume, Neck Tone, Middle/Bridge Tone
Bridge: Vintage S-Style
Hardware: Grover Imperial Style
Strings: GHS #10
Final Word
Playing the Eastwood ETB500 brought a grin that stretched Ear to ear, as I played along to those wonderful 76 and 77 shows. I also used this guitar in other musical contexts that were non dead related and it excelled in that as well. While most folks would label this as a Jerry only style guitar, I would politely beg to differ. Whether its Indie rock or surf or the music of the Grateful Dead, you will be inspired to keep creating or recreating music.
A link to the video review
Link for purchase
https://eastwoodguitars.com/products/eastwood-etb500#features-specs