Jerry Garcia’s McIntosh amp

Y’all sound like you may already know but there’s a great book called Grateful Dead Gear (with lots of photos) that chronicles everyone’s rigs and their changes. 

@rh67 how was working with (or more like ‘under’) Owsley? Assuming you got to. Was he as bossy as they say? I have a funny theory that the Dead had that lil bit of extra magic in ‘72 because Bear (RIP) was in prison, so his abrasive vibe wasn’t swirling around. Probably a silly theory but I always think of Bobby and Phil yelling at Bear from the stage to stop f-ing with the monitors and the arguments he had with Steve and ramrod, etc. 

@doug714 Jerry the cat!! That’s awesome! 

@doug714 thank you. Spares me from embarrassing him; something I was cocked and ready to do this morning. Some people are just simple minded with no nuanced thinking. Unlike Jerry. 

@acefqctory, have you listened to much from 1972? Barring personal opinions —and I don’t want to turn this great thread into a debate— but it’s hard to deny there is something special and something unlike any other year happening in ‘72. A telepathic locomotive of shared melody morphing on another level, imo...
 I just thought I add this in case any newbies or unfamiliar-yet-interested parties are reading. 

Agree about the early ‘70’s. 1970 and ‘71 have some darn clear sounding recordings. I so wish it didn’t take the crew almost 6 months after Bear went to jail to get it together and start recording without him or we’d have more from ‘71. And yep, ‘73 and ‘74 are distinct. Clear, bold and up close sounding.
There are certainly better sources than others for some shows and limited with others but far from all poor sounding. If one isn’t used to audience or raw soundboards then stick to the officially mastered multitrack release. We’re not talking Chesky here, but darn good for what they are... All ya need for the Dead is a linear balanced system with good organic flow and the music will do its magic regardless of recording quality (to an extent).

One of my most favorite Dead videos ever is the 6-21-71 Chateau d’Herouville Herouville France. Excellent time capsule of a great performance.  And the YT account Voodoonola (there is also voodoonola2) seemed to me at one point, to be the official ‘unofficial’ GD video drop account, including many remastered sets and full shows, and a good handful of early footage, if you scroll through everything.