In the realm of iconic guitars, few instruments are as revered and storied as “Wolf,” the brainchild of luthier Doug Irwin, crafted for the legendary Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Delivered in May 1973, this masterpiece, named for its distinctive wolf inlay, was more than just a guitar; it was a testament to Irwin’s innovative design and Garcia’s quest for sonic perfection. For the sum of $1,500, Wolf embarked on a journey that would etch its name into guitar history.
The genesis of Wolf, designated #007 by Irwin, began in May 1972. Informed by Alembic’s earlier experiences with balance issues in guitar design, Irwin ingeniously conceived an asymmetrical body for Wolf, ensuring exceptional balance and playability. He meticulously drafted an original design and fashioned a master plexiglas template to shape the body’s contours. At its heart, the body core is constructed from amaranth, more commonly known as purpleheart, a wood sourced from the Guyana’s in Northeast South America. Renowned for its strength, purpleheart surpasses all other wood species in stiffness, as rigorously tested by the U.S. Forestry Department. Initially grey when cut, purpleheart undergoes a striking transformation upon light exposure, gradually turning a vibrant purple hue over months. Crucially, this rich color remains steadfast, neither bleeding into the finish nor exhibiting oily or waxy characteristics. Purpleheart’s excellent gluing properties, particularly with Franklin “Titebond” wood glue, further solidified its place as the body’s core. The body is further enhanced by laminations of four 1/28-inch thick sheets of maple and purpleheart on both sides, adding to its tonal complexity and visual appeal.
The guitar’s top and back are crafted from bookmatched curly western maple. Irwin astutely recognized the distinct properties of West Coast maple, grown in milder climates, compared to its East Coast counterpart, shaped by colder winters. This nuanced understanding of tonewood characteristics informed his selection process. The neck, a crucial structural element, runs seamlessly through the body’s core. It is constructed from a lamination of fiddleback maple and purpleheart, further contributing to the guitar’s resonant and stable neck. The peghead of Wolf showcases an overlay of multiple 1/28-inch thick sheets of maple and purpleheart on both sides. Each piece is meticulously turned 180 degrees, alternating the grain direction for enhanced strength and visual dynamism. This peghead is ingeniously attached to the neck’s back with a “tongue” of this overlay extending past the first fret, a design choice that not only creates a visually striking detail but also significantly reinforces a traditionally vulnerable area. The fingerboard, made of premium gaboon ebony, features twenty-four frets. It is elegantly bound on each side with four laminations of maple, purpleheart, and ebony. Irwin’s meticulous fretwork is evident in the fret slots, cut precisely to the binding’s edge but not through it. Each fret wire, a special nickel-silver alloy from Dunlap, is notched at the ends, ensuring only the fret top reaches the fingerboard edge. This innovative technique eliminates the feel of fret ends, resulting in an exceptionally fast and smooth neck. The fret wire itself is wider than Fender’s and narrower than Gibson’s, and notably harder than both. Sterling silver marker dots adorn the neck’s left side, while a delicate layer of marquetry, crafted from minuscule pieces of 1/28″ thick holly dyed with annelid dyes, adds a subtle visual flourish beneath the binding.
Wolf’s string scale measures 25 inches. The fingerboard inlays are crafted from African ivory, with the exception of the first fret, which features a mother-of-pearl inlay. Irwin designed Wolf with a versatile pickup plate system, allowing for a wide array of pickup configurations. Initially, it was equipped with three Fender Stratocaster pickups. Recognizing Garcia’s penchant for sonic exploration, Irwin also provided a second pickup plate designed for humbuckers (hum-canceling dual-coil pickups). The 1970s were a period of rapid evolution in guitar pickup technology, and Garcia frequently experimented with different pickups on his guitars. While he was open to trying new options, once he found a set he favored, he tended to stick with it. However, Garcia occasionally felt that older pickups would become “tired,” prompting Irwin to replace them with fresh sets.
The pickup selection on Wolf is managed by a five-position Stratocaster-style switch, offering front, middle, or rear pickup selections, as well as combinations of the middle pickup with either the front or rear. The guitar features a master volume control and individual tone controls for the middle and front pickups. Two subminiature switches positioned side-by-side function as pickup coil switches, offering further tonal shaping possibilities. Wolf is equipped with two 1/4-inch phone jacks. One jack provides a direct output to an amplifier, while the other connects to Garcia’s effects loop, with the master volume positioned after the effects loop. An additional subminiature switch toggles the effects loop in or out of the signal path. The electronics cavity, accessible via the back plate, is shielded with silver print to minimize electromagnetic interference. Chrome-nickel tuning machines and the bridge, sourced from Schaller in West Germany, ensure tuning stability and reliable performance. The switch plate, pickup plate, back plate, and guitar serial number plate (located on the peghead’s back) are all meticulously crafted from solid brass and finished with chrome-nickel plating.
Historically significant, Wolf’s peghead was initially faced with Brazilian rosewood and adorned with a large peacock inlay, crafted from abalone, mother-of-pearl, brass, and ivory. This guitar was the first to feature Irwin’s distinctive peghead shape, a hallmark he continues to use. The peacock motif was chosen as a temporary embellishment, predating Irwin’s decision to adopt the eagle as his company logo. It is this original peacock-inlaid version of Wolf that graces the cover of Garcia’s solo album “Compliments of Garcia,” immortalizing its early form.
Several years after its delivery, Wolf endured a couple of mishaps during a Grateful Dead European tour. The first, a fifteen-foot fall onto concrete, left the guitar unscathed. However, a subsequent incident resulted in a minor crack in the peghead. When Garcia eventually returned Wolf to Irwin for repair, the crack was indeed minor. While repairing the crack was straightforward, having the guitar back in his workshop prompted Irwin to reassess his initial inlay work. This led him to reface the peghead with ebony and replace the peacock with his signature eagle inlay, cut from mother-of-pearl.
During this repair period, Irwin also noticed the guitar needed refinishing. He seized the opportunity to inlay the wolf motif into the body and completely refinish the instrument, giving it the definitive “Wolf” moniker it is known by today.
When Irwin delivered the newly finished “Wolf” to Garcia in May 1973, he eagerly awaited his reaction. Garcia was instantly delighted. After playing it for just five minutes, he surprised Irwin by asking him to build another guitar. When Irwin inquired about Garcia’s preferences for the next instrument, Garcia simply replied that Irwin already knew what he liked in a guitar, urging him to create it as he saw best, irrespective of cost, with the instruction, “don’t hold back.” This commission was a dream for any luthier. The profound satisfaction of delivering one’s work and receiving such enthusiastic appreciation transcends the notion of mere labor. “Don’t hold back”… this was a directive that promised exciting creative possibilities.
On September 28, 1977, “Wolf” returned to Irwin’s workshop for the addition of a buffer/effects loop, while retaining its original three single-coil pickups. In mid-1978, Wolf underwent a pickup change, receiving new Dimarzio pickups: a Dual Sound in the bridge position, a Dual Sound in the middle, and an SDS-1 in the neck position. In an unexpected turn, Wolf briefly emerged from retirement in 1988 to serve as a testbed for MIDI synthesizer experiments, showcasing its enduring versatility and adaptability.
