San Francisco — A long-standing custody fight over the famed guitars of the late Grateful Dead lead-man Jerry Garcia finally has ended, setting the stage for an auction of a storied � and intensely coveted � piece of rock history.
After nearly a year of on-again, off-again litigation, lawyers announced Monday that they had reached agreement on the ownership of the five instruments that had been handmade for Garcia by Bay Area luthier Doug Irwin, and then bequeathed back to their maker.
Under the agreement, two of the best-known guitars � nicknamed Wolf and Tiger for the shapes of their intricate inlays � will revert to Irwin, and two will stay with the Dead, which had argued that the instruments had been communally owned and not Garcia's to will away.
The fate of the fifth guitar is unclear. It is believed to have been given away by Garcia to a member of the original Dead crew named Ramrod, but lawyers on both sides say they have received conflicting stories about its whereabouts.
Garcia's bandmates have said they hope to make their instruments, known as Rosebud and Headless, a key display at Terrapin Station, a San Francisco museum they plan open.
Irwin, who has been destitute since he was nearly killed in a hit-and-run accident three years ago, says he will keep Wolf, which he custom-made for Garcia in 1973. But, he said, he will immediately put Tiger up for auction. The latter guitar was Garcia's signature instrument, and he played it almost daily for 11 years.
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