GRATEFUL GUITARS
the same groundbreaking tools that Rick Turner first developed for the Dead in the early 1970s.
Adam Buchwald
■ Circle Strings Guitars
www. circlestrings. com Adam Buchwald of Circle Strings further expanded the Foundation’ s reach by crafting its first-ever custom acoustic gift. The instrument,
a master-grade dreadnought built from rare, century-old tonewoods including
Brazilian rosewood back and sides, with bindings and trim sourced from the legendary“ The Tree,” was presented to Eggy frontman Jake Brownstein in late 2024. Buchwald’ s reputation for elite craftsmanship is well-established in the Vermont luthier community, where Circle Strings has built for Phish’ s Trey
● Shown is the Circle / Languedoc G4, a distinctive hollow-body electric designed by Paul Languedoc and built exclusively by Circle Strings.
Anastasio and maintains a close collaborative relationship with the legendary engineer and luthier Paul Languedoc.
Ron Wickersham
■ Alembic Guitars
www. alembicguitars. com Alembic is the fountainhead of this entire movement. Conceived by Owsley Bear Stanley in the late 1960s to be the research arm of the Grateful Dead’ s sound experiments, Alembic was founded by Ron and Susan Wickersham in
1969. Rick Turner and Bob Matthews joined the company as its mission expanded. Today,
Ron and Susan continue to lead the company, with their daughter Mica serving as General Manager. The DNA of Alembic, from Ron’ s pioneering high-fidelity active electronics to Rick’ s hippie-sandwich woodworking and complex inlays, is woven into the work of every luthier in the Garcia lineage. In 2024, Alembic collaborated with the Foundation to create Amaris, a custom“ Little Darling” guitar gifted to John Kadlecik, and several other ambitious projects are currently in development.
● Shown is a custom“ The Eye of Horus,” an exquisite instrument that encapsulates much of what Alembic Guitars is doing today.
72 | SUMMER 2026