I saw Umphrey's McGee last night at Red Rocks and both Jake Cinniger and the lead singer for the opener, Moon Taxi, played Jerry's white Travis Bean for a few songs.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/07/u3a4yjav.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/07/ubysaqe3.jpg)
Why him? How did it sound, he sound?
I don't know what the deal was and why it was there. I'm pretty sure it isn't owned by either band. But I do know the UM guitar tech. He was kinda busy last night, but I've got a message to him today to try to find out more.
It sounded great. Couldn't tell much during Moon Taxi's set, but the UM tune it was used on was a quieter piece (for UM) and it sounded really nice. It's such an unusual guitar. I'd love to try it out.
For those that don't know much about this guitar:
"It features an aluminum neck (a design pioneered by Bean), three single-coil pickups and Garcia's onboard effects loop. This guitar was the first to employ the onboard effects loop, which was later incorporated into all of Garcia's guitars."
http://www.guitarworld.com/jerry-garcias-travis-bean-tb500-guitar-be-auctioned-december?page=1
Apparently a friend of Jake's owns the Bean guitar and brought it to the show so they could play it.
I heard from the guitar tech, who did get to play it. He said it was super heavy but had fun just doing a bunch of Jerry licks. He said he *thinks* the owner is a friend of someone in Moon Taxi. He did meet the owner. Doesn't sound like anyone in UM knew the guy before Saturday.