D’Angelico has unveiled its third signature guitar for the Grateful Dead co-founder and Dead & Company’s Bob Weir, and it is a peach. The Deluxe Bobby Weir 3 is a high-end semi-hollow, and at first it is only available as a strictly limited edition, with just 10 instruments being released to the public.
All of these come signed by Weir himself, and are available solely in the USA, direct from D’Angelico. A further two will be auctioned off to support Headcount, a charity that supports democratic participation through music.
But there is good news for everyone else. The waiting list is open for the regular production run – and these, at $2,199 are still high-end electric guitars. We would also expect some even more affordable Premier versions of this model to come out in due course, with these typically retailing for around the $999 that the Bob Weir Premier Bedford sold for upon its launch in 2020.
As they say, there is a lot of guitar for the money here. The gold hardware on the Matte Stone and Satin Trans Wine finishes is a fancy but works a treat.
But it’s the Deluxe Bobby Weir 3's pickups and how they are wired that are the big talking point. We have a pair of custom TV Jones “DA-Tron” humbuckers at the neck and bridge positions.
There are individual 500K tone and volume controls for each, a three-way selector rotary dial mounted on the shoulder. Push-pull controls allow you to select the inner and outer coil pairs of the humbuckers to dial in some of those in-between tones.
The headstock is typically ornate, as you would expect from D’Angelico, with the locking Grover 509 stairstep-style tuners adding to the art deco vibe. The MOP split-block inlays on the ebony fingerboard, again, give it a custom shop look.
Everything is premium. The fretwire is Jescar nickel-silver. The custom D’Angelico Shield vibrato and tailpiece is an elegant work of engineering. Five-ply binding puts a bow on the design.
I don’t remember where it was, but I was on stage at a soundcheck. I plugged it in, cranked it up, and said this is it – this is what I’m looking for
D’Angelico has assembled this from laminated maple, with a centerblock in place to play defence against any feedback. You have the option to crank this electric guitar loud.
As you would expect, this ships in a hardshell guitar case. This has been in the works for some time. Weir had been reportedly testing this on the road for years now, until he found his eureka moment.
“I’ve been on an endless quest to find a tone that makes me really sit up and beg,” he says Weir. “I don’t remember where it was, but I was on stage at a soundcheck. I plugged it in, cranked it up, and said this is it – this is what I’m looking for. I knew it.”
The Deluxe Bobby Weir 3 (which is what we like to imagine Weir is known to by family and friends) is available direct from D’Angelico, priced $4,999, where you will also find a waiting list for the $2,199 production run model.
