LIEBER GUITARS

The story of Tom Lieber, the aspiring guitar builder who wouldn't take no for an answer and ended up making prized instruments for the Grateful Dead

- Amit Sharma

EVERY GEAR COMPANY will have a pedigree of talent that it’s most associated with, though in the case of Lieber Guitars, it really just boils down to one group above all others — American rock 'n' roll originals the Grateful Dead. Master luthier and owner Tom Lieber got his big break designing and building guitars for the band alongside Doug Irwin, resulting in Jerry Garcia models like the Wolf and the Tiger. Since then, his instruments have been seen in the hands of Paul McCartney, Victor Wooten, Blondie’s Chris Stein and many, many more.

At the turn of the millennium, Lieber was approached to build a Tiger six-string for a client and eventually decided to revisit his past as a full-time pursuit — producing top-of-the-line, custom-made instruments for all the Deadheads (and every other kind of head) out there. He now oversees a whole range of Garcia favorites, from limited-edition models to the Coco series, as well as other guitars connected to giants like Stanley Clarke, John Entwistle and Pete Sears. Below, the legendary builder looks back on an impressive legacy and gives us a look into the business he’s running today.

How did you first get into guitar building?

It helps to be a player first. That was the driving force for me to find a more refined tool in my hands. Around 1970, Alembic Inc. started a revolution with Jack Casady's $4,000 bass. I was into what [