Phil Lesh

Phil Lesh, renowned for his work with the Grateful Dead, used an Alembic-modified Guild Starfire, famously known as "The Godfather," as his main bass for several years. While he did play a Gibson EB-3 for a time, he primarily used a 1969 Guild Starfire II before transitioning to the modified version. It's important to note that there is no Guild Starfire IV bass, as clarified in Peter Schu's Reverb article, "The Gear of The Grateful Dead."

Lesh can be seen playing a modified Gibson bass. It has 2 guild bass pick ups! It is not an EB-0

"From there, a modified Gibson EB-3 (1969) preceded what became his main bass for several years..."

"Phil briefly started out playing a Gibson EB-0, but eventually switched to a Fender Jazz Bass in 1968."

In this image, Lesh can be seen playing an Epiphone Jack Casady bass.

Phil is known to use two Eden WT800 amplifiers in the later days of the Grateful Dead and into other projects such as Phil Lesh and Friends, The Dead, Furthur, and at the Fare Thee Well shows in 2015.

Listed here as using this amp in his rig.

Phil was one of the first customers of Alembic in the early 1970's. Rick Turner and Ron Wickersham build some really high-end exotic basses for Phil, who used them with the Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound. More recently, Phil worked with Alembic who made him a few custom Series II instruments that are 6 string with Cocobolo wood, custom peg heads and inlays.

By the early 1980s Lesh had moved to a Modulus 6 string. The Modulus story also sports some Grateful Dead / Alembic links. After attending a Grateful Dead concert in 1974 – and being impressed by Lesh’s Alembic basses – Geoff Gould started experimenting with lighter and stronger materials for guitar construction. Gould had a background in the aerospace industry and used this experience when developing hollow carbon fibre necks. In 1977 a collaborative project resulted in Alembic launching a bass model that featured one of Gould’s graphite necks. Gould went on to form Modulus guitars and now builds instruments under his own name.

Phil Lesh uses an Alembic Spoiler Bass, as detailed on Alembic's official Signature Standard and Deluxe Basses page.

Phil Lesh is listed on Ritter Basses website as using this custom made, 6 string bass he calls EYE OF HOURS. Phil Lesh talking about his instrument in BASSPLAYER Magazine:

"This instrument is teaching me to play in an entirely different way." Lesh says of his radical new Ritter bass. "This bass is like a revelation to me. It's like a Stradivarius- it speaks."

"It was made by Jens Ritter in a little town outside of Mannheim, Germany. That's in Hesse, which is actually the part of Germany my ancestors came from. I am not sure of the trail that led me to his website, but I was just surfing the Web - I wasn't looking for a new instrument- and I came across some reference to his instruments. I went to his website and was stunned by the look of these instruments. I saw this and just said to myself, that is the coolest-looking instrument I've ever seen - I want that! At that point I was just praying that it would sound good. I talked to Jens on the phone, and went down to meet him at last year's NAMM show. I played a few of his instruments, and I loved their sound and how easy they were to play. So I commissioned two basses from him. The first one has a shiny black finish - I got that back in July- and this second one came just a few weeks ago."

"It's a unified concept, and very German his detail and execution. The work is absolutely first-class. He fixes the neck to the body with ten humongous bolts. It's a very solid instrument that stays in tune very well, even though it's made out of wood. That's something I've been seeking for years and years. It's amazingly easy to play."

During the 2015 'Fare Thee Well' tour, Phil Lesh used the MXR M87 Bass Compressor, as shown in a photo on Talkbass.

Phil Lesh used a P.I.E. Amplifier M87, a custom amp based on the Ampzilla design, specifically tailored for him by Andy Hefley. This information is supported by the listing on Julienslive, which details Lesh's stage-used custom amps with the Grateful Dead.

Can be seen on Phil's board during his 2018 'Duo' tour.

From the 'fare thee well' tour, 2015.

During the 2015 "Fare Thee Well" tour, Phil Lesh used the Bearfoot FX Mint Green Mini Vibe, as seen in a photo from Talkbass.

Phil Lesh used the MXR M-181 Bass Blowtorch during the 2015 'Fare Thee Well' tour, as shown in a photo from Talkbass.

During the 2015 "Fare Thee Well" tour, Phil Lesh used the MXR M82 Bass Envelope Filter, as seen in a photo from the Talkbass forum.

During the 2015 "Fare Thee Well" tour, Phil Lesh used the Bearfoot FX Model H overdrive pedal, as shown in a photo from Talkbass.

Phil Lesh used the MXR M-83 Bass Chorus Deluxe during the Grateful Dead's 2015 "Fare Thee Well" tour, as seen in a photo on Talkbass.

Can be seen on Phil's board during his 2018 'Duo' tour.

Can be seen on Phil's board during his 2018 'Duo' tour.

Can be seen on Phil's board during his 2018 'Duo' tour.

Can be seen on Phil's board during his 2018 'Duo' tour.

A G&L L-2000E purchased by the Grateful Dead on 10-28-81, Phil Lesh would play this bass exclusively for 61 shows between 12-26-81 to 11-26-82.

The Kurzweil Midiboard, a MIDI Keyboard Controller, was confirmed to be part of Phil Lesh's collection, as evidenced by its inclusion within a fitted road case measuring 58 by 26 by 12 inches. This information, detailing the provenance from the collection of Phil Lesh, a renowned bassist known for his work across various rock genres, was verified through a listing titled "PHIL LESH GRATEFUL DEAD KURZWEIL MIDIBOARD." This source provides credible proof of the artist's use of this specific music gear.