Jerry Garcia | Tom Paddock-designed custom speaker emulator

Property of Grateful Dead Productions

Jerry Garcia

Sound Research Associates, Tom Paddock-designed custom speaker emulator 

Housed in original ribbed black plastic and metal road case (20 x 21 x 15’’), unfinished metal face plate with stamped Steal Your Face logo on lower right above settings, black finished metal power unit with Steal Your Face logo sticker near power switch. Serial number: 213221. The present unit is labeled in red felt tip with the model “Garcia Simulator” and serial number on the rear panel.

Famed sound designer and innovator Tom Paddock began his association with the Grateful Dead after meeting Mickey Hart during the mixing of the soundtrack for Apocalypse Now. A guitarist as well as an engineer, the present unit was designed specifically for taking the signal from Garcia’s guitar amp prior to it going to the speakers, making it a significantly better signal for live mixing and recording. 

It was from Mickey Hart that Paddock got the idea to record the Bay Bridge “singing” from the movements of its cables and struts, and he was thanked in the credits for In the Dark.