Just over two weeks ago Jerry Garcia’s custom-built Tiger guitar sold at auction for a stunning $11,560,000 after Christie’s had listed the instrument with an estimated price range of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. Beloved luthier Doug Irwin (who passed away on March 27) crafted Tiger, which Garcia used from 1979 through 1995. Derek Trucks just played the famed guitar two nights ago in Chicago with Terrapin Flyer.

As a result, unscrupulous fraudsters have stepped into the fray, attempting to sell counterfeit  instruments, with an alleged similar provenance. The most controversial is Tigger, which is purportedly  another bespoke guitar. After Christie’s listed it in an upcoming auction with a projected valuation of $5,000,000 to $7,000,000, it has been temporarily removed from the catalog, following some keen observations from a music fan without any pedigree as a guitar collector.

“I don’t want to alarm anyone,” the eagle-eyed Deadhead observed, “but rather than a professional guitar, it sort of looks like a children’s toy. Look at the cardboard box. That just doesn’t seem like something that a luthier would use to protect or transport an instrument. Plus, I’m pretty those are buttons rather than strings. Now check out at the tuning pegs. What are they pegging? I attended 409 Grateful Dead shows and hundreds more after Jerry passed away—there, you dragged it out of me—and from that experience I can tell you that I have my suspicions as to whether this is a high-quality, playable instrument worth $5 mil. The headset microphone seems cool though.”

Then a few days later, a second guitar, known as Tigger Too was similarly removed from the auction site after another Deadhead raised some questions about the item, which was expected to fetch upwards of $3,000,000.

“Is that even a guitar?” she asked. “I suspect it could be a stuffed animal. Not only that but it appears as though it’s getting less and less stuffed by the day. Look at the headstock. Some kind of thread is popping out there. Also, can we even call that a headstock? It’s seems kind of fabric-y, as does the neck of the guitar, which is sort of curved in a way that I don’t normally associate with wood. Or musical instruments. Upon further reflection—yes, that was a clever pun, and did you know that Kesey’s bus was spelled with both a U and an E over the years—there’s something about Tigger Too that just screams ‘stuffed animal’ to me. I saw Bobby and the Boys over 325 times—thank you for asking—and I think that even a mage like Derek Trucks would have trouble wielding that one.”

Following these comments, Christie’s has removed a third auction item from the upcoming event, as it appears to be a 2-inch mini fig of a plastic Winnie the Pooh character holding an acoustic. This seemingly confirms that none of these are the finely crafted, dutifully cherished work of esteemed luthier and community member Doug Irwin.

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R.I.P. Doug