New York–July 29th, 2025—D’Angelico Guitars announces an all-new collection of officially licensed Grateful Dead guitars celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the legendary band and ten years of partnership between the two brands. D’Angelico’s beloved Red, White, and Blue Lightning Bolt custom finish is back and now available on three distinct.
D’Angelico Guitars began working with the Grateful Dead in 2015 through longtime mutual charity partner, HeadCount.org, when the brand donated hand-painted guitars to raise money at auction at the band’s “Fare thee Well” shows. The collection raised over half a million dollars at auction for Dead Family Charities.
The success of the hand-painted models donated for this event sparked the design inspiration for D’Angelico’s first licensing project with Warner Music Group. The Premier DC “Steal Your Face” guitar was released in 2017 and was the brand’s first foray into the world of the Grateful Dead. From there, D’Angelico Guitars began its long-standing partnership with HeadCount, Dead and Company, and Bobby Weir. From 2017 to 2025, the brand released two more licensed Grateful Dead models, five signature model variations with Bobby Weir, and has provided instruments to HeadCount for customization to follow Dead and Company’s tours and residencies, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Grateful Dead Family Charities along the way.
Based on D’Angelico’s most popular model, the double-cutaway Premier Grateful Dead DC pays homage to the original co-branded model released in 2017, while the new single-cutaway Premier Grateful Dead SS offers a refined elegance and celebrates the jazz-inspired side of the Grateful Dead. With a highly playable slim C-shape neck, rosewood fingerboard and medium jumbo frets, players can easily glide through all of their favorite Grateful Dead runs and licks with plenty of room for improvisation via versatile D’Angelico humbuckers. Both models also feature gold hardware, ebony knobs, and Stairstep tuners.
The Premier Grateful Dead Tammany offers both players and collectors access to an easy-playing orchestra model featuring an expertly crafted tri-color top and a custom headplate featuring a matching Steal Your Face decal. Boasting a solid spruce top with layered sapele back and sides, the Grateful Dead Tammany offers pristine and balanced tone, while a Fishman Presys VT preamp system offers true-to-tone amplification for easy on-stage use.
Each guitar features a Steal Your Face headstock inlay and comes with a custom red, white and blue co-branded gig bag.
Now available for pre-order at select dealers in the United States. Each model sold separately.
One of each of these guitars will be hand painted featuring commemorative artwork in honor of Dead & Company’s San Francisco Golden Gate Park shows this summer. The guitars will be on display at the shows and available for auction, supporting longtime charity partner, HeadCount.
Requests for comments, interviews, and product reviews can be made by contacting jessica@bondaudio.com.
About Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead is a social and musical phenomenon that grew into a genuine American treasure. In 1965, an entire generation was linked together by common ideals, gathering by the hundreds and thousands. This movement created a seamless connection between the band and its fans. As the band toured, Dead Heads would follow. Not because it was a part of popular culture but because it is a true counterculture that exists to this very day-one that earnestly believes in the value of its beliefs. By 1995, the Grateful Dead had attracted the most concertgoers in the history of the music business, and today remains one of the all-time leaders in concert ticket sales. Eventually, the caravan evolved into a community with various artists, craftsmen and entrepreneurs supplying a growing demand for merchandise that connected them to the music. Today, the connection is as strong as ever, and their final tally of 2,318 total concerts remains a world record. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and received a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. In 2024, the Grateful Dead celebrated their 64th Top 40 album on the Billboard chart, a feat no other artist has achieved, and commemorated in the 47th class of the Kennedy Center Honorees. The Grateful Dead will be the 2025 MusiCares Persons of the Year to be honored at the 67th Annual GRAMMY® Awards.
About D’Angelico Guitars
Founded in 1932 by master-luthier John D’Angelico, D’Angelico Guitars is a New York City-based guitar brand built on the history of one of the most revered luthiers of all time. Revered for making some of the finest guitars in the world, D’Angelico is in the midst of a modern resurgence. New designs broaden its line every year and the community of artists bringing the guitars to the world’s biggest stages continues to grow. Committed to maintaining the legacy of its original founder, D’Angelico intends to honor its roots while building ambitiously toward the future.
