Grateful Dead

This birch plywood cabinet with JBL K120 and JBL 2202A loudspeakers, built specifically for keyboardist Keith Godchaux’s piano channel and engineered to capture the instantaneous, vertical hammerstrike of a grand piano. Cabinet was built in early 1974 by members of the Grateful Dead road crew—known in later years as Hard Truckers—in collaboration with the Alembic shop in San Francisco.  

During the 1974 Wall of Sound tour in the United States, the cabinet was part of the dedicated piano cluster feeding Keith Godchaux’s grand piano. When the system was scaled and adapted for European dates later that year, piano and bass cabinets like this one traveled with the band. 

“209” handwritten in marker on the back and right side, consistent with Wall of Sound box numbering practices. “PIANO” hand-stenciled in blue paint on the back toward the bottom (partially over sprayed with white paint), identifying this box as part of the piano array. On the JBL K120, the interior paper cone bears the signature “Kevin Konecky” in white marker. Konecky was a Wall of Sound audio engineer who worked closely with Owsley “Bear” Stanley on design, setup, and nightly operation. On the interior frame of the JBL 2202A, the name “Stereo Doctor” is written in white marker, echoing the nickname used for Owsley “Bear” Stanley in his capacity as the system’s chief sound architect. A period “Grim Reaper” violinist sticker appears on the right side of the cabinet. This image, designed by Alton Kelley, was used on Grateful Dead tour stickers circa 1973 and is frequently associated with the Dead’s own stage and road gear from that era. 

With new custom road case decorated with stickers. 

Dimensions 

Speaker: 21 x 16 ½ x 26 in. 

Road case: 25 ½ x 19 ¾ x 29 ½ in.