Grateful Dead

This birch plywood cabinet from the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound” speaker system for Keith Godchaux’s acoustic piano. The cabinet features a pair of JBL D120F loudspeakers—high efficiency, 12 in. Alnico drivers codeveloped by JBL and Fender.  

This cabinet was built in early 1974 by Alembic workers in conjunction with the Grateful Dead road crew—later known as Hard Truckers—in the San Francisco Bay Area. The materials, joinery, custom brackets, and removable baffle match other documented Wall of Sound boxes. It was numbered “208” and stenciled “PIANO,” marking it as part of Keith’s array.  

Back of frame carries “G.D.” (Grateful Dead), “Ram…,” (Referring to the band’s roadie Laurence Shurtliff aka “Ramrod.” “Lumier,” “S.F.,” referring to the Lumiere Theatre and the date “32374,” the day the completed Wall of Sound debuted at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. 

On 23 March 1974, the fully realized “Wall of Sound” made its touring debut at the Cow Palace. The “32374” marking on one of the D120F frames aligns with that rollout. The piano cabinets—including No. 208—were used behind and above the band as part of the modular piano array, giving Keith Godchaux his channel. When the system was adapted for the European leg later that year, piano and bass cabinets like this one were part of the traveling inventory.