Nice! I’m like a casual Dead fan, if there is such a thing. In the realm of jam bands, I go with the band from my youth, Phish.
But, back to what Les said. I think Garcia is kinda underrated by the guitar community as a whole, maybe because of all the BS surrounding the Dead and the stigma around jam bands? His bluegrass roots gave him some serious chops and when combined with rock and a love for Coltrane, he was pretty impressive whether you like his kinda odd trebly tone or not.
I don’t know, maybe I’m offbase about people’s perception. But at one point I got curious about his gear and MAN is that a rabbit whole to fall into. His guitars were crazy tricked out - he had an effects loop IN his guitar so he could adjust the effects mix live or just simply turn it off from switches and tone pots. Onboard pre-amp, MIDI, etc.. Like Jerry or not, reading about his various custom guitars should really interesting to any gearhead. Way beyond the beaten path of most 70s era rigs we read about all the time.
Just from that deep dive I did of curiosity years prior - it was clear when PRS launched the SE, that it was designed to emulate Jerry, and not a true Mayer sig model. I never would have thought they’d increase in value and become sought after. It’s like the MEI, all over - kicking myself for not grabbing a few.