Jerry Garcia’s ‘Tiger’ Guitar Sells For $11.56 Million At Auction

Jerry Garcia’s legendary “Tiger” guitar prowled into Christie’s auction house Thursday night and left with a staggering price tag. The iconic instrument sold for $11.56 million, crushing its $1 – 2 million estimate and ranking the instrument as the second most expensive guitar ever sold at auction.

“Tiger” went up for sale at Christie’s as part of an auction of items from the collection of the late Indianapolis Colts owner, music lover and philanthrophist Jim Irsay. The hammer price was $9.5 million as the $11.56 million figure includes the buyer’s premium.

A $6 million sale in 2020 of the 1959 Martin D-18E acoustic guitar used by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged taping held the title for most expensive guitar ever sold coming into the auction in New York City. However, by the time the bidding was through on Thursday, the Martin fell to the four-slot as David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” sold for $14.55 million, “Tiger” went for $11.56 million and a Mustang guitar used by Cobain in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video fetched $6.9 million. All prices include the buyer’s premium.

The new owner of “Tiger” has not been publicly announced as of press time. However, videos from the sale show Bobby Tseitlin of Family Guitars celebrating the purchase with Derek Trucks. The Tedeschi Trucks Band guitarist was at the auction to support his friend as per Alan Paul.

“Family Guitars is a living, breathing guitar collection based in Chicago and home to some of the most legendary instruments ever played,” reads the start of the “About Us” page on Family Guitars’ website. Other guitars owned by Family Guitars include Mike Bloomfield’s 1963 Fender Telecaster, Dickey Betts’ 1958 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop and Jerry Garcia’s Travis Bean TB500 #11, which were each used by Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule on New Year's Eve 2025 at The Beacon Theatre.

Luthier Doug Irwin built “Tiger” for Jerry Garcia. “Tiger” was the Grateful Dead guitarist’s main instrument from 1979 – 1989. Irwin spent approximately 2,000 hours crafting “Tiger” over a six-year period.

“I’m not analytical about guitars, but I know what I like. And when I picked up that guitar, I’d never felt anything before, or since, that my hand likes better,” Garcia told Guitar Player’s Jon Sievert about “Tiger” in 1988.

“It’s more like a Strat than anything else. The simplest way to think about it is as a Strat with a Les Paul neck. But really the neck is not a Paul, because it doesn’t have an arched fingerboard. Its flat, like a banjo neck. I’ve had that guitar all this time, and I’ve set the bridge once and never had the neck straightened. That sucker is still as flat as an aircraft carrier. Not only that, but the frets haven’t worn down, and I’ve been playing it all this time..”

Christie’s “The Jim Irsay Collection: Icons of Pop Culture” auction fetched nearly $85 million for its 44 lots. Additional “The Jim Irsay Collection” auctions follow through March 17.

Watch the Thursday night auction below: