Sometimes it got boring out on the road and Garcia would start gaslighting Phil. He would add a knob, or take one off, and Phil was wasnt quite sure how the damn thing worked in the first place, so he would get confused and angered and paranoid and run to Garcia, who could just barely keep his shit together.
Seriously, one of those dials controls the heater in a AMC Gremlin.
Phil makes a lot of style choices that only work if you’re Phil Lesh.
For instance, if someone I knew showed up at a jam with that thing, or that headless Modulus, or whatever that current deal is with the LED fret markers (did he steal it from Prince’s band?) I might tell them to quit being ridiculous and not come back with anything that isn’t a p-bass.
But, y’know, Phil Lesh.
I’ve been on an early Brent streak – 79 mostly – and goddamn was Phil bringing the funk there for a while. The GD are overlooked as a funk band, I think.