Grateful Dead | The earliest surviving Grateful Dead road case

Property of Grateful Dead Productions

Grateful Dead

William Bal rolling equipment case, “Number 24,” ca.1968

Road case (30 x 17 x 12’’). Metal-reinforced black fiberboard, with “GD 24” painted on top and “Grateful Dead Fragile” stenciled front and back. With guitar cords and patch cables stored inside. 

The earliest surviving Grateful Dead road case, used throughout the band’s career

"Big" Steve Steve Parish: "We got this case in LA around 1968, made by a company that supplied cases for film equipment, as no one was really producing cases made for rock tours. Originally it held Phil’s Bassman head, but when we got another case for the amp, it moved to carrying all kinds of stuff, including cords and cables. The case is still full of them. This case survived when some of our equipment got burned up in London in 1972 at the Wembley Empire Pool show. If you smell the case you can still get a whiff of that smoke. That case has been with us everywhere."

A silent witness to almost the entirety of the band’s remarkable live tour history