Ram Rod’s Vault Sold

Although the San Francisco Chronicle had some fun with an auction of what could arguably be "junk," a collection of Grateful Dead memorabilia netted $1.1 million May 8th.

Former tour manager Lawrence "Ram Rod" Shurtliff, 61, died last year and his collection of Dead stuff went up for sale and was purchased by a willing group of ’Heads.

Jerry Garcia’s Travis Bean electric guitar sold for $312,000 and another axe sold for $186,000. A guitar strap sold for $20,400. That’s not exactly "junk."

Then again, maybe the Chronicle had a point. An empty speaker box sold for $1,680, a trunk went for $13,200 and a suitcase of spare guitar strings sold for $16,800.

Also on the auction block was leftover wine from Garcia’s dressing room, which reportedly was marked in the catalog with "please note, some of the wine has gone bad."