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NGD, '61? Epiphone Sheraton, could use expert pairs of eyes!

deytookerjaabs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,592
Wow, very interesting guitar you scored there! As rare as these early Sheratons are, I have to admit that it makes me a little sad to see all the mods, but whatever- it's unique, and in a cool way. Never seen one with a CC.




So I thought I'd give ya a little update on the not so sad travels of this "player grade" beauty. I bought a few things and some stuff needed to go, a fella comes over and we start to talking about the Sheraton, I mention Leon Rhodes and play a couple Leon lines...then he does too! Holy smokes, I thought, this guy GETS IT. Turns out he's Andy Reiss, plays all over town notably with the Time Jumpers and is a western swing aficionado himself. Well he made an offer of cash and Rick Wright's (Jerry Reed, Connie Smith, great player, RIP) old '65 Princeton Reverb, I knew Andy was the perfect guy for the Sheraton, I needed cash and wanted a small amp...so there ya go! Could not be happier.

Meanwhile, here's a couple guys who like the Sherry too:

9SpnLeyl.jpg


Mr. Ray Benson

j0SRnIml.jpg




Oh, just Harold Bradley, most recorded guitarist in Nashville (if not world) history, still giggin' and looks great at 91 years young!

I got to check out Andy playing the Sheraton through his old Vibroverb with a smokin' group of guys Sunday night covering a laundry list of Dixie/Jazz standards and I'm sure some vids of him gigging it with the Time Jumpers will surface soon.

And, I'm a happy camper carting around Rick's old Princeton with my ES-340.

:salude
 

JimR56

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
Wow, that is cool. Too bad you let it go (at least it would have been a hard decision for me), but I do hope to be able to see it in action on Youtube at some point! (please alert us if and when you see any such videos pop up).

Did you take the photos of messrs. Benson and Bradley? That's some high-level picking talent right there!

On a related note, in the late 1980's I bought a very rare 1940 ES-250N from George Gruhn. He told me that it had belonged to Harold Bradley, but it didn't dawn on me until some years later who Mr. Bradley was. :## It may have been on some famous old recordings, but I never asked. By the way, a close-up photo of that 250's CC pickup (which was actually taken from an ES-150, after Bradley apparently removed the original 250 pickup) can be seen on page 108 of "Gruhn's Guide To Vintage Guitars".
 

DrRobert

Les Paul Forum Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2003
Messages
6,050
Wow, that decision would have been very hard for me. A good Princeton is a thing of beauty, but there're a ton of them out there. A good Sheraton? yeah, not that easy to find! But, it's whatever works best for you.
 

deytookerjaabs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,592
Honestly, not a tough decision. For whatever reason, which I can't explain, it was a lovely guitar but mostly just rested in the case and once I got my 340 I knew it would REALLY sit back in the mix. Even though it's one of a kind, I have no problem putting it out there for a reasonable return if I'm not doing the sucker justice, life's too short for me to lock something up like that in my closet just to break it out for rare appearances. You could see Andy's eyes light up from a mile away the second he touched it. I feel like I could've sat longer to see if he'd up his offer, haha, but I wasn't going to do that! He's a great guy and a great picker.


I'm like that with the ponies, the only stuff I really miss are the ones I made payments on while busting my rear washing dishes at minimum wage for what seemed like eternity to buy, should have never sold my first big purchase.


He got those pics of Harold/Ray, and is continuing to make the rounds. He, nor I, still haven't found out where the heck this guitar has been and we both agree it was a bonafide well gigged swing machine in it's day, at least on observation/deduction..??


I checked out that pic of the CC 250 in my tiny black/white copy of the Gruhn book, cool! Anything owned by Harold has a special place in music history, he said his Union list of credits is a pile of pages 40 inches thick. IIRC, Andy was telling me a collector he knows has either a Sheraton or 355 (can't remember) fitted with a factory CC! I mean the big sucker with the bolts sticking out of the top. I'll ask him about it and see if I can get the low down, talk about rare.
 

JimR56

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
Thanks for the info, and for making me more aware of Andy Reiss. I've seen Andy in videos of The Time Jumpers, but wasn't really familiar with him individually. I have begun to remedy that (watched a couple of interviews on youtube). Fine player, and I see that he is from the Bay Area, and moved to Nashville way back in 1980. I wonder whether I ever crossed paths with him before he left the Bay Area... maybe one of those situations where we were both answering a classified ad for a great deal on a vintage guitar. :) I miss those days... buying great old Gibsons for less than $500 a pop (sometimes a lot less!).

I also saw that Andy has a Barney Kessel Custom in a rare natural finish. I remember seeing that when it was for sale at Lark Street about three or four years ago. What a great guitar!

Andy%20Reiss.jpg

Andy with his Kessel Custom (photo found online).

My first high-quality vintage Gibson was a '64 Barney Kessel regular that I bought in 1981 for $600 (and that was a STORE price at that time!).

I'd post my photos of Mr. Bradley's ES-250, but unfortunately all my pic files are still in photobucket limbo.
 
Last edited:

deytookerjaabs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2016
Messages
1,592
Holy Smokes....It's getting better!!!



So, Andy forgot the pickguard when we did the trade. A week ago, around 1am, a couple drinks deep, I decide to really give a close look at the guard because there was definitely a name etched into it but it it's incredibly hard to read.

Remember, I KNEW this was a local guitar, lol, just had to be, I had that feeling.

Holding for 5 minutes at different angles, I could always see the name "Lonnie" but the last name was rough, I finally saw the word "Jones" then sent Andy some texts.

After a quick google search I saw there was a "Lonnie Jones" in Nashville, older fella, who plays Bluegrass out on occasion and get this...did a few gigs this summer at the SAME PLACE (Grand Old RV Resort) I did a few gigs with the Sheraton...THIS SUMMER. Wierd..

I send emails to Lonnie's "Management" which is Mrs. Rita Jones, today she replies "Why yes, that was Lonnie's guitar when he was much younger, thanks for reaching out." I replied the back story to her and am waiting to see what she says, Andy and I would love to get a couple old photos and it'd be stellar to see if Lonnie is interested in seeing the guitar again.

Wowzer....

Will update as needed.

Meanwhile:


That's Lonnie singing, some real deal Bluegrass.
 

Pellman73

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 9, 2016
Messages
1,762
Holy Smokes....It's getting better!!!



So, Andy forgot the pickguard when we did the trade. A week ago, around 1am, a couple drinks deep, I decide to really give a close look at the guard because there was definitely a name etched into it but it it's incredibly hard to read.

Remember, I KNEW this was a local guitar, lol, just had to be, I had that feeling.

Holding for 5 minutes at different angles, I could always see the name "Lonnie" but the last name was rough, I finally saw the word "Jones" then sent Andy some texts.

After a quick google search I saw there was a "Lonnie Jones" in Nashville, older fella, who plays Bluegrass out on occasion and get this...did a few gigs this summer at the SAME PLACE (Grand Old RV Resort) I did a few gigs with the Sheraton...THIS SUMMER. Wierd..

I send emails to Lonnie's "Management" which is Mrs. Rita Jones, today she replies "Why yes, that was Lonnie's guitar when he was much younger, thanks for reaching out." I replied the back story to her and am waiting to see what she says, Andy and I would love to get a couple old photos and it'd be stellar to see if Lonnie is interested in seeing the guitar again.

Wowzer....

Will update as needed.

Meanwhile:


That's Lonnie singing, some real deal Bluegrass.

Cool story— just read the thread

I love when you figure out something you had is even cooler than you originally thought it was.
 
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