Epiphone Sheraton (Cherry Red)

Photo: Sharon Latham
Model: Epiphone Sheraton
Color: Cherry Red
Year: 1966
Used in...

- 2005-2023

- played live by Gem Archer in Oasis and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
Details

Noel bought this USA-made Sheraton in London, in October 1997, as mentioned in an interview with GQ Magazine:

"Somewhere along the road Noel had shown up, proudly clutching his latest acquisition - a cherry red 1966 Epiphone Sheraton guitar: 'American, only 53 ever made. As rare as a song written by Liam Gallagher, as they say' was his description."1

Only 700 Sheratons were produced between 1959 and 19702: only 53 of them were red - assuming that Noel's statement is correct. The Cherry Red finish was introduced in 1965: most of the USA Sheratons from the '60s were Sunburst or Natural.3

While the guitar is now equipped with a trapeze tailpiece, it originally came out of the factory with either a Frequensator tailpiece or a Trem-o-tone vibrato unit.

A few detailed shots of the actual guitar were published in the Summer 2018 issue of Guitarist magazine:
Noel never played this Sheraton during the Be Here Now gigs, but it was brought on tour in late 1997 and 1998 as a backup guitar.

It can be seen in a backstage photo showing guitar tech Jason Rhodes while restringing the No.1 ES-355: in the rack you can spot this cherry Sheraton, the white ex Paul Weller Rickenbacker and the black ex Marr Les Paul Custom among others.4
Jason Rhodes backstage in late 1997 or early 1998 (Photo: Rob Rankine)
Even in subsequent years Noel has never played it live, but since 2005 Gem has used the Sheraton during various Oasis tours.

Gem talked about this very guitar in a 2018 interview with MusicRadar:4

"The Epiphone Sheraton with mini-humbuckers is great too. That's Noel's guitar. He just goes, ‘What guitars do you want to borrow’? and I was like, ‘Well, I've played that one and it's incredible’. It's 60s, but I'm not sure of the exact year. I was going to buy one, but it was about seven grand! Noel's got an amazing collection, but we like to keep it simple."

He mentioned it again in a 2024 interview with Guitar World:5

"I’d often borrow Noel’s Epiphone Sheraton, which was and is the fuc*ing best. When he asked me to play with him with High Flying Birds in 2017, he said I could use any of his gear that I wanted. I immediately asked if he still had the red Epiphone Sheraton, and he said, ‘Yeah, I do,’ and I said, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll join.’ I use it on all sorts of songs."
In Noel Gallagher's Flying Birds, Gem has played the Sheraton in: Dream On, Don't Look Back in Anger, Going Nowhere, It's a Beautiful World, Open the Door See What You Find, The Masterplan, You Know We Can't Go Back and Wonderwall.

He also plays it in the official video of Open the Door, See What You Find.

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  1. GQ Magazine, February 1998 ↩︎
  2. The Epiphone Guitar Book – Walter Carter ↩︎
  3. The Epiphone Guitar Book – Walter Carter ↩︎
  4. Thanks to whitesebastian from the live4ever forum for linking me the pic! ↩︎
  5. https://www.musicradar.com/news/gem-archer-it-was-always-about-being-in-a-band ↩︎
  6. https://www.guitarworld.com/features/gem-archer-oasis-noel-gallagher-high-flying-birds ↩︎

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