SOUTH SHORE — A missing chapter in the history of the evolution of the electric guitar will soon be returned to the Gretsch guitar company’s museum in Georgia after a one-of-a-kind guitar, which had been missing for a dozen years, was recovered from a South Shore man, according to the Greenup County Sheriff’s Department.
The instrument, an unfinished Gretsch “Silver Jet,” was reported stolen in Nashville. The prototype instrument was given to guitar innovator Ray Butts, who is now deceased, to enable him to carry out experimental work on the guitar’s magnetic pickups and circuitry.
Butts was recognized as a technical master of the emerging electric guitar technology who helped the Gretsch company develop stereo sound technology and is recognized by many as the inventor of the “humbucker” style pickup which eliminated much of the noise inherent in early amplified instruments.
Gretsch guitars have been associated with many famous players including Chet Atkins and Scotty Moore, who performed and recorded with Elvis Presley. The company’s hollowbody guitars are still the standard for many jazz musicians as well as guitarists specializing in ”Rockabilly” styles.
Greenup County deputies Darrell McCarty and Larry Pancake began investigating the guitar’s whereabouts after receiving a call from Butts’ daughter. The Butts family has been searching for the guitar since it was stolen and immediately recognized the instrument by description after Butts’ son, Randy Butts, received a call from a South Shore man who was seeking components to get the guitar back in working order.
The man who had the unique guitar said he bought it from a friend two years ago and had no idea it had been stolen.
“After being in contact with (Randy) Butts, and his sister Katha House, deputies went to the house in question and recovered the guitar,” according to a statement released by the Greenup County Sheriff’s Department. “House contacted Nashville Metro Police to gain a copy of the theft report from 1996. House also overnighted books and documents to prove the identity of the stolen guitar. The guitar was in fact the guitar and is being held at the Greenup County Sheriff’s Department by Sheriff Cooper until the family can come and transport it to the Gretsch museum in Ga., where it will be restored to its original condition.”
In a letter to the local law enforcement officers who recovered the historic instrument, House wrote, “The family wished that dad was alive to see that it was found and recovered. Somehow we think he knows.”
Because of the instrument’s historic significance and one-of-a-kind status, Butts family members advised the guitar is considered priceless in the music world’s historic community.
The deputies who found the instrument continue to investigate the situation in an attempt to solve the case and hopefully prosecute the thieves.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.
Local News
Historic guitar to return home
- Local News
-
-
Pooches take to the street in Dog Jog
They were running with the big dogs Saturday in Grayson.
-
A Smith Branch Legacy
Six generations of Robinsons have called Smith Branch home.
-
Court battle heating up over stretch of blacktop
The court fight is just heating up over a block-long stretch of blacktop in Grayson.
More parties are piling on in the lawsuit accusing Grayson of passing an illegal ordinance to take ownership of the pavement. -
Regional jails ‘a total failure’
As the debate over a proposal to create a new Northeast Regional Jail Authority continues, some officials with the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville are watching closely.
-
Beshear in West Liberty to help in tornado recovery
State legislatures and Gov. Steve Beshear gathered in West Liberty on Friday to sign three bills that will help in the recovery efforts of the tornado-stricken town.
-
Students get more than a scoop’s share
There’s nothing more refreshing than ice cream on a hot day, and no one knows that better than the principal of Hager Elementary School in Ashland.
-
2 school aides part of drug arrests
Two elementary school aides and three other people were arrested Thursday in a Carter County drug investigation.
-
5K run main attraction for Final Friday in Greenup
Greenup’s Final Friday included the usual live entertainment and car show, but a 5K run also attracted many to town Friday evening.
-
Fla.-to-Boyd drug ring defendants plead guilty
One of the eight people charged in an alleged Florida-to-Boyd County pill-trafficking ring pleaded guilty Thursday and a second is expected to do the same next week.
A third defendant in the case pleaded guilty May 18. -
Carter school layoffs possible
Carter County schools are looking at deep budget cuts and layoffs.
About 20 may lose their jobs this year, treasurer Andy Lyons said. Lyons spoke to a reporter Thursday after presenting a tentative budget to the school board last week. - More Local News Headlines
-
Pooches take to the street in Dog Jog
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
