Epiphone Sorrento Semi Acoustic Jazz Guitar

Recently purchased a 1966 Epiphone Sorrento with Olive Green finish. This guitar has a single mini humbucker and a thin neck. Guitar was manufactured in Kalamazoo, Mich. at the Gibson factory from the info on the original build sticker viewable through the F hole.

The guitar has a nice mellow sound.This one's a keeper!

The guitar has aged well. It's missing the original pickguard

sunburst finish
thin neck
jazz guitar bridge
vintage tuners
made end 90s, I think, not sure.
laminated top
3-way selector, 2 volume, 2 tone.
S/S pickup, epiphone P90s (??).

Mine is a sunburst from the end 90s which I bought new here in germany. I usually use this guitar playing in a jazzy style, which it fits perfectly for me. with it's slim design this guitar is really versatile for a jazzstyle guitar. the P90 singlecoil pickups produce a very characteristic sound. and as it has two of them so you don't have to stick with the jazz sound. You may also rock this thing, but beware. this one is a complete hollow body guitar, no sustain block. heavy feedbacks at high volumes. it sounds pretty acoustic but it's not built like a top notch jazz guitar and so it does not sound like one of those. if you like something in between with a special sound this is the one to go with. but you have to look for a used one, they are not building these anymore.

Generell factory setup was so so. I had it adjusted by a luthier. after a couple of years the volume level knobs produce some scratching sound, I think I have to get this done soon. strings don't go through the body at the bridge and tend to start swinging which produces some strange sounds while playing. I got used to it. tuners work a little hard, but I don't have problems to use them. pickup selector may also be of medium quality, but in the end the thing works.
I lately attached 013 strings on this guitar which gives a lot of tension on the neck. I think a have to get it adjusted again, action is no longer good.

As metioned before this is a hollow body guitar which makes it a real lightwight. the backside of the coin is that you have to take care of it, as it may easily break. since i used it thankfully nothing broke.

Never dealt with them.

I been playing for 20 years, but not professionally. I love the distinctive sound of this guitar, I'm not really sure a gibson would outclass this one considering the price difference. I really like the shape of the body and the sunburst finish.

Foreign made circa 1998, 22 frets, lam. maple body with lam. spruce top, while the neck is mahogany, mine is in a Gretsch-like Orange. It has the usual two volume/two tone knobs, and the pickup selector switch. Great P-90 pickups.

To my ears, this is a great sounding guitar, it's bright and sparkly with punch on the top end and mellow on the bass end (although a little too mellow), and it has that great woody semi-hollow tone. The neck is nice and slim, pretty easy to play on. The P-90s are typically noisy, especially with high gain settings.

I can get the tones that I want out of it, mainly some pretty decent jazz tones out of the neck pickup and some convincing Beatle-esque tones out of the bridge pickup. Really good and reactive with medium to low distortion. Absolutely lush and gorgeous through a couple of vintage Fender amps I've had the pleasure to play through. Very high marks here for tone.

I consider most guitars, especially foreign made ones in need of pro setup, which I usually get around to within a month of purchasing a guitar. The guitar had numerous issues that I discovered after consulting with my local guitar tech. The input jack came loose at one point, and had it replaced. The fretwork was pretty sloppy, and I'll probably need to get the frets dressed in the near future.

I've gigged and recorded with it before and have had very few problems. (After a set-up that is...) The caps, pickup switch, and input jack, all have or eventually will be replaced, just a matter of time before those things fall apart on a foreign made guitar. I would have rarely gigged with it before a set-up. Other than that, It's been pretty reliable.

Never needed to contact them.

Overall this is a really good value, especially since I got it at half price at a music store long ago. (At the time I was searching for an Epiphone Casino) The issues I had with it were easily overcome with a good guitar tech, and if you combine it with a vintage tube amp, it's tone is rarely equalled. If this guitar were stolen or lost I'd HAVE to get a replacement for it, as it is one of my favorite guitars.

Got this jazz box off Ebay from a recycle-music type store in Chicago. It's a lefty, and apparently not many lefties are looking for this model. I am liking it alot, and it is quite different from my other guitars. It is the orange finish model, with the non-vibra tone tailpeice. This is my first P 90 equipped guitar, and I must say it smokes. Of course, the tuners are cheap and will go soon, but that's expected on Epi's. The serial number puts it at 1996. I found a decent hard case for it. I intend to use it for alot of clean-tone songs, but the distortion tone is way cool,too!

I got it for rockabilly/Beatles type sounds, and I am not dissapointed. It is little prone to handling noise, but I also play a Sheraton and an Emperor with a volume pedal, so I can control the feed back. The original P90's are both warm, yet detailed and barky. For single coils, I prefer these to any Fender-ey type twang. I can acheive tones that remind me of the old SG's with soapbars, and the front pickup can go totally jazz. I may take out the pickups and sent them to Lindy Fralin for wax potting. The P90 replacements are real expensive, and I have read they don't always give you the true P90 tone.

I had to completely fix this guitar up, but it turned out great. I polished the frets, oiled the board, cleaned the pots, lubed the nut, tightened everything up and intonated it. The action is great, but I will agree with others that the nut spacing is very narrow. I noticed Sue Foley used one of these. Maybe this is a good guitar for females or younger/smaller players. I have gotten used to it fine. The wood doesn't really have much figuring or flame, but it has a little almost "birdseye" maple reflection to it. Not bad for an import. It is shockingly light. If I add a Bigsby, it will double the weight!

I have no fears about this guitar live. It's only a Korean Epi. I get 'em to play out with, not for show or collecting. (but I do have every lefty model Epi makes). The poly finish looks super glossy and will protect it fine. I reccomend a hard case for it.

Epiphone discontinued this model, but service is never an issue with them. They once sent me a new bridge and pickup switch damaged in shipping. (For a guitar I won in a contest) I didn't forget that.

My other guitars have Sperzel tuners, TV Jones pickups and Bigsby's. This was my first taste of a hollow P90 guitar, and I like it better than the Casinos I've tried. Contrary to other posts, it sounds raw and awesome with distortion. Think of the riff to "Bad to The Bone".
I wish the pickups were already potted to decrease the noise a little. Sounds better with my smaller amp, as another user has said.
Binding,P90's,big, thin body, a great value for a budget archtop!

Mid 1990s (1994?) reissue of the original guitar, which was made in the 1960s. This is made in Korea. Standard model with 2 P-90 pickups. I looked a long time to find a sunburst one; can't stand the shiny orange color which most Sorrentos seem to be. The adjustable bridge is not very well made. The metal retaining spring is too loose. The bridge should eventually be replaced. The finish is a nice even sunburst for a budget guitar. The tuners are solid and work well.

Good for jazz and jangly pop. Not good with overdrive or distortion. Here's the interesting thing. I also have an Epi Casino, which is a very similar guitar in construction, but this one sounds better. More punch, sustain and tone. The pickups are more even from string to string, than the Casino's. The Casino i'm talking about is 8 years newer, so maybe they changed the pickup's internal design.

Very well done. My biggest complaint with this guitar is the narrow fingerboard. It reminds me of 1968 Gibsons. Might be great for someone with small hands, but just too narrow to play comfortably. I'm comparing this with a 2002 Epi Casino. That guitar has a very comfortable neck; wide and flat. Obviously, epiphone changed their neck specs at some point, but i wonder if all the the Sorrentos are like this.

Been playing 30 years. Owned everything form high-end to low. These are excellent reissues of a vintage guitar. If you can deal with the narrow fingerboad and single coil buzz, go for it!

I got one of the orange Korean reissue Sorrentos with P90s and Bigsby tp.

The main reason I am submitting this: I wanted to let other owners know one important discovery. A big part of the feedback problem on this guitar for me turned out to be not just the body resonating, but also especially the dogear p90 pickup covers were vibrating. I had tried just potting the pickups, that didn't help much. Then the store owner who sold it to me suggested I completely FILL the covers with molten wax. That really made a big difference. I strongly suggest completely removing the pickups first so you don't mar that cool finish.

Nearly every piece except the Bigsby has been replaced. I still need to replace the strap buttons. They keep coming loose.

There are some production shortcuts if you look closely inside the body and at the neck joint, etc., but for such a low price, this is a cool guitar. I changed all the electrical parts, the tuners, the nut, and the bridge, and still wound up paying less than I would for a real Gibson.

The P90s were cool but eventually I put in some Duncan Antiquity II minihumbuckers which, although expensive and take time to get, sound more clear and detailed.

I was OK with paying a little more than Guitar Center prices to support a small store like Crossroads. But if you can get one for under $400 like I see here, it's kind of a no-brainer.

Having a guitar this cheap encourages one to experiment with working on it yourself and trying new pickups and stuff. You can't really find out what you like until you try it on the gig. Now that I've gone through this process, I've realized that I prefer the tone of a semi-hollowbody to the completely archtop and so would probably start looking for a 335 if I lost this guitar.

This a 1997 korean production. This model is an "orange", it comes with a case. It has a bigsby tremolo (made by epiphone). The bridge is a tune-o-matic standard. It's a hollow body, a kind of "Casino sister" but with just one cutaway. The body is a laminated maple. There are 22 frets on the neck. The neck is really easy to play, it's like a 60' Les Paul style. The controls are 2 volumes and 2 tones (nothing else) with a 3 way switch. The pickups' configuration ? P-90 ! Yeah boy ! That's really hot ! The p-90 are made by Epiphone, but they rocks. Don't be suspicious, it's a very good job (that's not a LP-100 ah!ah!ah!).

I think that's not the best guitar for playing Satriani ! But for rock'n'roll, blues and jazz, this Sorrento is a hot machine. I'm a blues-rock player and for every vintage sound, this guitar satisfy me. You must try to play an old rockabilly or a Brian Setzer song, it's thunder ! But, just one thing : You must pay attention at the feedback. Don't forget, that's a hollow body guitar, so don't try to push the drive at 10 ! This guitar is like a horse, you must learn how to control it.

The thing the most important is : this guitar has a bigsby tremolo but it not have a too hard action. Ok, strings are 10-46, but it's really easy to play... for a 10-46 (more hard work you have on a Wildkat for example).
The finish is really good. The old trans orange is beautiful. Vintage look !

I think the durability is ok. I bought this guitar used, but it seem like a new old. The only bad thing is the strap buttons. It turn a little, so you must to screw on.

I don't have any problem, so why do you want I call the company ?

If you like vintage look, vintage felling and vintage tone at short price, this guitar is for you. If it were stolen, I could fight the world for find the same ! The day I bought this guitar, it was a surprise for me : I never had idea, when I woke up in the morning that I will buy a guitar today ! But I found it in the guitar shop, and I fell in love with the Sorrento. This guitar is like a horse : thoroughbred !

This is a newer model Sorrento, not the vintage one. This was made (quite well) in Korea. I assume the entire body is laminated maple. Two P90 pickups, 2 volume, 2 tone controls, three way pickup selector switch. One pickup is reverse wound so you get a humbucking mode in the "both" position.

These P90s sound just fine. Maybe some aftermarket replacements would sound better but these are fine. It sounds like it should: Hollowbody guitar with P90 pickups. Crisp, articulate jazzy tone on the front pickup and snarly, nasal on the bridge. I back the bridge tone back to take some of the edge off. But I mainly use the front pickup straight through a clean amp setting. With this guitar I am after the jazzy tone.

This guitar has a great looking antique sunburst. It probably has a synthetic lacquer, so it will sound terrible to purists who play it with their eyes open. I bought this used and the intonation and action were set up flawlessly. The action is actually closer than I'd like and it still has no buzzes. What does drive me nuts is this rattling of the front pickup on certain notes. It drove me crazy isolating this rattle. I though it must be some hardware or the tuners. I finally figured out it was coming from the pickup. You can't hear it through the amp, it's completely acoustic. But it drives me nuts playing at low volumes.

A lot of folks seem to want to "upgrade" components on these Korean guiats. Frankly, I find nothing wrong with these tuners at all. I feel no need to change them. The pickup selector switch is a little flimsy feeling. But again, it works reliably. The volume and tone pots seem just fine to me as well. They have the usual linear taper and no scratchiness at all.

Now, about this neck: It's a nice neck, very low profile - If that's what you like. But the width at the nut is just too narrow for me. It's nothing like my other electrics. When I switch from my 335 to the Sorrento it takes me a few minutes to adjust to it. It has the feel of a Jazz bass: normal over most of the neck but really narrow at the nut end.

As reliable as any other hollowbody I've owned.

I have been playing for 39 years. I own a bunch of guitars. I wanted something like a 335 with the P90s and this guitar fits the bill. It has a vintage, jazzy vibe. It definitely sounds and plays great. Better than any of several late model Gibson ES135s I have played. And for a fraction of the cost. But I don't much like the narrow nut width. Maybe they're not all like this?

1968 SINGLE PICKUP MINI HUMBUCKER SHARP CUTAWAY 100% ORIGINAL
WISH I HAD THE TWO PICKUP MODEL

SOUND IS GREAT ANYBODY WHO HASENT HEARD THE GIBSON MINI HUMBUCKERS
YOU SHOULD TRY THEM SOUNDS LIKE BB KINGS GUITAR

THIS GUITAR WAS SITTING UNPLAYED FOR MOST OF ITS LIFE WHEN I GOT IT
IT HAD GREEN TARNISH ON THE UPPER FRETS FROM NOT BEING PLAYED GUITAR
IS IN GEM MINT CONDITION NOT EVEN A FINNISH CRACK IN THE LACQUER
ACTION IS VERY LOW AND NO FRET BUZZ

MOST OF THE OLD SORRENTOS I SEE FOR SALE HELD UP VERY WELL FINNISH
WISE

BEING GUITAR IS A 1968 IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BUILT BY GIBSON THEY ARE
VERY GOOD AT STANDING BEHIND WHAT THEY BUILD

GREAT GUITAR WILL NEVER SELL WILL NEVER FIND ONE IN THIS CONDITON
EXCEPT FOR THE YELLOWED BINDING GUITAR LOOKS BRAND NEW I DIDENT
BELIVE THE AGE UNTIL I LOOKED UP THE SERIAL NUMBER

Mine is a 98 modes, 2 tones, and 2 volumes, chrome covered p 90's, the thinner neck allows for very easy playing

The sound on this guitar is amazing. I mostly play jazz with its thick tone, but I am also in a hard rock band and use it with a heavy distortion as well, the feedback is definately a problem but a little electrical tape over the f holes fix that problem (sort of), but the overall sound is breathtaking

The guitar contained no flaws, the only thing that has bothered me is that the pickup switch busted off, a cheap piece of plastic but I think I will take the guy's advice above and get a Gibson amber one to match the beautiful Chet Atkins like Orange. This Guitar is extremely easy on the eyes, no one has seen it and not complimented me on it

This guitar is solid, it is light, but trust me it can withstand moderate amounts of abuse. You get that kind of abuse on the road playing from East to West night after night loading everything in the trailer, it has been dropped, stepped on, fallen on, fallen off, thrown (not by me), been doused in strange liquids, and and played on solid for four and some odd years and still looks like it should be in a museum of Guitar Art

Never had a problem

If this guitar was stolen of course I would not want another, I would want mine, I would hunt down and murder the children of the idiot that thought to be so stupid as to take my Guitfiddle.