Epiphone Sheraton II

Your basic ES335-style gutar: semi-hollowbody, double-cutaway, two (cheap) passive humbucking pickups with volume and tone controls for each, 3-way switch. Rosewood neck, laminated body. White finish with gold hardware. Made in Korea.

I rated this category based on the guitar's original electronics. As you'll read over and over in these reviews, the original pickups in this guitar are mediocre, at best. They sounded bland and indistinct, and they were extremely microphonic. In addition, the tone controls on mine were virtually useless. The tone pot on the neck pickup seemed to cut volume without having any appreciable effect on tone. The tone pot on the bridge pickup had no effect whatsoever.

So, I replaced the stock pickups with a Duncan Seth Lover (neck) and a Duncan JB (bridge). I also replaced all of the electronics (pots, switch and input jack). As you can imagine, these improvements made a huge difference in the overall tone of the guitar. The Seth Lover is great in the neck--warm, smooth, and even across the entire range of the guitar. In fact, I was using it in the studio yesterday recording with a jazz band, and the engineer made a point of telling me that he loved the warm tone of the guitar. (You gotta love it when someone actually notices!) The JB in the bridge really rocks when I need it to, and I can dial in a wide range of tones when using both pickups. With the new pickups, I would rate this category at 8.5.

My rating for this category reflects an average of some good and bad features of this guitar.

On the plus side, the finish of this guitar is excellent for a guitar in its price range. The binding and fretwork detail were all very nice, with no obvious flaws. For the price, I have no complaints. On the minus side, however, the finish on the gold hardware is terrible.

My biggest criticism in this category is the set-up. My guitar had high frets all over the place. I had the frets professionally re-dressed, and the guitar now plays well, but as purchased, the action on this guitar was just plain bad. I bought it used at a guitar show, and I knew at the time that it would need fretwork. However, I was still surprised at just how uneven some of the frets were. Reading the other reviews, it looks like my guitar might be somewhat of an anomaly, and it was a correctable problem, but nevertheless annoying.

The neck profile on this guitar is a bit weird. It feels very wide and flat. This is not inherently good or bad, but as a matter of personal preference, I greatly prefer the narrower neck on my ES330. I would recommend playing this guitar before buying it, or you may find that the feel of the neck is not to your liking.

Some people dislike the pickguard on this guitar. Although it is a bit flimsy, it doesn't bother me. The knobs are cheesy plastic, and one broke when I was replacing the pots, so I replaced them all with nice gold ones to match the rest of the hardware.

This guitar seems as solid as any semi-hollowbody that I've played. With the exception of the gold finish on the hardware, which lasted less than a year, I expect that this guitar will serve me well for years to come.

I never gig with it without a backup, but that has everything to do with having a backup for when strings break and nothing to do with the inherent reliability of the guitar.

I play mostly in a very loud 18-piece jazz big band, but I also play a fair amount of blues and rock, so I needed a guitar that was versatile. I purchased this guitar as a backup to my ES330, so I wanted a guitar that was semi-hollowbody (for situations where the fully hollowbody 330 had feedback problems) and that had humbuckers (for situations where the single coil P-90s in the 330 were too noisy). I paid $450 for the guitar, and then spent $75 on fretwork, and about $180 on pickups and new electronics, so overall, I've spent roughly $705 on this guitar. Although I have criticisms of the guitar, primarily based on the poor fretwork and mediocre electronics that it came with, with the improvements that I've made, this guitar now looks, sounds and plays great. Overall, I am very happy with it.

korean made ,laminated maple blond finish with 2 gold humbuckers all the way to the hardware,2volumes,2tones&3-way selector.A very nice clean thineline hollowbody with binding. Bought used at a guitar show with case included.

Well i wanted a casino, but this felt more solid, I like the feel.I'm using a small kick ass peavey amp and this sounds like my guild d-25 amplified pertty smooth and bright, grew up playing lennon could swear he's in the room playing,This was a great choice even rocky raccoon sounded great.Did a little blues lead, i'm prodominant chord player but i can get motovaited by that sound.

bought it at a guitar show from AMAZING MUSIC OUT OF SMYRNA,GEORGIA That guy frank had all his guitars tuned and looking great no complaints here.

defenitley live playing, my gold is still there on the pickups and tuners This is a solid guitar and yes I would gig without a backup,hell I leave the house without any money in my pockets.

never dealt with epi but i'm sure they display the same quality service as they display in the workmanship of their product.

Since I was 12 I'm 47.I have a fender strat,Goya 12 string,d-25 guild,on it's way a samick trad s body sunburst.I also own a ibanez agatis body style guitar but that one is being sold.I would certainly replace this if it was stolen.This rates the best for sound,the fender for feel but that may change when the samick comes in.This sheraton is my favorite.

97 year Korean made. Mine is in Ebony finish with cream binding. Everything looks exactly like an original 335 except the ugly pickguard. It is a tortoise shell with a big "E" on it. I hate to take it away because I don't want to scratch this baby. I'll prefer a silver hardware if Epiphone had one but they don't. I just hate gold instinctly. Please have a look at Epiphone Homepage for the full specs. I minus 1 point for the ugly pickguard and another one for the gold hardware. So it's 8.

I generally play standard jazz when I'm gigging. So this baby sings beautifully in clean tone with the neck pickup (although it's a stock pickup). It has the nice full sound with rich overtone. It's not like those solid body sounds when you turn the tone control to 0. You can't get those sharp and crispy sound with the neck pickup. This is not the purpose for playing a semi hollow body. 10 times quiet than my Telecaster. I change the string to .12 gauge flat wound and still can manage to play it easily. I give 10 for the neck pickup.
Now's the main problem for this ax, the bridge pickup sucks a big time! It's twangy with you can't get any playable material. It doesn't strong and clean enough to get those overdrive sound, and I just can't think of what I can play with this kind of sound. With two pickup on together, you'll get some plastic kind of plucking sound. And again I just can't think of what I can play with this kind of sound. I asume it's the bridge pickup problem. I'll replace it with Gibson classic '57 later. I give the stock bridge pickup a 3.

Everything works fine. The ebony finish is superb. I just need to change the strings to .12 flat wound, raise the action to higher place and set the intonation.
The gold haven't started to wear off but the pickup plate has some sign of oxidize after 1 year of playing.
I think the saddle is a way too sharp. I broke my 1st string for few times in 3 months of gigging.

I use this regularly live, and I think it will withstand just about
anything except violence. It seems well made, strong, good
solid construction. I use it without backup an it never let me down, except for the few broken strings accident.

These guys in Sweetwater Sound are helpful when I asked them to ship to my friend in Minesota.They're information is complete and the deal went in a nice way.

I have been playing for 6 years. I started playing jazz last 4 years ago and I always dream of a hollow body guitar. I'd tried my lecturer's Gibson 175 and it's a way too far from my dream financially. Some other Korean made hollow body like Cort and Sammick didn't impress me as well. When the first time I saw this model played by my friend, it was just a "click" to my objective. So it's like a feel to our first love. If it was stolen, I'll buy it again in a same finish and make sure it's the kind of same touch. I wish on that time they come out with silver finish.

JOHN LEE HOOKER EDITION (EXTRA PEARL INLAY, GOLD TRIM FANCY PICKGUARD ETC.) MODEL HAS TWO HUMBUCKERS, EBONY FRETBOARD, GOLD HARDWARE, I BELIEVE MAPLE BODY BUT IT IS PAINTED BLACK(EXQUISITE FINISH JOB I MIGHT ADD). TWO TONE KNOBS TWO VOLUME KNOBS THREE WAY SELECTOR. WELL LOADED MODEL, BUT DOESN'T HAVE ALL KIND OF "PARKER" BELLS AND WHISTLES LIKE IN/OUT PHASE AND THE SUCH. FOR A NORMAL GUITAR IT IS TOP SHELF

UNBELIEVABLE SOUND QUIALITY, THIS GUITAR TIES FOR THE BEST SOUNDING GUITAR OF ANY OF MY 18 OTHERS. VERY BRIGHT, GREAT TONE, VERY BLUESY. GOOD DELTA BLUES SOUND, NOT TOO ELECTRIC BUT A CREATURE ALL ITS OWN. IT DOESN'T HAVE THE VERSATILITY TO CONFORM TO TONS OF STYLES BUT IF THIS IS THE ONE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR YOU CAN'T FIND ANY BETTER

ZERO FLAWS FROM FACTORY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE NUT THAT HOLDS THE CABLE PLUG IN PLACE WILL LOOSEN ITSELF PERIODICALLY, ALL OF MY EPIPHONES DO THIS AND CAN BE REMIDIED BY TIGHTENING THE NUT(TINY DROP OF LOCKTITE RECOMMENDED)I SET IT UP FOR MY STYLE IMMEDIATELY UPON PURCHASE, I USE MEDIUMS DEAN MARKELY BLUE STEELS WITH TALL STRING ACTION GOOD SETUP ON THIS GUITAR BECAUSE IT HAS ENOUGH WIDTH ON THE FRETBOARD TO BEND WELL

NEVER GIGGED WITH THIS ONE AND I BABY IT MORE THAN MOST SO IT HASN'T UNDERGONE ANY REAL WEAR(MUCH UNLIKE A CERTAIN TELE OF MINE) BUT IT HAS HELD UP TO WHAT LITTLE PUNISHESMENT IT GETS

NEVER HAD TO DEAL W/ THEM

YOU WOULD HAVE TO WANT THIS GUITAR TO LIKE IT. THE STYLEING ISN'T FOR EVERYONE, THE SOUND ISN'T FOR EVERYONE, IT ISN'T JUST A STRAT. BUT IT IS THE BEST AT WHAT IT DOES AND IF YOU NEED A GREAT DELTA BLUES AXE, THIS IS THE ONE.

Made in Korea, don't know the year. Bought it in 1999. 22 jumbo? frets. Nameless tuners. Semi-hollow body (sustain block in the middle), one piece top. Check out epiphone.com for wood info. 2 humbuckers, volume and tone for each. 3 way switch. Color is vintage sunburst, finish is well done without any flaws. Bridge is typical les paul style. All hardware was "gold" plated, and after half year or so, the "gold" started to wear off.

I changed the Epiphone humbuckers to DiMarzio AirClassic set, and the sound, feel and sensitivity changed big step from decent to great. I also put in a switch that splits the humbuckers to single coils(just because wiring diagrams came with new pickups. I'm using it with Laney LC50 mark II all-tube amp. I have VOX wah, Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron, and ZOOM GFX707 for modulation effects. Guitar works well with all these things. Sound is really full with new pickups, old ones didnt sound balanced at the whole sound range. With splitted coils it sounds bright, not really like real single coils, but close.

Pickups were poorly set-up when I got it, the neck one was at normal height, but bridge pickup was just put in, too low. That was easy to fix. All the other parts were set up well. It was equipped with Gibson strings, some set with wound G. With 11's you can get the action low, so low. Finish was beautiful, with out any flaws, necks big block inlays look good. Only problem is th fake "gold" wearing off in all the metal parts. Other ways it would get ten for fish rating.

I play this guitar live and it takes it without complains. I dont own a backup, and I dont feel like needing one. I'm getting a Fender Nashville Telecaster for more sounds, not for backup. Hardware will last, the gold plating won't. Strap-buttons are positioned in the way that you cant drop this thing.

Never needed any!

Ive been playing on/off for about 6 years, and owned this one for year and a half. You get hooked to this thing, and playing other guitars is difficult afte r playing this for some time. If it was stolen or lost, I would try to get it back, but if I couldn't, I'd buy a old Gibson ES335 to replace it. Value for money is great!!!

Bought used in '99 (it's a '95 by Samick)from Ebay w/Hardshell case and lucked out. This is actually a second, but the reason it's a second is because there's a pinhole abberation in the finish INSIDE the upper cutaway -- NOT NOTICEABLE EVEN IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IT. Anyway, it's the standard drill: 2 Samsung Humbucker copies, somewhat microphonic; two volume, two tones, "clicky" PUP selector switch, okay jack. Mine's "Vintage Sunburst," and it looks fantastic! 22 wider-style frets, joined at the 19th (set neck, of course). Pretty Pearl/Abalone inlays which impress, as does the "tree of life" on the headstock. The body is laminated maple with a center block, neck is 3-piece maple with a Rosewood fingerboard. Scale is 24.75", nut width is 1.68" -- pretty much same as Gibson. The electronics are weak, as are the unbelievably flimsy pickguard and tacky control knobs (I put sticky-backed green felt on the bottom of the pickguard, so it appears to have weight and depth (gravitas?), and, goldurnit, it really feels better! Also, the way I play I sometimes rest my hand on the pickguard and it would tap against the maple surface, which was a sound I didn't want. The felt put a stop to that. Bridge is your standard Korean ABR tune-o-matic, but it not swappable with an American Gibson one because it's a bit wider and the bolts which control the height are of a different size. I would replace the saddles -- they're unevenly grooved, but in a minor way. Tuners are okay, not as bad as others have stated -- not my first mod, in any case. This guitar was put together very well. I play with low, low action & light strings, and I get no buzzing at all, which is more than I can say for some of my "High End Brand Name" guitars. Action is great, neck is smooth and feels "fretless," as Gibson used to say. Nice cream coloured binding everywhere, even around the f-hole cutouts. ANything I left out is standard, and will be dealth with below.

I like blues and jazz, some early rock. To earn bucks I do GB gigs in Boston, and I need to get that Charlie Christian and Freddie Green rhythm sounds -- this guitar can handle that. It can also handle Blues leads, and some rock, too. The niggest problem is that the pickups can get kind of muddy at certain settings. The bridge pickup isn't quite as sharp as I'd like. And, they're microphonic. My plan is to replace them with a set of Gibson HBs. It plays so well that I bet when the HBs are in there, I'll have my equivalent of an ES-335.

I set the thing up myself, but didn't have to do anything major except intonation. No frets needed filing (and I play with them strings set down LOW). The Epiphone/Samsung pickups are slighrtly off in terms of lining up with the strings, but it doesn't make a big difference. I've heard, however, that they can be WAY OFF - so, as with all Epis, chewck 'em out carefully. In sum, this turned out to be a surprisingly well made guitar, actually an excellent guitar, that skimped on some things, like electronics. Fit, finish, intonation, fretwork are all excellent. Oh yeah -- except for the tendency for the gold tone on the metal parts to rub off. I can't undestand why Epi doesn't use a better system for goldtoning. When I install the Gibson PUPs they'll stand out because the gold tone will be vibrant.

I use this regularly live, and I think it will withstand just about anything except violence. It seems well made, strong, good solid construction. With the new picku0s, I won;t worry about losing my 3-way switch in the middle of a set (maybe it's an irrational fear anyway). But even now, I'd use it without backup, although I usually have a STrat on hand to get other "Strat" style tones.

Don't know - never had to deal with 'em. Although I sent them an email and they dated the guitar for me quickly.

I've been playing since I was a kid in 1964. I have a bunch of guitars, but no ES-335. I DO have a Guild Starfire IV from 1965, and it's great. But this Epi is just as good (if not better in certain ways) and I'd rather take the Epi on the road than the vintage Guild. If it were stolen, I'd collect my insurance and go check out a bunch of other Epis, but some Gibsons as well. New Sheratons are around $690 with a case; install humbuckers and your up to near $1000. But a Sheraton would definitely be in the running -- it's a great guitar!

Bought new 1999 model in early 2000. Made in Korea. Vintage Sunbrust finish. The rest is the same as everyone else's reviews. Bought it with hardshell case for $478.

I am mostly an acoustic player these days (own 8 acoustics) but wanted an electric for use in home recording. I have only played this guitar thru two practice amps but I can say that I know I will soon replace the stock pickups with Gibson Classic's. The stock pickups really suck. I understand, however, that Gibson/Epiphone are now suing a USA designed pick up in the 200 models that are much better than the Korean designed one in this guitar. I used to play electric exclusively many years ago but I didn't want to invest serious guitar dollars in a vintage guitar (still buying acoustics) so I decided on this guitar because of playability and price.

The action, fit and finish are pretty good for a lower priced guitar. Minor tweaking was all that was required to adjust to a comfortable action. The fit and finsh are definitely Korean but OK.

Can't comment here since I have only had it for 4 months but it never seems to go out of tune (by much anyway).

Haven't needed any as of yet.

Been playing of/on for 42 years. Would give this an overall rating of 8, based solely on price and what I have experienced so far.

95 Epi Korean made. Basic features everyone else has seemed to covered. Maple laminated neck. Cheap pickups, and pots, and toggle switch. Lots of plywood.

I personally like the sound. As far as new guitars go its pretty damn good. Usually I go for vintage guitars, but at the prices and the damn difficulty to find them the sheraton was a good economic substitute. Its been pretty versatile, nice fat vintage sounds, however I have to agree the stock electronics: pickups, pots, switch, need to be replaced. Both neck and bridge pickups are too muddy and they feed back like a mofo. Im contemplating putting Gibson 57s in, any suggestions? However the stock pickups have done me fine so far for simple tooling around. I personally dont think people listening can tell too much from them, but when you play you just get the feeling the grass would be greener with different pickups.

Well, I had to reset almost everything on the guitar, from pickups (I suppose I should just replaced them) to the action. However once setup properly its a dream to play. Only flaw is on the neck. I can see a few factory mishaps. I suppose you gotta really look, but they're still there. It doesnt help that I gotta a natural finish. However besides the electronics, the hardware has been good to me. It keeps in tune. Basically anything non-electronic on the thing is fine.

Well again anything non-electronic has been fine. However my damn bridge pickup broke when I was raising the thing (another reason to get different pickups). Ive used it as my primary guitar. The thing doesnt look like itll blow-up at any time, but the damn electronics are cheaper than hell. On the other hand I suppose theyre pretty damn good in comparisson to other japanese/korean made nightmares. I dont know how long the electronics will last, but the guitar will probably last a while. I dont recommend using it as a club, hammer, tennis racket, baseball bat, gavel, or pogo stick.

Theyre customer support bites. I swear Gibson has turned a blind eye to anything Epiphone, and epiphone refers you to Gibson for help. After about a week of harassing their support I finally got an answer.

Well I give it a good overall rating. Alot a bang for the buck so to say. Its defintely no vintage guitar, but it gives them newer pieces of junk that Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, DArmond, etc... are putting out a run for the money. They dont make guitars like they used to. Too many factory cutouts by the major brands after they got bought out by coorporations. Guys in suits in lofty skyscrapers dont make and dont care if they make good guitars. So in my opinion if you cant afford or find an actual quality vintage guitar the sheraton will definately hold you over till that day (please dont waste your money buying a new overpriced Gibson that practically is made the same way). Its the guitar that you use for daily gigging, toolin around, etc... However its not the prized collectors item you keep in a glass case to show envious museum watchers. So if you want something that plays well, is cheap, can sound extremely good (if you change the pickups), looks nice, go for the sheraton. But if you want a vintage piece that oozes soul find yourself a nice guitar shop that specializes in vintage instruments and theyll find you one at a price equivalent to the overpriced Gibsons that will easily outplay those pieces of junk.

NEW KOREAN MADE EPIPHONE SHERATON 2 .BLACK FINSH,GOLD HARDWARE,NECK AND EADSTOCK INLAYS,A VERY GOOD LOOKING GUITAR.

The stock pickups on this guitar were not very useful for my needs. If all your gonna use it for is clean jazzy stuff they're fine. I play a variety of music and needed pickups that were a little cleaner sounding with higher output so I put a set of Gibson 57 Classic pickups in it.(a $200 upgrade mind you) They turned it into a tone monster. I would say it sounds every bit as good as a 335 . Don't get me wrong it doesn't feel like a 335, but it's damn close .A real Gibson just has that little bit better feel in their construction,but don't forget you'd be paying four times as much for a 335 .

For what I paid for this guitar everything is pretty much what I expected.I bought it knowing it would not be my main guitar. My main guitars of choice are solidbodies . I wanted a Gibson 335 but didn't want to pay $2300 dollars for one. So this guitar fit the bill perfectly.All the electronics and switches and stuff were average but once I replaced the pickups it became a very useful instrument for my needs. With the new pickups,installation, and a pro setup it increased my investment to almost $800, but it improved the guitar greatly.

HAVEN'T HAD IT LONG ENOUGH TO GIVE AN HONEST OPINION,BUT WITH PROPER CARE I WOULD SAY THIS GUITAR WOULD LAST A LIFETIME.

The price/performance ratio of this guitar is outstanding. Replace the pickups with quality name brand pickups and you'll have a very useful versatile instrument that looks,plays,& sounds pretty good and won't empty your wallet. If I were a die hard Hollowbody player I would go with a real GIBSON 335, but if you want some 335 tones and don't wanna spend a mint the Epiphone is the logical choice.

This guitar is a Korean semi-solid thinline archtop from about 1996. It falls somewhere in between a straightforward ES335 copy and a reissue of the old Epiphone Sheraton of the sixties. It has a laminated top and back, a solid center block, and a wide but thin laminated neck- all maple. Its fingerboard is rosewood with fancy "triangle in block" inlays and its headstock has the traditional Epiphone "vine" inlay. Hardware is gold-plated and everything in sight is bound- from the fingerboard to the body to the f-holes. It's got oversized die-cast tuners, a tune-o-matic bridge, and a stop tailpiece. Two full-size humbuckers with individual tone and volume controls are selected with a 3-way toggle.

I play everything from jazz to blues to rock - even metal from time to time - and I'm always amazed by how well this guitar does it all. I play it through a small, all-tube combo, and rarely use effects beyond the amp's spring reverb. It has a fat, warm tone, but still has enough treble to really bite. The low-end is unbelievable- you can feel it in your chest when you play a blues bassline on the lower strings. My only objection is that the top end is a little thin sometimes when I'm playing way up the neck- I suspect that this has more to do with the value of the tone capacitor than the pickups themselves. This guitar has a ton of output- not as much as distortion humbuckers, but more than old PAFS. This guitar, well at its strongst playing jazz, blues, and older rock, can do practically anything. It makes practically no noise at any volume I've ever played at.

I am pretty uptight about the action on my guitars but since I got this guitar I have had to do nothing but set the intonation once. Action is great, pickup heights are great, and the tuners have stood up well- this guitar stays in tune forever, except when I pull perfect-fourth bends on the high strings. The natural finish is nice, although the wood is not particularly figured. The fingerboard binding is a little sloppy but you can't tell until you get really close and it doesn't affect playing at all. Electronics could be better - pots are occasionally scratchy - but not bad enough to warrant any work. After nearly five years of pretty constant use the gold is gone where my right hand rubs the bridge and the back pickup- apparently it was never very thick to begin with.

I have used this guitar at many gigs with no backup and never had a problem. It is absolutely reliable and consistent. The original strap buttons worked fine but seemed to have a tendency to wear straps out faster than normal. I replaced them with strap-locks and now eberything is fine.

This guitar has been so good that I have never had to worry about customer support.

I'd been playing for four years when I bought this guitar and I have never regretted my decision. I knew I wanted a semi-solidbody and for the money it was far and away better than the others I tried. It is still my primary guitar, and not just for lack of money for a new guitar. It gives 90% of a 335's tone- for $2000 less! I definitely recommend it to all. I've given it a 9 but it is borderline on a 10.