Epiphone Sheraton II

This Korean made "Epiphone" is an effective mix of the original US made Sheraton and the Gibson ES-335. It's features are pure Gibsin; i.e. two humbucking pickups with a 3-way toggel between seperate volumes/tone circuits, all mounted on a ES semi-hollow bodied double cut-away guitar. The bridge is a modified 'tune-o-matic' with a stop tailpiece.
The 'esthetics,' however, are pure 'Epi.' Oversized headstock. Lovely, leafy, inlays. All exposed metal has a "gold" finish.
The three part neck is a thin and fast. It has a rosewood fretboard.
The multi-layered edging has an antique look which is much nicer than the common white plastic.
The guitar is typically delivered with a good quality hard case.

The sound of this 'Epi' is pure Gibson ES. The pick-ups are quiet. Their sound is rich and full. Overdriven is has a sweet blues vibe; "clean" it has a pure jazz tone.
For vintage rock it does great Chuck Berry, poor surf. About what one would expect of a humbuckered semi-solid.

Here the guitar excells! The neck is wonderful. Good reach to the upper frets. No noticable 'flat spots,' which sometimes, in this reviwers experience, is a problem on Gibsonesque short scaled necks.
The finish is for the most part exceptional. Small details like the Ivy inlay on the head, and the two-part abaloney (genuine?) fret markers. All lovely. The one exception being the Epiphone "E" cheaply silkscreened onto the pickguard which is totally out of character.
The only other sign that this is a mid-priced instrument is in the casting and final finish of the bridge and tail-piece, which is decent, but not great.

This guitar has proven quite durable with the notable exception of the "gold" finish on the tail-piece and bridge, which quickly wore away to the silver (chrome?) under plating. (I buffed these pieces so that the wear areas are even. They now look nice two-tone silver and gold)
Everthing else has been rock solid. Wiring. Tuners. Body finish. Fingerboard and frets.

I haven't needed to contact the company. I believe the instrument has a "Lifetime" warranty.

I've been playing for about 40 yrs., and have owned several semi-hollow bodied guitars. (Gibsons, and Guilds)
The Sheraton II is better than most, but not the equal to my all time favorite; a totally re-wired (The guitar origianlly had active electronics) early `80s Gibson ES-Artist.
The biggest difference between the two, aside from the coil taps and phase switch which were put into the ES, is the "liveness" of their feel. This is hard to describe, but the ES seems to respond to the touch while the Epi simply 'sits' as dead wood. It could be a difference in the construction or maybe its the ES's old laquer finish. Maybe, though (as the guy in the vintage guitar shop where I bought it suggested), the instrument's history simply imbued it with a soul. ;-)
I generally play this guitar through a Marshall 900 Dual Master Volume amp with little stage one gain, but alot (6 - 7) secondary gain. (Master volume at 6) I also use a limiter/compressor and a DOD digital reverb (on "plate") through the amp's input/output jacks.
Used this way the instrument is wonderfully creamy; especially with the selector in the mid (both "on") position. Sweet! Through a Silverface Delux Reverb amp the guitar has an excellant rhythm sound; clean but a little sassy.

Ordered new from Thoroughbred direct. Nice natural (dark brown finish). Anyone who knows dick about political economy, guitars, and Epi in the 1990s knows that "Made in Korea" is not a problem. 2 stock humbuckers, volume and tone knob for each, three way selector, stock bridge (nice brass, btw, only mine currently needs a cleaning), stock tuners (which i'll probably switch over to Sperzels...see below). the neck is fatter than YeTypicalStratClone, closer to YeTypicalGibson but that's probably a good thing where your hand bones and tendons are concerned. Nice inlays on the fretboard are an extra, if trivial, plus. Hardshell case was an extra 55 USD.

I got it to get into jazz, primarily, and that it does quite well--nice and warm on the stock pickups, although the conventional wisdom here seems to suggest putting in Seymour Duncan '59s, which I'm considering. Still, I run it through Carvin's 212 Bel Air combo, and the combination sounds great, with mounds of tight bottom end that rattles my window shades, to warm mids, chimey when you want it, to twangy country things. I do have to roll off the volume on either pickup to 8 unless I need that growl/saturation in the amp. Works great for blues (but see the tuner comment below), and also does a very good imitation of that Alex Lifeson Hemispheres-era tone for you rockers out there. Jazz works great on the neck pickup, and if you want a slightly brighter, more harmonically defined sound, the middle position on the pickup selector, with the bridge pickup volume down to about 3.5, and the neck volume to 8 (both tone knobs down to the 1-2 range) sounds good, although you might need to boost volume on the amp a bit. Overall, you might want to consider another guitar for rock purposes, particularly if you're in high gain situations--the stock pickups can feed back. Obviously, with humbuckers, noise ain't a problem...

No problems here, except my stock tuning pegs have the annoying habit of going out of tune when bending strings, even after I've done my best to take the slack out. I'm planning to get them switched to Sperzels (3 to a side, a bit hard to find but mine came from Musician's Friend), but that requires drilling and filling screw holes. Also, I've had to tweak the intonation every few months, don't know why (maybe it's more in my ears than the guitar, but still...)

Once I get the Sperzels in, I'd be happy to take it live. I've dinked a tiny bit of the finish and fretboard, but that's nothing that most other guitars could handle better. Someone else's comment about tiny cloth-induced scratches on the back rings true...(if they can build space shuttles that don't get toasted on re-entry, why is guitar gloss so damn finicky?) Might be nice to have a backup if your tuners are a bit unreliable like mine.

Haven't had to deal with Epi directly.

Been playing 12 years, and got sick of my low-budget Westone which has finally started to crap out multiple times with tone pots, jacks, and dirty pickups. If stolen, I'd probably get another one as there are few other jazz guitars I know about in that range. I love the warm tone and soul to it, and "hate" is too strong a word for the tuners--peeved is more on the mark. I was a bit leery about ordering it direct, but I did dink around on other Epis in the local store, and that gave me some idea. Advice on the net helped me decide on it, and when it showed up, it exceeded expectations. Nonetheless, I'm thinking about breaking down and getting a Carvin TL60T to handle rock/blues/twang things, maybe with a splittable humbucker in the neck to play backup to the Sheraton. Ordering direct though, this guitar is one hell of a good value.

Made in Korea in 96.Laminated top. Passive electronics, humbuckers. Maple neck.Semi-acoustic. Case came with it.

I play blue/rock. Doesn't sound to back. Not a Gibson though. Has a variety of sounds. Sometimes sounds like laminated wood.

Action was not set up acceptable. I had to set it up. I didn't see any defects though. Actually a nice finish. A pretty guitar. Action is much better since I fixed it.

Seems durable. I think it's probably a reliable guitar though I haven't put it through any rigorous test.

Haven't use them. Don't even know their number.

I've been playing for over 30 yrs. I wish I had asked about the neck. If it were lost I'd probably get something else. I think Epiphone could have used a guitar neck instead of a 2x4. I like a smaller neck because I like to flop my thumb over the neck & use it to play bass strings with. It would have been better with a Gibson type neck. If I bought the guitar from a mail order company & would not have bought it if I had known the type of neck it had. As a result I will never buy another Epiphone.

This is a 335 style guitar with a few changes. It was Korean made in the mid 90s. Specs are - Laminated maple top, back and sides (like a Gibson 335). The neck is also maple (unlike the Gibson 335, which uses mahogany) with a 24.75 inch scale, a slim taper style shape and a rosewood fingerboard. Electronics are 2 Humbucking pickups with volume and tone for each and a 3 way pckup selector. The bridge is a modified Tunematic style with a stop bar tailpiece. The tuners are shaller style machines. All hardware is gold plated. The pickguard is plastic tortise shell style. The neck position markers are very cool two tone V in a box pearl, like the original top of the line Epiphones. It has a very pretty vine inlay on the headstock. The body is double bound as is the neck. Has a natural maple finish. I also god a very nice hard case with it.

With the stock pickup this was a nice guitar, but a little microphonic. Changed the pickups to Duncan '59s and the tone improved a bit and the guitar is no longer microphonic. This gets me what I bought the guitar for - a very classic 335 type sound. It is actually a little brighter than a normal 335, probably due to the neck being maple instead of mahogany and the Duncans. This is easily remedied by either using the tone or volume controls. I use the guitar to play praise and worship music, which covers Rock, Folk, Country and Gospel, and it cuts it fine. I use either a Laney 50 watt amp or a Crate Vintage 30 and it sounds good through both. I try to avoid effects.

The guitar played well when I got it. I've played a few better 335s, but not many. There aren't any flaws that I can tell. The top is not book matched but appears to be one continuous piece of wood. It is very unusual looking in that instead of flame it looks more like a regular maple slab with only a little figure. Some of the gold is worn off the top of the studs and tailpiece but thats ok.

This is a very well built guitar. It will handle giging and normal use. I have used it without a backup. This guitar is at least 5 years old and still looks new except for some of the hardware.

Never dealt with Epiphone or Gibson for service.

I got this in a trade deal. I traded a Gibson Blueshawk in a gig bag straight accros for it with hard case. It was a fair deal as far as I'm concerned. I own a few other guitars, but I'd been wanting a 335 style and the Blueshawk just wasn't what I wanted (I gave it over a year). I like the whole 335 vibe you get when you play it - the smoothness of the tone and the way the guitar vibrates against your body. I compared it to another Sheraton and a Washburn and just thought this was the best sounding and playing of the bunch.

The sheraton 2 is made in korea. I've only just got mine so i don't know what year it was made. It has 22 frets that are so good there is no word to describe it. It has two epiphone humbucker pickups which are gold plated. The model of the pickups i think are Korean samsungs.The finish i have is ebony which is so good. It is an archtop guitar, that of a Gibson ES-335 series. I can't tell you what type of tuners they are but i can say that they are great. Easy to get into tune, so their just perfect. The head is the best head, including the neck, that i have ever seen.

The guitar is so versatile as it plays an amazing clean sound and can also play verey good distorted sound with the bridge pickup. If you like Noel Gallagher then you'll love this guitar. By vibrating a string, turning up the volume and standing near the amp you get a huge amount of feedback which i use at the start of 'Supersonic.' The sound is overall amazing. People say Epiphone pickups are crap but these are great. I play mine through a Marshall valvestate 100 watt reverb combo so it may differ through different amps.

As i've lready said it's amazing.

I've been playing for 1 year but i've only had the guitar for 3 days so i can't really comment. But i'll give it 10 anyway.

Don't know?

I Lve this guitar so i recommend on buying it for anyone else.

Epiphone ES-335 copy,1996 I think. Made in Korea, says so right on the back of the headstock. Mine is white with multiple binding, abalone and pearl inlays, rosewood fretboard, gold hardware,etc. I got it used but it was still in very good shape, a few minor dings, nothing serious. The finish is starting to yellow somewhat, not in a bad way, kinda cool actually. It came with a real nice hard case.

I play a little of everything. I got this guitar because I wanted to grow a little as a player. My other guitars are shred monsters and I wanted something with a more classic tone. The factory pickups were a little dark and indistinct so I replaced them with Seymour Duncans, Jazz at the neck and JB at the bridge. I also had push/pulls installed for the tone knobs to split the coils. With this combination the guitar really comes alive. Not that the original pickups were that bad, they weren't, the Duncans are just that much better.I played this guitar for a year before I replaced the pickups and the Duncans make a significant difference. I play through a Boss GX-700 into a board at the moment and can get an amazing range of tones with this guitar especially with the new pickups. It is not a shred guitar, it is better suited to cleaner tones but it can still rock hard. At higher volumes you can really feel it move but it doesn't howl or feed back excessively. I have other guitars to play metal with, I use this guitar for more classic sounds. It gets all the 335 sounds and then some.

The finish is very nice. The inlays are beautiful and the binding is great. Though the finish is starting to yellow some it still looks great in a classic kind of way. The setup was pretty good but I always fiddle with my guitars to get them as I like them. I use 11s and had to set it up for this. This guitar plays great! The frets are nicely finished and the action is superb. A great guitar!

The gold hardware has worn some but it always does if you play it. It seems very solid, I've had it for a year now and no complaints. I am sure this guitar will stand up for years to come. It really is very solid.

I've never had to call Epiphone.

I have been playing for close to twenty years mostly as a metal head and have recently grown into a broader range of sound. It took a little getting used to the bigger body but the feel and sound are worth it. I wanted a guitar that could play jazz and rythem like a Gibson semi hollow body but couldn't afford a Gibson. This guitar is so nice. It plays like a dream and has become my main guitar. If it were lost I would definately replace it and have the same pickups put in it. Like I said this guitar is every bit as nice as the 335s I have looked at and plays just as nice but cost so much less, such a great deal. I highly reccomend this guitar to anyone looking for a classic semi hollow body sound.

1996 Korean model. Semi hollow thin-line archtop. Laminated maple top and body. Maple neck, rosewood fretboard with block inlay. Mine is white with dual binding on the body neck and headstock. Two Epiphone (Samsung I think) humbucker pickups. Two volume and tone pots and one pickup selector switch. This is a great looking guitar. The workmanship is excellent with only a small flaw on the binding by the headstock. Good factory fret job. Tuners are nothing fancy, but they work OK. Stop bar tune-O-matic bridge. I have not had any trouble with the intonation or with keeping the guitar in tune.

This is a jazz/blues/rock guitar. While I think the stock Epiphone pickups get a bum rap, they are certainly nothing to write home about. Appear to only work well within a very narrow tone range. After a year I changed the stock PUs out for a Gibson 57 in the neck position, and a Gibson 57+ in the bridge position. This modification changed this OK guitar to something close to a great guitar. The woods in this guitar combined with decent pickups make a formadable instrument.

Can't comment on the factory setup as the music store I bought it from sets up all their guitars before putting them on the floor. This one was set up NICE. The action is silky smooth and the semi-hollow body lets this guitar really breath. The hadrware was clean and properly adjusted. Can't tell much about the wood grain because of the white finish. Appears to be OK. I cannot detect any seams or spearations. There are no rattles or buzzes. Well built. The finish is awsome. Gold plate on the hardware is a little thin and will start to ware in time. As I mentioned before, this guitar is very pleasing to the eye.

Had mine two years now and have not had any problems. Epiphone gives a limited lifetime warranty (which I voided when I changed pickups) which should give some indication of the quality. The finish is polyeurathane based which is pretty tough. Proabaly doesn't breath as well as compared to a Gibson finish, but with a hollow body, I don't think it is as big a factor. Hollow bodies are not anywhere as rugged as solid bodies; hence I would recommend a hard case as opposed to a gig bag. Its never let me down (and I play it a lot)

Don't know.

This is a GREAT working man's instrument. It is a lot of guitar for the money. I also own a Gibson Les Paul, and a Fender Strat and my Sheraton will hold its own easily. With a set of decent pickups, it is a close approximation of a real ES335. Yes I would buy this guitar again. It prettier than a 335 its a lot of fun to play. No, its not a Gibson ES335......but there's not $1000 worth of difference either.

This is a great 335-style guitar. Semi-hollow, with a solid center block and hollow wings. Mine is the natural wood finish. Two humbucking pickups.

I have a friend that has a Gibson 335, and I really wanted to get close to the tone he was getting, but couldn't spend that money. I bought this mail-order from Thoroughbred Music for about $450 a couple years ago, and have been floored by the quality ever since. I play it (as well as a Strat Plus, a Mexican Tele and Epi Les Paul) through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and the tone is absolutely wonderful. It has amazing body to the sound, very different than the Les Paul. Incredibly versatile, as well. You can play ultra mellow jazz stuff with the neck pickup and go to the bridge pickup for great, tight distorted tones and lead stuff. When I bought it I intended to change out the "whatever brand" stock pickups for some Duncans or something, but I never did cuz the stock ones sound great. I have played it side by side with my friend's 335, and no discernable difference. I give the Sheraton a "10" for the tone/price ratio.

Although I rave about the tone, and in fact I'm about to rave about the cosmetics, I have a feeling this thing probably isn't made as solidly as a 335, or other real Gibson semi-hollows. But one reason I wanted it is because the cosmetics are superb, like a Cadillac, but still classy. The vine inlay looks great, the finish is perfect, the wood grain is nice, and I've noticed no finish problems. One thing I will mention is that the neck seems to bend a little too easily if you push forward on it (toward the body), like it has a weak neck/body connection. This has never caused a problem (yet), but when I mentioned it to a repair guy a couple years ago he confirmed that these guitars did indeed have a weak neck/body joint. He also said that it was an easy fix. I never did it, however. Frets great. Action great. The thing feels awesome.

I've played out with this a number of times, and had no problems. When I am playing it, I pound it hard, and it's been fine. The tuners are sensitive and smooth. I would go without a backup, but I always have a Strat or Tele for other types of music.

Never utilized.

I love it, and will never sell it. It's the most versatile guitar I own, and is beautiful to look at, too. I've never seen a better price/performance guitar. Of all my guitars, this is the one I'd like to pass on to my next generation, with pride. Any consideration of the foreign-made stigma is ridiculous with this particular model. I'd stand it up against my friend's 335 any day, and paid less than one fourth for it. Now that's value!

The other entries have pretty much summed these up.

Nothing to write home about. I never really use any position other than the neck pick-up and I find it useable. However, it is microphonic and lacks definition. Some decent jazz and blues tones.
The bridge pick-up is shrill and again lacks definition. Since my Sheraton is up for sale, I never got to swap out the pick-ups. I think a set of Seth Lovers or Classic 59's would do wonders for this guitar. The stock PU's just don't cut it as far as I'm concerned.

It really is a pretty looking guitar. The Maple is not AAA material, but the finish is dark enough to hide what mars there are, and light enough to let you see the wood. No complaints here. The binding was really applied nicely. Just as good as a lot of Gibsons I've seen.
As far as the hardware is concerned, I've seen better. The PU covers are not gold plated and the gold is rubbing off where I rest my hand revealing the grey metal. The gold is also rubbing off of the two bridge pins. My tuners don't stay in tune and need to be tightened on occassion. The nut was cut wrong also, so my G-string constantly sticks and needs to be re-tuned.

As stated above, I don't think that the hardware will cut it over the long haul. The guitar itself seems solid and put together well.

Never used it.

I've definitely played better. BUT, for $600.00 you get a lot of guitar. If you have to have a 335 style guitar and you are on an extremely limited budget, this would be a decent choice. Remember, the next cheapest semi-hollow is about $350.00 more new.
New pick-ups (a must as far as I'm concerned) will cost about $150 installed. Add another $65 for good tuners and you will have spent closer to $850. This puts you in the Heritage, Guild, and Washburn neighborhood. Something to think about.

1997 - Korea 22 frets Laminated Maple 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3 way selector H/H The pickups are Korean Samsungs (Blew me away, they sound so good) Passive Electronics Maple neck (rosewood finger board with inlays) Semi Accoustic (ES 335 style) Tune-o-matic bridge with stop tailpiece Tuners are probably Korean, but they stay in tune very well.

I play Blues and Rock and this guitar suits this type of music to a tee. I have a SF Deluxe Reverb at home that I play at a lower volume and this guitar sounds good, BUT I've also got a Bassman head with a 2x12 cab that this sucker sounds enormous through, with no effects but the natural drive of the 6L6's this guitar comes to life, man it'll nail your balls to the floor. I use an old Alvin Lee trick, I put a swatch of masking tape across the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece and it completely stops the feedback. I'm really trying to find something negative to say about this guitar, but I can't, actually the more I think about it the more I love it (I think I'll ask my wife if I can bring it to bed with us tonight). I paid $750Can. for this guitar and I challenge anyone to find a better playing, sounding guitar of this type for that amout of money.

The nut was a bit high, but with a little filling I brought it down to size. I also passed a small rounded file in the saddle grooves (just to be sure). The factory setup (except for the nut) was just right, as a matter of fact I took measurements (string height, pickup height etc.) and recorded them for future reference. I'm looking at this baby now and I'm really trying to find flaws in it, but I just can't, the binding is well done and the inlays are perfect, No Shit! Maybe I was lucky and got a good one, I would like to think that there are other Sherraton's as well made as mine is.

I'm not a gigging musician, but I play this guitar a lot, the gold plating on the pickups are starting to show some age, funny thing though, I rest the side of my hand on the bridge and there is no indication of discoloring like on the pickups. This guitar feels solid, if not a bit heavy. I don't know if a guy who gigs with this thing will wear it through in a year, but, by the feel of it I don't think so.

Can't say, I've owned it for 1 1/2 years now and I haven't had any problems that I had to bring it to the dealer for repairs. I thought the warranty was 1 year, but recently I've been to the Epiphone web site and they are registering Epiphones for a lifetime limited warranty.

Hey look I could spend lot of time telling you why I like this guitar, but I'll save myself a lot of trouble by telling you that if you are considering a Semi Accoustic guitar take the time and go try one out for yourself. You'll see what I mean. I play through Fender amps, so maybe this guitar will sound different through some of the high gain amps. But only YOUR ears can judge that.