Epiphone Sheraton II

Just bought an Ebony model. Tried it out just for the feel because I used to own one in 1961. That one was heavier, blond, and if I remember correctly cost atout $700 in 1962 dollars.

This one sounds better than any Gibson I've ever played or owned.

I am writing this because I have a question for everybody. I have never seen a guitar that only has markings up to the 15th fret. My near vosion is getting bad even with glasses, and I often have trouble overshooting the 17th fret on my les paul and Custom Tele, which are marked. With this I am flying blind (no pun intended). How do you cope with it? I have contacted my luthier who can put on side markers but he's not equipped to handle these fancy things. I suggested dots but he recommended not--would ruin its value. But, this is an inexpensive GOOD/Great guitar and its value is its value to me--not to somebody I might sell it too after 25 years. I think what I may do is tape off the rosewood behind the fret, tape off the top of the fret on 17, 19, and maybe 21 too, and just put a coating of silver-to-white fingernail polish on the back of the fret itself so I can see it. How stupid does this sound and why am I the only person who ever remarked about this? I will have enough trouble seeing the side markers, which I have noted I only use when standing up. When seated, my eyes always go to the fret markers when I make a long jump.

6 frets in a line on a shortened 24&3/4" neck without markers make it hard to land correctly in the upper registers.

playing 47 years
''87 '57 reissue strat, custome tele, les paul, gave away the rest--jap/strat, tele, jazzmaster.

amps--1954 pro 15" jenson--tweed--perfect condition, 78 super reverb,
88 super 60, 89 twin.

yeah, 3 more fret markers

2004 Made in Korea. Laminated top with std. 2 p/u, 2 vol. and 2 tone controls. Gold hardware and tobacco sunburst finish. I paid $259 in a pawn shop and it still had tags on it. I can't argue the price. No case but I have a new case on order.

This is a hot guitar, even with the stock pickups. It really pushes a Fender Deluxe Reverb but I have a blackface Twin Reverb, '66 Bandmaster, Line 6 and several other amps. I got little response from the tone controls until I turned the volume all the way up. The pots need to be changed and I will do this myself. I've owned a '67 ES-335 and liked it. I will probably like this guitar also.

There was sticker on the guitar saying it was set up in the USA. It had a pretty good set up but I tweaked it a little. The pickups are adjusted about right for me. The neck is great. Even with low action, there is no buzz on any string, all the way down the neck. I can't complain about the finish. Probably the "prettiest" guitar I have ever had. This guitar was used but there was not a mark on it and it didn't have a case. It had only been out of pawn for about 30 min. when I walked in and bought it.

I haven't played it enough to say for sure but so far, it seems very reliable and durable. I think it would be fun to play live. The finish and workmanship are wornderful. The strap buttons are about standard for any other guitar. Using with at a gig without a backup - I always take a Tele along. I will hate to put the first scratch on it.

I only emailed Gibson with my serial number and they emailed me immediately with the age of the guitar and told me where it was made.

I've owned a guitar since 1964 but really started playing a lot in 1975. I own several Fender Tele's, one '69 Tele with an original Parson's - White B-bender and 3 Strats and 3 P-basses. Mostly Fender blackface amps (a real 1965 Twin Reverb and a '66 Bandmaster)and a few silverface Fenders. 2 Gibson amps and 1 Epiphone from the 60's. 2 Leslie tremolo units. Lots and lots more other stuff. I've owned over 200 guitars and 200 amps since 1975. I haven't decided if I will keep this guitar but I like it a lot now. I own lots of nice guitars to be an old bass player

This is a follow up to my 12/25/05 review below. I have a 2001 Sheraton II that I bought used and it was in very, very good condition. Sunburst, with two Epiphone ?57 Humbuckers. I changed the pick ups a few weeks ago and put in a bone nut and wanted to update my review. In that first review, I noted that I had all the pots and wiring and the input jack and pick up switch changed out as part of the purchase price. This was a very good move and it?s a fairly cheap but important upgrade. My rating is based on my upgrades.

With regard to the original pick ups, they were pretty good. Mine were Epiphone ?57 Humbuckers and on the back of them, it notes they are also used on Epiphone Dots and Les Pauls. However, after a lot of thought, I put in a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom (SH 11) in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan Jazz (SH 2N) in the neck. Wow. The Custom Custom is an astounding pick up. BB King Live at the Regal Hotel. Sweet, sweet, singing, sustaining, fat, creamy, biting mid range and high end tones. In the D, G and B stings from the 8th fret up to 18th fret it?s almost a trumpet kind of sound at times. Incredible. If you overdrive the amp a little, it also reminds me of Neil Young?s work with Buffalo Springfield at times too. But, you have to adjust the height of the pick up to get the most out of it. When I got the guitar back with the new pick ups, they were both set too low and the difference in sound from the original pick ups was negligible. Fortunately, I read about this common adjustment oversight on this website (why do techs do that?) and it was another easy fix. When I raised them to the recommended height, it made a profound difference. The Custom Custom is a killer. The Jazz pick up is also great. A very different sound altogether. It removes the edge from the higher strings at the higher frets for a meatier, less piercing sound. A true jazz / blues sound. Between the two pick ups, there?s a great range of individual sounds. Together, there are even more possibilities. Re the new bone nut, it added a little more conduction of sound and sustain. I just don?t think a plastic nut can do much for a guitar - - other than to save costs for the manufacturer. My rating is based on my upgrades.

As noted in my 12/25/05 review, action, fit anf finsih are great.

After reading a lot about the Sheraton before I bought it (and confirmed by music store staff) the weak link for Epiphones are the electronics; switches, tone controls, volume controls and, to some extent, the pick ups (they were a little muddy but not horrible). Structurally, this strikes me as being a very solid, durable guitar. I have had no problems in that regard.

No contact with customer support so I can't say.

I've been playing a long, long time. I like this guitar a lot. Re buying another one if it were stolen, etc, by buying this guitar used and at a good price, my upgrades have still kept this guitar in a reasonable price range. Even a beat up Gibson 335 would be way, way, way more expensive than what I have invested so far and the tone and playability of this guitar is now really great. It?s a poor man?s 335. However, it?s a shame that Epiphone is so close to having a really great guitar right off the rack. What would it cost them to put in better electronics? In comparison, I got a used USA Strat in great condition and at a great price and I haven?t had to put a dime into it.

2005 Korean made, 22 fret, lam top, 2 vol, 2 tone, 3 way, 2 humbuckers.Grover tuners, tune-o-matic/stop tail, 5 piece neck.
No case.
With some small, fairly inexpensive upgrades, this guitar could really be a contender.
All guitars should come with a case, no guitar should have a plastic nut.Pickups are no more than a refrigerator magnet, and the pots/switch are overseas junk.
The actual guitar is great though, well made..

Unplugged, it sounds awesome. Nice midrangey tone. Loud and clear. A few tweaks and it played great.
Plugged in, the electronics were quiet, but the pickups were muddy as hell. I planned on changing them anyway, and knowing that it sounded great UN-plugged, I knew it would sound fantastic with a good set of pickups.I did my homework and decided that the Seymour Duncan "Phat Cats" were the pickup for this guitar. I ordered them with the gold covers, and installed them. Upon removing the electronics, I noticed the 3-way switch is pretty cheesy, so that will have to be replace, as well as the pots.Also, I looked at the back of the Epi pickups, and found they were both Epi Les Paul 57 bridge pickups..
After installing the Phat Cats with the Epi springs and rings, the guitar just came alive! Great cut and clarity with excellent midrange punch. Just enough power to make it scream under heavey gain, but retains the "hollow tone" with the volume rolled off a little. Seriously, these Phat Cats fall somewhere between a hot mini-bicker, and a P90.. No, and I mean NO singlecoil hum...
Now this somewhat inexpensive guitar sounds like a FINE instrument!
My rating with the Phat Cats is a 9, stock is as below...

Action was acceptible. A little tweaking and it's almost as good as mu Les Paul...I see no flaws in the finish at all. It's stellar!
Wiring was a little sloppy, but I fixed that myself..The nut is plastic, and needs to be replaced with a bone nut for sure.
Grover tuners are a nice feature.

I think it will hold up well.Hopefully the finish will wear off some. I like my guitars used looking. This is my first Brand New guitar.Holds tuning well through a set. I can even change to open G without any problems.I never gig without backup. I always have my strat and Les Paul anyway. This guitar fills a different niche for me.
First thing I did was put Schaller straplocks on it, as all my other guitars...

Have not tried...

Been playing since 1980. I have a 1976 Les Paul Custom, a 1998 USA strat with fat 50's pickups, a Charvel Model 4. I run them through my Mesa Boogie Mark III simulclass head and 2 thiele/EV loaded cabs all in Imbuya/wicker, and a 1968 Gibson Hawk 1-10" amp. For effects I use an analogman TS9/808, crybaby 95Q, TR2, EHX Deluxe Memory Man, A/DA Flanger.
If it was lost or stolen I'd replace it with another. I love the looks, and the way it plays, I hate the plastic nut and cheapo electronics including muddy pickups. I looked at the Gibson hollowbodies, and may someday get a 335, but for now, this serves the purpose.
For the cost of the pickups/bone nut/pots, switch/jack/case...$250
So, for $799, I have an awesome blues machine that's pretty versatile.
I'm really pleased with it. All in all, it's a great guitar for the price. It certainly won't replace my Les Paul or strat, but does it's own thing really well, and looks great doing it.

Well, my Sheraton II was made in Korea, i think it's a 2005 model, i don't know exactly, but i think so because the serial number starts with "U05...". Maple laminated top.

2 volume pots and 2 tone pots. 3-Way selector like all hollowbody's guitars, i really don't like the selector, it's just seems to cheapy!

It has 2 humbuckers, i like the sound of both but can be much better for the price of the guitar.

The finish of this guitar is just excelent...i love it. It's a kind of tobacco sunburst, but it's not that shiny. I don't know if u get the color I'm talking about...imagine mixing the tobacco sunburst with the vintage sunburst...just GREAT.

The headstock of this guitar is just EXCELENT...it seems like a 2000 dollar's guitar. It has a real nice "life's tree" on it...cool!
Has also Grover tuners (i didn't know it come with those tuners!) so it was a big surprise when i saw it.

The hardware (the tune-o-matic bridge, grover tunes, pickups, etc...) is gold. I like it.

I give it a 9, because the 3 way selector sucks. I will replace it by a brand new one when i have the money to.

I play rock, and some punk rock too. Including lots of bands:

Rock like: The Beatles, Oasis, U2.
Punk Rock: Green Day

Well let's see. I bought this guitar 4 days ago, so I'm getting used to it in these days. I like both humbuckers sound, but maybe i will replace the neck humbucker by a Seymour Duncan 59 and the bridge one with a Seymour Duncan SH-4. It will sound GREAT for what i play.

But the stock pickups are really nice. Incredible for jazz or blues!!

You know i think that this guitar will sound terrible with some distortion...it is WONDERFULL. I love the sound of it! Even with the stock pickups.

The guitar set-up was great...no complains.

The wood of the Sheraton II is great...just great. The finish is wonderful, like i said before, it seems a 2 thousand dollars guitar.

The strap buttons are solid, but i'm getting used of how to hunging my guitar strap correctly right now...it's quite hard to figure out if you are used to play a Stratocaster, a Les Paul or a Telecaster guitar.

I will definitly gig without a backup...but I would like to carry my Yamaha Pacifica 412 too, just in case...
The golden strap buttons are wearing off...they will get completely silver with a couple of days more.

Never deal with them.

I love it...it's just wonderfull, but be careful, it's not PERFECT.

I bought mine about 6 years ago, so a 99-2000 model. Bought it new from a Sam Ash store. Went in looking for an Epi Dot and walked away with this one. Korean made. Everything else already covered here.

The sound through my Marshall AVT50 amp is wonderful. Deep, rich ... loads of tone and sustain. I play whatever strikes my fancy on this guitar and have yet to be disappointed.

Scrap the electronics. I had the switch and pots replaced immediately after buying it. Also had a bone nut installed. Gold hardware is very cheap. Gold disappeared within a couple of weeks, but it adds character to the guitar. The fit and finish is superb.

This guitar travels with me everywhere I go. I'm not at all concerned with it being dinged up or damaged. It's a horse and should be ridden hard.

Never contacted them

Yeah, I'd definitely want to replace it if lost or stolen. At varying times I had considered replacing it with an ES335 or ES137, but then I play it and forget all about replacements ...

Hey cum on gold h/ware all throughout, gorgeous blonde natural finish with no flaws to talk about,the binding around the body and neck is very classy and gives feel of solid and secure not to mention sumptuosly finished. The neck is absolutely adoreable, fast,solid, and an answer to my prayers as my hands are akin to that of shovels Gorgeous grover tuners that again feel safe and solid

this guitar is suited to any style or genre I chuck at it it
sound is tops thats being compared to my les paul and Ricky 360 It really is spot on the sounds starting from deep, warm and resonant up into the thick rock tones L P alike also easy to coax a bright glassy arsenal of sounds

here where's you could say the only negative aspect being the fact that this axe really does need to be set up properly obviously to suit yourself then again what axe does not!

absolutely ROCK SOLID but with all the finesse of a dreamy curvacious babe

12 moon warranty ----same as all else these days

2005 model, natural finish with gold hardware, 3 way switch with alnico humbuckers, gloss finish, tune-o-matic bridge, Grover tuners.

I play a a lot of styles, mostly modern rock and harder rock, some pop, some metal. The guitar plays out well through my Vox AD50VT amp. This thing really chunks up more than I expected. Semi hollow body is prone to feedback at high volumes. Loud enough to strumb around acoustically and get a decent sound to practice vocal melodies to.

This one is nearly perfect. Two gripes:

1. My guitar has a strange knot in the wood, very small, very unnoticable at first. I am being very picky.

2. Slight buzz on low E when I got it. Intonation/bridge adjustment fixed right away.

I have had no problems whatsoever in the 8 months I have had it. I have banged it here and there, and every time I look painfully for the scar, and every time I am surprised to find no damage in it's place.

Never needed any assistance that my local GC guy couldn't provide.

Been playing for about 7-8 years now, this is my first "real" electric guitar. I had a Washburn Lyon ($99 special) and a Korean Fender Tele FMT that treated me well, but this is in another league. I am happy to sit this guitar next to my Larrivee and my Tacoma. We will see how it stacks up to my Elitist SG '61 reissue when it comes.

it was made in korea and i dont know what year it was made but i've had it for ten years -bought it second hand.

this guitar sounds great and i use a roland jazz amp

i have never bought a guitar that is this perfect and i do own a couple of gipsons-if i have to complain about this guitar i'll be a bloody fool!

after ten years of abuse it still looks brand new with a little weae and tear on the pick ups but so what it will most probably outlast me!

what is this?

i have been playing for 33 years and boy if someone steels this guitar i will not replase it,it is already replaced.i bought a couple of other guitars and this is my favourite.not many other guitars has the same quality.

2001 Sheraton II, made in Korea, etc, etc, same stats as already mentioned by the others. Fit and finish is great.

After many years without an electric guitar I decided to buy another one. For the last few years, I would check music stores to see what was available at a reasonable price but nothing really moved me enough to buy. A friend let me play his PRS SE ( he set it up beautifully) and I liked it enough to consider buying one. However, when I played PRS SE?s in stores, the action and sound were not so great so I had my doubts. I subsequently went on to try a lot of other guitars in a very disciplined, methodical way. Since I always liked the Gibson 335, I looked at Epiphone DOTS. Although the price was good, they just didn?t knock me out. Then, by chance, I spotted a black Sheraton II and tried it. My reaction to the guitar was immediate. I loved the way the guitar played. The action was truly remarkable. The sound was great. Incredible range between the two pick ups. Super sustain. Rather than respond to the initial euphoria, I put it down and came back to it a few days later. It was still a terrific playing and sounding guitar. And, just to make sure the first Sheraton wasn?t a fluke, I tried them at several places and every one of them played great, right off the floor. I also went on the net and read a lot of reviews on the Sheraton and noted their shortcomings (primarily switches). Within a week, I found a used one in mint condition for $450 with the case. As per the reviews I read, the volume and tone controls on the used Sheraton were indeed ?scratchy? and the pick up switch made a lot of nosie. As part of the purchase price deal, I had all the wiring, switches and input jack taken out and replaced with Gibson parts. Of note, the tech who worked on it showed me the original switches, wiring and jack; they were all coated with what seemed to be polish that was probably sprayed on as the last part of the manufacturing process. While this wouldn?t be a problem with a solid body guitar, the ?F? holes in the Sheraton allowed the polish to enter the body of the guitar and coated the switches and wiring, etc, which probably caused the problems everyone was noting. The other problem I noticed (and which was noted by others), is that the guitar went out of tune after some hard playing. However, some research in to the problem consistently produced the same answer: the most common problem with strings going out of tune lies with the nut, so, before you go to the expense and hassle of changing the tuners, check the nut. I was skeptical but the truth of this became very clear to me after I had a bone nut made for my acoustic guitar. Being very new, the strings would bind in the newly cut nut slots. So, it was hard to keep the guitar in tune and the tuners that worked very easily with the old nut, suddenly worked very hard. So, I bought some nut lube (?Big Bends Nut Sauce?) and the problem disappeared. I applied this fix to the Sheraton and I can now bend the living daylights out of my strings and they don?t go out of tune. It seems almost too simple to be true, but it is. After these pretty inexpensive ?fixes?, the Sheraton is, in my opinion, a terrific guitar and a genuine bargain. I am extremely happy with this guitar. Friends who have played it, love it. I like the stock pick ups. Super for blues and rock and very, very credible for jazz. I?ve toyed with putting in Seymour Duncan?s but, honestly, I think the sound is fine. I think this is a great all around guitar at a great price. I'm rating the guitar after the inexpensive "fixes".

As noted above, this guitar was beautifully set up - - as were all the Sheratons that I played . Pick up adjustment was fine. The finish on the guitar is terrific. The fret board and head stock are really nice (inlaid Abalone shell). This used, 4 year old guitar shows some wear on the bridge pick up (the gold coating is worn away where your hand rests on it while you play) but I think that just goes with any gold coating. The wiring issue is covered above and is cheap to fix. I'm rating this after the fix.

I?ve been playing this guitar a lot and it?s great. I think the basic structure of this guitar is very, very solid and of good quality. The only weak link was the polish coated wiring and switches, etc, and, again, it was a cheap fix.

The Epiphone web site is pretty good. Since it's a used guitar, there's no warranty issue. And, I've had no reason to call them, etc..

Many of the final rating questions have been addressed above. If it were lost or stolen, I would probably replace it. It?s a great guitar for the money. A few months after getting the Sheraton, I bought a used, mint U S A Strat which I also love. I think they?re each very good examples of their particular guitar type (single pole vs humbucker, etc). These are two very different guitars - - a real apples and oranges thing - - but each broadens my appreciation for the other.