Epiphone Sheraton II

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.

Left Handed Korean, was vintage sunburst (more in a moment....), laminated maple top, usual frets, pickups etc blah blah blah.....

Play in 2 bands - covers band and blues band - play through Fender Custom Vibrolux, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Fender Bassman 10 and Fender Champ (did I say I like Fender Amps?)

I took out the stock pickups because, well, they were shite! I have an old Ibanez twin neck from around 1972 with the original Super 70 pickups - these are Jap ripoffs of Gibson Humbuckers. Thought I'd give them a try before buying some others - what a difference - this now sound exactly how I thought it should - it nails BB King, Cream-era Clapton, Freddy King, Alvin Lee et al - loud, honky, full - fabulous with both pickups flat out together - wow! If you can get hold of a pair of these old pickups - bang them in and stand well back! Lovely clean tone which breaks up nicely as it's cranked - put through a Digitech Bad Monkey and Dod OD 250 - this is a sound of some beauty.

Action is superb - i use Rotosound Reds - 13 - 56 gauge. Had to recut the nut but plays like a dream now. Now - the finish..... Superb, flawless but I always disliked the Tobacco Burst - so I got to work with some sandpaper and wire wool and stripped It back to it's natural honey coloured maple. I wanted an old appearance so It's been french polished - beautiful satin dark honey colour which is now wearing beautifull where i sweat on it. Back and sides are still the lovely dark mahogany colour which complement the front nicely. I replaced the horrible knobs with a set of old Gibson black top-hat style and replaced the really shitty tuners with Grovers - now it stays in tune for a whole gig! Like all Sheratons the inlays are lovely and the neck is a dream.

I usually play my old strat and pick this up for a different sound where needed - however, at a recent blues gig I played with another strat player, I used this for the whole 2 sets - clean tones, dirty tones, heavy, the lot - i was delighted!
Gold plated finish shouldn't be allowed on guitars anyway - even the vastly inflated-priced Gibsons wear and fade with use - adds character in my opinion.... Replace strap buttons for locking ones - this is a HEAVY guitar. I never play without a backup - i'm heavy on strings - but I would use it for a full gig again.

Yeah, right......

Been playing in bands semi pro for 27 years. Other guitars are a custom bodied Strat w/right handed neck, Tokai USG30 (Jap Lawsuit model), Custom Telecaster, Tanglewood acoustic. Amps are all Fender (see above), Pedal board - Dunlop Cry Baby (70's model)- Dod OD 250 (clean signal boost)- Cheap Aria Distortion (turn the tone down - awesome)- Digitech Bad Monkey Overdrive - Boss Chorus - Boss DD5 delay. I also have a Boss GT6 programmed like the pedal board for backup - not too keen on digital reverb however).
This is the second time I've owned this guitar I'm sure - i sold it cos it wasn't great but regretted it cos I liked the way it looked (apart from sunburst front). Since the mods it's the guitar i leave out of the case around the house - and It's getting used more and more in gigs.

This guitar just arrived at my door from Mus. Fiend..., er, I mean friend. So, I assume it's relatively new. Now, this is not a John Lee Hooker Sheraton II. But only, as far as I can tell, because of a few things. It has two Gibson mini-buckers; Gold stop-tail and all real Gibson parts (ABR-1 bridge, etc.). But (interestingly), it does NOT have a 3-laminate Spruce-Maple-Spruce top. Instead, it has a 5-ply maple-birch-maple-birch-maple laminate on the whole thing, just like they are using on the Elites. Now, I should point out, that a guy I know has an "official" JLH, and his ALSO has a 5-ply throughout (ahh, Gibson...what a tangled web...) Also, mine came with a (cheapo) Gold-Plated import toggle switch like they use on their regular production stuff (unlike the Elites!), and a plastic nut (ditto).Rosewood fingerboard, Abalone inlays, etc. More on this below...

Aside from the above rant, this thing sounds phenomenal...sustains for days. Put it through a TopHat Club Royale, and a new Vox AC30 CC1 and, try as i might, couldn't get anything less than stellar tones from it!

Action, Fit & Finish (on mine, at least...) is a 10 , with some figure in the Top. Much better than a Historic 335 I saw recently(the Japs probably ARE making it, with is really fine with me; after all, we're paying 3,4, and 5 grand for new Japanese made Gretsches, aren,t we?

Who knows, should be fine; After all, Korean-made stuff is pretty damn durable now, too (DeArmond Starfire Special, anyone...?)!

Never hold your breath with these guys, ya know?

I did a bit of digging, and it seems the story is thus: Gibson's (Epiphone) arrangement with the JLH Estate was up and they were left with a bunch of guitars; (some completed/others not)so they decided to get rid of the stock on hand and blow them out to Musicians Friend (their # one connection, since Gibson has alienated everyone else in this quadrant of the Universe) The parts were sent to Gibson and...well, I don't know Anyone who has any more backstory on this (for sure) please let us know! But gang, c'mon: For $999., this thing is truly a bargain.

This is a 2005 model, made in Korea. Ebony finish, rosewood fingerboard with block inlays. Two humbuckers, two volume controls and two tone controls. Three way switch. All gold-tone hardware. Grover tuners. I gave the features a 9 because the epiphone "E" symbol kept peeling off the pickguard. I eventually quit sticking it back on and got rid of it.

My musical style is blues-based with Sabbath-like, heavy edges, and this axe does it right. I run this guitar (and all my others) through a Vox ToneLab and into a Samson Expedition 300 compact PA system. All kinds of amp sims from Soldano SLO-100 to Marshall Plexis. I do not have any noise issues with this guitar. In fact I have more noise problems with both of the real Gibson guitars that I own. This guitar produces the whole range from sweet seduction to searing agony.

I love the looks, sound, and quality of the this guitar. Since it was designed for jazz players, the neck is very stable and very straight. Once I got the relief where I like it, it has stayed right on the money ever since (if you have this situation, put a set of .012 guage on it and let it sit for a few days). Plays like a dream.

The factory setup was excellent. It was medium height and setup for a very straight neck. Good for jazz-style flatpicking. The pickups were adjusted properly and have not been adjusted. You can see a length of wire through one of the f-holes.

This guitar can gig. The hardware is gold-tone, so will eventually get ratty looking and be replaced. I dunno what the finish is gonna do over time. The strap buttons, like those on every guitar I own were suspect by default and propmptly replaced with locking replacements by Dunlop. This guitar has yet to let me down or freak me out. I would use it on a gig without backup if the material allowed it. In reality it does not.

I have been playing for 30+ years. I own two les pauls, an epi les paul, the Sheraton II, an Ibanex EX dedicated to synth work, Vox Tonelab, and a few amps. If this guiatr were lost of stolen I would replace it unless I had the cash for a an ES-335 laying around. I love pretty much everything. I hate the output jack being on the front.

According to an online serial number decrypter, my guitar was made at the Samick Plant, Korea, in October 1996. So its a good nine years old.
335 style sem-hollow body with solid centre block.
Laminated maple top and body, 3-piece set-in laminated maple neck, ebony finish.
Multi-ply cream binding on body, headstock, neck and pickguard, single-ply cream binding on f-holes.
22-fret rosewood fingerboard with block/triangle mother-of-pearl inlays up to the 15th fret.
2 stock epiphone humbucker pickups, 2 volume controls, 2 tone controls, 3-way selector switch.
Tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece.
Non-locking no-name tuners.
Gold harware.
Mother-of-pearl Epiphone logo on headstock with M-o-P vine inlay.
Nut: 1.68"
Scale: 24.75"

This is my dream guitar! As I will explain, I replaced the stock humbuckers with p90s, making it just what I want.

My music style is blues/rock. Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers Band, etc. The sheraton suits this style perfectly. You can get some really mellow blues sounds from it, yet you can still rock out with it.
Im using it with a Fender Champion 300 solid-state amp, a Marshall Compressor, a Marshall Bluesbreaker, a 7-band EQ and a Boss SuperOverdrive. I keep the amp on clean with a little reverb and chorus, use the Bluesbreaker for all my overdrive, the EQ for a mid-boost, and the SuperOverdrive as a solo boost. My overdrive tone is that warm, smooth, creamy mid-heavy tone.
The stock humbuckers give pretty much no hum (just as the name implies!). You do get quite alot of feedback from this guitar (especially using overdrive and compressor pedals) as it is semi-hollow... but I like this. It is not screechy ear-splitting feedback, but sweet feedback which can be easily manipulated by vibrato and positioning of the guitar/amp. But if you are going for a clean jazz sound of something, feedback aint a problem, its just when you 'rock out'.
Unplugged, it sounds great! The stock humbuckers are a little muddy... but they are usuable. But you will probably want to replace them after a while. After I got this guitar, I fell in love with single-coils, so bought some Seymour Duncan Phat Cat p-90s to go in it. Now it sounds truly amazing... almost like a strat, unmistakeably single-coil with all the cut and twang. The stock humbuckers are a bit flat and bland, get some new pickups to improve the sound. Get some single-coils to really bring the guitar to life!
With the p-90s, clean and using the fender with a little reverb/chorus it sounds really beautiful. Sparkling, balanced cleans. STUNNING. Overdriven it sounds raw but smooth, nice and punchy. Very full and rich-sounding. Mellow but bright (is that possible?).
The guitar can make loads of different sounds - through manipulating the selector switch and tone/volume controls you can easily find what you are looking for unless its high-gain metal. But still I can get some good distorted hard rock, and even some heavy Black Sabbath sounds out of this.
It is wonderful for blues. I don't play jazz, but can tell it would be great for that, once you have upgraded the pickups to something clearer.
The volume and tone pots are not perfect, but they are predictable enough to use. One day I might replace them, but there is no hurry.
The Sheraton has loads of sustain - further improved by a compressor pedal!
You can get loads of attack, twang and cut from the bridge, and smooth, rounded leads from the neck.
I give it a 7 for the stock pickups, but I will up it to 8 as it can really be improved with good pickups (I give it a 9 with the phat cats!).

Ok, I got this second-hand, so I don't know what the factory set-up is like. During the 9 years this guitar has been played, the set-up could have been vastly improved or ruined. I don't know what it was like originally. I got it set-up myself by a tech.
You can get a really good low action from this... it plays really smooth and easy. It DOES have a bit of fret buzz... but looking closely the frets seem a little worn and could do with a good seeing-to. But when I play at loud volumes, fret buzz does not bother me!
The finish is excellent! Beautiful gloss black, with real nice multi-ply cream binding. It looks really classy. I found one small flaw in the binding... but this is hardly noticeable.
The pickguard is a cheap flimsy thing.... its translucent tortoise-shell, quite nice as it looks very dark against the black finish, with cream binding. Looks good anyway. I tightened the screws and it seems secure. It had that hideous epiphone E on it... but I found that can be pulled off real easily, and it looks much better without!
I thought the amber knobs did not look too great against the black, so I replaced them with black ones. Looks SO much bette now, much more classy.
The plastic nut seems fine, but one day I may replace it with a bone one.
The pickup selector is fine - not noisy. (But perhaps the previous owner replaced the original?)
I don't know what make the tuners are, but they are real good, really easy to tune and they stay like that for ages. I really don't think I need to replace them with grovers like I thought I did! (But again, maybe these aren't the stock ones)
The mother-of-pearl inlays are really nice! The work on the headstock, with the epiphone logo and the vine design, are really beautiful. Wow.

I don't go smashing my guitars against walls. Yes this guitar will withstand live playing unless your really abuse your instrument.
The gold hardware, as people have said, wears off real easily. It hasn't on the tuners, but has noticeable on the bridge and tailpiece. But not that much - it gives it a nice vintage look. Remember this guitar is 9 years old, so if you don't mind a little vintage wearing it is good! The pickups were pretty seriously worn though, but they got replaced.
The finish has lasted fine for 9 years so far! The cream binding is a little worn on the edges in places, but this isn't really noticeable and adds a little vintage class.
Strap buttons seem solid.
Hell yeah I can depend on this, and would gig without a backup!

Never dealt with Epiphone.

Fantastic guitar. Mine is 9 years old and used, so I don't know if they come like this from the factory.
You might want to do a little work on it, get a good proffesional set-up, replace the pickups, replace tuners and pots... but the end result is a fantastic guitar.
If it was lost or stolen, I really don't know what I'd do as I couldn't afford another good guitar. But if I did buy another, yes it would be the same black sheraton II with phat cat pickups. As I said, this is my dream guitar.
What I LOVE is the appearance... black body, cream binding, gold hardware, block inlays... a real classy guitar, the sort I love. The mother-of-pearl work on the headstock is BEAUTIFUL!
Probably the only thing I wish it had was inlays on the 17th, 19th and 21st frets. But I've got used to playing without them now, so no worries.
I give it a 10 overall... this is with the new pickups. If you are a gear snob who plays loads of gibsons.. this won't interest you except maybe for the unique appearance. But if you are a guitarist on a budget, interested by the ES series, a lover of gold hardware and all that class, and not worried what it says on the headstock... GET THIS GUITAR.
I love it.

By now you all know the deal. This is my second Sheraton as I mistakenly sold my first - duh - the Grovers are a welcome addition although even the tuners on my first Sheraton worked well. This guitar can do anything really - a Freddie Green chunk-chunk sound, to BB King, to jazz, to straight up rock and high gain with gobs of sustain. In regards to the latter, some have had problems with feedback but i have not. I cannot honestly fault the intrument in regard to features.

I give it a nine because only that imaginary sound in my head gets a 10. Of course, the amp makes a huge difference too. Run it through Mesa LoneStar and you will have to change your britches.... I have about 7 or 8 gigable guitars and acoustically this is he best sounding by far. Even acoustically the sustain is remarkable and the sound is natural and even. That translats to electirc also. Through an amp it captures somewhat of the acoustic - hollow - sould and it still has cojones..... The pickups are voiced a little bit darker than some but they are very musical. Guys - you can turn up the treble a notch and scoop the mids a bit on the amp - that is why you have all those dials!

Set up was very good but I know a fellow at the shop (Lauzon Music - Ottawa) does a good job with everything coming through the place. Nothing hits the floor with buzzes or rattles - nothing. i was impressed that the nut was cut so that 12 to 54s could go on and not choke at the nut. Bravo!

The gold will wear - who cares - and the pickguard is cheap and maybe the jack is loose at times but overall it is solid. the switches are fine and the pots are not even making noise unlike most of my other gutiars.

I have been playing 31 years (yikes) - gone through jazz, pop, alternative, classical, south american you name it. Back to jazz and blues mostly and trying to go deep in that regard. i had a Sheraton before - sold it - and regretted that so bought another. I am stilled married though. This guitar just feels right... although.. of course,,, I find myself looking at others (sound familiar?).

bottom line - a very good - working instrument - that can do practically everything one could need - and besides - it is the performance that counts not the "tone" necessarily... although having "tone" is nice.

199? Model, made in Ko-rea, junk hardware, junk electronics,two junk humbuckers, superb inlays and binding, great case, ok finish, it's a K-mart ES-335 copy. REALIZE: You will have to spend at least another 400 rocks to replace the crap parts, THIS IS MANDATORY! Unless you play in a church band.

Calling the stock sound of this guitar whimpy would be cutting it a break. It totally sucked. I said sucked, as in past tense, because I have since replaced the PU's with Gibson 57' Classics. What a difference a day makes. Now, I have a beautiful ass kicking machine claimed for a nominal price. The stock PU's aren't fit to be used as fishing weights. I am going to rate it by the stock sound, although now it is a monster. My band Aintry plays a hybrid mix of pop/alt-country/jangle, I play this through a Boss MX-80 processor into a mesa Boogie Mark IV combo, and it really does kick ass. I normally play a Ric 620, but now I am wavering.

I could have bought a Gibson, but i really like the inlay and binding job on the Epi. It plays great as well. Giant cool inlay in the headstock. The "gold" hardware finish is eroding at a break-neck pace. Will replace the hardware as soon as I can squirrel some dough away from my wife. It is a unique looking axe.

Haven't gigged with it yet, but that time is coming. At practice, I have set aside my Ric 620 in favor of the Sheraton. The new PU's have made a world of difference. I never gig without a backup, that would INVITE disaster. Once the hardware has been swapped, I can't see any issue with this guitar.

Dunno

This is the tricky part. In it's stock state, it is a borderline cricket bat. But once the electronics (and soon, hardware) are replaced it is a really great axe at half the cost of a Gibson. I will give it a six, because of the factory sound, but now it is a nine. I own a literal army of guitars, Gibsons, Rics, Fenders, et al, but this Ko-rean refugee has cracked my top five and is still climbing (with the Gibson PU's!).

Bought it in 1997. Blonde twin-humbucker 335 copy....but personally I think of better quality.
I've made a lot of changes to it, but I'll review it as I bought it.....no use giving it a 10 for sound & then saying "I changed the pickups, bridge & controls"!!!
It came to me blonde now it has a leopasrdskin finish courtesy of MP designs. The P/Us are now Kent Armstrong vintage & the controls have been changed for US pots & switches. It's unique!!

The sound is really good. I changed the P/Us but to be honest I can't tell much difference.
I had a Gibson 335 & compared it with this one but I REALLY couldn't tell any difference......& that was before I changed the P/Us!!
I sold the Gibson & kept this one.

Reasonably well set up.
Much better than my Gibson 335 & had no glue-runs inside which the Gibson had lots of.

Big, solid & durable. I guess the gold finish will wear off.....but then that's gold hardware for you!!
I ALWAYS have another guitar for a backup......have you never broken a string?

Never contacted them

Lots of guitars & amps.
This is a good 335-type guitar. As good as the Gibson equivalent (especially after a P/U & control change) for 20% of the price. I owned a Gibson 335 but sold it & kept this one. Don't be fooled by the "made in the USA" snobbery......your guitar will be made by minimum wage workers, not "craftsmen" in whichever country!!

Typical 335 type guitar features. Korean Made 2005 model. 2 Epiphone USA Humbucker Pickups with Alnico Magnets, Enamel Wiring and doubly dipped in wax. 2 Volume controls, 2 Tone controls. Spectacular Vintage Sunburst finish, rosewood fretboard with triangle on block inlays. Tune-O-Matic Bridge. Grover Tuners. Included Epiphone Hard Case. If this had a bigsby I'd give it a 10

I've read many mixed reviews on the sound of the stock pickups. I've had this guitar for a while and I am overwhelmed at just how crisp and defined the tone from the Epiphone pickups really are. The Clean Tones are so rich and lucid you could melt butter with it. With the bridge pickup on distortion, if I close my eyes I can almost hear the bite and mid range umph of my Seymour Duncan SH-5 I have fitted on my Squier '51, which i suppose is a slight turn off since its not quite a traditional 335 tone...but luckily for me it suits my music style (Brit-Pop, Classic Rock n Roll....check out www.krish-online.co.uk to see what kind of music I mean). The neck pickup has a beutiful mellow clean tone and creamy yet defined distortion. It could well be even more crisp if you put in a duncan '59, but for the price of the guitar you get a lot more than you paid for with stock pickups.

The overall setup out of the box was immaculate. The action was set at the same height as my squier '51 making switching between the guitars effortless. Strings were all gleaming and actually very close to being perfectly in tune. The reason it loses 2 points is down to slight finish flaws. There is a small brown mark next to the bridge which in fairness is hardly noticeable but still not something you should have to put up with.

REPLACE THOSE STRAP BUTTONS WITH SCHALLER STRAP LOCKS IMMEDIATELY. My guitar very nearly came to a crushing end within a week of me buying it because the strap came off from the button on the underside of the neck joint. Luckily I just caught it before it hit the ground, but never again will I take the risk of not fitting strap locks. On the bright side, the guitar does feel very well built with solid construction throughout. I've played a #2000 John Lennon Casino that creaked when i just rested my elbow on the side whilst playing...didn't fill me with a great deal of confidence.

I've been playing for just over 3 years, and I own a Modified Squier '51 (with a Seymour Duncan SH-5 in the bridge and Seymour Duncan SSL1 in the neck), an ovation shallow bowl copy, a Custom made Telecaster, Marshall MG30DFX amp, Line 6 Pod XT Live, Boss DD6 Delay pedal, Marshall Supervibe + Jackhammer pedals, Digtech Screamin' Blues pedal and a Cry Baby Wah pedal.

The guitar is sensational value for money, I simply havn't played any 335 copy that quite measures up to how brilliant this is, and I've tried a VERY large number. 2 things I would change...put in a bigsby tremolo (which I may well do at a later date) and put the selector switch in a slightly more accessible position. If this were stolen I doubt I'd be able to afford another one, but if I could I certainly would give it serious consideration. The only thing holding me back would be the fact that I've had my eye on a Japanese made Tokai Les Paul copy for a while that quite takes my fancy, might save up for that one. I compared this directly to an epi dot, which was so so, an epi riviera which didn't really suit my music at all and a supernova...which I was very tempted by since Noel Gallagher is my all time hero, but I couldnt justify spending #100 more than the sheratons price for it when they were incredibly similar.

2002 model

you can get the specs via other reviews/websites/etc.

i play rock, progressive metal, jazz, blues, and mainly jam band (which is a combo of every genre) and this guitar molds to the occasion. i can't tell you enough how well this guitar can scream, cry, sulk, thrash, and whisper. every comment on the sheraton i've ever received has been absolutley positive and enthusiastic. EVERYONE loves the tone, and the tone is out of this world.

i ordered mine from elderly instruments (elderly.com--great dealer!) in '02, but they set-up every guitar you buy to there 'favorite feel,' and i have to say it was great. there was absolutley NOTHING wrong with this guitar when i first got it out of the box. it played just perfect. the only thing that fell off within a week was the cheap epiphone 'E' on the pickguard--but i was happier when it came off. looks much better now.

i've gigged it for three years as my main axe--it hands down beats any guitar i've ever played. perfect feel, weight. i can totally depend on it, the only problem i've ever had was a wire came out of the input, but with a little soldering it was just fine.

haven't had any problems to have to deal with epi

It's a great guitar, and it rises to the occasion. i'd go so far as to say it will satisfy any genre.

a grade-A perfection of a guitar--plus it's less than $600