Epiphone Sheraton II

There are so many reviews on this guitar regarding features, that i need not repeat them. It is just that, A semihoolw ES335 copy at a very reasonable bang-for-the-buck price.

I have been playing for over 36 years most of them proffessionally working as a stage performer and recording session musician. I needed a semi-hollow body guitar for my work since i had sold a Gretsch "Nashville" a couple of years back and did not have an instrument of comparable sound/versatility in my arsenal. I went to my local dealer who let me try out many guitars until I got stuck on a used Gibson ES335 and a brand new SheratonII. After about 3 hours of playing I chose the Epiphone SheratonII because I figured that I am a working musician and resale didn't matter to me since I pretty well much bang up my axes and wear them out because I'm a player not a buff or collector. The sound is good enough that almost all my rythym lines on my recording sessions of the last 5 years have been cut with my SheratonII. On stage I play in one of the top Rock and Roll 50's and 60's bands in the country, and I find myself playing my SheratonII at almost half of my shows using it as my only guitar. MY main axe for that act is a Fender 1977 Strat with "Vintage-Noiseless" pickups but I still like the feel of my Sheraton on stage. It sounds great with the amps that are supplied by the sound companies that provide us with a backline at the venues I appear at. They usually have Fender Twins or Roland JC120's, but on occasion, they have had Marshalls and Mesa Boogie amps. The Sheraton has always sounded correct. My own amps are aPeavey Triumph 60 (tube 6L6 + 12AX7), a Fender Super 60 (tube), a Roland JC120, and a Roland Cube 60. She sounds especcially great on soft jazz work through the Roland Cube 60 where the middle (2P/U) sound comes to life. After reading all these previous reviews I am going to change my pickups to either Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios. I can use a hotter sound on some classic rock and fusion material that I do.

Action was as close to perfect, but my dealer always goes over every instrument that comes into his shop and once I chose the one I wanted he went in his back room and had it set up for me, which was 10-46 light strings and a super low action with the stop-piece all the way down for more sustain and string tension. My only problem with tuning is that my D and G strings seem to flatten a little when I bend a lot, but because I know that, I just tap the flat string just between the bridge and tailpiece and it slips back into intonation.

Will this guitar withstand live playing? Without a doubt! In fact my group is known for our exciting stage movements and choreography, which includes me taking a solo while playing with my teeth and dropping to the floor and resting on my back in a prone position. To that I say," Who needs SrapLocks?" I haven't in six years with this guitar and I've yet to drop it.

I have a problem, I go to my local dealer, he hasn't let me down yet.

I have been playing for over 36 years and I have owned or played just about every kind of axe out there from Gretsch Country Gentleman, Nashville, Tennessean, Dou-Jet, Gibson Firebird, Les Paul Standard, Deluxe,SG Standard, a PRS, Fender Telecasters (late 60's and early 70's),Stratocasters (1976 hardtail, and 1977 Ash body/Maple neck). I presently own a '77 Srat w/Vintage noiseless pickups, a Jackson Fusion Std. Pro, an Ibanez 1974 Double-neck 6/12, an Ibanez Artist (Blackw/Creme trim),a Parker P-38, An Aria Pro Elecord Model #P-90 acoustic-electric archtop roundhole, and an Epiphone Chet Atkins Model CEC Acoustic Nylon string electric. If this axe was stolen, I would run right back to Castellano's and order another one or an Ibanez Artar which is the only other guitar that can beat this one fot the money (it cost more than the Sheraton, but it feels lighter and the sound was a little bit better).

well this is an update from my fuull review......after getting over the new axe nirvanna,,,i found the stock pickups too get too muddy
with lots o volume.so........i upgraded....bridge,...a dimarzio
super 11 distorter excellent, neck 57 gibson clsssic,wow
it really does make a difference. its a10 now and even does metal
justice... n blues n rock n jazz n plus n .plus.

Originally submitted a review for this instrument last December......before I replaced stock PU. Threw a couple of 57 classics into this thing and turned a frog into a prince. The thing really sounds great now. It always looked nice and had a decent neck/action/intonation. But now it sounds wonderful!

Standard configuration for an Epiphone Sheraton II made in Korea in 2001. It came with a plush hardshell case that seems well made. Ebony (black) with gold plated hardware, mother-of-pearl and abalone inlays in the neck and headstock. Strikingly beautiful in appearance except for an unattractive pick-guard. Has anyone out there tried getting an ES335 pickguard from Gibson and substituting?
I'm going to dock a point for the pickguard.

The sound is flat with the stock pickups. The 2001 model is supposed to have the 'new and improved' pickups. They could be worse but they could certainly be better. Personal taste plays a part so I recommend that anyone buying this guitar should TRY a number of different Gibsons with different pickup combinations to get an idea of what this guitar could sound like with REAL Gibson pickups. I've installed a '57 Classic at the neck and a '57 Classic+ at the bridge; this was after lots of research and I'm now completely satisfied with the sound of this guitar. I use it to play classic '60s and '70s rock. Also some jazz and blues. I love the sound with the new pickups. I also replaced the pots and toggle switch with new Gibson components, and a switchcraft jack. Ooh la la, it sounds terrific now. It's a 10 with the improvements, a 6 without them.

The factory action was quite good, I haven't had anyone mess with it yet. No string buzz, the factory did a good job with the frets and adjustments. The intonation was set up reasonably well. I'll eventually have it all fine-tuned but I think that I'll wait until it 'wears in' a bit. The finish is fantastic, I'm particularly thrilled with the ebony finish & gold hardware.

It is a new guitar so time will tell. The pickups were changed so the gold plating on them is now REAL Gibson. I'll probably change the machine heads to real Gibsons, also. I've seen a year-old Sheraton II and the plating looked pretty rough, especially on the pickup covers because they get punished the most. Oh, also... the original factory toggle switch 'cut out' when changing positions. I can't stress enough how much better I like this guitar with the changeover to real Gibson components.

I was able to get a schematic for this guitar from the Gibson website. They sent me a schematic for an ES335 and told me that it matched the Sheraton II exactly. They were prompt and friendly. Go figure...

I've been playing for over 30 years. This guitar will probably become my most-used instrument. I'm using it primarily with a VOX AC15 and it really sings. Incredible tone and sustain!! Like others have said in previous reviews, it compares favorably with an ES335 if you change the pickups. Gibson probably doesn't WANT these things to sound great from the factory. Why would anyone spend thousands of dollars on a real Gibson if an Epiphone sounded as good, straight out of the box?

this is all written below. you say guitar, i expect a plank with strings on it, anything else is a feature. the binding on this thing is a plus. i mean what kind of features do you want on a guitar ? it doesn't have a v12 motor or anything megacool like that, it's a very well decked out guitar though.

i run this through an american made fender princeton, a dunlop 545 (chrome), a voodoo labs od, and a boss bf-2 flanger. it's fairly versatile, but i find it does best in settings involving drive equal to or less than classic rock. clean she's absolutely gorgeous. overdrive is very warm, and it really cuts through in a solo. not the best for metal, if indeed it's a hot thing in metal now to play a hollow body.

stock pickups aren't awful, but they aren't great. i replaced them with the gibson 57 classic series. excellent choice, really turns this guitar up a notch. basically, it's an es-335 without the wiring. that'll change eventually, i'm in no rush though because that's not a hassle on a frequent basis, just something that's nice to not have to worry about. i give it a 9 because everything i compare it to pales, and i'm a guitar player, i try out everything in stores just like you do.

action's easily adjusted. as far as intonation goes, well on the high e string the saddle on the tune-o-matic won't quite go as far as i need it to to get perfect intonation. it's close, but i might need to get it professionally adjusted. the wiring isn't good, but i'll change all that out. from a visual standpoint, it's stunning. probably the most gorgeous guitar on the market. very pleased in this category

mind you, the neck is a 2x4. small hands need not apply

it's a hollow body. relatively speaking, it's very solid. i've had this for three years or so and it doesn't have even a scratch on it. it gets used extensively, and has been gigging with me whenever i needed it to. it also went through a year of semi-daily rehearsals. it travels well.

i've been playing for five years. if it were stolen, i'd be pissed. it's a very good guitar, especially for the money. if you put work into it and make a few adjustments, you'll have one of the best instruments on the planet. if not, then it's merely solid. visually and sonically, i'm extremely pleased.

the features are great. way better than an es 335.gorgious gweeter
all around. don t know what year it is serial no. s99064459 ......
any one know the year send if so to gweeter8@yahoo.com.
super great kneck.

don t know what happened to others but she s a kickin axe. sound is just fine in my hot rod de ville 4x10. original and blues and classic rock ....so far so good, but i might try duncan seth and one other.

action was higher than i like but it played well. lowered it ripps pretty fast with great tone...must have been a wed guitar.

the gold pickups are wearing very fast as such the duncans will come.
this is the gweeter i gig with reliable comfort n trust.

no need

i ve played a lot of gweeters over 35 years and im happy with this
one its one of the best around especialy for the price
excellent gweeter dam she looks sweet too.

Bought this guitar in 1997-8, natural finish, gold (but not for long) hardware etc. You've read it all before.

For the most part this guitar should be played unamplified. While I have wrung a couple of nice recordings out of it, predominantly in a Bluesbreakers mode the thing sounds mediocre when amplified. This, as indicated by several other reviewers, relates to the mediocrity of the stock PUs. I have a pair of Classic 57s which I will install when I get the chance but basically have used this guitar fairly unfrequently.

Action is a strong point, smooth and fast. Finish is beautiful. Hardware is prone to near instantaneous oxidation. Also the tuners were cheap junk, replaced them with a set of Grovers which helps a lot. Indeed, most of the electronics (pots, toggle) are also pretty cheesy but serviceable. So it's a 9 for action, 8 for feel, 9 for finish, 3 for hardware= Avg 5-6

Wouldn't use it at a gig at all at this point in time, maybe when I swap out the PU's. Still it seems pretty solid and frankly if it were lost or damaged it might mean that one of my other instruments would have been spared, a reasonable trade off.

No experience with Epiphone but have had good relations w/ Gibson when necessary

Playing for too long, ~36yr. I have a bunch of other electric and acoustic guitars and also enjoy keyboard playing. Although I have no regrets about buying the Sheraton, I will have to do the PU surgery before proferring a final opinion.

"Double rounded cutuaway, arched bound maple top, f holes, raised bound tortoise pickguard with stylized E logo, maple back/sides, center block maple neck, 22 fret bound rosewood fingerboard with pearl/abalone blok/triangle inlay, tune-o-matic bridge/stop tailpiece, bound peghead with pearl vine/logo inlay, 3 per side tuners, gold hardware, 2 humbucker covered pickups with exposed screws, 2 volume/tone controls, 3 position switch."

This is the definiton of the Sheraton and Sheraton II by Epiphone itself.

I checked the serial number and found out at Epiphone that when the Sheraton II started being manufactured in Korea, they did not register the numbers properly so as far as I (and they) know, my guitar does not have a 'born certificate'. I do know though that the Sheraton II is a contemporary re-issue of the original Epiphone Sheraton (hence the 'II') which was manufactured from 1959 to 1970. The Sheraton II began its legacy in 1997. My guitar is probably from 1997. Make no mistake when you see an old Sheraton, it is vintage shit and you should not let the opportuniy ellude you. Go for it.

I got this guitar in august 29, 1998. I'll tell its story later on.

As far as I'm concerned, this is an ok guitar features-wise. I don't know how to hate it tho so I won't.

This guitar covers an extensive field of sounds and tones and I am satisfied with it but not before I had one of the humbuckers replaced by a Gibson Classic '57 (the bridge one). The stock PU's are extremely poor and like someone stated below, this guitar can howl at no moon when you crank the gain of your amp. I'm probably replacing the neck humbucker as well but I couldn't be arsed to do so as of yet.

The guitar is not noisy at all. If it's noisy than it's probably because of the gear you're using. Despite the poor stock PU's, the neck one sounds full and warm and you have a good range of tones. It's sensitive to the tone controls and if you are patient you can be very surprised. Especially with all-tube amps.

I play in a band that plays contemporary music (a cover band mostly) and although you have to struggle with the guitar to deliver Limp Bizkit-like sounds, you can pretty much play anything you want. It won't emulate any Telly or Strat sound but it will do it fair enough. At home I play Oasis, Beatles and general british rock and it suits my taste to the fullest.

I play it through a Marshall JCM2000 DSL401 and a Marshall VS65R. Of course, it blows anyone's through the all-valve Marshall but it can be really boring with a valvestate amp. This is probably because of the amp though. It's amazing how a valvestate amp is so worse than a tube one. And I thought my 65 watt VS was a good beast. Go for the tubes.

I also use a BOSS ME-8 (multiple effects processor) and teh guitar works fine with it.

Replacing the humbuckers with the ones of your taste, you have a delicious guitar to play with at hand. But with the stock PU's I'll give it a 6,5 rounded up to 7.

I traded this guitar so it was second hand but it was brand new. No one ever played with it. As I got it I brought it to my personal luthier to take care of it and replace the humbucker that very same day. As far as finishing and fit, it's a 10 in my opinion. It's all great and there's no flaws. I can't seem to find any in it.

However, after a few months the hardware gets oxidized and that, I think, is a major Epiphone hardware problem. It happens with my Epiphone EJ-200 acoustic also. The golden hardware goes green sometimes. It's not very good. That's definitely a 6 for it.

Other than that, everything is fine. The guitar was well set-up at the factory since it hasn't been used by anyone before I traded it. This is an 8.

Other than the hardware oxidizing, this guitar will last forever if you let it. Solid as my two beloved combos. :-)

I don't use it with a backup. Ths straps are very solid but I always recommend a strap-lock which I use in my guitar, the Dunlop ones.

I DO depend on it.

Never talked to any of 'em.

I've been playing for 6 years now and I've been suffering to find the guitar of my dreams. I found it in the Sheraton II but not without a fight. I'll tell you why.

I have also an Epiphone EJ-200 acoustic, an Yamaha APX-4-12A acoustic, a Washburn Strat Lyon Series and a Fender Jazz Bass.

If I ever lost this guitar I'd buy another semi-acoustic. I don't know which one though. Maybe a Riviera or even the original beautiful red Gibson semi-acoustic itself.

I love the look of it and I love it just because I love it. I don't know. It was love at first sight. (it's vintage sunburst with golden hardware)

Now, I'll tell the story behind the myth. In mid 1997 I bought a Rickenbacker 325V63 'Miami', a vintage re-issue of the same guitar that Lennon used when on tour with the Beatles in... Miami, right. However, I did not even see it before buying and I found out it has a f***ing short scale and my hands are quite big. Plus, as it's a re-issue, it has precisely the same hardware. Shit bridge, shit tailpiece, the strings would never stay in tune. Plus, the 3 pickups are match only to the vintage Vox amps they used to use. I don't know, They don't work with digital effects and distortion. Ok, I didn't know much about it at the time but I believed in the guitar. It's beautiful.

So, I spent one full year of my life with a 15 hundred bucks worth guitar that would serve for nothing to me. (I bought it new in NY)

One day I step in this Wal-Mart like store here where I live and I see this big shiny Sheraton II hanging on the wall simple to serve as a background to the CD store inside this big mall. It was hanging beside this big poster of the Beatles. I kinda flirted with the guitar everyday and one day I decided to talk to the manager of the store. I brought him my Rickenbacker and a big book with several pictures of Joh Lennon with the guitar and said: "Look, this guitar is worth 1.500 bucks, it's the same as Lennon's and it's much more good looking than that guitar you have on your wall. Let's trade it. You'll get a better background wall and I'll get the guitar I want and you'll even get money off my back because that Sheraton is cheaper than this Rickenbacker." So be it, the guy traded with me, hung the Rick on the wall and I got my Sheraton II.

BUT, I am so picky coz I want a guitar which never goes out of tune and man, does EVERY guitar I play let the G string goes soft and give me a completely out of tune open chord after a solo. I don't even play like Ray Vaughan. I just play and bend like everyone else. To solve this I replaced the bridge with a micro-tunning Gibson bridge, the one which comes with the Lucille model for instance and put up a Gotoh locking system in the neck. After that, I never got back to my luthier again but I spent quite some money to get this guitar going.

Because of that and, read this, this is not only because it's a Sheraton II, this is me who's talking, I'll give a 7 as overall opinion. Because I know that it could be a Gibson Standard, I'd put the tunning system the same way. So, don't take this so seriously if you don't even know what a guitar out of tune is. This guitar is tremendous.

My Sheraton II was a '97 model, purchased in March of '98. It is a semi-hollow, double cutaway guitar, similar to a Gibson ES-335. This means a double cutaway body of laminated maple with a center block. It also has a 24 3/4" scale on a 5 ply maple and mahogany neck, with an "ebonized" rosewood fingerboard with 22 frets. Electronics is typical with two generic humbucking pickups, volume & tone pots for each pickup and a three way switch for pickup selection.

The guitar was finished in a reddish brown sunburst, shading to black on the top. All other surfaces are red/brown without any shading. There are 5 ply bindings on the top edge of the body, fingerboard, headstock and tortoise shell pickguard, and single ply binding on the back and "f" holes. There is an extravagant amount of pearl and abalone inlay. The "epiphone" name is inlaid on the headstock, along with a "vine" inlay. The fingerboard has large pearl blocks divided by wedges of abalone inlaid for position markers. The tuners, pickup covers, stop bar tailpiece and bulky tune-a-matic bridge are gold plated, but the metalwork has a cheap, cheesy look and feel.

The guitar came with a very bulky hard shell case. It appears to be sized fo fit a similar 12 string guitar.

I play mostly blues and blues-based rock. In the store, the guitar seemed promising. The stock pickups, while a little bland, were not as bad as a lot of people say. They are, however, extremely microphonic, making the guitar squeal like a pig if the gain on the amp is cranked very much. Even my little Fender Super Champ could make the poor Sheraton howl in pain.

Obviously, the guitar cannot really be gigged with in stock trim, and new pickups are definately in order, if only to control the feedback. I planned to change them, but never quite got that far. Read on to see why.

Rating is for stock pickups, and reflects lack of usability.

At a distance, the guitar looks like a million bucks, slick and uptown classy. The neck is wide, but not too deep, very fast, like a good Gibson neck from the mid 60's. The fretwork was good and level, and the ititial setup was quite good.

From here, it goes downhill. The fret ends protruded over the fingerboard, leaving sharp edges. The paintwork was applied too thick in spots. There were swirl marks and scratches in the top which were inadequately buffed out. The back was covered with overspray, and not buffed out. The tuners, bridge and tailpiece were poorly finished, with big scratches showing under the plating. The first time I restrung the guitar, the ball ends got stuck in the undersized holes in the tailpiece, and had to be removed with a puch and hammer. The plastic nut was servicable, but cheap. The rear strap button screw was mislocated and crooked. Inside, there were big gaps between the back and the center block.

I can't out how this guitar gets such high marks in this category from everybody else. Apparently mine was a "Monday morning" guitar.

I suppose I should have quit right there, but I figured that most of the faults could be cured or lived with, so I had a luthier replace the nut with a bone nut, and the huge, ugly bridge with a Gibson bridge. This required doweling the existing bridge holes, but the thombwheels hid the repairs. He also dressed the sharp fret ends. I replaced the tuners with Grover Rotomatics, and the tailpiece with a Gotoh unit. Now the guitar was shaping up.

Still, I had doubts about the guitar. The neck joint is short and appears to be more glue than wood. Also, there is no kerfing to reinforce the joints between the top, back & sides. I don't know if the guitar will fall apart, but the overall construction doesn't inspire confidence. I might have gigged with it if I had replaced the pickups, but I finally decided that I would be spending more on the guitar than it was worth to me

the few times I've dealt with Gibson, they were courteous and prompt with a reply. The usual reply was to tell me that they don't sell replacement parts, and to see my dealer.

I almost never depend on the company for service. I either fix it myself, or take it to a good luthier. I am fortunate that I have a guy who does great work and doesn't laugh at the guitars I bring him to fix.

I've played for 35 years and own a lot of other guitars and a few amps.

After doing so much work on the guitar, I began to realize that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear (I already knew this, but sometimes it's still fun to try). I was faced with spending another $200-$250 for pickups for a guitar that I was still likely to be unhapy with, so I decided to cut my losses and trade it in. If it had been stolen, I wouldn't have cried.

It's too bad, because the Sheraton was a lovely guitar. However, it was too much "show" and not enough "go". If you have one you're happy with, I'm happy for you. Maybe I bought the one bad apple in the barrel, but I have to call this as I see it.

I love the beautiful inlays and gold-plating, which hasnt rubbed off this 2000 Korean-made git-fiddle in the months ive owned it. It came with the newer, Gibson-liscensed wax-potted pickups, which sound comprable to the Seymour-Duncan copies. The finsih was done expertly, a fine vintage sunburst. The tuners are large, gold ones, similar to the Yamaha acoustic ones. The maple back is finished like the front, just of a slighty less beautiful piece of lumber. Sam Ash threw in a gig-bag and stand.

I play lots of blues-jazz, like a Kenny Burell mix. But i need the output to go for full out alt. rock for some gigs. This guitar does both well. When i crank my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe on the Drive channel, set around 6 on gain, i get a sweet overdrive, responsive to my picking dynamics. It could be the tubes...but this guitar sounds loads better than my friends Ibanez-ass thumping metal guitars in the same setups. The guitar also is geat for the clean, bassy jazz hollowbody sounds i need. What versatility!

The PUs, as with all hmbuckers with only 1 pivot point, move a little, but i was told it was normal. The creme binding is applied perfectly, and the setup was fine. One gripe: the STICKERS applied to the pickups at the factory, whne removed ,left a visible residue that only came off with 2 bottles of lighter fluid and a roll of toilet papaer. Besides that..its a thing of BEaAUTY.

This guitar seems quite hardy, and the finish hasnt checked or chipped as of yet. The stap buttons are rather large, and hold my strap well, even w\o locks. I always gig with a backup, simply for stirng breakage, but in any other respect, this axe will hold up. The finish and such seems expertly applied and durable, as good as the many 335s i have played. I am sure this guitar will age beutifully.

Ive never spoken with them..but the Epiphone policy of voiding the warranty with any modifications, even straplock addition scares me.

I LOVE this git bucket, what a dream. I have people coming over just to play this, and they dont wanna put it down. Ive loaned it out to some of my pro-am jazz player friedns for gigs, and they love it. I am ENTIRLEY Satisfied with this bad boy.

made in : 1997 (I think, if I understand Epi's Serial # system) in Korea
Pickups 2 Humbuckers
Hardware Gold
Scale 24.75"
Nut Width 1.68"
Neck Joint Set
Neck Material 3-piece Maple
Fingerboard Rosewood/Block & Triangle
Binding Body/Neck/Headstock
Body Material Laminated Maple
Top Laminated Maple


I believe the finish on mine is "vintage sunburst" though to my eyes it looks more like "tobacco burst". Second hand axe, so I "inherited" a hard shell case, a padded Levis strap & gold plated straplocks.

So if one is looking for features like gizmo-splittable-super distortion pickups and locking trem systems, this ain't it. However if one is looking for a good looking, playable, good sounding guitar, this is it my friends.

I was concerned that the treble pickup would sound too mushy, that the neck pickup would sound too muddy ... when am I going to learn to give The people at Epiphone credit? The neck pickup sounds full and warm, the treble pickup has a nice bite ... if a bit nasal on its own. Both pickups combined give out a nice, balanced sound.

Agreed, the results one gets from a headphone amp will vary from those in a genuine amp. I have yet to connect in my recently acquired Marshall JTM-310. Chances are I'm likely to get microphonic feedback (then again I may be surprised). Updates to this review are to come, but played through my Zoom 503 amp simulator, the palette of sounds is pretty amazing. If I wanted to have a "shredder" guitar, I would have gotten one. But this delivers a sweet overdriven sound.

I've seen some reviews where the neck inlays were improperly fitted, glue blobs, etc. Agreed, the gold plating has a tendancy to wear off, but I see no flaws with this guitar.

If I am to believe the reviews on this guitar, yes! As it's been mentioned previously, the gold plating does have a tendancy to rub off but the finish on this guitar is spotless.

The previous owner replaced the stock strap buttons with strap locks, y'know what? Take care of your axe and it'll take care of you, 'nuff said!

Never had the opportunity.

There a story behind this guitar(and believe it or not, it's true - well, sort of!): some 8 years ago, I was visiting Steve's Montreal location and had fallen in love with ... an Epiphone Sheraton (can't remember whether it was an original or a II), which I had to pass due to lack of funds. It was with some regret that I walked out of the store, without that classy looking guitar.

Just last week I walk into Steve's Toronto location, and I see this Sheraton II, exact same finish, at the amazingly low price of $600.00 ... (agreed it's second hand but still!) as I enquired on financing this sweet looking axe, I was expecting to spend an extra $80.00 - $90.00 on a hard shell case. Guess what, for the same price I got a hard shell case, a padded strap & straplocks ... what a deal!

Part of me wants to believe that my guardian Angel sent that guitar my way, giving me a second chance at it ... while I doubt it's the same guitar, it does make for a better narrative doesn't it?

All poetic notions aside, this was one sweet deal. Sweet enough to have me put my Dano and Epiphone Les Paul Studio up for sale. Really, no lie.

For songs that require a solid bodied humbucking sound I have my home made, very playable DC Les Paul. For songs that call for a sweet single coil tone, I have my Mexi Fender Stratocaster. For those other bluesy, jazzy, rockabilly-esque (don't laugh, the tones are there!)tones, I have my Epiphone Sheraton II.

The part where I say I had to pass buying it 8 years ago (in Montreal) is no bull. I feel a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I finally own one, and woe is the creep who would try to steal it (or any of my gear as far as I'm concerned) from me, he'd better pray the cops find him first ... no bull!

No lo se!! 2nd hand purchase from UK music store where it's blind leading the blind. Just a 'king amazing guitar for the price!!
22 frets. Natural finish. Usual set up.

Into blues heavily bordering on jazz (Clapton, BB King, Ford).
Playing via Tech 21 Trademark 60. No effects.
Amazing range of tonality from biting treble to mellow comping jazz chord style. Couldn,t believe it...spent 4hrs in a music shop comparing it to a genuine 335 thro a Marshall 100w valve amp.
Rate it 9 cos nothing's perfect..

Action highish, pickups well balanced, top one piece of maple. Few scratches and dints, scratch marks on back from a belt buckle. All adds to the patina (as does the gold rubbing off but only cosmetic ....it's the SOUND that matters).

Looks cool. Think I'll take the scratch plate off though.

Yes. It already has by all appearances. Feels like a rock. Neck slightly flexible as other folks as commented but no different to other guitars...it't all this "there's something wrong with my guitar" parinoa (spelling?)

No comment.

Rate this guitar HIGH. It was a bargain. Been playing for 20 years. Didn't know anything about Epis before tonight...went out shopping for a 335 but through pure objectivity went for this Sheraton OVER the Gibson on saved over 1200 quid for a better sounding instrument.

Switch a bit loose and the tone pots crackle a bit but these are easily remediable. Bulid quality and tonality of constuction are everything electrics are changable and/or mature with age.

Wish I'd found this instrument 15 yeatrs ago.

Otheer guitars...Fender Tele (US standard), Fat Strat Delux, Yamaha APX 9, APX 5, Aria Pro PE420, a wacky old Antoria LP custom copy.

This is just an update to those who care....check everyone elses stats

This is why I felt like doing another review. In my last one, I stated that the stock pickups are mediocre at best (as you can see by everyone elses reviews). Now I have just recieved my guitar back after replacing the toggle switch and the pickups. I changed the neck to a seymour duncan '59, and the bridge to the SH-5 duncan custom. What can I say. Unbelievable sound. The bridge selection gives lots of bite, but not too trebley. Mid range is strong and very pronounced. Not muddy at all.
The neck '59 gives a deepy, definitely more rich texture, much like a fender neck p/u does. It still sings in the highs, just not as predominant as the bridge custom. I could not ask for a better selection of p/u's. I have to thank all the other reviews here for aiding me in my choices. Before I think I rated this a 7. It is definitely now a 10.

Still holding up, 3 years in. the gold finish continued to wear, but since I replaced the pickups with double blacks, the tarnished gold PU covers are no longer a hinderance. I plan on replacing the tuners with shaller satin chromes. That finish not only looks sweet, but won't tarnish.

Ditto here. Guitar hasn't let me down yet. I've left it in the car over night in the fall (oops. I prayed to the guitar gods not to warp the neck) and it didn't screw up the intonation at all. The gold still continues to wear off, but since the replacement of the pu's and toggle, (and soon the tuners) the only thing left gold is the bridge, which seems to be holding the gold finish better than everything else.

The toggle was covered under warranty. Free.Just dealt with my music store for that, though. Hafta give it a 10, just cuz I was gonna pay for it, but they actually reminded me of the warranty.

Rig has changed a bit. And I'm almost totally satisfied. Just running the epi into a Mesa Bottlerocket into a '79 musicman 2 X12" combo.
I think I'm a little tonally limited by the amp, but It's gonna take me awhile to save up for a really nice amp. A lot of trying out to do....Mesa?.....Rivera?.......I wonder.....
My rating before the changes I think was 7 or 8. With the new hardware and pu's, this guitar definitely gets a 10. I tried it out as soon as I got it back, immediately went down to a friends place who has a es-335, and I swear, I think my baby sounds sweeter, warmer, tonally more responsive. All I can say is, yum.

Same as all the others. It's a es 335 style guitar. I bought it the year it was made used. It's a great guitar for the cash! I love this guitar the neck is wonderful. Pick ups might not be as good as others it could have but good for stock cheepies.

I play blues/alt/rock mainly but I mess around everywhere. The sound is good but I think could be better with new pick ups. I play through a OK amp a peavy sold state. This guitar is good for blues and jazz I think. I like the sound of the pick ups personally but I am thinking about changing them. I want a better distorted sound.

This is where my guitar shines. The action is awesome. I have a friend with a gibson es335 and my guitar blows his away. All the people that have played the two have said the same thing. The Sheraton just has a better feel. Now don't get me wrong, not all epi's are made the same! His pick ups sound better...

I have had this guitar for over 5 years and no problems to speak of, moreover, I have played it almost every day in that time. It holds up good. I would think about strap locks on this guitar if your playing live. It's not as strong as a solid body but I don't like most solid body guitars so thats ok with me. Really a good guitar!

I bought it used so I don't know about this.

I have had this for over 5 years and it holds up great. If it were stolen I would shop around and try and find one as good as mine, so YES I would buy it again. If you need or like the es335 sound and don't have the cash for one this is your ticket. Hell some gibsons don't even feel as good as mine. Just play before you buy.

This is a 1999 model, natural in color, made in Korea. Same specs as quoted by other reviewers

Ok, here''s the reason for my review. As noted by many others, the stock pickups are mediocore at best. As a result I really wasn't playing this guitar much. I even tried to sell it on Ebay but didn't get any good offers. So I decided to try some new pickups. I has a pair of Seymour Duncan '59s installed. The improvement is the sound of this guitar is unbelievable!! If you're interested in giving your Epiphone a true old Gibson PAF tone, STOP READING right now and head to the music store. You won't be disappointed. You will be glad you didn't spend $2400 for a Gibson 335. (My '5' rating is for the stock pickups.)

Fit and finish was good when I got the guitar. No complaints after changing the strings. As noted by others, the cheesy gold coloring on the hardware does tarnish and wear quickly. When I had the new pickups installed, I also got some new gold pickup covers (the Duncans did not come with covers, but I think you can order them with covers.) Also, as mentioned by others, the pickup selector switch is of poor quality; it was making a crackling noise when I switched it. I was going to have it replaced when I had the pickups installed, but the guitar tech just cleaned it up and resoldered the connections. It sounds OK now, but still feels sloppy.

Seems as good as anthing in this price range.

Haven't had to contact the company

Generally, I think this is a terrific guitar for blues and classic rock AFTER you put some decent pickups in it.

I have been playing guitar for 25+ years and have had a few guitars that I could get the sound out of that I wanted. This is because I am not very good. I have had a Fender Mustang (first guitar) Aria 12 string, Ventura hollybody, Yahama accoustical, Fender american Strat,
Epiphone Sheriton II, and a Vox Super Lynx, Fender's both had great sound and playability. I just got the Epiphone and was enjoying it, It was a gift from an old friend that used to play, and gave it up due
to time constraints. I bid on one on e-bay and won it so while waiting
for it to be delivered I played the one he gave me I was impressed with the guitar. It has a great sound, plays good and both through the
sears twin 12 amp and the fender prinston chorous amp. The company I
bought the epiphone from shipped me the wrong guitar, they called and
asked if I would ship it back and they would send me the right one. I
agreed to return it. When I got it I opened the box and it was a Gibson 335. I had never played a Gibson and that is what I wanted in the first place, so I pluged it into my amp and tried it. I know now why everyone wants one. I makes the epiphone sound like a cigar box with strings. I love the looks of the Epiphone but the sound of the Gibson was awsome. Now I am in a fix I own two Epiphone's and want a Gibson. I don't know but I think the first thing I will have to do is
get a set of Gibson Classic 57 pickups, or call TV Jones and see what
he would recommend out of his lineup. If I can't get the sound of the
335 nothing will do but buy one. I am just glad that they did not send me a Gretsch (way out of my price range). If your considering an
Epiphone over a Gibson because of price forget it save your money and
buy the Gibson, there is too much difference in sound and playability.

With stock pickups sounds like a cigar box with strings

Factory setup, not bad but could use lower string set up. Beautiful finish, dark brown to black burst, inlay head done well looks great, gold hwd looks good except neck pickup rubbing off on edge's, finish is great no flaws or scratches

Very solid guitar, Yes I would gig with this guitar, finish on gold plating too thin, I think this would be a great guitar if it had the right pickups and pots.

Never delt with any company for warranty work. I think that the dealer is the best place to go.

If I can get the sound out of it of a Gibson 335 then I will keep the Guitar. Like I said before I have played and owned Fender, Vox, Yahama, Aria, and Ventura. Mostly knockoff's of great gutars except Fender. This Epiphone is no different great price, great looks, Nice action, but IT'S NOT A GIBSON or Gretsch. I won't know if I will Keep it until I change the pickups out to Gibson Classic '57's and get it set up to get the same action of the Gibson 335.

An ES-335 copy.

I play jazz, blues and fusion and it sounds Okay. The neck pickup suits for jazz well. Bridge pickup could be quite better - it will be the first thing I am going to replace.

The guitar was set up well.

Golden pickups and bridge lost their color in few days (If you touch them few times, they?ll get silver). I have serious problems with pickup selector - I had to repair it just a week after I bought the guitar.
The original Gibson-strings are bad...
An Epiphone original case for Sheraton is very very and once more very bad. If I bought this guitar once more, I would rather have it made from a case-maker. Price of the case is very high.

???
Is there any Epiphone customer support in Czech Rep.???

I was looking for that kind of guitar, but Gibsons and Ibanez are quite expensive for me. There was not any other chance to get an 335 copy in Czech stores than Sheraton II.
A lot of musicans (esp. rockers that are selling guitars in strores) told me to not buy that guitar. Most of the things they talked about, were false. Later I found out, that most of them never did not play that guitar for a longer period of time than 5 mins. And most of them were just trying to tell me that I will never play Deep Purple on it...
An excellent guitar for jazz and blues beginners.

Purchased new in November, 2000, but I think it was made in 1999. Features are as described below. Has a nice natural finish. Great neck with nice inlays and binding.

The sound is okay. I have to agree with the other reviews that say that the pickups are fair, as best. I intend to replace them down the road when they discolor enough (see below) to justify replacing them for both the sound and the finish.

The action was okay, but I took it to the Guitar Factory here in Orlando, Florida (an Epiphone service center) and they filed down the neck nut to make the action really nice, since it was too high originally. They did the work for free-"under warranty" -when I took it in for a problem described below. The gold hardware has some oxidation problems, which is kind of disappointing, but I knew that ahead of time from reading the reviews here.

As mentioned above the gold hardware's finish is the most disappointing part of the guitar, but can be replaced down the road. The finish on the body is very good. The guitar seems well built, overall, with a neck that is very comfortable to play-and nice and straight. It should last a long time.

The one problem I've had is apparently with the pickguard. When I play for awhile, if I touch the big Epiphone "E" on the pickguard I'll get a snapping/clicking sound through the amp. It doesn't happen all the time, but it seems to happen in spurts. According to the Guitar Factory, the pickguard is probably picking up static electricity from the strumming and the "E" is acting like a capacitor, collecting the charge until I touch it and "discharging" it through the amp. Their only suggestion was running a wire from the bottom side of the pickguard and grounding it inside the body. I didn't have that done because it might make it unsightly and was hoping someone here could recognize this problem and offer me some other solution. Any suggestion posted here would be appreciated. Otherwise a nice guitar for the price.

I have been playing guitar, on and off, over a 30+ year span, playing stuff from the Beatles, Eagles, Clapton, and, most recently, chord/melody and light jazz. My other guitars are an Ovation Custom Balladeer and 12-string Balladeer.

The same as most here. think it's a '99, Korean made, gold hardware,lam-maple, blah blah blah. It had everything I was looking for, and not costing me an arm and a leg. Nice antique sunburst finish, semi-hollow body....you know. It's no Parker Fly, but I wasn't looking for that anyway...

Got this guitar a couple of years ago. This guitar filled a hole in my sound I was looking for. Running a Danelectro Daddy-O crunch through my'79 Music Man amp, I'm getting close to the sound I'm looking for. My other guitar is a strat. I play rythmn and find the strat not "chunky" enough for the part, even when I switched the bridge pickup with a Duncan hotrails mini-bucker. This guitar fit the bill.Lots of chunk (when selecting bridge position anyways). Gets extremely muddy on neck position, though. The band I'm in jumps around in style, from the buggles to alice in chains. With a little pedal tweaking, I'm able to achieve pretty much a full scope of distortion, nice distortion. I'm sure if I replace the pickups with, say, classic 57's, it would be even sweeter.....

When I recieved the guitar (it was ordered in), the strings that were on it had divets, or creases where they pressed against the frets. How hard did they pack the guitar down? After swapping the strings though, it played nicely. The action was nice and low, intonation was in...I did have to raise the neck position humbucker, since the bridge position was WAY hotter than the neck.
The toggle, like other people have said, is crap. Haven't switched it yet, but will very shortly. Finish was flawless. I actually don't mind the pickgaurd. The gold hardware is wearing considerably off, but it is an aging process. I like to think that it is from use, and am proud that I'm wearing it out. (Even though it looks a little cheesy).

Haven't had a problem playing this guitar in two years of gigging. It has become my main axe, the fender is the backup now. If you move around or jump around on stage, MAKE SURE you put strap locks on this puppy. I almost dropped it 3 or 4 times the first gig I did with it, as the strap kept popping off in mid leap! I trust this guitar much more than my strat.

Haven't had to deal with them.

I ordered a casino, but was told it would take 6 months to come in (not easy to find a lefty casino). The Sheraton was given to me as a loaner til the casino came in. I played this one for a month, and decided to keep it. I liked the looks and the playability of it. A little cheaper than the casino, too. I am now pretty close to the sound I want. A pickup upgrade and maybe the mesaboogie V-twin giving the distortion, and I gotta feeling I'll be in heaven.

Purchased March 2001, 1999 John Lee Hooker "Boogie-Man" Special Edition; ebony/gold hardware; made in Korea (I think); "Boogieman" inlay at 12 th fret; humbuckers; 3 way switch triangle/trapezoid inlays; gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous; I could live without the gold hardware (the tuners are taking on a green tint in some spots) and the Boogieman inlay, but this thing looks great

Cream meets the delta blues, this thing will tear your head off! You can fingerpick it in clean mode and it sound great.

Would be a 10, but the factory strings and set up seem more for jazz. $80 for a setup and strap locks and now it is a 10

the selector switch is a little iffy, replace it and put on some strap locks and you've got a 10

Gibson hotline 24 hours 1-800-4-gibson, very nice

Awesome, awesome, awesome, the neck is great, the guitar is beautful and sounds awesome. This thing is like a Cadillac with strings. Log off your computer and go buy one ....now

MORE OR LESS SAME SPEC AS EVERYONE ELSE. GOLD STOCK PICK UPS AND HARDWARE. VINTAGE SUNBURST FINISH, LOOKS THE BIZ! THINJ ITS KOREAN YET AINT SURE. IM NOT BOZZED WHERE IT WAS MADE OR WHEN, I LUV IT.

IF YOU ARE A FAN OF NOEL GALLAGHER THEN THIS GUITAR IS GREAT. I PLAY A LOT OF INDIE/ALTERNATIVE MUSIC IE, OASIS, SUPER FURRY ANIMAL AND I ALSO WRITE MY OWN STUFF. I USE A MARSHALL G80RCD AND FENDER PRINCETON 65 AMPS WITH THIS MAMA AND IT SOUNDS LOVELY THROUGH BOTH. WITH A WAH WAH U CAN CREATE A LOVELY SOUND STRAIGHT OFF 'DYA KNOW WHAT I MEAN?'
WHEN YOU FIRST GET IT YOU HAVE TO PLAY AN OASIS SONG, ITS THE LAW!

NO QUALMS WITH THE FINISH AT ALL, THE ACTION IS LIKE A DREAM, SO EASY TO PLAY COMPARED TO MY EPIPHONE SG AND FENDER SQUIRE STRAT. THE GUITAR SITS LOVELY OFF THE HIP AND IS QUITE COMFORTABLE. I THINK THE PICKGUARD LOOKS CHEAP YET U CANT HAVE EVERYTHING. I JUST CANT PUT IT DOWN, IM HAVIN WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS NOW!

A LOT OF FOLK SAY THE GOLD WEARS OFF BUT IVE HAD MINE FOR 3 MNTHS AND I PLAY 1-2 HOURS A DAY AND MINES STILL INTACT. I HAVENT STARTED GIGGING AS YET BUT PLAN TO SOON SO THATS THE REAL TEST. I DONT HAVE A DECENT BACK UP GUITAR SO I HOPE I DONT NEED ONE. I TRUST THIS GUITAR WITH ME LIFE.

HAVENT HAD ANY PROBS APART FROM DELAYS IN DELIVERY BUT THAT WAS SORTED OUT QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY.

AT THE PRICE IT WAS A SNIP, IVE SEEN IT IN LEEDS SHOPS FOR #525, SO I CHUFFED I GOT IT SO CHEAP. IVE BEEN PLAYING ABOUT A YEAR SOLID AND HAVENT OWNED A DECENT GUITAR BEFORE SO ITS A CHANGE TO CHEAPO CRAP. I WISH THE PICKGUARD WAS MORE CLASSIER. IF IT WAS STOLEN ID BUY IT AGAIN OR MAYBE A SUPERNOVA MODEL YET THERE HARD TO GET NOW. MY FAVOURITE FEATURE IS THE TONE IT WEEPS AND HOW COOL IT LOOKS. IF ITS GOOD ENUFF FOR NOEL ITS GOOD ENUFF FOR ME.

Korien made ES-335 copy. Purchased new in '92. 22 frets, Maple laminate body, set maple neck, rosewood fret board, gold hardware. Passive psuedo Epi PAF pick ups. Finish is vintage sunburst. Tune-o-matic style bridge. Came with Epi 335 style case. Two tone, two volume controls and a 3 position switch.

Theorhetically, this guitar should have matched my style well, but it came short. I try to play progressive rock with heavy influences from both classical and jazz. (yea, yea, it's been done before.) Both jazzy clean and with vintage (jethro tull'ish) marshall distortion. My hopes were that this guitar would replace my need to play both my 73 Les Paul Custom, and my EMG packing frankenstien strat. It didn't work. Anyway,
I don't use alot of effects. I run a DSP128 through my marshall, basically fixed on med.rm. verb, and I have a 69 Fender Bassman 50 watt head that I'm still trying to get along with.
All in all, the Sheraton looks better than it sounds.

Had to dress the frets as there was some uneveness to them. Otherwise, the action was very low and fast. There is a slight mis-alignment with respect to the strings lining up over the pickup poles, but not too far off to be a problem. Otherwise, the finish of the guitar body was very nice. The binding, including around the F-holes was very nice.
Naturally, the electronics bite. They seem cheap and have been redesigned for 2001. (Nearly 10 years too late for me.)

The gold plating on all the hardware sucks. It wears off in short order with a little playing. The frets hold up well. The finish is still perfect. Pick gaurd scrathes easily, but I suppose that's what it's for. The strap buttons are oversized and work well. Sure wish they used std. chrome hardware, as the gold hardware is the only real problem with the guitar durability.

Don't know. No need to bother them.

I would not buy this Guitar again. Over the years, I found that I didn't play this guitar much. Never played it live, and rarely used for rehersals. Only used occasionally for recordings if it happen to capture the tone I was looking for. (not very often.) Tried replacing the pickups recently in an attempt to start using this guitar. (Active EMG 89's). Still don't like it. I ordered a De Armond X-155 "pig in a poke" style. (Never played one!) based purely on my research and am hoping that this will give me the nitch sound that I have been looking for for years. (aka Steve Howe meets Pat Matheney.)
I believe that if I spent the cash for real Gibson pickups, that this guitar would have a chance at sounding like an ES-335, but am unwilling to make that investment, as it would still be a comprimise from the sound that I really want.

alright, here we go. I just picked up my sheraton from the repair shop yesterday and I almost creamed my shorts after hearing how it sounded with the new pickups. no joke. the sound flows through the air like melting crystals...
well, now for the rundown.
I think it was made in '99. Korean. you all know the specs, so I won't bother getting into that.
So, the pickups! The stock PU's sounded like they should for the price. The neck PU was kinda mushy, and the bridge was kinda shrill. So after owning the guitar for two days I ordered a pair of Seth Lover PU's (Neck and Bridge). you have no idea. This guitar sounds like gold. All the talk about how this guitar can be the equivalent of the ES-335 is DEAD ON!!!
That aside, I'm kind of worried about string saddles. I've broken one string, although I was playing a little hard. But I think a little filing job should solve that problem.
I'm going to replace the tuners tonight. You might notice a "clink" while tuning certain strings. This is the tuning peg "slipping" from the tension. I think I'll go with some grovers to fix this.
Everything else is perfect. i mean it. perfect.
I'm giving a 10 here, but that's only with replacement parts, other wise, it's a 5.
oh yeah, I also changed the volume knobs because the stocks are really ugly. It's like they're trying to hard to make it look vintage. In my opinion, their just plain ugly.

I play tons of different styles of music, but "Shoegaze" is the focus of my sound. The warm/crisp/melting sound of this guitar should suit anyone except for the skids(megadeath/slayer)...
let's see, effects. well, I'll just list em, cause I've spent 7 years adding and ditching effects, and I've finally got the perfect set up. So, Electroharmonics Bigg Muff, Small Stone Phaser, Boss Volume pedal (FVsomething), DOD 2-second Digital Delay, Cry Baby wah( I think I'll get a vox sometime soon), Boss Pedal Tuner/Power supply, Dalelectro "Tuna Melt" tremolo, Boss Chorus, Danelectro "Fish 'n Chips" equalizer, Boss DD-5 Digital Delay, E-bow plus, Alesis Quadraverb II(Q2)... that's it. done.
oh yeah, amp. I run through a fender Deville 2x12. The reverb on this amp accents the sheraton II's(well, the sheraton II with Seth Lover pickups) sooooo well.
So yeah, it's Gold. (now...)

Set up was perfect.
As I said in my other entry, the gold wore off within two weeks. But who cares... not me, I've got new pickups!!!
Oh yeah, the PU Selector sucked too, it started cutting out and it was really noisey, so I ousted that and replaced it. perfect.
Again, with replacement parts - 10, without, 6

The new hardware is going to last until my dying day. I've got two guitars and I'll be bringing them both to my shows and using both of them...

N/A...

I'll stop now and just say that this guitar, when overhauled, is the shit!!! the sound is orgasmic.

just a short review, I'll update the entry in a couple days. I bought this guitar knowing that the electronics sucked. I intended to replace everything from day one. After owning the sheraton II for two weeks the gold finish started to wear off, the pickup toggle switch started cutting out as changed positions... Soooo, yes, this guitar sucks if you're not willing to spend some coin on an overhaul.
More to come

The body is excellent but the pickups and toggle switch are terrible, I'll be spending $400(Canadian) on new pickups, toggle switch, and electronics. From what I've read here, I hope to have a sweet ass guitar when I get it back from the shop.
I'll let you know.

1998 and Made in Korea, 22 frets, hollow bodied semi-acoustic with 2 volume and 2 tone controls, 3 way selector, laminated body etc etc etc. It also came with a free hard case, as I refused to buy it otherwise!

I play a lot of blues and folk based music, and this guitar is surprisingly versatile, especially using capo or bottleneck. The top end can be cranked up to give a nice bright sound, and the more bassy qualities come in handy too (for faking a bass line!) I run it thru either a 50 watt Poker combo, or a Fender automatic, and it sounds better than either of these amps might otherwise promise. The only downside is that with (too much) Boss distortion, you suddenly sound like Soundgarden.

The action is great, the pickups needed a little tweaking for comparative volume (ie neck pickup louder than bridge, although this can be handy in a small combo). Everything else fine, except the strap button uder the neck had obviuosly sheared off in transit and been re-fitted by an idiot.

I have had this guitar for nearly 3 years and it is the same as the day I bought it. Solid piece of wood. My strap button gruipe is recorded above. The only reson I might use a second guitar is for a different sound (tele style noises are beyond this macine), or to save my back from the immense weight!!

I've never used this facility.

I have been playing the guitar for nearly 20 years, and have several acoustics (12 string, E-acoustic, hot-rodded acoustic for slide, plus a few other pieces of junk!!). I bought this guitar to replace stolen fender and aria electrics, and I have no complaints. You can sit and play it without it falling off your lap (handy for recording!), and compared to other semis, it does feel indestructable.
If it got pinched? I think I'd buy another epiphone of some sort, perhaps something even bigger for extra protection!

You know this beast I guess (ES335 Copycat) . Mine is natural with gold parts. I own it for 2 years now, and still happy
Just one thing : the metal parts are quiet "cheap",
if you use this axe intensively and if you sweat a lot like me, the gold "color" go away quite quickly. One thing more bad is that the bridge metal itself go away, (i.e on the low E saddle ) like if my hands would be sand paper. And I have trouble to find a repleacemnt bridge or even saddles that fit with this guitar. Maybe i'll try Graphtech Saddle but they are quite expensive. Another thing : I break quite a lot of high E stings. I've tried to sandpaper the saddle but with little succes. I thing the metal quality is behind this prob.
really nice flat jumbo frets

Nice for me, I play jazz with a singer.
a good axe for comping and get a modern jazz sound for soloing
I use only the neck pickup, I think the mic are not what can be the best (especialy the bridge one), but nevertheless the sound is decent with the standard mic. even if I plan to change them in the future. I'm left handed so my choice is thin, but compare to many, it is one of the best I have tried in this kind of axe.
Just would like to have a more progressive ton pot

Really perfect action, good finish, i have just lowered the neck pickup because the sound was too bassy
Really easy to play in the high, but like any es335copy

no prob at this stage
use it with all my gigs (3 - 4 per month) without a backup

don't know

Really a good axe for the price

Bought in '94.. this is an update on how it's been for me for the last six years. Korean, Samick made, 22 frets, laminated maple top bakc and sides, center block, rosewood fingerboard, five piece maple/mahogany neck. standard gibson style controls, two tone, two volume, three way switch. double humbucks. standard gibson style bridge and tailpiece. natural finish. grain looks way cool. semi hollow, double cutaway, twin f hole. epi tuners are ok, not great. 24.5" scale. came with case. gold hardware. fantastic neck inlay and multi ply binding all over, even the pickguard.------the gold only wore out where I rest my hand on the bridge, and where I rest my pinky on the lower edge of the bridge pickup. It still doesn't need a fret dress, although it's getting close. Played daily, left on the stand for almost the first two years and this baby would be like new with just a little polishing. (finish is just a tad hazy.. about what you'd expect) It's a beaut, and it's strong. I wouldn't trade or sell it.

I play rock and blues and also use it for travis style finger picking. I run it through my fender hot rod deluxe, sometimes via my digitech rp 7. I got a hell of a deal on a set of gibson pickups, free, so I took them. (thanks John Cole). however, the original pickups were NOT microphonic as some have reported. (very little more than the gibsons) and the original pickups were only slightly less tonally and volume wise than the gibsons. The gibsons are an improvement, but I don't think I would have paid the going price on them for that difference. (sorry gibson). Attenuate my comments on the guitars current sound with gibson pickups just a bit, and you'll know what it sounded like stock. It has plenty of bite, it can play very jazzy and warm, and you can get a BB type sound from it as well. When I really crank the HRdeluxe both the amp and the guitar come alive in the nicest possible way. I'd rate this very highly as a do it all guitar soundwise. I love the clean 'acoustic' tones, it has plenty of sustain. Played dirty, it ROCKS, make no mistake. Honestly, if I were going to spend 2 to 3 grand on a gibson, I'd get four or five epiphones instead, and mix and match pickups. You might not have the resale, but man.. you'd have some great sounding and playing instruments.

The important thing here is how has it held up over the last six years. And the only thing I can say is, it's wonderful. If I used a little finish polish it would be like new. The gold has only worn off where I rest my hands, as stated above, the tuners are still well plated. Really, for the money, you get a lot of fancy guitar, and a lot of good guitar. I'm giving it a nine just because it wasn't 'perfect' in the first place. there is some visible filler around a couple of the abalone/pearl neck inlays. big whoop.

This guitar takes a beating. I clean it about twice a year, now, except for wiping the strings and dusting. I put dunlop strap locks on it right off.. still solid. You could gig with this guitar all you wanted, no backup required. Nothing has gone badly with it. I've used it with .009s, .010s and .011s and all I needed to do was set the bridge height and adjust intonation. It always intonates very well. The frets are holding up really well.

Lifetime warranty. I don't know if it's voided because I swapped out the pickups myself. I don't care. This guitar will never need anything but a fret job, which you'd expect after years of use. Epiphone/Gibson has always replied to my emails and have sent me free catalogs and posters whenever I wanted, so I'm giving them a ten.

I've played since 1964. I've had too many guitars and basses to list here. I currently use the sheraton, a taylor 310 acoustic, an esp ltd b-50 bass, the digitech rp 7, a fender hot rod deluxe, a tascam 424 MK III cassette, and have a dod fx 7. ---- If it were lost or stolen, I'd check out the epiphone dot first, but if it didn't measure up, I'd pay the extra for another sheraton II. ---- I love the sound, and the action and the look. It's a bit weighty, but I don't really mind. I think it's a tossup between sound and playability for fave feature.--- If I were to change anything, I'd replace these gibsons with the same seymour duncans that are in the Hamer 25th anniversary chevron mahogany model, then I'd kick everybodys ass with it. --- My overall rating is ten because this guitar simply has not let me down in any way for six years. It's my pal, my therapist, my ally, .. I'm taking this one to the grave. --- I do wish it had an ebony fingerboard. For two reasons. Ebony would look much better on this guitars neck. And The Sheraton II deserves another 'feature' over epis other models to set it apart. If I were gibson, I'd add the ebony fingerboard, be more picky about the inlays, put in slightly better pickups, make sure all of them had better fret work ( I see some people have complained.. my frets were fine) and add a hundred bucks to the price. I don't think anything could beat this guitar, overall, for as much as five hundred bucks more, then. They seem to sell at just over six hundred, now, and I think that's a fair price. I'd pay it.

The Features are that it is cheap and looks real nice. Has a nice flourish of fretboard inlay. I doubt it is mother of pearl, but it looks like it. Headstock is also very pretty, but I doubt it is real abalone. Two el crappo humbuckers. The workmanship seems to be pretty tight as far as the woodwork is concerned. The hardware is another story. 4 knobs one three-way switch. It is a semi-hollowbody. My friend says it feel like a Cadillac in his hands. I agree. It has a nice feel. I think these are made in Korea. Wherever it is, they do a good job. Body is laminated maple. I am not sure how that is different from regular maple.

It took me a while to find the right pickups to put in. Finally I got it right with Classic 57's. Get them cheapest on Ebay. The stock pickups were not horrible in general, but did not work well with the Princeton Chorus DSP I was using. They had a nice overall tone, but were very imbalanced. Treble was way out of control and bass was muddy. But the sound and reverberation of the guitar is great. I am talking about the tone without the pickups on. The stock pickups make the guitar sound like the rhythm guitar on Velvet Underground's "What Goes On." The guitar has the same character of their non-distorted songs. Gentle and sustained. I think Lou Reed was using semi-hollow bodies. The sustain is great. The chords just roll into one another. I feel like this guitar would best suit rhythm playing. The chords really sounds nice and balanced. Once you find the right pickups for you. The sound is like a Cadillac.

In the Fender Princeton Chorus DSP the guitar can sound really nice with the effects, i.e., reverb and chorus. Clean, it has this far away sound that annoys me. In my Deluxe Reverb this guitar sounds incredible. So rich and strong and full of history. I don't think I like the Princeton. Because my other guitars sound far away in it too. We were wooed by the effects of the amp in the store. The clean sound is just OK.

The setup wasn't bad at all. I have only had to adjust the intonation. Neck was straight and curved just right. No buzz spots on the neck. Like I said earlier. The workmanship was great on the woodwork. The hardware should probably all be replaced. I replaced the pickups and tuners. Also, one lame thing is that the volume and tone must be wired wrong. When I lower the volume it lowers the tone too, and vice versa. It is workable, but stupid. The finish is nice. The natural looks great.

The dials and toggle seem cheap, but they may last forever. Who knows. Everything else seems very durable. The guitar has a very nice solid feel, not delicate like a hollowbody.

Don't know yet.

It seems like a pretty good deal for the money. Be prepared to at least get some new pickups. Strangely, you can sell the Epiphone pickups for up to $100 on ebay. Maybe there are fetishists out there. The guitar does have a great feel and sound and looks great on you. Just about all you need.

Not quite sure about the year, but made in Korea. Semi-hollow guitar. It's made of maple i think. Two decent humbucking pickups. Good tuners, with a stop tail-piece and gold hardware. Did not inclued case. Solidly made, set neck

It suits my need perfectly, i play in a jazz group, but I also play blues and rock. This guitar can hanlde it all. I use a crappy crate amp with it, but it still sounds great even while distorted. It can have a soft dull sound, which is good for jazz, but it is very versitile.

It's action is good. The pick-ups are pretty good too. THe gold finish rubbed off the guitar. THe tone switch make the guitar buzz while turning it...not a big problem though. I like the bridge and tuners. No real problems.

THis guitar is great for live playing. It is structuraly solid and fairly durable. The finish is without scratches and hasn't been a problem and seems like it will last along with the guitar. A volume knob fell off once and i glued it back on. The gold finish rubbed off the bridge. I always gig with a back-up, but never had needed one with this guitar

I bought it used

I own several other guitars inclueding a guild, and ESP a Seagull and some basses. THis is a gem, and worth the money. You will not find another guitar of this quality for the price. I thought is was much better then the Joe Pass Emporer, and the Casino, regardless they cost more, I highly recomend it.

All the same stuff the others have

This was the worst part of this guitar.

Very nicely finished and all that binding and abalone was beautiful. Action was downright OK.

Can't really say only had it a year and only played it to test out amplifiers

No comment

Case was extra but still a fair bargin. Guitar would be so nice and worth more if Epi/Gibson put some decent pickups on this thing.

Please write to me direct at: rmorris@jcc.mepcom.army.mil

I've had trouble responding when people write to me using Harmony Central messaging system.

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.

I've always wanted a Gibson 335 but, its a bit too pricey, so I "settled" for the Epi. BOY, AM I GLAD! I've had this guitar for two yrs., At first I was a little disappointed because while it played very smooth & fast, it didn't quite have the tone I was looking for.Also, the pick-ups were loud (hiss). Then, magic... I replaced the treble pick up with a Seymour Duncan JB. WOW! What a difference!Great bitting highs, full mids, and just enough bottom.(I run it through a Tech 21 amp.) Recently I went a couple steps further and replaced the neck pick up with a Duncan "59. Again, huge difference. Then I replaced the factory tuners with a set of Sperzels. I beleive I've created the perfect monster! I play blues/rock, and am getting into some rockabilly, and my current setup does the job just fine.

From the factory the guitar was VERY playable. The action was set properly. The intonation was almost dead on. Craftsmanship was high. No unsightly marks, glue, scuffs, etc. I often get comments on what a cool looking guitar it is.

With the exception of the toggle switch cutting out, I've had no problems. I used to play a '76 Les Paul, and had alot more problems with that guitar than my "Epi".

N/A

This review is a bit mixed. I LOVE my axe. But it's not the factory axe, is it? As I said, I would have loved a Gibson 335, but thats just too much dough. So, for $600.00, I got the style of guitar I wanted, with quality craftsmanship. For another $250.00, I replaced the pick ups to get the sound I wanted, and changed the tuning pegs so I stay in tune with more consistancy. Bottom line, if your willing to put a little effort into setting this guitar up, it will really be a nice surprise at a reasonable price. (Don't you have to tweek em' all anyway?)

as far as sound goes i think the guitar kicks ass..especially with a really saturated distortion...i really only wright my own music...so do a lot of recording at home on my hard disc recorder...using the line6 POD...and i have to say my sheraton sounds great.

The Guitar is a very beutiful instrument...very nice finish...looks very classy....i would say it's not far off the gibson in looks...The Guitar needed no adjusting when it was purchased so the stock set-up is pretty good as far as i'm concerned.

don't have it long enough

I have been playing for about 15 years....i also own a fender strat...but have had Jackson's,E.S.P.'s....Ibanez...and charvel's...and would put my sheraton against them any day of the week...overall this is an excellent instrument for a beginner or expert...also it stays in tune very well the best i have seen coming from guitars that always have a locking nut on it....the only problems i have with it are...LOSE THAT UGLY PICK-GUARD....AND CAN THOSE CHEAP VOLUME KNOBS!!!!

The serial number suggests mine was manufactured in 1995 in Korea by Samick. The cosmetic details are thoroughly covered in the other reviews. The features are very standard and functional. The neck is a bit wider than I care for, but that is just because I am hooked on the Gibson slim taper style. My Sheraton II has the Sunburst finish. I purchased it with the Epiphone hardshell case.

I play lots of 60's covers, guitar hook driven power pop and related material that requires good tonal range. I run this guitar through a CRATE GX-140D stereo chorus amp. The stock pick-ups sounded very bland. The neck pick-up in particular sounded very muddy. The given is that you have to replace the stock Epiphone pick-ups. The conventional wisdom seems to be with Gibson 57 Classics or Seymour Duncan 59s. I think both of those are great,but I went with Gibson P94 single coils. The tonal clarity these pick-ups deliver is a thing of sheer beauty.
I am also amazed at how much sustain I get out of this guitar - as good as I have ever heard on any ES-335, Guild Starfire IV, Washburn HB 35 or any other guitar in this genre. With the stock pick-ups, I have to give it only a 6. With the P94s, it is a 9. With better pots and pick-up selectors, it would be an absolute 10.

There are excellent Epiphones out there waiting to be discovered. You just have to go out and play as many as you can, meticulously scrutinize each one, and then pick the best in the batch. That is what I have done with two Epiphones - this being one of them.
My guitar was well set up right off the shelf. The action was low and very playable: good but not great. The bridge was well tuned. The cnonstruction of the guitar and the alignment of critical hardware all appeared very well done.
I had the guitar professionally set up. I use heavier strings (.10/.46s) than the factory provides (.09/.42s)to get a better tonal fullness. It made sense to do the set up, but very little adjustment was actually required.
I have not had any problems with the tuners, saddles, bridge, etc. Everything was well set up from the factory and has continued to perform well. The finish is beautiful and flawless. This particular guitar was exceptionally well put together. (I saw many that were not!) The guitar stays in tune, looks great and plays as well as I could ever hope for out of any guitar.
On the other hand, the quality of many of the components falls a little short. The nut needed to be filed down a little, but did not require replacement. The hardware - tuners, bridge, etc. - is oxidizing. I stay on top of that, but it seems I have to clean it up too often - a sign of poor quality materials.
The jack was of exceptionally poor quality and was itself responsible for lots of unwanted noise. I think there is no excuse for this. I had to replace it.
As soon as I upgraded the pick-ups, it became very obvious that the pots were very noisy. I have not replaced them yet, but suspect that investment is not too far away.
The finish is perfect. The hardware works as intended. The guitar stays in tune fine, but the oftentimes second rate quality of the components can not be overlooked.

Yes, this guitar withstands live playing just fine. Though I have 13 electrics, this is the only hollow body I use, so I guess you could say I gig without a similar back-up.
Finish appears very well done - especially by Epiphone standards.
Despite my concerns over the hardware, it has not let me down yet. This guitar feels very solid and well built. I baby my guitars. I think the amount of care I give this instrument will insure that it will be around for a long time.

I have never dealth with Epiphone regarding this guitar. On one occasion, I wrote to them for some warranty information. They responded promptly. I wrote to them on a second occasion about concerns over one of my other guitars and the need for some factory authorized warranty repair work. They never responded. In other words, when I needed them most they delivered least.

I have been playing 22 years and own 13 electrics. I can afford a Gibson ES-335, but I am not into throwing money away for the sake of showing off. I wanted a hollow body to complement the tonal spectrum of my current inventory of guitars. The hollow body I was looking for needed to be well built and deliver good tone. I was not pre-disposed to buy any particular model. My search focused on finding a hollow body with good tone.
I played Guild Starfire IVs, Gibson ES-335s, Ibanez hollow bodies, Washburn HB 35s, and everything else under the sun in the ES-335 style. I found the best built Sheraton II I could find. I walked out the door with it and an Epiphone case for $596 and put another $175 into good pick-ups and a professional set-up. The guitar is not perfect, but neither did it cost me custom shop $. It is not a Gibson. So what? Neither did it cost like one, yet it sounds just as good - a conclusion I come to after having heard and played many. And with the money I saved, I am going to buy another one (this time in the natural finish) and install some already purchased Gibson 57 classics.
My rating is for my guitar as modified. For what I have invested in this guitar, this is a good guitar at a very reasonable price.

VERY BEUTIFUL LOOKING GUITAR

I have been playing for 15 years I have a Fender strat and a custom ESP i just purchased an epiphone Sheraton II. I have to say i'm very pleased with the overall rating of the Guitar. If any flaws they are very minor details that i might have changed. I can say it does present a whole new sound for me. being a rock guitarist.Great instrument for the price.

1997 model made in South Korea. 22 frets. arch top. bound edges. Sunburst. Solid block inside to promote sustain. Two humbuckers, 3 way switch. Two volume and two tone controls. I don't know body material. Gibson 335 style. With hardshell case. Sunburst color. The first guitar (read below) was Sunburst, but the poor quality control in the making of this first guitar had it Purple!

I play rock and blues and some jazz. I have a Carvin MTS-3212 100 watt tube amp and a Tech 21 Trademark 60. The sound is decent, but I agree with one other Posting: The E,G,and B strings are bright where as the D,A, and low E strings are more dull sounding. Overall the sound quality is good. Rich sounding. It can be made to sound like a jazz guitar but play rock and blues well.

Here's where the trouble starts. I sent my first Sheraton back. The bridge was mounted incorrectly. The pickup pole pieces, that is, the "Screws" weren't underneath the strings. They were between the strings! The holes drilled to mount the bridge was WAY off! Unacceptable! The second Sheraton shipped to me was similar: The pole pieces were not exactly under the strings, the bridge was not mounted perfectly, but I kept the guitar. POOR WORKMANSHIP.

Built solidly I believe. Would stand up for continued playing. The volume knobs seem cheap but might be ok. Finish is fine. strap buttons seem normal. Dependable? Maybe, but I would have a backup! I would use it on a gig without a backup though.

I bough it from Interstate Musician in WI. They were helpful in getting the situation right.

I've played for 35 years. I have a Fender Telecaster and a G&L Asat Classic. Also an Epiphone Les Paul. IF it was stolen I would be happy! I tried to sell this guitar in a newspaper ad but it would not sell. I love nothing about it. I very much dislike the workmanship and I would not recommend this guitar.

Korean-made semi-hollow body. Maple body, rosewood fretboard, center block throughout the middle supporting the bridge and stiffening the body for sustain. Two low-quality humbuckers (see below). The idea behind buying this guitar is something I've started to do with new electrics; buy a low-price instrument and put money into the deficient areas. You end up with a high-quality instrument at a fraction of the cost of a top-of-the-line Fender or, certainly, the many overpriced Gibsons. For the Sheraton II, the deficiencies are in areas where they can be replaced or fixed by even semi-skilled owners such as myself: the pickups, the switch and the tuners. Besides, it's fun and instructive to work on your own guitars, especially when they don't cost much and there's little to lose if you screw up! If the score were for features-for-the-money this would be closer to a 10.

The stock pickups are unacceptable because the response on the top three (treble) strings is far stronger than for the lower three. The high end was piercing and stark and the bottom was ill-defined and muddy. This guitar was not usable for playing clean as received but, with enough distortion, was OK for blues. The stock pickups were also somewhat microphonic. I'm of the philosophy of using a very clean transistor amp (Princeton 65) and driving through a multi-effects box (Digitech RP-7 for now). I'm in a constant debate with my purist tube friends over that! Anyway, no amount of signal processing could rid these pickups of their bass/treble duality. So I ordered a pair of Gibson 57's and they transformed this guitar into a sonic beauty. Blindfolded, I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference between this $900 (total) guitar and a $3200 ES-335. These pickups are covered sufficiently in other parts of this database so I won't add to that but suffice it to say that it's a joy to just listen to the chords ring either clean or dirty. The switch is very noisy and needs to be replaced. The pots seem OK for now but bad pots usually start out fine and get crackly with just a little use. I don't turn them very much anyway since I usually adjust the gain and equalization on the effects box. Again, with the new pickups, it's a 10.

I got the natural finish; the maple on the front and back is almost flawless in pattern and polish. The fit is exceptional; the neck, heel and body are tailored together with perfect smoothness. I've been ordering most of my instruments from discount houses but I spent the extra bucks to go the local retailer and made sure I got something that looked nice. The binding is smooth and even. Some raggedness inside the sound holes, but a little sandpaper fixed that right up. Frets are fine if perhaps a little small for my tastes. There is a significant flaw in the headstock inlay, but it's not enough to matter. The first thing to do with this guitar is to get rid of that god-awful cheesy pickguard. What is Epi thinking with this piece of translucent plastic with a big "E" stamped on it? A simple black piece would look so much classier and would be cheaper for them to make. I promise, this guitar looks much better without one. Picture Lennon's Casino for the guardless look. The tuners seem way too easy to turn; I'd trust them a little more if they had somewhat greater resistance. They seem to stay in tune but I'll replace them because they just bug me being that loose-feeling. The setup was fine. I like a flat neck with very little relief (I'm not a big bender) and this instrument is easy to adjust. Again, one purpose of getting a cheaper instrument is to learn to do this anyway.
I'm getting a little buzzing after string changes which I finally tracked to the bridge. The A and D strings don't seem to seat well but a little pushing down behind the bridge seems to fix that and eliminates the buzz. I might need to take a small file to the bridge slots. Any suggestions out there, I've never run into this before?

I don't know how much of a problem this is but the neck doesn't seem to be attached very securely. I'm not one to go bending my instruments much but you can do a dandy whammy bar imitation by pulling back on the neck. If it doesn't get worse it'll be OK.

Don't know.

I've been playing for many years and own several guitars including a Strat, Tele, and Washburn electrics. The acoustics include a Martin D-28, Martin 000-18, Taylor 855 12-string, and a couple of old classicals. This particular guitar is the second "cheap" electric that I've bought for little money and fixed up with a couple of hundred bucks and a dozen or so hours until it's just as good as the top-of-the-line. The other was a $240 Tele which I repainted and added Texas specials. I doubt you could do this with an acoustic, just buy a Martin or Taylor and be done with it! The Epiphone Sheraton is perfect for this purpose but, if you buy one, you at least need to put in another set of pickups. I'd hate for a beginner to buy these and think this is what electric guitars should sound like. And ditch that pickgaurd!
Overall, I love it now that it's fixed up. If stolen or damaged by the hail of bullets I'd inflict upon the robber, I would buy the same guitar and fix it up the same way. An Epi Dot or several others would probably do just as good as a semi-hollowbody. I do prefer a semi-hollow with a center block for more sustain and less feedback. Half the fun is in the modification and you'll be a better guitarist for having a closer relationship with the hardware.
The rating is for the stock instrument. After modifications, a 9 or 10.

See all other reviews.

The main reason for my contribution here is to pass along some (helpfull?) opinions ob improving the sound of this guitar. The stock guitar has a decent sound although the pickups suffer 2 major problems. 1- they are a bit muddy, especialy at high volumes. 2- they are extremely microphonic. You can almost sing into them. Feedback is a serious problem even at low volume. After playing out with this guitar for about a year now, I finally upgraded the pickups. I went with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro pickups in the neck and bridge. What an unbelievable difference. I'm sorry I waited so long. As good as the Duncan's are I'm sure any quality pickup will make a big improvement.

Consistency is the key here. I've seen some samples of Epiphones that are great. Setup and parts are first class. Some samples, though, are terrible. Poor setup and adjustment, etc. This is the result of cost cutting measures. But, I they all seem to have a good basic design and construction. Playability is excellent. Tuning and intonation are very good. Just plan on a good pro setup and fret dressing after your purchase. Once again it's worth the money.

You know. My biggest problem is that I'm a serious klutz. After more nearly 30 years of playing I'm still bumping and banging my instruments into everything in my path. The Sheraton is still in one piece. Pretty durable and stable. I haven't had problems with the nut or tuners as others have. Once again, watch for those guitar to guitar variations in consistency. I do find the toggle switch picks up dust easily. It is an open contact design. I clean it once in a while with a blast from one of those cans of compressed air you can buy at the hardware store. Works well.

Not used. Don't be afraid to hook up with a good local guitar technician. They are worth the price they charge 10 times over.

Good looks. Good playability. Good sound. Stays in tune (this is a big issue with me and guitars). What's to complain about. It's a bargain even aften spending extra for new pickups.

I guess made about 1990, I bought it new at that time. Has 22 frets on a short-scale, three-piece neck. Neck is fat but very fast. Has a laminated top. Two volume and two tone controls plus a three-way switch. Two humbuckers. Bridge is a tuno-o-matic with stop tail. Tuners are kind of cheesy. Got this with case for the price I quote. All the exposed metal is gold plated but, as others have noted, the finish rubs off pretty quickly. Mine is the natural finish and I love the look of it. It is kind of heavy but not as heavy as a Les Paul. The body has a solid block down the middle with hollow wings, just like an ES-335.

I play blues and rock & roll and this suits me perfectly. The tuners are somewhat flaky, but I've played it long enough that I usually know which string goes out of tune from bends and I can tune on the fly. The stock humbucker never sounded good through anything -- Bassman reissue, vibrolux, and a Seymour Duncan 84-50. I purchased dimarzios to install (PAF pro for neck and FRED for bridge) but then I got my Silvertone twin-twelve rebuilt and plugged in the Sheraton and damn if it didn't sound like a classic Gibson. The tone on the neck was always dark and muddy, not it's dark but with a bite. The bridge is very twangy but I roll off the treble and it settles down. Through the Silvertone this thing sustains forever. I think it rivels Santana's PRS and Marshall setup. I'm not making this up. This is one of the best combinations I've ever played. The sound makes my knees weak and my heart melt. It's the tone I've chased for nearly 35 years. I'd still like to experiment with the dimarzios in the Sheraton but with the sound I'm getting now I'm having second thoughts. I will, however, definitely changes the pots and switch -- they got noisy real fast and have to be cleaned frequently. Sound was a 5 but through the Silvertone Twin-Twelve it jumped to an 8 easily.

I've done all of the setup on this guitar myself. Intonation, once set, seems to hold for a year or more for me (I check every couple of months). Pickups were adjusted OK on this axe, so I got lucky. The finish is beautiful and I love the natural look. The grain is beautiful and distinctive. I had to fiddle with the high E saddle, as it was literally cutting a string a night. After a small amount of filing I don't have the same problem. The hardware finish is gone. It wore away in about a year (I was gigging five and six nights a week then) and I plan to replace all the hardware with good chrome pieces (probably and ABR bridge and sperzel tuners). Still, the action on this has never been a problem. From the day I first played it the action has been great -- tight and fast.

I've used this for live performances for almost 10 years and I trust it without a backup. It's never let me down. The only things that has broken is the pickguard (at the screwpoint by the neck) and I just took it off. Actually, I like the look without the pickguard. I always replace strap buttons with strap locks, so that's no issue. I've depended on this guitar for a long time and I think I'll be able to depend on it for many years to come. As I said, I do plan to swap out the hardware -- the electronics suck on Epi's. But other than that I'm happy with this axe.

Haven't dealt with them at all.

I've been playing for 35 years, but I didn't get into electric music until about 1989. Had a Mexi Tele first and I hated the cheesy sounding pickups. I loved the feel of the Epi the first time I picked it up. I don't have the tele any longer but I do have the Epi, so that says something. With the sound through the Silvertone amp, I feel like I've found the setup of my dreams. Just goes to show you how an amp can effect the sound of a guitar. I'd replace it if it were lost or stolen. I feel like I got much more than my moneys worth with the Epi Sheraton.

black 1997, read the other comments for specs

Beautiful thick sound. I run it through a Roland Blues Cube, used to run it through a Roland JC 120. Extremely versitile if you mess around with the dials. Great clean tones, and dark and dirty when the gain is cranked up a notch. It suits my style to a tee (which is blues based rock). 100 times more quiet than my tele.

Action was kind of high, but that is the way I like it. Didn't really pay attention to the original pickup adjustment cause I mess with that all the time (still experimenting).

One thing (which others have commented on) is the gold plating. It has rubbed completely off of the bottom of the neck pickup, and some on the tuners (I'll get to that). But that doesn't bother me at all, gives it some character after all it's the sound and tone that matter. As for the tuners, I play with heavy guage strings and bend them all over the neck (often off of the neck), and hardly ever have to re-tune. Maybe I got lucky after reading some other comments.
Have and will depend on it for many years

Would like to say one thing not relating to Customer service.
Don't buy Mail order. You go to your local guitar shops and play their guitars and talk to their salesman (&waste their time), pay the extra money and buy it there. Plus you get to play the ONE you are going to buy, and most places set it up to your preferences. Support your local stores and give the finger to the mail orders cause when you need help those places won't do crap for you. As for the guys who bought theirs through mail order, I'm glad they aren't happy. Don't complain when all the GOOD (& Helpful) guitar stores close down!!!
I'm sure that'll bring some good emails

Been playing for 4 yrs, and to be honest no one believes it. I own a epiphone emperor,sheriton II, tele, roland bluescube, alvarez acoustic. I bought it because I loved my Emperor, and wanting something a little smaller and less delicate. Would definately buy another one if it were stolen, I love everything about it, and for the money it can't be beat.

1996, Korean-made, 22-fret, laminated top semi-hollow body, 2 vol, 2 tones, one (cheesy feeling) three way switch, two humbucking pickups (I suspect these have been replaced with Gibsons). Maple neck with triple-bound rosewood fretboard and big mother-of-pearl inlays. The body is the ES-335 style, of course. It has a tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tailpiece, which when combined with the solid center block means you have nice sustain. The neck is a 24.75 scale, very well finished and fretted, with rather mushy, unreliable-feeling tuners. All hardware was gold tone; I say "was" because most of the "gold" has corroded off, which is very common with Epiphones with "gold" hardware. They should just stop trying to do this and put chrome hardware on the things; they aren't fooling anyone. Since this was bought used, it came with no accessories. Despite the fact that the "gold" has corroded off the guitar, and the inferior pickup switch and machine heads, otherwise this guitar shows some really nice workmanship and is very solid. The finish is solid black and I can't find any obvious flaws in it. A solid 7, with points removed for the tuners and the switch.

I have no particular style, just a mishmash of everything I like, and the guitar fits my style when I am in a blues/jazz mood. I use it with my little old Ampeg Jet II and whatever effects I'm in the mood for (usually a Boss compressor and Rat pedal). This is a very quiet guitar with a very full, loud sound (especially when compared to my other guitars, which are a Rickenbacker and a couple of Fenders). This guitar is capable of a pretty wide range of sounds, although one would not want to try to play heavy metal or punk with it. It has a very dark, wide tonal range with good cut in the treble position. The middle position sounds very good, unlike a lot of humbucker equipped guitars, and the neck pickup is very nice; with a bit of distortion you can easily get a Cream-era Clapton sound, or without distortion, venture into B.B. King territory. A really good blues/jazz sound at a very fair price. The neck is very easy to play and required minimal adjustment after I got it back to the house and put light top/heavy bottom strings on it. Overall a very responsive guitar with a good sound that I appreciate more as I play it more.

This guitar was used, so comments on the setup, pickup adjustments are inappropriate. I do all the setup on my own guitars anyway. For the record the action was decent when I got the guitar and I have not had to adjust the pickup height. Everything about the action is nice, as is the finish, which I can't find anything wrong with. It's black, which makes the inlay on the headstock (quite nice!) and the neck stand out. A very classy looking guitar. My problems with the guitar, as I mentioned earlier, are with the pickup switch, which feels very cheesy but seems to work OK, and the tuners, which feel a bit too loose for my tastes. A set of Grovers should remedy that problem. And of course I already mentioned that the phony "gold" plating is mostly gone. Epiphone really should consider either dropping the whole idea of phony gold plating or else switch to better quality plating. Their gold plating never lasts, and I've seen a lot of Epiphones. Again, everything else is really nice except for the damn tuners and the crappy "gold" plating, which is what gives it a solid 7 instead of the 9 it would have gotten otherwise.

This guitar would certainly stand live playing and I would play it without a backup, if that became necessary. The finish on the body seems well done, if a bit thick. The hardware, once the miserable "gold" plating has worn off, is solid. I won't really comment on the strap buttons because my standard policy is to replace all the strap buttons with locking ones on all my guitars. This is a dependable guitar and will be even more dependable once I extract the stock tuners and replace them with Grovers. A couple of points off for the bogus "gold" hardware, but otherwise a good solid 8.

I have never dealt with Epiphone or any other guitar company. I do most of my own repairs and modifications, and I intend to replace the tuners and maybe the three way switch. Since I bought this critter used, there is no warranty, of course. If you buy a new Epiphone, they claim that you have a lifetime warranty.

I've been playing for an embarrassing amount of time and I own a lot of stuff. If this guitar was stolen, I would certainly get another one, because this fills a very big hole in my collection. It gets some very cool Gibson sounds without the brutal weight of a Les Paul, and it has a lot of character and a very good, rich tone. I compared it to a Washburn 335 copy and a Vantage ES-175 copy, as I was in the market for a semihollow-body guitar and didn't want to break my bank account. In comparison to the Washburn and the Vantage, I felt that the Sheraton II was clearly the superior guitar, as it has the feel and sound of a much more expensive guitar.