NGD - Epiphone Sheraton II

[jondanger]

Just picked up this late '80s Epiphone Sheraton II off of a Craigslist a couple towns over. She was in kind of rough shape, but it was a great deal. The neck pickup ring was busted out, pickguard was broken, pots were a little scratchy, and the whole thing had a thin layer of grime one it. A lot going on at work this week, but I finally got to cleaning it up, so here are the photos.

It's got the cool "Epiphone by Gibson" headstock logo, which as far as I can tell means it was made in Korea between 1986 and 1988. You can see the ugly pickguard repair that I did with a tortoise shell pick that was in the case. That's gorilla glue and a few layers of clear plastic, folks. I'm going to see if a 335 pickguard will fit . . . or maybe I'll leave it, we'll see.

After replacing a horrible set of .009's with .011's and raising the bridge, it's playing like a dream, and sounding great. The perfect sis for my Tele. Miles of sustain, and a rich smooth tone that has been eluding me. Now that I think of it, this is my first axe with humbuckers.

[jglenn]

Nice score!enjoy.I want a semi also.

[paulvcarter]

I had one for many yrs, great guitar, if I'd kept it I would have changed out the machine heads for tuning stability. If you play live you may want to do this.

[msfenderarg]

Beautiful Sheraton!

Congrats!

[Cassady]

Very nice!

I have one in natural, too, and I think it's a great guitar.

I'll save you a bit of time and say that I don't believe that a pick guard from a 335 will fit. I tried one from an Epiphone Dot that didn't fit mine without modification.

I bought some parts for my Sheraton from Classix Ax http://www.classicax.com. They were the only ones I could find that actually stocked some Epiphone parts. If you order a pick guard from your authorized Gibson dealer, which is where you're officially supposed to order at, be prepared for a long wait. I think I waited something like seven or eight months for some of the parts I used on my Sheraton to come in at my local dealer.

Once again, that's a really nice guitar, congratulations.

[allen082]

nice. got mine a couple of months ago and stinkin love it.

[Bob W.]

I also have a blonde Sheraton II, bought it new in the mid '90s. It's a good guitar, but it would be a great guitar if it had Gibson quality electronics (pickups, pots, switch, and jack). I'm not sure it would be sensible to sink that much money into it, but I did replace the tuners with Spertzel locking and installed an Earvana nut. This guitar now plays and stays in tune very nicely. Overall, it's definitely a keeper, maybe someday I'll go ahead and try a pickup upgrade.

Mine has a rather fat neck, not quite a baseball bat, but certainly larger than most of my guitars. My tele also has a fat neck (it's a late '80s MIJ top loader).

[Bones]

Nice, it's got nibs and everything!

[jondanger]

Thanks everybody! We'll see, I may replace the tuners. These don't seem terrible. I tightened them up a bit and they're a little better. Thanks for the tip on the pickguard, Cassady. I'll try that site if I just have to have a new one.

[Televised]

Looks great! Ya know for patch work with a pick, I think the pick guard looks just fine.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Nice guitar. How much did you get it for? I've seen some of these 80's Sheratons pop up from time to time on the bay, but they're generally a lot more expensive than the new Sheraton II.

[idjster]

Very nice! Those Sheratons are nice. How's the neck on it? And how does it sound, tone-wise?

Congratulations?

[mistermullens]

I bought a black one Labor Day weekend, and I can't stop playing it! Like you, I have found that it has all the sounds I've been looking for that I just couldn't get out of my Esquire. Great guitar, and even though I haven't played it live yet, putting a band together now, I expect it to be great. I'm sure I'll eventually drop some 57 Classics in there, but it's great as is right now. Enjoy!

[jondanger]

Well, hey there old thread haven't seen you for awhile.

Paid $350 with a hard shell case.

It sounds really nice, I ended up replacing the tuners with real Grovers and put a SD '59 in the neck and a Tonerider Alnico Classic (or some such) in the bridge. Good sustain, mellow on the neck, rich in the middle, a little bite in the bridge - the way it's supposed to be. The neck is good. Not as stable as my Tele. Needs to be tuned up more frequently, but a good feeling neck.

Mullins, if you do end up switching the pickups, it isn't the worst job to do it yourself. I did it in about 2 hours. Would have taken less time if I hadn't wired the bridge out of phase the first time (dumb). The trick is to tie a string to each pot before you drop them into the body. You can do the job without removing the switch or jack. Only the pots need to come out. At least that's how it was for mine.

Funnily enough, I just went through a 2 week period where I pretty much only played the Sherry. Pulled my 52RI out though tonight and I think I'll be hanging out with her for a little bit.

[oldmark]

I have 2 Epi Dots...I love them both. I had played and nearly bought an 80's Sheraton many years ago, and I loved it*. I think the Epi hollow and semi hollow guitars are very under rated and are fine players. My older Dot is factory stock, Korean and from 2002. The other is a 2010, Chinese and has Gibson 490's in it...it is a very rock & roll sounding guitar, while the stock Epi is more bluesy sounding. Both of mine have Grovers installed.

The only thing will would recommend it get a good hard case for it...Your Sheri is a gem.


mark
* I didn't because it came with an airline touring case, aluminum and steel, that jacked the price way up...they wouldn't swap the case, either...