Wow

Amazing instrument. I am extremely picky when it comes to major purchases so I did a full month of comparing specs, reading reviews, watching videos of demos, talking to es-335 owners, Sheraton owners, Epi-dot owners, Lucille owners, playing the instruments myself, and so on and so on. This Sheraton came out head and shoulders above the rest in terms of beauty, value, comparative sound quality, and everything else. I was originally going to get an Epi-dot but I couldn’t get the finish I wanted no matter how I tried. After comparing the specs to a Sheraton II and seeing how much more beautiful it was and hearing how it was better constructed for not much more money, I knew this was for me. Though it was second hand on ebay it was professionally setup and brand new in terms of use. I had played them in stores and this was exactly the same in quality when it arrived. Don’t know how Sweetwater does in those terms but they seem to treat folks right. Unless you are super rich, don’t even bother with a Gibson 335. You can get almost the same sound for thousands less and the Sheraton is a real head turner as well. Everyone instantly noticed a difference in my sound and playing as soon as I hit the first few licks. Couldn’t be more pleased.

Simply Amazing...

Bought this guitar (in sunburst) from Sweetwater a few days ago. All I can say is that it looks/sounds/plays better than any semi-hollow I have ever picked up! This guitar plays like a dream, is well balanced, and sounds great clean or distorted. The finish/color looks every bit as good in person as it did in the Sweetwater pics.

I had an Epi Dot Deluxe, and the Dot did not even hold a candle to this Sheraton. This guitar is worth the extra money by far! Get the Epi case, as well...it's a great case!

Love my Sheraton!

I was shopping around for a couple months for a good semi-hollow. I had money to spend and was looking into an ES-335 but ended up deciding on the Sheraton II due to the rich history of the original Sheraton. You do have to be careful not to get a Chinese made Sheraton II as the quality is just not there. Make sure it's made in Korea.

In my opinion this guitar is a great starting point for something far more beautiful. The pickups, electronics, and tuning machines were standard Epiphone quality on this guitar to start, but with a little work and a little love I've turned my guitar into a truly beautiful instrument.

My guitar is now fitted with new pickups (Gibson 57 Classic and 57 Classic plus at the bridge), a nickel nashville bridge and all nickel hardware, 500k Gibson volume pots, a new input jack, a custom cut bone nut and Gibson Deluxe pearloid machine heads. I found that it also really benefited from a good fret polish right off the bat too.

This guitar now has so much sustain that it's hard to think of it as a semi-hollow. Even fully stock it was great. But, with a little love and some decent money this guitar has been transformed into something that sounds absolutely amazing and looks 10 times more beautiful than a 335. Just look at the inlay job on the headstock for goodness sake! Gorgeous!

This guitar has a lot of character and even though I've been traditionally a Gibson only man I'm gladly flying the Epiphone flag on this one. Fingers crossed that the E on the pick guard will stay glued on though!

what a nice guitar great buy

i play gospel at my church this guitar delivers real soulful nice smooth feel on the neck. pickups i might change but i am happy with the sounds i get i play thru a line 6 spyder 4 150 2 twelve combo unbelievable combination for church. great axe i would buy it again if lost. thanks sweetwater good people real pros for musicians.

Great beater

I put flatwounds 011-050 on my Sheraton and lowered the action the guitar plays itself and can cop the Freddie King or Creedence Clearwater sound with ease. The pickups are far from the best so I use a clean boost pedal. Better neck than the Dot, the Sheraton neck is slimmer and faster.

A Solid Value

I own this guitar in a left handed, vintage sunburst version. Overall, I am very pleased with it, and am satisfied with the quality for the money. Here is my short review:

Sound:

This guitar has a unique sound, and which is very flexible and usable in numerous musical settings. The pickups are good quality, better than I expected, actually, and I would urge you to listen to them side by side with any potential replacement before spending the money. they have a solid humbucker sound, with a little more clarity and treble than you get out of the a les paul with the same pickups. They will overdrive a tube amp without problem, but you need the volume up just a little higher, if that is what you are going for. Overall the guitar offers beatiful, clear tone, and good note definition. I purchased the guitar to play jazz, so I actually have been working to get a little more brown, woody tone from the guitar. Being left handed, affordable options are few and far between. I replaced the neck pickup with a 57 classic. This gives a slightly warmer tone with a little more output than the Epiphone pickups. Frankly, with flatwound strings and the 57 classic the bottom end just thunders, and I have had to roll back the bass control, and give the guitar a little more treble, to keep things under control. When you back off a little, though, and let the tone come through, the guitar just sings, and coupled with a tube amp gives you great dynamics with a very sweet, warm tone. Very nice, overall.

Comfort/Feel:

I wanted to address this separately, because I think the guitar really shines in this area. The neck is among the best that I have played. It has a Gibson feel and radius, but the whole package, when set up right, is just dialed in and plays great. The fretwork is very good on my guitar, and I have a pleked gutiar to compare it to. The action, after the sweetwater set up, is amazing. Very low, with almost no buzzing anywhere on the neck. It is great for jazz chord work, and, before I put the flatwounds on it, was very comfortable for bending strings.

The guitar body is also very comfortable and nice to play. I like it the size and shape better than the Ibanez that is similar. Some people have complained that the head stock is too large. I personally like it very much, and find it both aesthetically pleasing, and well balanced. The tuners are gold Grovers, and they work great. All of the hardware seems pretty decent quality, and I have had no issues with the tone or volume nobs, they work as they should.

Fit/finish:

Overall the finish work is very good quality. The finish itself is very well applied, and I would call it flawless. The body binding is also well done. The f hole binding is not perfect in terms of thickness or finish, but it is not so bad that it is noticeable.

the inlay work on the headstock is very well done. Where things get a little wonky on my guitar is the fretboard inlays. The fretboard itself is a very nice piece of rosewood. They inlays, however, sometimes have a little too much space which has been filled between the inlay and the fretboard. Not a big deal, but I can see the filler outline, and you do not have this on a 3K Gibson. Of course, this is not a 3K guitar, so no big deal. Finally, one of my inlays is not perfectly even between the two frets. Most people would probably never even notice these issues, but it is enough for me to get it 4 instead of five stars. On the one hand, there are many far more expensive guitars if you are able to pay for that level of quality. On the other hand, there are other, far cheaper chinese guitars, and this is towards the high end of even the epiphone line, so it is not unfair to ask for a higher level of fit and finish than on a guitar that looks the same, but costs several hundred dollars less.

If nothing else, this guitar is worth the price because the neck feels and plays like a gibson, which is what Eiphone can offer that other similar guitars cannot. That, plus a very fine tone, make this a great guitar overall.