Review of: Epiphone Sheraton II Guitar
by Brian Lamacraft
Tones
0%
Playability
0%
Hardware
0%
Value
0%
30
%
Overall
- Big booming acoustic-electric sound thanks to the F holes
- A great looking instrument with plenty of extra features
- Full tone and volume controls for the pickups
- Amazing sound at this price
- Expensive for an Epiphone
- Hard to play for beginners
The Epiphone Sheraton II Is a top-notch Epiphone Guitar for anyone that wants to play jazz, blues, or similar styles and wants a good instrument without spending a fortune. This guitar should be considered a mid-range instrument but it still has plenty of quality. It has everything you need to make excellent music and it is one of the standouts in the Epiphone lineup.
Full Detailed Epiphone Sheraton II Review
Into blues or jazz guitar you’ve probably struggled to find a top quality instrument play that type of music that doesn’t cost you a lot of money. You could always buy a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster but those guitars are very expensive. You want a mid-priced guitar that gives you everything you need to start playing jazz professionally you should look at the Epiphone brand. Here is my Epiphone Sheraton II to review to see if this is a top quality jazz guitar.
Epiphone Sheraton II Tones
You will notice about this instrument is it produces amazing tones for its price range. Be able to play all sorts of complicated jazz chords with this instrument and all of the notes will boom out and sound great. You can play other music such as Jazz, country, rockabilly, rock, or similar styles on this instrument and everything is going to sound amazing.
It has very nice pickups and the F-holes in the instrument help the music ring out nice and clear. There is almost no classic tone that does instrument can’t make when it comes to a blues or a jazz sound.
I was blown away by the sound of this instrument when I plugged it into an amplifier and you will be too.
Epiphone Sheraton II Playability
It should be said that this really isn’t a beginner guitar but for anyone that is into Jazz or Blues this is a very nice instrument.
It’s a little bit harder to play than some guitars but once you use it for a while you shouldn’t have any problem with it.
The main problem is getting used to the size of the instrument. The neck on the guitar is very easy on your fingers and you’ll be able to access all the higher notes thanks to the cutaway feature of this guitar.
It’s perfect for smooth jazz chord lines or improvising through lead scales. This is an excellent instrument for the jazz style and it will be something you are proud to own.
Epiphone Sheraton II Hardware
This guitar features excellent hardware. It comes complete with two tone and two volume knobs to control the pickups as well as a pickup selector switch so you can switch between the bridge and the neck pickup.
There is an ice pickguard on this instrument to help protect the finish from scratches.
It features a Tune-O-Matic bridge so your instrument will always stay in tune.
The hardware is also done in a nice gold style which further enhances the look of this instrument.
Pickups on the guitar are stellar with Epiphone Alnico Classics in both the bridge and the neck pickups. These humbuckers produce excellent sound and help this guitar stand out in terms of the hardware it has.
It also comes with Grover tuning pegs which helped stabilize the tuning of the instrument. Epiphone spared no expense when it comes to the hardware of this guitar and it is a standard in the rating category.
Epiphone Sheraton II Value
In this Epiphone Sheraton II review, the value gets high marks. You really can’t go wrong in getting a full feature jazz guitar for under $1,000 but you get that with the Sheraton II. This guitar offers you exceptional value for your dollar.
It has a full range of sounds and it is professionally made to a high standard by Epiphone.
It looks great and there was virtually no sound that I could not produce with this instrument.
You are spending a little bit more when compared to other Epiphone guitars in this type of category but for the price, this is an excellent value and well worth every penny that you’re going to spend on it
Who is the Epiphone Sheraton II Guitar Suited For?
Naturally, this guitar is more suited for those that are into the blues and jazz style and want a full-featured jazz guitar that has F holes.
This instrument is not as well as suited to beginners although beginners can play it they might struggle with the instrument because of its size and just the way that it’s laid out.
It’s not that well suited for a rock or a metal sound which many young players want to play.
For those that are a little bit more advanced and are looking for a full-featured guitar to play certain styles of music like jazz, this guitar really is exceptional at this price point and it is an instrument that you should buy.
Epiphone Sheraton II Review: Build and Finish
The guitar looks amazing for this price. It is built very well with top-quality materials. It has a laminated maple and a mahogany center a body. You get a hard maple and a walnut neck. The fingerboard is made out of rosewood. All of these woods combined together to make this instrument sound great at this price.
The guitar comes in several attracted finishes including natural, burst, and ebony so you have several choices in terms of finishes when you purchase the instrument.
I like the added headstock design on this instrument which looks great.
As well as the two Epiphone the logos on the headstock. This really adds an attractive element to this instrument and makes it stand out when you look at it.
I found the finish on the guitar to be nice and smooth as well as free of blemishes. This indicates that the guitar has been built to a very high-quality by Epiphone so you get what you paid for.
Epiphone Sheraton II: Feel and Action
Those that want a nice feeling a jazz guitar that can accommodate all of the complex chords they want to play; this guitar is it. You won’t have any problems with jazz chords or lead guitar lines when you play this instrument. You can access the higher Frets thanks to the cutaway that the guitar features.
The action on the guitar it was nice right out of the box but you might want to make some changes at the bridge to get the action the way that you want.
The guitar also features a truss rod so you can adjust the action with the truss rod if you prefer. The guitar I received played great and I really didn’t have to set it up all that much.
Epiphone Sheraton II: Overall Sound
In terms of sound, I was blown away by this Epiphone Sheraton II. this is really a top quality instrument for playing jazz or blues styles where you want the notes to really pop out at you.
The F holes in the instrument create a very nice acoustic and electric sound and you will get a very robust tone when you pair this guitar with a good amplifier.
There is a very nice sound from this guitar and it is well worth the mid-price that you pay for it. You won’t have any problems with this guitar when it comes to producing a jazz or blues style music. This really is a professionally made guitar and very well suited for those styles of music.
The Epiphone Sheraton II guitar was used in the “All Because of You” music video.
Conclusion
This concludes my Epiphone Sheraton II review. Jazz guitars can be very expensive but this mid-priced Epiphone is a great bargain and you get a lot of value for your dollar. The hardware on the instrument is exceptional and it is very easy to play. I didn’t have to set this guitar up when I got it out of the box and you shouldn’t have to make many adjustments either.
This instrument will make you sound like a jazz professional and Epiphone has made a very nice jazz style guitar with the Sheraton II which you should pick up right away.
Image Credit:
Adam Perlmutter, an acclaimed guitar journalist and editor of ‘Acoustic Guitar’, holds a master’s from New England Conservatory. Based in Culver City, he excels in writing, transcription, and engraving. His works, including ‘Color Your Chords’, blend music theory with practical guitar insights. At Fretterverse, Adam’s expertise enriches content for guitar enthusiasts of all levels.
Very interesting. I have a good friend that has just bought one as opposed to a Gibson 335 or 339 and he’s highly impressed with Sheraton II. This man is a seasoned player who knows guitars and he’s telling me that I need to grab one of these and add it to my arsenal. Between the two of you and your great reviews, I can honestly say that I’m going to order one.
I have owned and played the Epiphone Sharaton 2 for many years. I like is as much as my Gibson ES335. It sounds the same. No difference. The clue is that the pickups have exactly the same DC resistance as the ES335 pickups and exactly the same dimensions. In other words they are the same pickups with a different brand name. The only difference between ES335 and the Sheraton is the price tag and the “status”. ie: Sharaton $700, ES335 $3500. Sharaton doesn’t look quite as nice as the Gibson but the quality of workmanship is the same as the Gibson. I don’t give a hang about status or owning a guitar with a big name brand, what I care about is playability and sound and the Sharaton has both of those qualities plus one more that is important to me–a much better headstock angle to the neck. The reason all those Gibson’s break at the neck is because of the extreme neck angle (17 degrees) that makes the headstock weak (Sharaton is 14 degrees). It’s only Gibson that refuses to reduce the neck angle to reduce breakage. I have played guitar for over 60 years. Jazz, Blues.
I forgot to mention one thing. I put a pair of Epiphone Probuckers (as used in the Epi Sharaton 2) into my Yamaha SA2200 semi hollow body guitar (which is a $2000 japanese made, very classy, ES335 style guitar). I did this because I didn’t like the sound of the pickups. With the probuckers it sounds just like my ES335, but looks much better, plays much better, has an ebony fretboard, and better craftsmanship than any Gibson. In addition Gibson pickups for the ES335 cannot be purchased from Gibson except as a replacement part when a pickup goes bad (never happens). Those pickups cost about $350 for a set. But if you buy the Epi Sharaton pups, which are available on Ebay for $50 a set, and install those you get the same sound at much lower cost.
Hi all. I’m new to this site having been a strat man. I just bought a lovely 2001 sheraton natural. I have a query re the volume controls. They work as normal when the selector switch is on one or other pup. But when set to both pups either one of the volume knobs turns off the volume to both pups. Is this normal on a sheraton. I had a les paul previously and it didnt do this.
Any clues please from anyone.
Thanks
Mike
I have a Epiphone 2011 Sheraton 11 Pro Custom Made fitted with a bigsby wammy bar, beautiful guitar to play , but it does have that similar action with pup switch and volume controls in that middle position similar to your question