Matt4356

As cunnigham has said, a 90s sheraton is a completely different prospect from the guitars being produced today, and in the UK at least there are some currently going for a lot cheaper than a new version.

If Robin The Hood didn't know then there's not many people around I know of who would. He was a literal encyclopedia about epiphone guitars but hasn't been around for a while. My guess would be a labelling error and the SL stands for serial. That's all I can think of. Either way don't include it in a number checker, it's not part of the Serial number.

Nice, i recently picked up a 93 blonde. They are nice, I currently have a 93, an 04 and a 2012. The 93 is by far the better one, that's not to say the others are bad either.

What is the manufacturer date on the serial number? Also what are the frets like around the crack? The ends appear to be still in a decent shape from the picture but I can't tell if the middle of the frets are raised, as would be expected. I would be sending these pictures and more to epiphone, this isn't common and they may be interested to find the cause.

Ok then, what % of your epiphone fretboard have spontaneously cracked after 3 months? Environment will play a part in set up movement etc over time but there aren't guitars falling apart at the seams to the expanse of the op, due to a shift in humidity and temperature.

I also doubt it's due to workmanship or poor quality materials. It was made and then shipped half way around the world and while humidity may be an issue I doubt it was shipped and stored in perfect conditions. Its developed a crack after 3 months of you owning it, but when was it actually produced according to the serial number?

Kluson do a 72mm bridge specifically for peerless sheratons. They also fo offset posts to accept a klusson usa bridge. I haven't tried either but I am considering the offset posts for my early 90s sheraton with the same bridge. The bridge is called a harmonica bridge by the way, try wdmusic, they have a good selection for ideas.

Serial number is 12- 2012 07- July 15- Quingdao, China. 00068- production number.

More than likely its- 1999, December production number 0302. If I had to guess I would say Samick Korea, if I remember that's where it seems most of these were made. It would usually have a S or U etc for the factory but sometimes they don't. Is the number printed on the back of the headstock?

The problem with this time period is that there was no real standardisation with regards to some of the discrepancies you have described, from year to year or factory to factory. This is why production was moved to Quingdao. However the one thing I would be 99% sure on is that a standard and a deluxe built at the same time would have the exact same features, bar the top ply. They would not set a separate production line with such subtle differences for what was a limited run guitar.

Nice. Beautiful colour, and I always think they look classier with the back/ neck in the contrast. I REALLY hope they give the sheraton the same USA treatment. Have a look in the inside compartment in the case. The Chinese ones usually have a little white square label around 10mm. I've never seen a real issue with these cases other than people expecting less and finding fault because they are Chinese.

No, it's a sheraton II, I have a 2004 VS non deluxe also built in Unsung Korea. My headstock is identical to yours. The deluxe was basically just the flame top, that's why it was only available in a translucent finish, look at the more recent dot deluxe, always in trans colours. In my opinion the sheratons from this era are some of the best produced, I've been looking for a natural one from 04 for a while.

I have an older sheraton 2, and a union jack sheraton. There's something special about a sheraton definitely.

Are you planning on playing the thing or framing it? The first thing I do with almost all my electrics is change the strap pins for strap locks, the same goes for my gibson custom.

I really depends on your own preferences, as said above neck shapes vary on the models as do the finishing details, inlays etc. Think of the sheraton as the 355 compared to the 335, with the different inlays, binding and headstock details etc. I have two sheratons, one with mini humbuckers and a frequencator tailpeice, like the original. This has a totally different sound and feel to my other hollow bodies, have you seen or considered the new riviera? It will offer something different in sound to the sheraton 2 or the 335.

There is nothing to put the stop bar stud into, it's just the ply body and I think another small peice of ply by the bridge for a bit of extra depth. It is literally hollow unlike say the sheraton with a centre block. I also don't see how adding a stop bar would aid the intonation? The intonation is between the nut and the bridge saddles. Anything before or after has no effect. I have used gotoh bridges as they give a bigger range of movement on the saddles for intonation, and I usually replace the stock nuts on epiphone with graph tech if needed.

It's a shipping problem, could have happened anywhere. I'm positive the timber is structurally sound. Despite the rumours, headstock don't just fall off or explode. GC should have packaged it better and checked it before shipping, that's why they gave you a refund because they know this. Hope the next one shows you how good they can be.

MC is the Muse factory in China, the 22 should be the year, but obviously its not a 2022. My guess is a 2002. 09 is September and the rest is the production numer. With regards to the year, I'm unsure why it says 22 not 02. They weren't being made in China in 92 and production was almost exclusively at Quingdao by 2012, thats why I say 2002.

The link doesn't bring any pictures up for me, it just takes me to an ebay picture hosting site and asks me to sign in.

That doesn't look like factory wiring to me anyway, and as far as I'm aware epiphone don't shield the cavity, definitely not like that. Personally I would do full new harness at the same time, and clean the cavity up.

The Gibson Epiphone Quingdao factory opened in 2002 as far as I know. Pictures are needed if anyone is to be of any help with the authenticity though. I know that for some reason the Wylde models at one point were the most commonly seen counterfeit Epiphones, the best way for us to tell would be face on pictures of the body and headstock.

U - Unsung Korea 02- 2002 10 - October 7118 production number

Go check gueikian out on Instagram. Pictures in his stories of them ready for final assembly by the look of it.

The information you have been given here is correct, and they only came with serial numbers on the gold sticker. Serial number decoders are useless, they cause more problems than they solve. If you go to page 4, I think, of this forum you will find an extensive thread about these specific guitars.

Define 'muddy'? I honestly think this is a term we have come to accept as an excuse for what we deem a cheaper product. I own a few epiphone guitars with different pickups from the past 25 years, I've only changed one pickup and that was though boredom really. Some pickups are darker or bass heavy but I can almost guarantee that given the correct set up and some adjustments to the way your setting the amp, you will find a tone you are happy with. If not p90s aren't for you. From experience most pickups don't come correctly set up from the factory, the pole peices should be curved to the same as the fretboard radius, 12 inch in this case. Also as dog ear pickups aren't hight adjustable, check how far the poles are screwed out. Your amp settings for me should be way different to the settings used with a strat, for instance I have a vox and with my p90 guitars I would have bass at about 9 o'clock, treble at about 1 o'clock. Gain about 12. Also don't forget the importance of the volume and tone controls, they are crucial with p90s. Good luck, remember its supposed to be fun. Hopefully you work something out. We have all been there.