mydeadblues Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 There's an elitist Sheraton on eBay right now which will probably go for around $1500+ :(. I've been wanting one for sometime now but I can't get myself to fork over that kind of money. I'd also really like to play one before investing that much. Anyway, the seller says that the neck on the elitist is a slim 60's neck. I have a white '95 MIK Sheraton and the neck is comfortable, but it is definitely not slim like a 60's neck. I've also had a natural 2005 MIK Sheraton and the neck was just like my '95. Has anyone here played or does anyone own an elitist Sheraton? How are the necks??? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I don't have the "Elitist," but the AIUSA Sheraton II. It's neck is definitely on the slim side. May be the slimmest (fingerboard to bottom) neck, of any guitar I own, currently. Top of fingerboard, to bottom of neck, at the nut: *3/4" Top of fingerboard, to bottom of neck, at the 15th fret *7/8" Fingerboard width at the nut: *1 5/8" Fingerboard width at the last fret: *2 3/8" *This is as accurate as I can get, with my metal tape measure. Hope that's of some use, to you?... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 My Elitist is slim but comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawwap Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I switched from two different Sheratons that were MIKs, to an Elitist about 5 years ago. No problems at all with neck size issues. I highly recommend the Elitist due to the improved integrity of the electronics. I use it regularly as my number one gigging guitar. (Between my two older Sheratons I bought a Gibson 335 and sold it as the Sheratons both were better players.) If you can get this one, I say do it. Worth the money, and they continue to increase in value as they are out of production. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrisulfr Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Your best bet on picking up one of these at a reasonable price is to watch, watch, watch, and wait for a Buy It Now auction. Or a sale here on the forums. Surprisingly there are people out there not looking to retire off the sale of one guitar and will just be happy to get a reasonable price (what they paid) for it and sell it quickly, but you have to act fast or it will be gone. You're right, the ones that actually go to complete auction go for $1500-ish these days. But you could get lucky. Or you could pick up an AIUSA if you can find one. I saw one last month go for $1000 in an auction, but that's the only one I've ever seen. Had I known the similarities between the AIUSA and Elite/Elitist at the time I would have gotten that one. I imagine they're only going to go up so if you're considering one, the sooner the better. So on to the neck... I have an Elite model and the first thing that hit me when I played it was how thin/flat the neck is. It's also quite wide. I would not say it's quite as flat/wide as my Jackson Soloist, but it's probably the closest to it of any non-Jackson guitar I've played. Actually it might even be just as slim, I didn't compare them side by side. I have a Casino Elitist and an SG Classic and the neck on the Sheraton is nothing like either of them. I would consider it a neck fully suitable for fast or "shred" type playing even, whereas, it can be done, but the necks on the Casino or SG are not. All that being said I love the neck on it and see why these are so highly sought after. If this is the type of neck you're looking for, then this is it. After I had it all set up professionally in the manner I usually have my guitars set up (action wise) I had to bring it back to have it adjusted again (action raised) because it was "too easy" to play. Seriously, there was so much "room" on the fretboard and the action was so smooth that I wasn't use to it. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I saw that one on ebay this morning and I expect it will fetch over $2k. I've been watching them for about a year and they just keep going up in price, now equaling or exceeding street prices when they were available from the stores. Same with the Elitist Broadways, Byrlands and Dots. The only Elitist that still seems to be a bargain is the Casino, and that's probably because they're still available from Epiphone. When they are discontinued, I'd expect them to rise in value as well. There is a limit to what Elitists will fetch because at $2k, there is a lot of (used) competition from other Japanese and US manufacturers such as Heritage, Ibanez, D'Aquisto (Aria) and even...wait for it....Gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrisulfr Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I saw that one on ebay this morning and I expect it will fetch over $2k. I've been watching them for about a year and they just keep going up in price, now equaling or exceeding street prices when they were available from the stores. Same with the Elitist Broadways, Byrlands and Dots. The only Elitist that still seems to be a bargain is the Casino, and that's probably because they're still available from Epiphone. When they are discontinued, I'd expect them to rise in value as well. There is a limit to what Elitists will fetch because at $2k, there is a lot of (used) competition from other Japanese and US manufacturers such as Heritage, Ibanez, D'Aquisto (Aria) and even...wait for it....Gibson. Why do you think it will fetch over $2k? I've been watching these religiously and none have ever gone over $1,500 and change since at least October. I've literally seen every one that's been on ebay since then as I had RSS feeds etc etc notifying me everytime one came up because I was looking to buy one. The one I got recently was the last one on ebay and I got it for $1350 on a BIN (ended up paying only $1300 though). The two before that were auctions and went for $1500 and change. I believe one of those sellers was actually trying to sell the Sheraton here in this forum for like $1200 shipped, but with no takers so it went to ebay. Then before that, in Oct/Nov there was a BIN for $1350 and one for $1250, both were gone within minutes. There were also one or two within that time period where the auction simply was ended early and the guitar never came back up for sale (probably a local sale). It'd be nice to think my guitar was worth $2k but I don't see it right now. Like I said, not everyone is out to make a buck. The Sheratons were in production for awhile, so someone who paid $1300 for one in 2002 and wasn't "watching the market" would probably feel good about getting $900 for his 9 year old used Sheraton Elite. Granted you might not find that on ebay, and won't find that "today", but watch craigslist and the forums. Patience... I noticed that the Casino Elitists have gone up in price on Musicians Friend. The price was $1299 last year (at least up until November), now it's $1799!! And it seems they're $1499 elsewhere. It's only a matter of time before ebayers catch up! You have a really good point about there being a limit to what they'll fetch because of the competition at that price range. Though I gotta say at the $2k price I'd really only see Gibson (used or new) as a real competitor. There are so many semi-hollow models and years to chose from... You can find some seriously nice vintage/used (no, maybe not a 60's Gibson...) Gibsons if you have patience and $2k to spend on one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianh Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Why do you think it will fetch over $2k? I've been watching these religiously and none have ever gone over $1,500 and change since at least October. I've literally seen every one that's been on ebay since then as I had RSS feeds etc etc notifying me everytime one came up because I was looking to buy one. The one I got recently was the last one on ebay and I got it for $1350 on a BIN (ended up paying only $1300 though). The two before that were auctions and went for $1500 and change. I believe one of those sellers was actually trying to sell the Sheraton here in this forum for like $1200 shipped, but with no takers so it went to ebay. Then before that, in Oct/Nov there was a BIN for $1350 and one for $1250, both were gone within minutes. There were also one or two within that time period where the auction simply was ended early and the guitar never came back up for sale (probably a local sale). It'd be nice to think my guitar was worth $2k but I don't see it right now. Like I said, not everyone is out to make a buck. The Sheratons were in production for awhile, so someone who paid $1300 for one in 2002 and wasn't "watching the market" would probably feel good about getting $900 for his 9 year old used Sheraton Elite. Granted you might not find that on ebay, and won't find that "today", but watch craigslist and the forums. Patience... I noticed that the Casino Elitists have gone up in price on Musicians Friend. The price was $1299 last year (at least up until November), now it's $1799!! And it seems they're $1499 elsewhere. It's only a matter of time before ebayers catch up! You have a really good point about there being a limit to what they'll fetch because of the competition at that price range. Though I gotta say at the $2k price I'd really only see Gibson (used or new) as a real competitor. There are so many semi-hollow models and years to chose from... You can find some seriously nice vintage/used (no, maybe not a 60's Gibson...) Gibsons if you have patience and $2k to spend on one. Fenris, you are right it's not the Sheris that are fetching $2k, it's the Elitist Byrdlands that I've been watching: http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item3f061b21ad I saw that Sheraton that was offered here for $1200, but was too late, it had already gone to eBay. I put in what I thought was a reasonable offer (higher than $1,200) but was way outbid at $1,500. Right now you can buy a semi-vintage ES-347 for $2500, so I think that may be the ceiling for (used) Japanese 335-type guitars unless they were owned by Lester Polfus, Pat Martino or Jimmy Bruno... http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item4155ec9da6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrisulfr Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Fenris, you are right it's not the Sheris that are fetching $2k, it's the Elitist Byrdlands that I've been watching: http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item3f061b21ad I saw that Sheraton that was offered here for $1200, but was too late, it had already gone to eBay. I put in what I thought was a reasonable offer (higher than $1,200) but was way outbid at $1,500. Right now you can buy a semi-vintage ES-347 for $2500, so I think that may be the ceiling for (used) Japanese 335-type guitars unless they were owned by Lester Polfus, Pat Martino or Jimmy Bruno... http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item4155ec9da6 Heh, so you outbid me on that one! Yeah I agree the ceiling seems to be around $2500 on the semi-hollows, specially anything MIJ. Yeah I've been watching the Byrdlands too just out of curiousity and it looks like "$1995" is always the magic number. Crazy... I will say the one thing the Sheraton has going for it as far as an "investment" goes is that it's unique to Epiphone (i.e. no Gibson equivalent like Casino/ES-330) and you pretty much only have the option of a vintage, or an Elite/Elitist/AIUSA if you want the original styling and close to original sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AS90 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Mine was $600 with a crack in the neck. At the time they were going for the equivalent of $2500 in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydeadblues Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 They definitely sound like a good investment, and a great player guitar but I don't have $1500 to spend on a guitar right now. Maybe one will pop up on craigslist for cheap :) I'll keep my eyes open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenrisulfr Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Mine was $600 with a crack in the neck. At the time they were going for the equivalent of $2500 in the UK. Looks like it went for less with only one bid. But who knows what that one bidder would have been willing to pay. There's an AIUSA up right now though in the condition it's in I don't think it's such a good deal at the starting bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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