ISirius42 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I bought a Sheraton II in 1995--one that was probably built by Samick. It was my first "real" guitar purchase. Not knowing much, I didn't shop around, but I liked the look of the natural finish, five piece neck, and the inlays blew me away. As time when by and I learned more about guitars, I began regretting my purchase. The intonation was awful, the top was sanded down so much the second piece of plywood showed through in a couple of spots, the painted on binding on the headstock was sanded off in places, the pickguard was cheap and flimsy, the gold hardware constantly tarnished, and so on. After three setup jobs, the intonation was finally fixed. I upgraded the pickups and the harness, as well as the tuners. The changes made it nice but couldn't fix the basic construction issues. As time went by, it slowly sunk to the b- then c-list of my guitars and began collecting dust in my closet. After all of that, I still liked the idea of the Sheraton--the beautiful inlays, maple neck with mahagony accent, and the idea of natural wood on a jazz/blues guitar. Over the years, I would always pick up a Sheraton when I came across one, but there were always issues, which, truthfully, made me feel better about my Sheraton. When I saw that Epiphone had moved production to China I checked them out. I thought the quality improved, but they got rid of the five piece neck! I thought that signaled the end of the guitar line. Well, while walking through our local Guitar Center this weekend, I passed by a natural Sheraton II. The first thing that caught my eye, was an intersting, subtle grain on the natural top. Then I saw a "Clearance" sticker on it. I snickered at first and thought, "It has a dent or they can't get rid of it." On my second pass through, I decided to pick it up and look at the back of the neck (I don't know why) I was expecting it to be a solid maple neck as I've seen over the last year or so. What I saw was a beautiful five piece neck and a sticker saying "Made in Korea" Not only was it a five piece neck, the middle piece of maple had tiger strips from top to bottom! The craftsmanship was excellent--no dings or gashes. It had a registration form date of Nov 28, 2012. The setup was perfect for my taste (as good or better than the two PLEKed Gibson 359s that I have gotten brand new!). After being lost in the joy of playing for half an hour and realizing a personal dream come true (that is, holding the guitar that I wanted my 1995 Sheraton to be), my wife told me, "Take the puppy home." Next thing I know, I was heading out of the store with my NEW Sheraton II. Not only is it a beautiful guitar, it has a great setup, great sound, and is a joy to play. Great job on making a very nice guitar, Epiphone. Strive to maintain that level of quality. Sorry if this was a boring story, but I'm so excited about the new guitar that I had to share with people who would understand my feelings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Yes, I also saw one of these not too long ago. Might be that Epiphone needed to get more Sheratons pumped out than the factory in China could handle, so the Unsung factory in Korea got the nod for another run. I've also recently seen Chinese Sheratons with five piece necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgruff Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 It's funny how some guitars speak to you. I only recently "discovered" 335-style guitars but I was instantly hooked by the sound. I'd never be without one again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunningham26 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Great story. I love my MIK sherrie, the quality is much better than the chinese ones, and I doubt i'll ever venture into gibson electric territory because, well, my needs are met. Sounds like your wife is pretty great as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Need pictures. Happy new guitar day ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISirius42 Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 New Sheri New Sheri neck (Note the tiger stripe in the center piece of wood that goes from top to bottom!) Old Sheri neck New Sheri headstock (No painted-on faux-binding) Old Sheri headstock (Note that there are openings in the faux-binding that were there when I got it) I'm looking forward to when the new Sheri begins to get the same golden glow as the old one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Contgratulations, on your purchasing, an outstanding Epiphone guitar model! One thing, I find interesting, is that the "new" Korean Sheri's, still use the old Samsung Body configuration/outline, as opposed to the more historically correct "Gibson" ES-335-355 body specs, that the Chinese version, has had for several years, now. I suppose Epiphone allows that, so the Korean factories don't have to "re-tool" to do that, thus keeping the costs (to Epiphone) down. They don't seem to be any more (or less) expensive, regardless of body shape, to us, the consumer. Very Interesting...but, a Great guitar, none the less! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta_Foxtrot Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Just a beautiful guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 super nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon S. Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Congrats!! I've got an 80's Korean Sheraton that is quickly becoming my go-to guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemans335 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Nice ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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