NGD - 1988 Epiphone Sheraton 2 - GuitarTalk Community

NGD - 1988 Epiphone Sheraton 2

StefStoep

:woohoo:

I bought this guitar about a month ago in Port Elizabeth, and since i stay in Nelspruit it wasn't a quick trip back to me. My dad collected it when he went down for business to PE and was at his house for the past 3 weeks. I only had a chance this past weekend to go and collect it. My biggest concern with buying the guitar unseen was that there might be cracks in the wood or structual damage, and that the neck wasn't a shape that suited me. I am glad to report that there is no cracks or structual damage and that the neck is exactly what i wanted. I had a quick visit (4 hours) with Sean (he lives close to my parents) on Thursday after I picked up the guitar and we pluged the Sheraton into his Craig Amp, the pickups aren't great, not even good but that was expected on such a old guitar and it was always the idea to upgrade the pups (and the harness and maybe add a piezo) and i could see on the photos that the seller sent me that the pickup rings need replacement, so that will be the first thing i'll do. This will actually be a bit of a upgrade/restore project for me over the next year or so, but that will get it's own topic when I'll start with the work. The guitars is currently very dirty and needs new strings so tonight it will get a good clean and new strings.

aja

That's cool! ?

It almost looks new...

studmissile

mmmmmmh. yummy! ?, nice buy.

AlanRatcliffe

Great guitar! Congrats!

The pickups are very blah, but swap them out and replace the nut (a priority) and you have a great playing and sounding guitar.

I see it's another semi hollow with the neck pup is flipped - seems to be very common on hollows now I'm aware of it. ?

Reinhard

Nice guitar man!

Gibson classic 57s work really well in archtops. You can even buy a pre-wired harness if need be.

@Alan, I know guys used to flip the pickup and ring combination, so the ring slants down towards the bridge, which would bring the pickup more parallel with the strings.

singemonkey

Very nice indeed. A great Epiphone. Interesting that it has an Epiphone by Gibson logo. Looks like a 3 piece maple neck? Very nice. Fret-end binding you won't find on many Epis and to be honest it looks better from what I can tell from your photies than the hatchet jobs I've seen on recent Gibson USA models. New pickups, yes. An aluminium tailpiece is a nice-to-have.

StefStoep

Reinhard wrote: Nice guitar man!

Gibson classic 57s work really well in archtops. You can even buy a pre-wired harness if need be.

Thanks guys! Reinhard, where would be the best place to get a pre-wired harness?

singemonkey wrote: Very nice indeed. A great Epiphone. Interesting that it has an Epiphone by Gibson logo. Looks like a 3 piece maple neck? Very nice. Fret-end binding you won't find on many Epis and to be honest it looks better from what I can tell from your photies than the hatchet jobs I've seen on recent Gibson USA models. New pickups, yes. An aluminium tailpiece is a nice-to-have.

Yeah, the fret-end binding is very similar to my Gibson SG Standard. The Epiphone by Gibson logo was only done on models made between '86 & '88. The neck is 3 piece maple.

Reinhard

StefStoep wrote:
Reinhard wrote: Nice guitar man!

Gibson classic 57s work really well in archtops. You can even buy a pre-wired harness if need be.

Thanks guys! Reinhard, where would be the best place to get a pre-wired harness?

singemonkey wrote: Very nice indeed. A great Epiphone. Interesting that it has an Epiphone by Gibson logo. Looks like a 3 piece maple neck? Very nice. Fret-end binding you won't find on many Epis and to be honest it looks better from what I can tell from your photies than the hatchet jobs I've seen on recent Gibson USA models. New pickups, yes. An aluminium tailpiece is a nice-to-have.
Yeah, the fret-end binding is very similar to my Gibson SG Standard. The Epiphone by Gibson logo was only done on models made between '86 & '88. The neck is 3 piece maple.

I have been very happy with the 2 pre-wired harnesses I got from Dr Vintage. The way he does them makes them so much easier to install http://www.doctorvintage.com/drv1_order_cntl.html They are pricey, especially with the rand like it is, but you don't want to wire one up yourself and then start to troubleshoot after it is installed. Someone locally may be able to do it for less money, but it is quite labour intensive. Keep in mind working on the electronics in an archtop is a royal pain in the ass. I would mail him to find out which harness will work best for you (long or short shaft pots etc.). He is a nice guy and great to work with. What I like about his harnesses is that you splice your pickups cables onto the harness, so swapping pickups in future (should you want to) is a lot easier.

Also, RS guitarworks also do a pre-wired harness.

StefStoep

I had a quick look at Doctorvintage, it is quite pricey but when i do the wiring i'll go for that option.

PaulJ

That is a beauty!! Let me know if you wanna sell it!! ?

ActionArnie

That looks fantastic!

Big-G

Stunner of a Hollowbody there bud! Just what I had been looking for before I got the Jimmy Triggs Cort. I hope you enjoy her to her fullest!

Regards
G!

adr1aan

Hi, I recently swopped my Washburn accoustic for this beauty. According to the serial investigation it's an June 86 Samic built Sheraton. It's got flat wound strings and TOTALLY kicks my Yamaha's ass!