Epiphone Sheraton II
#S 5044224 |
The Sheraton is a fancy version of Gibson's ES-335. This one
has a clear finish over a laminated maple body and a five-piece maple neck
(three pieces of maple, with two thin strips of mahogany separating the
maple). The fretboard is made of rosewood with triangular inlays of
abalone inside rectangular inlays of pearl. Single-layer binding is
applied to the f-holes and the back of the body. Five-layer binding
is applied to the front of the body, the fretboard, and the peghead. The
Epiphone logo and ten-leaved vine are inlaid on the peghead in
abalone and pearl.
Peghead |
The Epiphone name came into existence as a trade name for
instruments that were manufactured by
The House of Stathopoulo, a
firm that was founded in New York City by Greek immigrant Anastasios
Stathopoulo in 1873. The House of Stathopoulo changed its name to
The Epiphone Banjo Corporation in 1925, and in the 1930s enjoyed an
unsurpassed reputation as a manufacturer of arch-top guitars. |
In 1957, Gibson acquired the Epiphone name along with the
existing inventory of parts and instruments as well as templates and tooling
for instrument production. After exhausting the remaining inventory of
Epiphone parts, Gibson continued to manufacture Epiphone
instruments at their factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan (United States) until the
end of the 1960s.
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Since 1970, the Epiphone name has been applied to instruments that
are manufactured outside of the United States, to the specifications of the
Gibson Musical Instruments Corporation. This particular instrument,
like other instruments having serial numbers beginning with an S, was
manufactured by Samick. Other Sheratons, with serial numbers that begin
with an R, are made by Aria. In the case of most Epiphones that were
made in Korea in the 1990s, the first numeric digit corresponds to the last
digit of the year of manufacture. This instrument, for example, was made in
1995.
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on-line retail division of Gibson Musical Instruments and serves as the
exclusive source for Gibson brand names like Kramer, Steinberger and Tobias,
as well as electronics by Maestro, Electar and Oberheim. And don't forget
to check out the instructional books and videos in the Warner Brothers section.
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