2009 Epiphone Sheraton II

The evolution of the Epiphone Sheraton model goes all the way back to 1958. Gibson purchased Epiphone one year earlier in 1957, and with the release of the new semi-hollow, double-cutaway 335/355 body in '58, the Kalamazoo-made Sheraton featured the same body shape and construction. While those early Sheratons shared the same body as the iconic Gibson ES-335, their unique stylings borrowed from the New York Epiphone tradition. They also had Epiphone-style NY mini-humbuckers and the "Frequensator" trapeze tailpiece.  By 1986, Epiphone's production was all overseas, and (as they do to this day) Gibson primarily used the company to produce cost-effective, imported versions of American-made classics. That year, they introduced the Sheraton II, which more closely matches traditional ES-335 specs because it has full-size, Gibson-style humbuckers and a stop bar tailpiece. With these improvements and an affordable price tag, the Sheraton II is a no-brainer. But with the Tree of Life inlay on t