Got a Epiphone Sheraton 2 and changed all the electronics for Gibson and now it sounds great. Next step is the tuners and so satisfied.

I bought a 335 new about 20 years ago. It’s still awesome every time I play it and I never regret buying it. A bonus is that it has appreciated considerably in value.

Is it better? Sure. Is it worth the 4k difference? Absolutely not.

I had an Epiphone Sheraton 20 years ago and I was a really great guitar. I currently have an Epiphone Dot Studio (their cheapest 335 style guitar) and it holds it's own against any of the far more expensive guitars that I own. To be fair, I had to do a lot of setup work to get it to play well and intonate properly, but it was well worth it!

I am really enjoying these Paul/James double act videos !!

I have an Epiphone Sheraton, bought 22 years ago, same color. I changed the pickups for Classic 57 / Classic 57+ because they were the ones that Gibson put on the ES-335 (I don't know if that's still the case). A few years ago, I also changed the tuners to Grover Rotogrip. For me it's a great guitar, I could use it as my main guitar. In fact, my main guitar is a 1993 Gibson Les Paul Custom Plus. I love it, but I didn't want to pay that much money a second time for an American guitar with the famous brand name on the famous headstock. I might have bought a 335 or a 355 if I hadn't had the Les Paul, but I'd already had my share of dream. For my use, the Sheraton II gives me complete satisfaction. I find it at least as ergonomic as my Les Paul even if the size is bigger (but not the weight). The difference in sound is not that big, with suitable settings you can easily obtain quite the same result. The Les Paul might be more suited to metal and the Sheraton to jazz, but I don't play these genres. For any kind of rock, blues and hard rock, both are great.

Brilliant. I'm now seriously looking at an epiphone 335.

Please make the vid when you change the pickups... and do the comparison. Im looking at a set of Bare Knuckles possibly for my Orville Les Paul.

Enjoyed the comparison, and especially in this case since it was your first guitar, of course it has to be that one! Look forward to hearing it after the upgrades.

That is a Korean made Sheraton. A notch above the common ones. Update the electronics and pickups on that and there is nothing in between that and a modern 335 apart from the headstock. Interestingly, I got a kick when he criticized the headstock on the Sheraton in comparison to the Gibson. I much prefer the Sheraton's. Beautiful, classy and vintage. But to each his own. It's all a matter of taste of course. And props to the 335 owner for being realistic and not all precious about his 335. Very down to earth guy. I know so many Gibson owners who are snobs and deny any legitimacy to less expensive guitars. I have Gibsons and Epiphones and they both have great and not so great examples.

Lot harder to play blindfolded than you might guess

My second ever guitar was the same model and color Sheraton that I also bought 31 years ago, around June of 1990 in NorthernCalifornia. It was a fun guitar that my band mates all loved to the sound of and loved to play themselves. Especially our future bass player. I sold it to buy a black Les Paul Standard which I also love and still have, but the pittance I got for the Sheraton wasn't worth selling it for. I should have kept it along with the LP.

There is something about just owning a real Gibson that I want one day even tho you can make a epiphone sound as good or almost as good. I also want a epiphone to mod the crap out cause it looks so fun. Thanks for this guys great video!

My guitars are all better at being guitars than I am at being a guitar player! 😀

I picked up a used Dot last week as my first electric. Such an awesome guitar!

Hi dudes ! I'm french and got an Epiphone Sheraton II pro upgraded recently : - Change of the nut for a bone nut - Change of the probucker 2 neck and probucker 3 bridge splitable pickups for => LOLLAR IMPERIAL Low Wind Gold 4C (replica of PAF 59, with low winding, which brings a lot of clarity, excellent dynamics with a lower output level than a classic humbucker for a creamy and vintage sound 💖) - Change of all electronics: - CAPACITOR CLONE SPRAGUE BUMBLEBEE 0.22mfd 400V - CTS 500KA AUDIO LONG SHAFT POTENTIOMETER - PURE TONE MONO GOLD JACK SOCKET (2 grounds/2 hotspots) - Complete rewiring - Savarez Focus 10/46 strings + complete adjustment as well ! Or how to transform a glider into a fighter plane! Thank you Lordel music Caen and especially to Doctor No for the excellent job ! This is a brand new guitar !

Love it. The sound doesn’t come through with the difference in tone as it would in person but very little difference through my headphones. Me? I would probably install mini humbuckers. Yep. They would have to have a mod with the pickup rings but that’s no hill for a climber. More articulate. That’s a 2 cigar vlog!!!

I was 14 when I started guitar in 1988. I feel really old...

Exactly the route I will be following with my 32 year old Strat, change the pickups the pots and the frets. Some things are meant to last!👏🏻👋🏼

Yes, the Gibson sounded better, especially with gain, although the Epiphone sounded just as good as the Gibson clean on the neck pickup. I like the headstock on the Sheraton a lot, BTW, just going to show yet again that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think it's a good choice to upgrade the pickups (and to do some other upgrades) on the EPI ,versus spending a fortune for a 335. Pickups just make a world of difference in a guitar.

James: the little plastic collar you mention for the tuners can be easily replaced. AllParts sell them by the dozen for a few cents... I've replaced them on 2 guitars and the tuners work flawlessly, keeping the guitar in tune.

My bridge is disintegrating too. I have had my Korean Sheridan for 20 years, bought used. I love the inlays and the neck. Upgraded my pickups and wiring harness.

Upgrade the pots and wiring, slap a set of Burstbuckers, maybe put a new nut if needed, and Roll on James! Both Sounds Great, awesome video!

I may have said this in the previous video, but I have an Epi ES-339 that I put a Gotoh bridge, 920D harness, and Suhr Thornbuckers in. It absolutely does not suck.

Would love to see a video of the Epiphone once it's been upgraded.

Replaced my Sheraton pickups with a set of Dimarzio Bluesbuckers. Pig of a job to do, but doable as diy mod. Worth the frustration, sounds pukka now!!!

Love my Korean Sheraton too , my one is a 87

My first guitar was a Sheraton II too - purchased new in 1997 - same color as well! I bought it as I was/am a massive Oasis fan! What are you guys playing through? Amp or a Plug-in? Sounds amazing! Cheers!

Paul great playing, would love a video on how you shape your lead tone, to sound warm and fat but still cut on stage. Thinking Gary Moore , Santana, love the channel btw, I have an Epiphone with Seymour Duncan’s , yours sounds better, must be my playing.

Epiphone is great ❤ I have Epiphone Lucille BB king which is deference

What amp were you using for this demo? I liked both the clean and dirty

[Arrghhh! Just take off the Epi pickguard for the comparison!] Really, though, i recently spend nearly three grand on the Gibson 335, but i have no illusions about it being a better guitar by $2500. I paid the larger sum because 1) i'm 54 and who knows how much time i/we have, so i wanted 'the real thing,' and there's a sense of pride and substance and heritage and all that stuff when you play a Gibson. I have an Epiphone Les Paul, and it's great, but it doesn't have that 'confidence' that comes with the mojo you impart with the psychology involved; 2) although a new Gibson looks pretty much identical to an Epiphone, but i'm hoping that with age, the nitro Gibson will become more and more beautiful, with the relief and texture from checking, etc., while the Epiphone will always look the same. Old guitars have so much more character in the aesthetic. Imagine if they were paintings. When i go to museums, i always get very, very close to the paintings, to see the brush strokes and globs of paint buildup-the depth. A vintage guitar is more like a painting and a poly guitar is like a digital print of that painting.

Watching this now, you might answer this in the video. Is the build quality of the 30 year old 335 Epiphone better same or worse than the newer made Epiphones ?

Greetings! One question, since I mainly play with headphones at home, is the sound coming out of the speaker particularly loud? Thanks and congratulations for the videos!

Listening through headphones, I'd change all the hardware, pickups and wiring, full set up and that's it. It sounds pretty darn good already. Save the money..

My Gibson 335 sounds better than my Epiphone 335 especially at band volume. The Gibson has a clearer, sweeter tone... but that Epiphone is still so nice!! Plays just as good as the Gibson and so much cheaper... and the tonal difference is only noticed when playing them back to back, so I try to avoid doing that lol

Great playing .. but ya totally not worth $2000 different but ya if the epi had the Gibson pickups it's the same

When I first started viewing this video I got very confused. I thought for a moment that I was watching an Anderton video and that Pete had shaved his head.😁😁😁

Well , i guess we all know you're paying insane money for a brandname , wich is a bit silly , yet many folks do , to each his own , for me it's easy , i don't have the money to go beserk on a marketing/branding sceam/tactics for wich ever company , so i stick with my epi's and squire's , with some upgrades (hardware/electronics/pu's ) they sound and play just as well as any fender/gibson .

Sorry guys they both sound great but the Gibson sounded better. Not about $2,500.00 worth of better.

EPI is more aggressive.

How about trying a different capacitor before you ditch the pickups if that does not float your boat try some Ron Ellis pickups or Tyson Tone Labs pickups can't go wrong with either off those choices Faber bridge and light weight tail piece and while locking tuners are not mandatory if you wrap strings correctly they can be a nice touch if your feeling lazy while I love gold hardware looks the stuff they use if it never faded I guess you would be wearing it around your neck personally I like pure nickel everything as long as it's like old style nickel not just looks that way correctly selected pots different taper does.fifferent things that's a personal choice though so this can get expensive if it sounds good it is good start there before you spend and ahhhh those new caps 🙂💥💯🌈☮️

are you jocking? the sheraton has the pickguard and the gibson dont, you can touch it with the fingers and know what guitar is inmediately....

Any recommendations as to the type of pick-ups you uses replacements?

I honestly thought the Epiphone sounded better.

Yep, financially it does not make sense. Just get the gibbo -it's just a matter of time- and don't spend more on the Epi.

James…. May I make a suggestion? I have heard Bonafide Pickups in several guitars and wow! Small builder in Hawaii that could maybe hook up with to get his name out there.

Sadly the Gibson brand name is no guarantee for quality. All of the plastic knob caps on my (expensive) genuine 2008 Gibson Les Paul have cracked and fallen off. My friend's similar age Epiphone is fine.

That’s a lot of money for a name. Gibson’s are so overpriced, I don’t know why anyone would buy one. And I own one. I bought a used Les Paul with a hair line crack on the neck at the head stock. Paid hardly anything for it, and repaired it. It is a great sounding guitar, but it is not a great playing guitar. My PRS, G&L and Fenders are far better playing guitars, but there is something I love about that Gibson humbucker sound. My next guitar will be a Gibson inspired EPIPHONE. The best of both worlds. The Gibson humbucker sound, without the Gibson price, and without the Gibson poor quality control.

Blindfold won't be accurate. There is a noticeable difference in the neck.

funny the sound is so close i was to close my eyes i would never have known they both sound great