Epiphone Sheraton II pickup upgrade - Gibson 57 Classics

[Longways to Go]

I agree with Franz too. the "one wire" you cut from the original pickup has an inner core & and outer shielding.
that will correspond to the two wires on your replacement pickup. You can do this!

BTW, what pickups are you putting in?

[Little Jay]

This diagram shows pickups with a braided wire:



Usually (always actually) the braid is the earth and usually connected to the earth-point on the back of the pot.

Look:

[LtKojak]

just because someone says the stock pickups are crap, does not make it so)

Oh, believe me, those he's got, they certainly are. They are the worst stock p'ups known to mankind. I have enough of them to fill a landfill.

Wonder why?

[mcstrange]

Oh, believe me, those he's got, they certainly are. They are the worst stock p'ups known to mankind. I have enough of them to fill a landfill.

Wonder why?

I have heard this from other people so i decided to try out anything better without spending too much money on a mod that would not improve tone. Ended up buying some pups from Amazon that were ten bucks a pop but had rave reviews. I am competent at soldering stuff and went the short cut and was surprised at the thinness of the replacement's wiring which got me suss immediately, hence the query. thank you so much for your immediate responses. Guitar geeks are in a world of your own! I will let you know when I get the new pups resoldered in.

[mcstrange]

Thanks, seen this one! So cool that you give. keep yu posted

[mcstrange]

10 buck amazon pups, hence the query...I'd go pearly gates but ouch... too expensive, try cheaper mod's first imo.

[BigMikeinNJ]

$10.00 pickups from AMAZON, hoy !! Before you do anything return those super cheap pickups, save your money and get some Duncan Seth Lovers

[s1track3d]

$10.00 pickups from AMAZON, hoy !! Before you do anything return those super cheap pickups, save your money and get some Duncan Seth Lovers

Yes, or something of higher quality (in the PAF realm). I'm not sure how $10 PU's can possibly be an improvement. I have heard that some consider the GFS brand as decent sounding low cost pickups if that is your main criteria.

[s1track3d]

Oh, believe me, those he's got, they certainly are. They are the worst stock p'ups known to mankind. I have enough of them to fill a landfill.

Wonder why?

Yes, I wonder why I assume that means you have bought many low/mid level Epiphones?
So, which ones in your opinion does it affect? Dot's, Sheraton's, etc, any Epi under $500? I find it hard to believe that all the pickups are bad. Bad how? Sound quality? measured in resistance? If high ohms reading, maybe a rewind would solve that?

[LtKojak]

Yes, I wonder why I assume that means you have bought many low/mid level Epiphones?

No, I moonlight as a guitar tech for over twelve years now. I've performed literally hundreds of p'up swaps in Epis; and until 2010 that Epi brought up the Probucker line, it was a given to take any good Epi and change the harness and p'ups.

So, which ones in your opinion does it affect? Dot's, Sheraton's, etc, any Epi under $500?

Almost every stock HB Epi used the "Alnico Classic" aka the dreaded 57CH/HOTCH set. Not a single element of those p'ups is worth keeping, not even the A5 magnets! And these are light years better than the ones Epi used in the late '70s/early '80s, which the bobbins were held in place inside the covers by wax alone! Yeah, that's right.

I find it hard to believe that all the pickups are bad. Bad how? Sound quality? measured in resistance? If high ohms reading, maybe a rewind would solve that?

P'up making is a bit like cooking. If you don't have the right ingredients AND the right recipe, it doesn't matter what you do, it'll end up tasting bad.

Have a look at what I did with the Epi Probuckers that came with my ES-339:

Epi Probuckers: A close view, pt. 1


Epi Probuckers: A close view, pt. 2


Epi Probuckers: getting the job done pt. 1


Epi Probuckers: DONE!

HTH,

[LtKojak]

Ended up buying some pups from Amazon that were ten bucks a pop but had rave reviews.

Can you provide a link?

[Jimmy Mack]

$10.00 pickups ?????

I wouldn't waste the time and industry on a somewhat fine instrument. But.....there are techniques (and lessons) to be learned. Maybe by us - the readers!

[mcstrange]

Well, I did it but the short cut method. the wires on the replacements were not long enough to reach the neck pup's pots anyway. Thx for your constructive comments.

result? A marked improvement. nothing earth shattering but more grunt and quack in the bridge and the neck has clearer highs.It sounds brighter now if that makes any sense. i play through a Boss ME 70 and a Roland Cube 60 with Daddario 11's for the gear junkies.

Next question, how the *(&%) do you get the pots out? all the stuff I've seen show them coming out the f hole but the pots are too big to get out! How did they get them in? Ship in a bottle stuff or did they fit prior to making it?

Eventually I will upgrade to Seth lover Pearly gates or similar but I am not doing that until I figure out how something bigger than where it could go in went in...

[mcstrange]

Well, I did it but the short cut method. the wires on the replacements were not long enough to reach the neck pup's pots anyway. Thx for your constructive comments.

result? A marked improvement. nothing earth shattering but more grunt and quack in the bridge and the neck has clearer highs.It sounds brighter now if that makes any sense. i play through a Boss ME 70 and a Roland Cube 60 with Daddario 11's for the gear junkies.

Next question, how the *(&%) do you get the pots out? all the stuff I've seen show them coming out the f hole but the pots are too big to get out! How did they get them in? Ship in a bottle stuff or did they fit prior to making it?

Eventually I will upgrade to Seth lover Pearly gates or similar but I am not doing that until I figure out how something bigger than where it could go in went in...

[vinlander]

Older Korean Sheratons from the 90s mostly from Samick were having smaller f-holes preventing the regular pots to go through. Some had access through their neck pickup hole but not all.
Many needed to use smaller pots or endup scrapping some f-holes binding, but on my 2004 from Saein plant, f-holes were big enough to pass the CTS pots without issues.

[mcstrange]

fyi, here they are:

Amazon.com: 1set Humbucker Pickup Gold for Gibson Les Paul Replacement: Musical Instruments

[mcstrange]

So Vinlander, what do I do? I am so not messing up the bindings just to rewire some pots...

[Franz 1997]

In most 335-type guitars ( apart from very old 335s) if you remove the bridge pickup, you can pull the whole wiring harness out through the hole. In some arch top gibsons, it's also possible to 'wiggle' the pots out through the widest part of the f hole, working with care. No specific experience with Epi's.

Obviously the output jack also has to come out; I find a metal jack plug body soldered to a bendy piece of fret wire very useful when it comes to getting it back in place. Plenty of info on the net about how to do this.

I can't believe any guitar would be made by fitting prior to assembly. Hmmm..

[vinlander]

Like Franz said, in my case the CTS pots were passing through the widest rectangle part of the f-holes by wiggling it carefully, no room through the pickup hole though. Takes some patience and preparation, I used strings to fish everything in.

[LtKojak]

fyi, here they are:

Amazon.com: 1set Humbucker Pickup Gold for Gibson Les Paul Replacement: Musical Instruments

I see. They're double-thick ceramic p'ups, judging by the polepiece screws.

Specs-wise, they're almost the same as the Epi p'ups. Most probably made by the same factory, judging by the leads and the brass baseplates..

If you like'em, that's all it counts.

[Longways to Go]

So you're taking out the wiring harness? that's not the easy/lazy way -- that the pro -- PITA way!
I did it once, but only once. Oy