Dredful Cantata

I have a 98 Sheraton built in the Samick factory in S. Korea. It has pickup pole piece spacing of 50 mm in the bridge and 47 mm in the neck. I have been unable to locate any classic pickups (Gibson 57s, 59s, Duncan Seth Lovers, Antiquities, Pearly Gates, etc.) that have a neck pickup spaced at 47 mm. Do they make them and I just need to special order? I realize it doesn't really matter how far apart the pole pieces are at the neck - 47 mm vs. 50 mm is not going to matter sound-wise. But if I don't get the exact match, I won't be able to reuse the current covers. That means I realistically cannot buy used (for the neck) since there are very few gold covered pups for sale on the used market. (Had been planning on getting the desired pup in any format, covered/uncovered, at the right price and replacing the cover with what is on the Sheraton now.

Thanks all! I wrote Epiphone Customer Service and they responded with: This model came with 500k pots, .022uF capacitors, and Epiphone Alnico Classic humbuckers which use Alnico V magnets. I have attached information on the model for your viewing. [The info sheet is for a Sheraton II.] So, unless wiring is crap, maybe it is the caps? Or are these Epi classic humbuckers “garbage”? Has anyone ever swapped magnets and had good results (maybe going to Alnico II)? Is it normal for this guitar/pups to drive an amp hard?

Hello Forum. Newbie here. I just got a 1998 Epiphone Sheraton (Samick factory, with serial number stamped on back of headstock: S9806... btw, no serial number on the paper inside the upper f hole; just the word "Sheraton".) It's quite nice - and feels and plays quite well (could use some very minor fret smoothing from 13 on up). I know it's had tuners upgraded, but I don't know about the rest - I suspect nothing has been done to wiring or pups. Unfortunately, the switch arm snapped off during shipping - no other damage. So, ordered a new Switchcraft one (short, gold). Not sure I want to install it just yet as there could be a rewiring in my future. Goals for this guitar - everything from clean jazz (Wes Montgomery) to classic blues (B.B. King) to classic rock (Stones/Keith Richards) and beyond. I do lead and rhythm. I've been reading through the old posts to see if this has been covered already and I haven't found enough answers to my situations. (btw, this is my first semi-hollow - been a Strat guy for decades now. Had an LP once, though.) Problem 1: Breakup. The pickups tend to drive the amp hard. Every chord/pair of notes breaks up quite significantly unless I have the amp gain at <1 (with amp volumes then turned way up). I've tried lowering the pickups and that only makes the output less - when I turn up the amp volume/master, the guitar still breaks up the amp. Single notes sound great, although a little muddy (I'm not expecting the clear bell tones like a Strat, but some clarity.) This is true for any selector switch setting (there is a little nub I can move on the broken selector switch). I am using a variety of different modeling amps (Fender Mustang GT-100, Fender Cyber Twin, and Fender SCXD) and pretty much the same performance across them all. I cannot really get a clean tone with chords with this guitar unless at low volume. My Strat has a hard time breaking up at all. Problem 2: Feedback. These pickups feedback quite a bit (maybe normal?). If I point them at the amp from about 2 feet away or closer, it will be uncontrollable. Turning guitar stops that, of course. Being a single coil player, this has not happened to me before (I don't remember my LP doing that either). It is mostly the bridge. Is this normal? I don't hear a ton of noise (pretty quiet, like a humbucker should do, but not perfectly silent). I don't notice any microphonics. Problem 3: Muddy. I've got NYXL 11-56s strings on it (the ones "optimized for D tuning" with non-wound 3rd). It's tuned to standard. The bottom end sounds GREAT. The top is a bit muddy on either or both pickups. I've started to experiment by lowering the pickups, tilting them, raising the pole pieces. There's so much to tweak, I'm wondering if this is the right direction - or are there some fundamental issues with either the pots or the pickups? I've haven't taken anything apart yet. So, I don't know if this has 300 or 250 ohm pots, mini-pots, if the wiring is generally crap, if the pickups are to blame. Is there a way to tell about the resistance of the pups without taking the harness out? I'm now assuming they are cheap ceramic pups, maybe overwound (13K+)? Is there a way to tell about the resistance of the pots without removing everything? I have the new switch coming, which is easy enough to get out and replace. But now I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and do everything all at once and be done with it. What would you do? What should I do first and see where that gets me? Thanks for reading and in advance for your comments/ideas/answers!