I have an Epiphone Chet Atkins CEC from 1997. The pickup is starting to fail, and needs to be replaced. The output jack plate, and control plate are oxidizing. The lettering faded off the control plate a while back.
The Guitar came with a Lifetime warranty. What does it cover? Electronics are only one year, and it doesn't cover normal wear and tear.. It is only 15 years old. The tuner buttons cracked off, and according to Epiphone's support, thats normal wear and tear. 15 years isn't a long time. :( I see plastic buttons crack and disintegrate after 50-60 years, but not 15. Back to the pickup... they said the don't have an Chet Atkins parts anymore. Nor any parts for the Gibson Model. If they are going to have a Lifetime warranty, then why not cover somethings? At the very least, they could still have the parts available for purchase. The current Epiphone SST Classic is poorly build compared to the older Chet Atkins signature models, so I wouldn't be parting with this anytime soon. I've tried the SST Classic, Bridge was terribly sanded, frets were bad, preamp cavity all chipped inside, pickup unreliable, etc.
I also have an Epiphone Chet Atkins SST Deluxe Steel String. Same thing with the oxidizing. The pickup died, and no luck, but I found some Chinese pickup that does the job for now. It sounds like crap though. It needs a neck reset.. Something not covered by the "Warranty"
Attached are photos of the pickup, jack plate, and control plate. These don't seem standard. Anyone know where I can get one? Also what kind of saddle is that. Most are 1/8" thick, not 10mm wide. The pickup is part of the saddle too. The control plate and jack plate. StewMac doesn't have them.. What do I do? I want shiny new plates, and the control plate to have the writing on it.
