frenchie1281734003 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I have this faithful 83 Japanese (Matsumoku) made Casino. It has a great neck profile, and plays like a dream. Infact it`s seen off competition from a 64 Gibson ES-330, a John Lennon 65 reissue (1171/1965), a 2003 "Elite" and two other 80s Matsumoku`s along the way too. However, if truth be told I have found it`s tone not to be quite as rich as the Lennon/Elitist models. So I`ve managed to snag a set of Elitist U.S.A. EP-90 pickups, with the wiring harness and decided to transplant those into my guitar. This is where I got my big surprise. When the wiring came out of the 83, I had this! Braided wire, shielded pots, and Switchcraft 3 way and jack socket, all original to the guitar This on the other hand is the Elitist. Now I don`t know about you guys but I know which wiring I`d prefer! The Elitist`s pots are stamped Japan, the little yellow capacitors are hardly visible, the wiring is very thin and the 3 way & jack socket, are definitely not Switchcraft or of that standard. However, the U.S.A. P-90 pickups sound fantastic, and nail that overdriven Gibson P-90 tone, that I was looking for. I am now in the process of adding those pickups to the Matsumoku harness, as I am very impressed with that one. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Doesn't surprise me. I have had three Elitists and they were all like this and sounded great. The only issue I ever had was with the toggle switch becoming intermittent if I didn't use it for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g6120 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I have a Casino Inspired and the toggle switch was faulty so I took a look at the wiring and decided to replace all the wiring , pots, toggle , input jack and caps . Replaced whith the following below .. Keeping the P90S pickups think they are fine . 4) CTS 500k Short Shaft Pots: These are the highest quality, split-short shaft, audio taper potentiometers from CTS. They are matched to within 1% tolerance of each other and are tested and guaranteed to be at least 500k. Solid brass shaft and bushing for durability. 3/8-32 US thread, 3/8" bushing height, split-knurled shaft, and 3/8" shaft length, vintage audio taper, and real Bakelite base plate. (2) Jensen .022 Capacitors: These are exceptional foil paper-in-oil caps with silver leads. Widely regarded as some of the best sounding paper-in-oil tone caps available for that vintage "woody" tone! (4') Vintage-Spec Braided Shield Wire: This is genuine 22 gauge braided shield wire. Made by the same company that made it for Gibson in the 50's. (1) Switchcraft Jack: Switchcraft is widely known as the finest input/output 1/4" jack available. (1) Switchcraft 3-Way Toggle Switch: Standard "long straight" toggle switch. Fits Gibson USA guitars (1') 20 Gauge Buss Wire: Hard to obtain genuine silver-plated 20 gauge solid copper buss wire for grounding the pots like the originals.(50's style wiring) using only the highest quality 4% silver solder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingarmadillo Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 What year Elitist did that harness come from? It looks nothing like the harness in my 2010 which clearly has Switchcraft - it looks more like the one from my 2005 MIK Casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 It`s from 2010 too, serial is T1080**, But the three way switch & jack socket certainly aren`t Switchcraft here, and none of the wiring has been altered in any way. So it appears to be a bit of a mystery. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vomer Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 My EA250 also has all braided cable, and everything is original and works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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