Wiring harness & 57CH pup mods on '02 MIK Epi Sheraton.

[Carausius]

Finally I got around to doing some more work on my old Epiphone Sheraton MIK guitar.  Firstly I dewaxed the original 57CH bridge & neck pups pups, I probably removed 90% of the wax using a hairdryer & a cardboard eggbox / kitchen towels to soak up all the mess. I was careful not to cause any damage to the coils so left some wax intact. 

Then I fitted new screw slots & replaced the covers with nickel silver. I kept the original coil wiring / bobbins, spacers & base plates. I was going to do a total rewire but decided to test the modded 57CH pups first. So I just replaced the 57CH bar magnets with Alnico 2 for the neck & Alnico 4 for the bridge. 

I decided to mod the 57CH's after reading this thread.  There's plenty of information on how to do this online. 

https://www.aguitarforum.com/threads/rehabilitating-epiphone-57ch-g-waxbuckers-de-waxed-a2-magnets-50s-wiring-sound-tests.94817/

Afterwards I managed to make & install a new vintage 1960's style wiring harness, using braided pullback wire, CTS pots, Switchcraft toggle switch & jack socket, Orange Drop 0.022uf caps. 

I followed the instructions here.  If you can solder OK it's not that hard. You can use 1950's / 1960's or modern wiring, there's a slight difference in the cap wiring connections. 

https://www.sixstringsupplies.co.uk/how-to-wire-an-es-335

The first time  I fitted it I had problems as the dental floss pulling the harness into the holes got all messed up, 2nd try it worked fine. 

I adjusted the Sheraton pup / screw bolts height, played both pups, neck sounds great, with the bridge having a Chuck Berry / Rockabilly jangle when dialled in with the tone control . I was expecting to have to do a pickup rewind but was surprised how good they sounded. The readings on the pups were, neck 7.5K, bridge 7.75K. I had previously had a Gibson '57 Classic in the neck that I used for another guitar, but I reckon the 57CH pups can sound just as good. 

It's possible you could just do a dewax & fit some nickel covers / or just take the covers off & that might be enough to get the 57CH pups sounding better.  The vintage style wiring harness perhaps makes a real difference, but that's a more expensive process than just swapping magnets & covers. 

Previously I had fitted a new nickel bridge & stopbar on my original thread here.

 

Edited May 29, 2020 by Carausius