Larsongs Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 (edited) I got a gift from my Daughter & Son in law of a MIC Vintage Sunburst Epiphone Casino with Bigsby.. I won't sell it as it has sentimental value to me.. I'm not a fan of the Chinese P90's though.. So I'm thinking of upgrading pickups to Fralins P90's as they're excellent& they're the only ones I can find that have Chrome Dogear Covers that fit.. So they're a drop in fit. $252.00 for Neck & Bridge.... I have a Bigsby B-7 which I'm thinking of swapping the B-70 that's on it now.. I'm thinking I should go ahead & upgrade the Pots, Caps, 3 Way Switch & the Jack.. Question is, which ones should I use? A complete Wiring Kit would be good too.. I want to have a Vintage Casino Sound but I don't want to go crazy on $$$ since it will always be an MIC Guitar.. Your suggestions & recommendations are appreciated.. Thanks Edited January 23 by Larsongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Sounds like a fun project. I bought my daughter an Epiphone acoustic many years ago and just strung it and played it the other day. It's Indonesian. A very fine guitar, for the money. Epiphones are a good bang for your buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 For pots the general recommendation is going to be CTS. I like the ones from “The Art of Tone” on eBay. He has good prices and the log taper works well for guitars. Not sure if a Casino is like a Jr or if it’s all 500K. Short shafts for sure though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 These are the P90 Pickups I’m looking at. Fralins are excellent & they’re the only Company offering them with Chrome Dogear Covers. They’re a straight drop in fit.. https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/p90/ This is probably the Prewired Electronics kit.. CTS 500K vintage-taper, short-shaft potentiometers boast 7% tolerance Switchcraft short-straight toggle switch Switchcraft mono input jack Vitamin T oil-filled, .022uf capacitors Shielded, cloth-covered, 22-gauge black wire Fits most ES-335-style instruments https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Z43W148--mojo-tone-pre-wired-es-335-guitar-wiring-harness Any advice, thoughts or recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 On 1/23/2024 at 1:18 AM, Larsongs said: I got a gift from my Daughter & Son in law of a MIC Vintage Sunburst Epiphone Casino with Bigsby.. I won't sell it as it has sentimental value to me.. I'm not a fan of the Chinese P90's though.. So I'm thinking of upgrading pickups to Fralins P90's as they're excellent& they're the only ones I can find that have Chrome Dogear Covers that fit.. So they're a drop in fit. $252.00 for Neck & Bridge.... I have a Bigsby B-7 which I'm thinking of swapping the B-70 that's on it now.. I'm thinking I should go ahead & upgrade the Pots, Caps, 3 Way Switch & the Jack.. Question is, which ones should I use? A complete Wiring Kit would be good too.. I want to have a Vintage Casino Sound but I don't want to go crazy on $$$ since it will always be an MIC Guitar.. Your suggestions & recommendations are appreciated.. Thanks I dont envy you with this one. I have sunk more money into a cheap guitar but I really liked that guitar. I'd hate for a family member to buy me a guitar. It sounds like you have already plans to spend more than the cost of the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 (edited) 4 minutes ago, merciful-evans said: I dont envy you with this one. I have sunk more money into a cheap guitar but I really liked that guitar. I'd hate for a family member to buy me a guitar. It sounds like you have already plans to spend more than the cost of the guitar. That’s the dilemma.. Originally I was thinking of just doing the Pickups which would cut the overall cost in half.. I know most of the YouTubes I’ve watched that’s most guys do & it’s still a major improvement in sound.. I have 3 other USA Spec Casino’s. One of them is a USA Casino.. Casino’s are my most played Electric Guitars.. Edited January 24 by Larsongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 9 minutes ago, Larsongs said: That’s the dilemma.. Originally I was thinking of just doing the Pickups which would cut the overall cost in half.. I know most of the YouTubes I’ve watched that’s most guys do & it’s still a major improvement in sound.. I have 3 other USA Spec Casino’s. One of them is a USA Casino.. Casino’s are my most played Electric Guitars.. This might not figure in your thinking at all, but I used to have a guitar hanging in my dining / back living room. I never hung Gibsons or a nitro finish models (even though Hercules hangers should be safe). Frequently it was my MIC Hofner HCT17 that hung there. It looked great and it suited the room. Yes it got played but it also looked like it belonged there. Since you have 3 Epi Casino's, could the MIC one take the role of showpiece? Then it needn't cost anything. Your family could also see your MIC Casino when visiting. PS: I had to remove the guitars as later a radiator was sited and installed right under the hanger. I also recently redecorated and removed the hanger. I'm now keeping a guitar on a stand in the same room in a different position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 2 hours ago, merciful-evans said: This might not figure in your thinking at all, but I used to have a guitar hanging in my dining / back living room. I never hung Gibsons or a nitro finish models (even though Hercules hangers should be safe). Frequently it was my MIC Hofner HCT17 that hung there. It looked great and it suited the room. Yes it got played but it also looked like it belonged there. Since you have 3 Epi Casino's, could the MIC one take the role of showpiece? Then it needn't cost anything. Your family could also see your MIC Casino when visiting. PS: I had to remove the guitars as later a radiator was sited and installed right under the hanger. I also recently redecorated and removed the hanger. I'm now keeping a guitar on a stand in the same room in a different position. Unfortunately my wife wouldn’t allow my Guitars, as beautiful as some of them are, to hung in our House.. I was thinking this gift Casino would be good for Jam Sessions & noodling. Maybe I should just do the Pickups for now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 If you buy that preassembled “harness” you’re wasting about $90 and then paying a tech to do the installation anyways. You’re already going to pay a tech, let him solder it up. The wiring is the easy part of this job, it’s fishing the electronics through the holes that’s tedious 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 4 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said: If you buy that preassembled “harness” you’re wasting about $90 and then paying a tech to do the installation anyways. You’re already going to pay a tech, let him solder it up. The wiring is the easy part of this job, it’s fishing the electronics through the holes that’s tedious The price not including the Jack un-assembled is, 4 Pots-500k Split Shaft (3/8" Shaft) $28.00 3-Way Toggle(short) $25.00 2 Tone Caps-0.022MFD Paper & Oil $24.00 Plus whatever the Jack costs.. Then the labor to solder it all together.. I think a complete ready to install Pre-Wired Electronics kit & P90’s with Nickel Covers already attached will reduce labor cost.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10PoundLester Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 If you are only going to use it for noodling around then why not just keep it as is? Get a nice EQ pedal. When you want better tone just play one of the others. Show your kids that the guitar they gave you is fine the way it is for that purpose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 For me this Casino was free. I wouldn’t buy one.. I have never liked the Chinese P90’s.. Fingernails on a Chalkboard to my ears.. The ones on this Casino are no different. Since it’s free & it’s a Gift, that I’ll keep until it ends up going back to them, I want to at least make it sound good.. I think Gibson makes the best sounding P90’s IMO.. Gretsch Terada uses Fralin P90’s.. The original Fano’s used Fralin P90’s as well.. I’ve played Fano’s & Gretsch with Fralin P90’s & IMO sound as good as Gibson USA P90’s.. That said, each of my 3 Casinos with Gibson USA P90’s, including the USA, sound slightly different.. In a good way.. Gibson has their Nickel Dogear Covers made by Advanced Plating in Pa. Fralin also uses the exact same Covers made by the same Co.. I ordered the Pre-Wired Electronics kit today.. I hadn’t thought about Knobs.. I may have to order a Set.. I’m looking forward to hearing how it will sound.. Lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 The Pre-Wired Electronis kit arrived today.. I'm hoping to have the P-90's by mid-week & take it to my Luthier & have the finshed Guitar by the weekend.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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