Gibson Pups and bridge wont fit on a Sheraton ?

[Avirex]

Hello,

 

I have a 2004 Korean Sheraton 2, and I'm very happy with it.

But I would like to have the Hardware nickel finished (I hate the cheapy gold finish) and maybe have the pickups changed (It already sounds quite well but ...).

 

I mailed the Epiphone customer service (which seems to be Gibson anyway) to have some informations about that and they answer me that the Gibson 57 classic PAF wont fit in a Sheraton2 because of the size. The same for the ABR-1 bridge.

 

I'm very surprised, I red a lot about upgrading the Sheraton Pups, but never red anything in this sens.

Is it so complicated to put a Gibson 57 classic, a SD Seth Lover or an Antiquity on a Sheraton (except for the the installation work complexity itself) ??

 

My Sheraton bridge looks like a normal tune-O-matic bridge, did somebody upgraded with a new one (gibson ABR-1, Tonepro or Proline etc...)

 

Thank you very much

[TWANG]

I had a gibson 498R and 500T in mine and it fit fine.

So I don't know what the hell they are saying that for.

 

You can get metric bridges to fit the sheraton.. gibsons don't fit.

and some of the metrics are a bit off because epi changed models and manus for these a couple of times.

 

you can get the a chrome finish in the original style bridge tail, I beleive. I just ordered some in gold, so they aren't out of stock yet.

 

you can get a gibson bridge/tail in there, if you do some woodwork.

[DesertDog]

I'm changing my gold hardware to chrome on my 14 year old Sheraton. I just bought a new metric bridge and stopbar and they don't fit (I was told they would). The studs are spaced narrower by about 1/8th inch on this guitar. Go to StewMac.com and they show you how to measure your bridge and stopbar to see if new ones will fit. I you have one of the odd sizes, you have two options, have your bridge and stopbar chrome plated, or , like Twang says, you'll have to do some major plugging and drilling of holes in your guitar so that the hardware that is available out there will fit. I'm having mine chrome plated.

[Avirex]

Thank you very much for answering.

I just mailed the support service to know if there is a way to buy a stock epi bridge chrome or nickel finish.

I'm looking around anyway.

[sdgails]

i replaced my pu's with 57's. no problem. mines a 1997

[Avirex]

i replaced my pu's with 57's. no problem. mines a 1997

 

 

And what about the sound ?? was it worth it in your case ?

I heard so many sheraton owners telling the stock pickups are OK.

For the moment I also think that mine are OK, but maybe I could have a wonderful surprise with something else.

[tom nair]

The classic 57s will fit right in. I put them in my 2005 Sheraton. I don't know what Epi is talking about. The bridge and tail piece are available as well but I don't recall who has them. You really need to do your homework on the bridge/tailpiece to get the right ones. You should redo the wiring while you are in there as well as the pots and switch.

[RotcanX]

I just mailed the support service to know if there is a way to buy a stock epi bridge chrome or nickel finish.

I'm looking around anyway.

 

Any Epiphone dealer should be able to order those parts for you.

[MattSheratonII]

Was changing to the 57's a huge improvement in tone? It's always been a tempting mod to my 96 Sheraton, but I'd have a tech do it, as well as changin out the pots. I wonder what a pu change costs at GC? argh

 

It's such a shame that the gold plating decay's over time. Everytime I look at going to chrome pu covers, tailpiece and tuners, I wince and give up. :-(.

[RotcanX]

'Gibson and Epiphone DNA just won't splice.'

[Avirex]

Any Epiphone dealer should be able to order those parts for you.

 

They answer me to send them a photo and that's what I did.

Here it is, I scaled it in photoshop in order to make good measures with the photoshop ruller tool.

Didn't see anything that fit for the moment anyway...Maybe having it chrome plated is the best solution.

 

I did the same for the pups, and the one that fits the best without changing the ring should be the Seymour Duncan antiquity.

The 57 classic is a little small for the Epi ring.

[RotcanX]

There's 's a Gotoh bridge, Stew-Mac #1511 that should fit. It's nominally 2.906" spacing; this is only 40 thou over your measurement and should fit given the slack in the post threads. See if you can wiggle them out to that measurement or not. Same for the Gotoh tailpiece, #0168, which they spec at 3.216". I measured the bridge on one of my Epis and I get 73.5 mm or 2.89".

 

As to the pickups, any full size humbucker will fit. I'm pretty sure that just about any possible Gibson, Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio or other pickup brand has been retrofitted by at least one of the forum members at some time or another. I've done lots of pickup upgrades and I've never had a problem, so shop at will.

[Avirex]

It's always more than 1mm, wich is a lot compared with size that bridge.

[Avirex]

Ok, Epi send me the bridge BUT, in a first time there's been a misunderstanding and it arrive Gold...exactly what I didn't want.

No matter, a chrome one is arriving. They are realy, realy cool.

Those bridge are branded Epiphone (just under it, written very big).I don't know who makes them for Epi anyway.

Now I have to choose the pickups, and at the end I'm hesitating between The Seymour Duncan Antiquity PAF and the Seymour Duncan Set Lover.

Somebody knows both of them ??

Thank you...

[Biff]

The Seths are supposed to be like "new old stock" PAFs, just like they were in the '50s when they were new,

whereas the Antiquities are supposed to be like the vintage ones today with wear, degaussed magnets and variations in DC resistance.

 

And by the way:

 

Seymour Duncan / Basslines offers our 21 Day Real World Exchange Policy on all new pickups purchased in the U.S. and some other participating countries, which states the following: If for any reason you're not satisfied with the pickup's sound or construction...

 

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/faq/frequently-asked/sales-policies/

[lpdeluxe]

For other Sheraton II owners: I have a pair of Seymour Duncan full-size humbuckers I want to install in Mr Epi, but there is no access to the interior. I took it by the local shop and was told they wouldn't attempt the pickup replacement because there wasn't enough room to work.

 

With the pickups off, there is a square hole beside the rout that the wire feeds through; it doesn't look big enough for a pot, however.

 

I formerly had a Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman with painted f-holes but at least it had a small oval plate in the middle of the back so you could (sort of) reach the pots and other parts. I did some work on it, and only succeeded by tying thread to the pot shafts so I could pull them back into their mounting holes when I was done.

 

Any tips on how to go about the pickup transplant? I'll not use the 4-conductor facility, so it'll be wired as stock.

[Ron G]

lpdeluxe, with Epi semi-hollows you have to pull everything out through the F hole, except the pickups. Tie strings to

components first, in order to pull them back where they belong.

 

Here's a nice little video - click--> Video

[tom nair]

The classic 57's were a much needed improvment on the tone of the Sheraton. Other pickups will sound better as well. Ther are so many pickups out there that I got pissed at all the choices and just put my money on the real Gibson deal. Glad I did.

[lpdeluxe]

Ron G, that's really great! It's something like the way I worked on the Gretsch, with the exception that I tied the string on the pots before I removed them -- the Country Gent had painted-on f holes, so there wasn't any chance of fishing the string through with a paper clip.

 

I plugged Sherry into an amp to check out the pots, and found one scratchy one and that the switch was noisy. I ordered new bits from Stewart-McDonald.

 

Using new parts will allow me to follow the video pretty closely. Another advantage is that I can arrange the pots to my liking rather than dealing with the factory layout. Probably I'll leave the jack in place, pre-wire the pots and switch, and stick 'em in.

 

While I was at it I ordered creme pickup rings.

 

I'll post when finished. Thanks again.

[lpdeluxe]

Our story so far: I'm going to install a pair of SD (Jazz neck, JB bridge) pickups in my Sheraton II archtop.

 

I have now made an assembly matrix from a piece of cardboard, and punched holes in it to correspond to the positions of the pots and switch. Once that was done, I used a Sharpie to draw the wiring diagram on the bottom. This will allow me to wire the pot assembly up from the back side, so to speak, before I install the pots in the guitar.

 

I will install the pickups in the guitar, with long wire tails out the f-holes. The conductors and ground will then be soldered onto the pot/switch assembly.

 

From there the components will be fished into the holes and off we'll go.

 

Dang, now that it's figured out, I'm ready to do it. C'mon, parts!

[Ron G]

I will install the pickups in the guitar' date=' with long wire tails out the f-holes. [/quote']

 

and don't screw down the pickups until after you install the other stuff. Then you can pull back the excess pickup

wire and stow it in the pickup cavity, like I did. Helps pull the wiring out of view.

[lpdeluxe]

and don't screw down the pickups until after you install the other stuff. Then you can pull back the excess pickup wire and stow it in the pickup cavity' date=' like I did. Helps pull the wiring out of view.[/quote']

 

Ha. I would've figured that out eventually. Thanks.

[Avirex]

great video !! thanks for the link !

It won't be so simple anyway!! I 'm prepared for a little hard work !

Are the holes metric on the Sheraton 2 ?

I'm not so glad having to drill my guitar...

Those mojo kits are nice, and not so expensive if you consider the price of each piece. About 30 $ more (the price for not having to do electronic work).

Did somebody install one in his Sheraton ?

[Ron G]

I'm not sure of the hole size but if you use a step down drill bit, it will be quite easy. I think the mojo kits are nice but seriously overpriced, although the convenience of pre-assembled components would be nice. Personally, I would buy the individual components and assemble them my self, like lpdeluxe is doing (BTW, how is it going, lp?) but it's your call. The following link is from another forum member who was planning to use a Mojo kit - you could send him a PM and ask. http://forums.epiphone.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=2735

 

Working on one of these semi-hollows is not so much a matter of skill but a matter of patience. Plan on the work taking more time than it "should". And be careful not to damage the top of your guitar - lay cloth on it.