Epiphone Sheraton stock pickups

[Allan 65]

Hello All
Having looked at lot of various Guitar Forums, the general Concensus seems to be that most swap out the stock pickups, the question is are they poor or is it a personal preference for Better pickups, The Sheraton is a great looking guitar but do the pick ups let it down?
Does anyone gig with the stock pickups?

Thanks
Allan

 

[sjtalon]

the question is are they poor or is it a personal preference for Better pickups,

Sometimes it's just cork sniffing.

I have had different Epi humbuckers and think they sound pretty decent if you spend some time adjusting not only their height, but pole screws as well.

I have a G-400 right now with the alnico classics, ( I think that's what the Sheraton II has, as well as many LP's) and they were kind of muddy but I have them set now so I think they sound pretty good.

You would REALLY have to try one yourself, what YOU think is all that matters.

ALL these things with electric geetars are SO subjective, and then there are those whose mission is to just beat things up because THEY did something differant ( and usually because they went by what THEY read, not what THEY thought themselves),

 

[vintage clubber]

more personal preference in my opinion. I just got done setting up an Epiphone SG Special that someone had rescued from the trash bin. Once I got the guitar into a playable state and was able to plug in, I was pleasantly surprised how good the pickups sounded in this lower end guitar.

As the previous reply indicated, sometimes you do have to adjust the heights and pole pieces to dial in the right sound. Give that a chance before you determine if they warrant replacement.

 

[sbpark]

Don't know about the Sheraton stock pickups, but recently picked up a Casino and really like the stock P90's. Probably a combination of cork sniffers and personal preference. Have no plans to swap them out. Was immediately able to dial in fantastic sounds and pairs well with my amps and pedals. What more could I ask for in a sub $600 guitar?! YMMV, of course!

 

[Obsessed]

I love my MIK Sheraton II, and I agree, the pups and switch are the weak links, but when I finally decided to swap them out I bought a pair of GFSs on fleaBay for dirt cheap. So, I ordered new pots, switch, jack, resistors and wiring to do the 50's wiring. Well, when the pups showed up, the measurements did not correlate with the ad and had to return them, but since I had everything else, I went ahead with the true 50's wiring job. All I can say is wow! Who would have thought that just changing the wiring components would help soooo, much?! Anyway, 2 years later, I have not changed the stock pups out yet. I still want to, but it is lower on my priority list and I now know how good the Sherry really is. Ehh, food for thought.

 

[strateles]

obsessed has it right, the pups are ok, its the pots and wiring that hold the sheratons back. Ive had 4 of them, all great guitars.

You can adjust the height and pole pieces to get them sounding pretty good, but with a quick wiring harness upgrade they really come to life. My latter 2 Sheratons had 4 wire pups adding the option for splitting the coil.

 

[Osmosis in C]

I've had my Sheraton II for over 5 years and it still has the stock pups. I think they sound fine, but I'm not a tone connoisseur... yet.

 

[hotpot]

I still have the stock pups in my Sheraton II & I love the tone from them, the gold coating is getting a little worn these days but I feel no need to change them at all.

 

[soulman969]

Hello All
Having looked at lot of various Guitar Forums, the general Concensus seems to be that most swap out the stock pickups, the question is are they poor or is it a personal preference for Better pickups, The Sheraton is a great looking guitar but do the pick ups let it down?
Does anyone gig with the stock pickups?

Thanks
Allan

I'm not sure what's in a Sheraton II but if they're using the same ProBuckers mentioned in this article they should be quite similar sounding if not the same as the Gibson version.

I have an ES 339 with the Alnico Classics and they are some of the best sounding humbuckers I've ever played. If I'm correct they differ from the ProBuckers only in the fact that they use Alnico V magnets as opposed to Alnico IIs and are a little higher in output.


http://www.epiphone.com/News/Featur...&utm_campaign=Epiphone&utm_content=NEWS:+Pups

 

[sjtalon]

S II, my G-400 and your ES 339 are all the same.

 

[soulman969]

S II, my G-400 and your ES 339 are all the same.

There ya' go Allan. I knew the ES 339 and G-400 shared the same but wasn't 100% sure about the Sheraton II. I would not and am not planning on changing the pickups in mine and that's a rarity for me as sjtalon will attest too.

 

[sjtalon]

I still have the stock pups in my Sheraton II & I love the tone from them, the gold coating is getting a little worn these days but I feel no need to change them at all.

WOW I wouldn't care what that sound like, it is GORGEOUS !!!

 

[sjtalon]

There ya' go Allan. I knew the ES 339 and G-400 shared the same but wasn't 100% sure about the Sheraton II. I would not and am not planning on changing the pickups in mine and that's a rarity for me as sjtalon will attest too.

OPS, I sit corrected. I looked after I posted on the 11th, as I forgot my G-400 bridge is a A Classic PLUS...............tad hotter.

AFAIK and the spec show the S II and your 339 (Pro, you naturally have the coil split) with A Classics both holes.

DISCLAIMER; not that DCR means that much BUT, for S's and giggles and shop talkin' :

My neck is 8.6 KΩ (advertised @ 8.5K & 4.45 Henry )

bridge is 13.85 ( as advertised & 7.15 Henry )

Funny thing Epi says about the plus bridge-slightly overwound.

Oh, that's slightly, whatever you say.

 

[Dismalhead]

I have a '94 MIK Sheraton and the pickups sounded fine but were very microphonic - if you cranked up your amp to band volumes they squealed like Ned Beatty in Deliverance.

I just installed two DiMarzio pickups; a PAF Pro in the neck and a Norton in the bridge. Waiting on the harness that's coming in the mail. Should have it together within a week or so. Very exciting!

 

[sjtalon]

paddle faster, I hear banjo music

 

[zippofan]

I have Classic Pro humbuckers in my Epi Wilshire, I think they sound really good, the coil tapping is an extra plus to get a little P90-ish flavor out of them.

My Casino on the other hand, I didn't like the sound of the stock pickups at all and installed Kent Armstrongs. The stock pickups are really hot, which wasn't what I expected. It's a matter of taste, if you like em, keep em, if not you can always change them. With a semi-hollow it's a pain to swap pickups though!

 

[sjtalon]

I have Classic Pro humbuckers in my Epi Wilshire, I think they sound really good, the coil tapping is an extra plus to get a little P90-ish flavor out of them.

My Casino on the other hand, I didn't like the sound of the stock pickups at all and installed Kent Armstrongs. The stock pickups are really hot, which wasn't what I expected. It's a matter of taste, if you like em, keep em, if not you can always change them. With a semi-hollow it's a pain to swap pickups though!

Not that it matters (just terminology) but for some reason on the stickers and as advertised, Epi says coil tap, but actually it's coil SPLIT. Funny Gibson gets it right on theirs anyway.

Same for me with my Casino. Casino and hot pups......YUK, and the Kent Armstrong's sound wonderful !