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So before you change anything, at least determine the current pickups. That'll stop you unknowingly replacing like with like and wondering why the tone remains the same.
Some Gibson variants get a 490R/490T pair. The two and three pickup '61 style re-issue models have the '57 Classic.
None of this matters because, I suspect, the OP refers to the Epiphone in this recent NGD thread.
Almost certainly Korean Epiphone waxbuckers styled after the Gibson '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus. 1997 is too early for the Epiphone Probucker.
Even more fundamentally, determine the species of wood(s) used. This will have some bearing on which replacement pickups will suit the instrument.
Indeed, it's an Epiphone G400 Custom and the existing pickups are, as Funkfingers says, the 57-styled ones. 2 of 57CH(G) for neck & middle and 1 HOTCH(G) for the bridge.
Direct replacements with Gibson versions of those pickups would be great but I'm keeping an open mind. Anything is likely an improvement on these Epiphones which when I turn up loud and bring in distortion really lose their definition.
The guitar body is mahogany according to the internet but what flavour/species I have no idea!
I want it to sound big and rock-y! I plan on playing Sabbath and other doomy stuff on it but it'd be nice to have a rich clean tone too. That's why I was thinking of a p90 for the neck or middle, particularly if I rewire to have the middle on an independent volume.
So any set of humbuckers that can get me on my way please! 2 of neck and 1 of bridge!
Cheers
Unless you exploit its 4-conductor + shield output cable, my Gibson Iommi humbucker will struggle to do squeaky clean - even with a super high quality volume pot.
Check out an Oil City Pickups Winterizer II humbucker for the neck position.
http://www.iommi.com/equipment/tony-iommi-signature-pick-up/
G.A.K. is listing brand new examples for £120 but only in the black chrome finish and they do not actually have any in stock. My example is the right finish for your guitar and the wear that it shows will instantly give the impression that it has been there for years.
£60 PPG shipped.
First set from 2002/03 SG with ebony board and crescent moon inlays as seen in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrMLt9bMd_I
Second from 2001 SG Gothic as seen in this very poor video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9XvOZDe8cU . I believe they're 490s
pm if interested
The Iommi humbucker excels at down-tuned filth. If you intend to use the Epi SG Custom in this manner, it would be advisable to use pickups in middle and neck positions that are geared towards that musical genre.
I suggested it for a combination of sonic and cosmetic reasons. (Full sized HB, metal cover, no polepieces.) The only other Gibson humbucker of this appearance is the True Blues model from the Seventies. I have never seen a gold-plated one.
If you want the Iommi P90 thang going on, the obvious choice would be a Bare Knuckle Pickups HSP90 'Pig.
Er, how are the controls of your SG wired at present?
Vintage correct Les Paul/SG wiring involves a special selector switch to achieve that almost entirely useless out-of-phase sound that involves the middle pickup.
Your Epiphone may be a regular three-way selector switch, three volume pots and a Master tone. In this case, the third volume control governs the independently connected middle pickup.
For the blending idea to work properly, the output of the middle pickup and its volume pot should run directly to the output jack socket. (i.e. In parallel with the combined output of the neck and bridge pickups.)
If, as I suspect, the master tone control lies in circuit between the selector switch and the output jack socket, it should roll off treble from all three pickups simultaneously.
i have 2 lh 200 , japanese pickups with gold cover, from a navigator 335.
can send you picks if interested.
https://www.casimages.com/a/14uJC