Upgrades for a bog standard Epiphone Casino?

Creed_Clicks

Howdee all. I have a cherry red bog standard (Chinese made I imagine) Epiphone Casino. Solid. I like it. A few things I have heard people usually upgrade:
The pickup covers rattle. Very noticeable when playing unplugged. Tricky to replace I believe? Or not?
I already have a wiring harness I'll most likely get around to having installed as well.
I don't find any big issues with the stock pickups, though I have nothing to compare them to. I have seen lots of videos with replacement pickups etc, and it has been suggested they do make a difference, depending on the make.
Would it also be worth replacing the bridge and tailpiece? I understand some better quality metals might or might not make a difference here too? 
Triggers brush!

Funkfingers

Creed_Clicks said:

The pickup covers rattle. Very noticeable when playing unplugged. Tricky to replace I believe? Or not?

The cover and baseplate of a Casino P90 are usually fastened together by a spot of solder at each end of the pickup.

Compressible foam elevator pads will dampen some of the rattle. 

Creed_Clicks said:

Would it also be worth replacing the bridge and tailpiece? I understand some better quality metals might or might not make a difference here too? 

Yeah but no but …

Upgrading the bridge may involve extracting the stock threaded inserts. This, in turn, may disturb the ground wire.

Creed_Clicks said: 

Trigger's broom!

There does come a point where the total funds invested in a budget guitar, upgrade parts and a visit to a guitar tech might have been better spent on a more expensive instrument.

Basher

I'd be careful, particularly if you think it sounds ok now. 

Mine is a 90s Korean model and it had very high output, dark sounding pickups. That informed the upgrades - loom, pickup rewind, plastic pickup covers. Basically anything to get a bit more top end and reduce the P90 output.

Unfortunately, while you now buy a nice set of PAF-like humbuckers easily and relatively cheaply, you can't get Casino P90s from too many places.

They're a funny size and don't use standard components. The people who do make them tend to be at the top end of the market and charge accordingly (e.g. Lollar, Mojo). 

I'm still not sure what to do with mine. If there was a decent budget option I might be tempted to try it. However the risk of spending hundreds more on the guitar for no guaranteed improvement is not one I'm prepared to take at the moment. 

stickyfiddle

Pickup rewind / replacement (latter being with black covers, most likely) and new loom are the obvious things. I wouldn't worry about the bridge or tailpiece unless they're giving you trouble

Bisgby...? 

OilCityPickups

At 47.5mm pole spacing at the neck pickup as opposed to 49.2 the Gibson standard, with tone sucking Brass covers (not nickel) and with constipated little bobbins that won't even take the right wire grade for a conventional P90 ... it is, in my opinion at least, far better to adapt the guitar to take conventional P90s rather than go the spendy route and buy Casino sized P90s. That way, even a pair of cheap dog ears will go on there and sound better than the standard pickup. 

timmypix

OilCityPickups said:

At 47.5mm pole spacing at the neck pickup as opposed to 49.2 the Gibson standard, with tone sucking Brass covers (not nickel) and with constipated little bobbins that won't even take the right wire grade for a conventional P90 ... it is, in my opinion at least, far better to adapt the guitar to take conventional P90s rather than go the spendy route and buy Casino sized P90s. That way, even a pair of cheap dog ears will go on there and sound better than the standard pickup. 

So what actually needs to be adapted for it to take regular dog-ears?

Creed_Clicks

@Basher yeah that is my only hesitation on upgrading pickups, as I don't know if it will improve anything, as I can't hear anything necessarily wrong with the stock.

I do want to replace the metal pickup covers though, with black ones, if just for aesthetics!

@stickyfiddle I had thought of a Bigsby, but think I will hold off. I don't know if a better quality tailpiece would be a handy upgrade...

@funkfingers you are talking sense! I have the loom anyway, so will go ahead with that, and if I can replace the pickup covers too, that would be a good first step! 

stickyfiddle

Yeah, I wouldn't add a Bigsby just for the sake of it, I just really like them on semis especially. 

Kristo

I have a 50th Anniversary 1961 Reissue Casino. It has Gibson pickups and better quality wiring/pots. I believe the bridge and tailpiece are the same as standard Casinos. To me, it sounds much better than the standard ones, so I'd start with the pickups/wiring and leave the hardware for now. 

Creed_Clicks

Could anyone recommend black plastic covers? I am not sure if these are plastic or sprayed black

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/EPICasinoPUPKit-p/p90kitcasino.htm

If removing the existing cover is as difficult as is made out, I might not bother!

Alegree

Creed_Clicks said:

Could anyone recommend black plastic covers? I am not sure if these are plastic or sprayed black

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/EPICasinoPUPKit-p/p90kitcasino.htm

If removing the existing cover is as difficult as is made out, I might not bother!

Took some in stock yesterday. £10 delivered for a set.

Creed_Clicks

Alegree said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Could anyone recommend black plastic covers? I am not sure if these are plastic or sprayed black

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/EPICasinoPUPKit-p/p90kitcasino.htm

If removing the existing cover is as difficult as is made out, I might not bother!

Took some in stock yesterday. £10 delivered for a set.

Nice one @Alegree ;. Do I need the shims? Do you have a link by any chance? I can't find them on the site?

Alegree

Creed_Clicks said:

Alegree said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Could anyone recommend black plastic covers? I am not sure if these are plastic or sprayed black

https://www.axesrus.co.uk/EPICasinoPUPKit-p/p90kitcasino.htm

If removing the existing cover is as difficult as is made out, I might not bother!

Took some in stock yesterday. £10 delivered for a set.

Nice one @Alegree ;. Do I need the shims? Do you have a link by any chance? I can't find them on the site?

You shouldn't need any shims, they're the same size.
They are not on the site yet - first stock taken in yesterday. Message me with your email and I will send you an invoice.

Funkfingers

Plastic dogear P90 covers are secured to the top of an archtop guitar body by wood screws. These pass through both the cover and the metal lugs of the pickup baseplate. Compressible foam padding allows a smidgeon of end-to-end height adjustment. That done, you have the polepiece screws to set string-to-string volume balance.