I haven’t picked it up yet (will do tomorrow), but Craig and Mike the tech say that the pickup transplant was a great success.  According to Craig, “The guitar surpasses all expectations . . .ideal scenario manifested completely . . .a joy to play in all positions, keys, pickup positions, volume levels . . . tone unmasked . . . cat’s out of the bag . . . it purrs it growls it shakes it shimmies  . . . success!”

Now it looks like this:

Cherry Red Epiphone Casino with Black Pickups and Knobs

Craig sent me a clip demoing all the pickup positions with bits and pieces of various songs.  He is playing through a Magic Vibro-Prince, a boutique version of a Fender Princeton amp.

The guitar sounds glorious in all positions.  This really is a special guitar, and with these pickups (and new tone pots, capacitors, and wiring), the special character shines through.