First, allow me to apologize for not first saying, "Welcome to the boards."
Welcome to the boards!
There's really no need to post to multiple threads here. This isn't so large a board that topics get buried, & the active guys on this board are Matsumoku enthusiasts regardless of the label on the headstock. Just post under the most appropriate thread, & most of the time somebody will reply within a few days (for the record, I'm not a moderator--& as members go, I'm way down the list in terms of Matsumoku expertise; I'm just a musician who also happens to be a guitar nut).
Mini-humbuckers or P-90s may work in this guitar even though the surrounds (the pickup rings) aren't exactly right (these pickups are narrower than PAFs, & if they aren't the same dimensions as the originals in your guitar, they'll be a whole lot closer). If this was my guitar & a pickup happened to go bad, I'd want to keep the guitar as original as I could.
The first thing I'd try (if a pickup was to go bad) would be to look for used original pickups. These guitars are often maligned in Gibson & Epiphone circles, & there may be people who have pickups who've scavenged guitars for other parts--not realizing what they had--& kept the pickups "just in case".
If I couldn't find replacements, I'd disconnect the entire pickup assembly (leave the pickup in the ring & remove the 4 screws that hold the surround in place), lift it out, & see if a mini or a P-90 would fit in the hole cut in the top (wood) of the guitar.
If the pickup would fit the guitar but didn't fit the surround, I would think it would be easier to make new surrounds (out of heavy pickguard material or similar plastic or PVC--one sheet of blank pickguard material would be cheap, & you'd have plenty of material for "do-overs" if you don't get it right the first time) than trying to force an ill-fitting pickup into the existing rings.
I do this kind of work with a Dremel tool (Multi-Pro) & a mini-router attachment. It's easier than you might think, but if you're not comfortable doing it yourself, you could take one of your surrounds to a repair tech & ask him to duplicate the outside dimensions & mounting holes, but cut the pickup & pickup screw holes to fit a mini (or a P-90) instead of the original pickups. A good tech should be able to make a set of 2 of this style of surround for no more than $15 or $20 US (I'd save the old pickups & the old surrounds, though).
If you don't have access to a competent tech, you could take the 2 surrounds, put them on a copy machine, & send the photocopy to any of a number of places (just be sure to instruct them to cut the pickup & pickup screw holes to fit the pickup you will be using). For example, Chandler cuts custom pickguards & does this kind of work, but they are probably the most expensive company to deal with.
If you absolutely want a pickup that fits the original surrounds, you might try contacting Seymour Duncan & seeing if he could custom wind a mini or a P-90 to the dimensions you need (but expect to part with a huge wad of cash if you choose to go this route--it might be less expensive to look for another 5102TE).
Good luck!
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