Epiphone Casino

Good Features. Dont; know what year, Korean made. 22 fret. Laminated top. Two Gibson P 90's, with a tone and volume for each. Three way selector. Neck and fretboard are mahogany.The body is cherry. Cherry finish. Hollowbodied. Trapeze bridge. Non-locking tuners. Very skinny neck, not quite ibanez though. Nothing to complain about here.

I play Classic Rock Blues, and Jazz, and this fits all three. The bridge and neck brige combined positions with some grit make those beatiful screaming p-90 sounds. At lower gains it has more of the 60's pop sound. The neck Pickup with the tone rolsl off works great for jazz. The coils make slightly more hum than a strat, but nothing to worry about, and the two pickups combined together of course cancel hum. Overall the sounds it Dark, Warm, Rich and Full. However it is still possible to get bright, punchy sounds out of it. Personally I love it.

The Guitar is plently playable, although it came with two problems. The action was far to low, although that's not hard to fix. Also the nut was sharp and had a habit of breaking strings. This is also fixable. Still more costly that preferable.

I bought this used, and have had it for three quarters of a year and no problems so far.

haven;t dealt with company

Overall, I love it. Especialy considering it's value. Sure, it's not a LP, but it cost a third as much, and sounds nearly as good. Not good for Metal distortion, but handles everything else wuite well. Great guitar, especialy for the budget minded.

My Epiphone Casino was made in Korea 2004 and I bought it new at Long and McQuade. It has a vintage sunburst finish with chrome Gibson designed Alnico P90's. I had bought this guitar to act as my travel guitar since I didn't feel all that too comfortable bringing my gibson around (if I dented my Gibson I would probably have to die).

This guitar is perfect for the style of music that I play (very Beatlesk stuff). Accoustically it is quite nice due to the fact that it is a hollow body and does't have the wod center block like other archtops have. I've read reviews about people complaining about the Anico P90's and was worried on how awefull they would sound; I had the intention of replacing them immediately with Gibson P90's. However, upon plugging the Casino in I was shocked to discover that they sounded perfect! They totally blew me away! The one thing that I did notice was the buzzing when you are standing idle with it. I havn't had any feedback problems yet but I havn;t had a chance to play this in a gig just yet. I hear a solution to this is to stuff a cloth in the body? Well, if the Beatles could play on stage with it.. Anyhow, fantastic sound especially if you are into Early rock and Jazz.

The one and only real complaint I have about this guitar are the tuners. Put simply, they suck. Those I replaced immediately with vintage Grovers and since then it stays in tune fine. Another thing I noticed was that my vibrato was slightly bent to one side. I found that this caused some buzzing when playing acoustically, but that was easy to fix. The Sunburst finish is absolutely beautifull with no flaws. I was originally going to get the natural finish Casino (like Lennon's) but the difference in the colour of the neck and the body bothered me. All in all I am very glad that I chose the sunburst finish, no complaints there. Some people also complained about the selector switch being terrible, well, so far mine is fine, although a little shaky. So far it hasn;t given me any trouble but I bought a spare Gibson selector switch just in case this one dies on me. So in sum, the tuners suck and should be replaced. Other then that, no major flaws.

This guitar seems to be solid enough. I wouldn't want to drop it or anything but I am pretty carefull with my guitars so I am not all that worried about that. If I were to go on a gig, I would bring it along with my Gibson accoustic. Altough this guitar does play fine accoustically, it is a mere shadow to the Gibson. Electrically however it is superior, so it ballances out.

I have not needed to deal with the customer support yet and hopefully will not have to.

I have 7 other guitars and have been playing for 12 years. In terms of electric guitar, this is my perfect guitar (with a few modifications). This one goes right up there with my Gibson J160E; if either were stolen I would replce them immediatley. Considering that this guitar was relatively cheap, it is definately worth more than it sells for. Overall a fantastic guitar!

I got this guitar used from a guy at a gig. I had been wanting a Casino for a long time as i love p-90's and light weight guitars. It is korean made and the guy said he got it new in 97. It is turquoise with chrome p/u's and the trapeze tail piece. all in all not feature laden, but very nice and awesome to use onstage, although as with all the Epi's me and my brother Ras own, it needed some mods and upgrades to get it where it needs to be. I got this axe for 75 bucks because it got it's head broken at the gig. Cool bargain...now where is that Elmers? hmm..

this Casino, though loaded with my beloved p90's has a drier more woody attack than my epi 56 reissue or LP junior. I use it with my Sovtek head and Sound City 4X12. It is completely hollow unlike a 335 and howled like a banshee at higher volume, so I stuffed it with rubber foam. Problem solved! I like its bright airy clean sound and toothy detailed distortion tones. It has a surprising amount of different tones and is now my favorite guitar for recording demos.

I played this axe several times as we toured with my pals band.I loved it's sound and pimp-o-licious turquoise finish. When my bud accidentally snapped the head and replaced it with a Gibson es135 I snapped it up when he offered it cheap. I reglued the head and stuffed it as well as replacing the nut and crowning the frets-axe has a lot of road wear but no flaws really. If not for a clumsy accident, I'm sure it would never have been sold by this guy-he loved it.

I just got in from 4 months of solid touring so it's definately holding up at gigs-in fact I have used it and my 56Epi goldtop for everything except slidework(doublecut junior Epi handles that), honestly I'd say I used it for 30% of my set. It has become the preferred backup for my LesPaul. I changed the nut and it already had straplocs. the finish is a durable poly, but arm wear and belt buckling are evident. The rosewood fingerboard is fairly soft and looks very worn compared to the frets, but no problem, really.

used gear never dealt with em

My band, 3rd Strike has been working for a while now-we have a ton of gear. I own a Martin DXM, and 4 Epis-a 56 LP, junior,and this Casino, as well as a 58 V reissue that my brother just won't return...dangit!I use a line6 pod at home and the rig mentioned above live. I love its tone and it's looks. I would pay full pop for another if this one was stolen and that is saying a lot as I'm a total cheapskate!

2002 Casino, cherry finish.

Since there are so many reviews already, i just wanted to point out a few things. The sound wasn't great on mine because the pickup magnetism was so strong. It was pulling the low E string out of tune above the 12th fret. (you strat guys know what i mean.) Actually, replacing the strings helped. i don't know why, but the factory strings must be pretty crappy. The biggest change was the pickups. They were replaced with DiMarzio virtual P-90s. The original pickups favored the bass strings. No matter how high i raised the pole pieces and lowered others, this problem was still there. The Dimarzios fixed that. With two rows of pole pieces it's easy to "dial in" the balance. And, they have reduced magnetic string pull. If you want to use the Virtual P-90s, you'll probably need a repairperson because mine had to put in two small wood blocks to support the pickups.

Interestingly, i also have an Epiphone Sorrento with the same pickups, but that guitar doesn't have the problem. Those pickups are balanced and sound great. (built 7 years earlier.)

Everything in the set up was good, escept: the string spacing was too narrow for the fingerboard. We recut some new slots in the bridge and now it's fine. Guitar is almost flawless in its construction, paint, binding, etc. Amazing for a budget guitar.

Great little guitar for practicing, traveling (it's light in a gigbag). I even used it one night on a jazz gig instead of a full depth archtop. Epiphone should just check the string balance on these pickups and cut the bridge slots for a wider spacing. The neck on this guitar is great! Wide and flat like a 1963 Gibson es-335.

I bought the guitar new (serial # says 2004) in vintage-sunburst. I always wanted a Casino because I?m an old Beatles and Merseybeat (early ?60s Brit-ish tunes) fan - these guys played Casinos all over the place. I was considering one of the Elistist series but someone told me that the much cheaper Korean Casinos are almost on par with Japanese quality. That was confirmed by har-mony-central?s user reviews. So I ordered one without having seen and played it before because no store carried a VS Casino in stock. I tested, however, two 2003 Korean Casinos in natural color (like John Lennon?s later version). These ones had some quality problems (e.g. bridge pickups too close to the strings), so that I was a bit worried how my guitar would be.

What can I say? I?m a lucky guy (or Epiphone builds great hollowbody guitars these days). My one is a perfectly built guitar. I can hardly believe that one can buy a quality hollowbody these days for such a low price. My explana-tion: Korea is under intense pressure from the Chinese (think of Ibanez? AF series which is surprisingly good for an even lower price).

My Casino VS has got all the features I expect and want from a classic Ca-sino. It looks like the 1966 Beatles? guitars with the longer headstock. I added a US-made Bigsby (125 euros) myself: I chose a B3 because a B6, which otherwise would look a bit nicer, would produce a very flat string an-gle. A B7 would be historically correct - remember George! - but I hate drilling holes into the guitar?s top. Adding the Bigsby was a minor operation: simply removed the tailpiece and threw the B3 in - even the screws fit on mine.
And I added a DeArmond roller bridge with more weight than the factory T-O-M bridge. It makes the guitar sound even fatter.

Now the pickups: It?s got two P-90s, ?Alnico, designed by Gibson?, as the sticker read. These must be new because they are apparently more powerful than earlier ones: both 11,3 kOhms (measured). And they are perfectly aligned: The bridge p.u. is higher and closer to the strings than the neck p.u. The middle position is not hum-cancelling but you can hardly hear the noise.

It?s the lightest guitar I own: 2900 metric grams with the B3, 2700 with the tailpiece. That is 6,4 resp. 5,9 US pounds.

Friends (among them professional guitarists) and I tested the Casino with some Fender tube amps (Deluxe Reverb RI, Vibrolux RI, an old Super-Champ, a first-series Roland Jazz Chorus etc.) together with two bands and on our own in the living-room. The guitar has got the classic powerful P-90 sound - and it sings!
All strings (10 - 46, Fender 150s) are equally loud on every p.u. The bridge is full and twangy but not harsh or shrill, the neck clear and warm but not muddy. It?s very authentic for oldie music (50s and 60s) and blues. You can use it for modern tunes, too, but a Gretsch (like my new G5125 - look up my review) is more versatile as it sounds a bit crisper.
The sound is a ?10? for a Casino but the restricted use is my reason for giv-ing it only a ?9?.

I have never had a better guitar as far as far as this chapter is concerned. The craftsmanship is outstanding. String action can be set incredibly low without buzz. Painting and fretting are perfect.
Just yesterday I made a tour through some guitar stores and played several guitars, from 500 to 3000 euros. Regular Epiphones are not in the same league as this one. It plays on the same level as Gibsons in the 2.000 euro range.
My impression is that the Casino has a special rank in the Epi product line: it?s a true hollowbody (thus harder to build) and it?s of historic significance (Beatles!). They probably let their best builders work on it.
The only guitar I had (among ca. 30 others) that is equally well built is my Gretsch 5125.
Oh yes, there is one disappointment like one of the latest reviwers said: Epi used one part that is real junk - the pickup switch. That one needs replace-ment soon. It?s flimsy, sometimes not working properly - that?s no honor for this great guitar. That's why it only gets a "9".

I play the Casino for 5 hours on rehearsals without any problem at all - beside the p.u. switch (but I play mostly in the middle position anyway). The Bigsby stays in tune perfectly.
Ranking would be a "10" without the p.u. switch issue.

No idea. I?ll ask the dealer for a new switch (see ?action & fit?). If necessary. I?ll buy one for 10 euros or so and solder it myself.

It?s a wonderful guitar and I?m happy I bought it. I play it almost every day at home (Vox Pathfinder 15) and take it out to the band. The G5125 and the Casino are my main axes now.

Mine is like all the others, however it is finished in gold flake, with a clear coat. The back sides and back of the headstock and neck are also gold flake painted. I assume this one was made in Korea, but I don't know for sure. Really an eye grabber, well applied paint. DOes any one know about these gold flake ones? Were they a limited production, what's the history. Were they made in Korea too? E-mail the info to garyguitar1117@yahoo.com

This is the best part. One of the better bang for the bucks bargains. Upgrade the pickup switch, and pots and maybe pickups.
The pickups on this particular Casino are mighty fine. I have had a Gibson 330 ('62) and also a '66 that I just sold, and these pickups to my ear sound as good.

For the bucks, really well done. Slick gold flake paint job, good looking hardware. Fret work is better than adequate. The worst features are the pickup switch that is loose and sloppy, and the tuners are barely adequate. I bought this on ebay and when I got it, the tone and volume controls were loose, but I had them tightened in 30 minutes. I am going to replace the tuners and switch immediately and later all the pots. Plays fine after I adjusted it a little and put 10's on it instead of the 9's. I also raised the bridge a little, the neck is medium beefy and is almost straight with a slight relief. Plays as good as my Gibson 335.

As I said, fine finish, cheap hardware ( I always enjoy replacing this stuff and seeing the improvement). These true hollowbodies with P-90's will squeal like a pig caught in the gate unless you play quietly, at stage volume, there are few remedies that help. I have already stuffed this one with foam, then covered the foam with black felt with a peel-and-stick backing that I didn't peel. This helped quite a bit. On my '62 Gibson 330, I installed sound posts made from dowel rods and stuffed it too. These remedies help, but you also need to mute with your palm and find the best position and distance in relation to your amp to stand while performing.

Gibson has been helpful to me before, but I am fairly proficient at set ups and minor repairs, and I would rather do them myself.

Been playing since 1955, mostly in a working band. The best feature of this guitar is the tone. It has a very musical, usuable tone. You can get a believeable fat jazz tone, a rude agressive rock tone, and a great blues tone. To my ears, these hollowbodies with P-90's sound better than humbuckers. I have owned MANY guitars from '55 Les Pauls to '57 Strats, PRS's, 335's, ES-175's on and on, blah blah. File this in the "who cares?" file. I wish I had my 1966 ES-330 w/Bigsby back. Let me know if you have info on these gold flake models, thanks.

2004 Epiphone Casino made in korea. I wanted a sunburst but apparantly Epiphone does not make it much anymore, so decided on a cherry. It still looks great, but you must wipe it down occasionally because finger prints really show up on it. It's a semi-hollowbody Gibson 335 look alike. Unlike other semi-hollowbodys, though, it has no center block, which creatves a very unique sound. Has 22 frets but due to the shape of the body the first 16 are most accesable and it gets a little harder drom there. One volume and tone control for each pickup. The pickup selector allows you to switch between the neck pickup, bridge pickup, or a mix of the two. The pickups are very warm sounding P-90s. Neck is thin and well made, and it's easy to quickly move up and down the neck. The stock tuners are vintage non-locking, and in my experience were VERY shoddy. After a few weeks I replaced them with some Sperzel locking tuners which fixed the problems. I'd reccomend changing the stock tuners if you plan to do gigs. Bridge is Tune-O-Matic, which has been fine for me, but I might replace it with a bigsby vibrato one day. No included accessories.

The combined factors of the P-90 pickups and body shape create a very unique mellow sound. It's perfect for 60s and 70s British clean rock (Beatles) and sounds very good overdriven, emulating Classic Rock guitar riffs flawlessly. On clean channel you get a very bright mellow sound. It also sounds superb with my Dunlop Wah pedal and Marshall 30 watt amp, turning out Hendrix like sounds. The only styles of music I cannot see the Casino useful for is metal, grunge, and other styles that use heavy distortion. The Casino can't play that "deep" style of distortion due to the pickups and feedback issues. At high volumes you must stand at a distance from the amp facing away for it, or you WILL have feedback issues. I've heard that stuffing a rag in the body will reduce feedback, but have never tried it.

For what I play (Classic Rock, Jazz, Blues) the Epiphone Casino fits well. I love the sound but will admit the feedback can be a problem if not properly controlled.

I bought my guitar from Guitar Center so they set it up at the shop. The action is set low and the guitar is very easy playable. It's easy to quickly move up and down the neck. I've heard that people have problems with the pickup selector, but have not had one yet and I've used the guitar for 4 months now. I probably will end up changing it anyway. The volume buttons are all fine and work as intended with no problems. The only problem I had with the hardware was the tuners, as I mentioned earlier. I don't know if I recieved a guitar with badly set up tuning heads or if all Casinos are like that, but the tuning problems did become quite bad and it was tedious to have to retune the guitar every 5 minutes.

I wouldn't reccomend gigging with the Casino from it's stock setup. Tuning problems may be an issue. Also, make sure you know of the feedback and how to properly play at high volumes with it. The finish looks great but needs to be taken care of. Wiping it down with a cleaning cloth is advisable. Although the strap bottons were solid, I would reccomend strap locks due to the fact that semi-hollowbodys cannot take a beating like a solidbody and would not risk it falling. With the new tuners I would use it on a gig without a backup with no worries.

Have never had to deal with Epiphone customer service, but the warranty is a year long and gurantees quality. If anything electrical breaks, it will be replaced. I am satisfied.

Overall the Epiphone Casino in my experience has been a great guitar that I can use in many different situations. I bought it hoping to achieve a Beatles and The Who sound and am very pleased. If it were stolen I would replace it immediatly. The only flaw I've experienced is the tuning heads.

Basic standard Casino, '96 or '97 Korean made in black finish. Standard Casino configuration: hollowbody, double cut, 22 frets, 2 P90, standard Gibson style controls (2 volume, 2 tone), laminiated maple back/sides, and supposedly a spruce top (however, I suspect the top is laminated maple). Purchased used...that makes me the third owner.

First thing about this guitar: forget about running this through an effects box as you'll loose much of the character that makes this guitar unique. If you use an amp, use a tube amp. If you use an effects box, be sure it's a good one. Played through a Fender HotRod Delux, this baby kicks ass; played through my Adrenalinn II, this baby still kicks ass (particulary with the class A amp models).

I bought this because I wanted the twang and growl of P90s, controllable feedback, and that spanky hollow body character. Excellent for blues, old-school R&B (think Beatles, Stones, Who), jazz, country -- this guitar is versatile. In comparison to my G&L Legacy, the single coil P90s are slightly warmer yet retain the single coil twang one could never get from humbuckers. And that's why single coils rule the universe.

Well, like I said, this was purchased used. One of the previous owners had some work done on it as the frets were leveled and filed on at the edges of the neck. Epiphone has a bad reputation when it comes to their fretwork, so additional fretwork is often required to make an Epiphone playable. The previous owner had this guitar setup for low action and gauge 9 strings. For the Casino, this is the wrong setup to have: first one needs to use heavier strings (10s or 11s) and the action needs to be raised. This will need a professional setup. And a fret polishing, strictly for cosmetic purposes, would not be all that bad either.

The Casino is a solidly build guitar, just don't pull a Pete Townshend on stage and you'll be fine. Seriously, you'll need stap locks.

My Casino in it's current condition needs some more work before it's gig-worthy: the output jack needs to be replaced, the setup needs to be redone to my specifications, and the stock tuners could use an upgrade to the locking variety (Grovers or Schallers would be a good choice). Once this is done, she's ready to roll.

Backup? Backup? Don't need no steenkin' backup. In a gig situation, I'd trade off with the G&L depending on what we're playing.

Well there's a lifetime warrantee, but this expired two owners ago.

Well, if it was lost, stolen, burned or mutilated, I'd have to get a replacement. I'd probably buy another used one. Casinos generally retail around $600, which is over priced since these generally require additional work. Bottomline: if you want a classic hollowbody sound and you love single coils, this is the bitch for you.

Pretty much as listed in other reviews. It looks like a Epiphone Casino from any era. Thin-line double cutaway hollowbody Gibson ES-330 lookalike. I bought mine from ebay, second hand. The fellow before me did the right things: replaced switches and pick-ups.

This is an affordable alternative to a Gibson hollow body, especially if, like me, you long for a single coil hollow body like the old jaazers and blues men played. There are not enough models being made these days with these features. Even the Epiphone Elite Byrdland sports humbuckers. Forget Gibson. Even their custom shop axes have humbuckers. For rockabilly, swing, and early blues styles one really needs to have that single coil sound. This particular guitar was retro fitted with Rio Grande p90s (Jazzdawgs and Blueshounds). They are HIGH output p90s. Real good sounding but they overdrive my tweed Deluxe too much.

This is an excellent blues-mobile, if we're talking pre-humbucker style B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, et al. I am a Chuck Berry nut and feel his best sound was on his ES 350 pre-Humbucker, and for a time in the late 60s and early 70s when he was liable to show up with a 330 rather than 345 or the other humbucking models. The live stuff on "London Sessions" is a 330 and for me that is THE sound. It has fullness AND bite. Yes the Bealtes played Casinos in '66 and on and off in later years (particularly John). I feel this connection is somewhat over-stated, as the Gretsch/Rickenbacker sound is more classic Beatles, in my opinion, and in the studio they used Les Pauls and Fenders as well.

I put heavy strings on 12's to 52's with an unwound "G" for bending purposes. Had it set up appropriately. No flaws that I can determine. Playable action.

I started out figuring this would be a back-up to my '67 Gretsch Anniversary but lately it has been axe # 1 on gigs. I really enjoy the light weight and thin neck after years of struggling with a big fat guitar with a fat neck. Still new to me but it seems sturdy and reliable.

Not applicable.

A damn good alternative to much more expensive Gibsons (and Epiphones). One would probably want to invest on upgrading the electronics. As far as snob factor, this is something that in the 21 century were all going to have to get over. Just try to buy a quality American made hollow body guitar with P90s on a modest budget. Good luck.

I don't know what year it was made. Not too long ago, anyway. I bought it second-hand with case, absolutely spic and span for 375 euro's, a nice deal. It is a cherry-red one with white bindings and a black head. The transparant red laquer looks more like red wine than cherry IMO. Anyway, it looks gorgeous. Chuck Berry played this version a lot. It has a white-black-white laminated pickguard fitted to it, with a large black and chrome Epiphone trident-E-logo on it. The Casino is an Epiphone original, the Gibson versions came out later, a couple of years after they bought Epiphone.

It is a true hollow-body, which means that it produces quite some sound when played unamplified. This gives the guitar a somewhat other sound than other, comparable semi-hollow-body guitars, like the epiphone Dot, Sheraton and Lucille. Of course this is also largely due to the fact that the Casino has totally different pickups.

The guitar is quite lightweight, but it has some presence, and the balance is good.

The body is made from laminated maple, and is very well built, and nicely finished. The guitar has a trapeze tailpiece.

The two chromed, single-coil Gibson P-90 pickups are wound reversely, so you can turn them both on and then cancel one out with its volume knob while it still cancels the other one's noise. In fact they can act as a gigantic humbucker. The pickups are both height-adjustable per string. They are a bit susceptible to getting scratched by the plectrum.

It has a lovely rosewood fretboard and a mahogany neck. The neck is glued in very, very precise. Aparently, the guitar has been laquered afterwards, in one piece. The action is very easily adjustable, and can be set incredibly low, which i think is lovely. The head has just the standard Epiphone-inlay (done very nicely), the fretboard has parallelogram inlays, which were not placed very accurately, but finished nicely. Every inlay has different dimensions (larger towards the head) which I think is cool.

The Casino features chromed, non-locking tuners, which aren't bad, but could have been better. Fetishists will probably replace them. They look very nice anyway.

Unfortunately, one thing on this guitar absolutely SUCKS: the 3-way pickup selector swith. Within no time the contacts go bad (unexpected silences), it rattles, it feels flimsy, AAARGH! Why didn't they spend $2 more on just a decent switch?! A disgrace to this guitar, which is overall of awesome quality.

The casino is a very versatile guitar, which can produce a vast amount of totally different sounds, from very clean and bright to a deep, warm sound with a lot of Bass. You can use it to play Rock-'n'-Roll (like Chuck Berry did), it is THE typical John Lennon guitar, Reggae, ska, jazz, but it's suitable for almost anything you can think of, except for metal and Slipknot-like music; but hey, wouldn't it look a bit awkward playing Rammstein on a hollow-body?
Further, you have to keep in mind that this guitar has single coil-pickups. No matter how versatile it is, it will never sound like for example a Les Paul. It has a unique sound that some people just may not like.

Coming from a strat, the pickups give high output and a lot of bass, and an overall clear sound. They're not too noisy IMO. As mentioned before, you can cancel the noise a great deal using both elements.

When using overdrive you'll find a whole new spectrum of sounds, from a warm light tube drive to an absolutely awesome, brutal, barking, throaty sound. It's not suitable for metal I suppose (just not the right sound), but to make an incredible amount of ear-shattering noise is not a problem. To get everything out of this guitar, I recommend buying an amp with both tube and transistor drive.

The amp choice is very important, as with all guitars, but especially with this one. I Use a Trace Elliot Super Tramp 100W combo (no longer produced) which features both transistor and tube drive, and a MOSFET (transistor) power stage - and sometimes a somewhat smaller BOSS/Roland transistor amp. The difference between the two sounds, besides volume, is stunning.

Sometimes I use it for playing blues, but I guess a guitar with humbuckers fitted is preferable. The Casino might sound a bit too bright and clean. However, if you want to use some overdrive/distortion, this is definately the one to go for.

I fix the resonance 'problem' at high volume, mentioned in a lot of other reviews, (it's more like a feature you should expect from a true hollow-body IMO) by stuffing a towel into the body.

It's very sensitive to the way you play it, it really responds tremendously to everything you do. An imperfect setup immediately kills this guitar. When you practice a little, you'll be amazed of how many different accents and sounds you can put into your playing. Of couse, this also means that this guitar is very picky. Coming from e.g. a Stratocaster, you'll be disappointed at first - don't blame the guitar; it's your skills and technique.

Dislike: sometimes i find that this guitar produces too much bass - even from the bridge pickup. Maybe an equalizer pedal could be useful sometimes.

I don't know how well this guitar was set-up at the factory, because I bought it second-hand. The guy I bought it from did a terrible job. For this guitar, it's absolutely neccesary to get the setup EXACTLY right - it really makes a tremendous difference. Luckily, everything is very easily adjustable.

The action can be set incredibly low without any problem, and very high as well (e.g. for slide playing). This guitar plays very easily, and it's possible to play incredibly fast on it.

As mentioned before, the pickup selector switch is of absolutely laughable quality, I'm looking for an alternative. I guess my patience will be put to the test when I replace it, because the only way to reach inside the body is via one of the f-holes which aren't that big...

Overall the finish is nice and beautiful. Apart from the switch, and to a lesser extent the tuners, mine is absolutely flawless.

This guitar looks a bit vulnerable at first glance, but now i can say that it will withstand live playing easily. It can take quite some beating and accidents without being damaged at all. Still, it's less violence-proof than most solid-body guitars, of course.

The hardware looks fine overall, maybe I'll replace the tuners one day, the selector switch is a piece of crap, the volume/tone knobs are not bullet-proof, but they're ok.

The finish is downright fabulous and very durable.

The strap buttons are good quality examples of the usual cone-shaped type.

I can depend on this guitar, and I use it without a backup.

N/A

I love it, except for the switch...

I own a Fender strat too, I'd love to have a gibson/epiphone SG or Les Paul.

If it were stolen, I'd definately save up for another Casino.