Epiphone Casino

Sunburst finish. According to the serial # is made in Korea in 1997. Bought second hand, fairly good overall conditions. Price paid (May 2004) Euro 450,00 including hardcase. It has all the stock features.

Since I adore the FabFour I couldn't miss such guitar. Please note: I already have a vintage Casino (1967 - Kalamazoo 230TD cherry) with specs matching tighly the ones owned by certain mssrs Lennon, McCartney & Harrison. Since theirs Casino's sported the sunburst finish I got this last one mainly for a closer visual connection. Once back home with the newer Casino the next thing I did was an A/B comparison between the 2 worlds. Of course regarding the sound I expected the 1967 as being the front-runner: believe or not, the winner is the Korean! Much punchier and a wider range even on the bass side. Those who know the Beatles 1966-1969 repertoire can understand what I mean. Plug this baby into a Vox Conqueror with its built-in fuzz and you are John Lennon playing Revolution or Yer Blues. Or, if like more recent groups, you can get easily an Oasis or Strokes sound. While it's ideal for a Britpop style band this guitar could work pretty well in a jazz/ blues ensemble.

Action: it's where the 1967 Casino claims its revenge. The Korean model is more edged on bindings so its playing is slightly affected when compared to its older relative. Dealing with the fretboard on the ol' brother is like sailing on a sea of oil! When I got the guitar the setup left something to desire especially about the intonation on certain strings (D,B), then after some adjustments on the bridge things got fairly better. Those Kluson style tuners aren't perfect either, they seem sometimes a bit loose so they cannot guarantee a steady tuning for longer times specially on live situations.

Everything is like an average current stock model.

No warranty, no contact! (so far)

I've been playing guitar for 25 years, even though I consider myself mainly a bass player. Gear owned: tons of Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Hofner, Vox, etc. stuff. I can master pretty well sounds a la Beatles. If stolen I'd probaly get another other one. A good instrument to own even for a non-Beatles nuts. My moral of the story: never think that a vintage instrument is 100% better than its current production counterpart!

2004 Epiphone very well made in Korea. I'm sure it's laminate city where the woods are concerned, but then even the expensive Gibson and Elite Epiphones hollow and semi-hollows are laminates. There was not a flaw on it. No space around inlays, the binding is simple but perfect, no extra glue showing through. This one is the beautiful red finish with a bit of grain showing through. Two volume and two tone and a pick-up selector switch. The only improvement over this set-up might be a master volume for those who like to keep a particular blend across all volumes.

It has a wonderful sound. I use it for Chet style finger-picking and favor the neck pick-up. It has single coils but is much less noisey than my strat.

I pulled new out of the box at Guitar Center. I could find no flaws with the factory set-up. The action is right on although they ship it with 9's. When I switched to 10's, I gave the bridge a slight drop in height and the action is still great with no buzz on any fret. The screw and net holding the pick-guard was slightly loose but was easily finger tightened.
The frets are perfect.

This is not the guitar for loud live playing. It is a true hollow body so the top will vibrate and cause feedback. Go for the Sheraton II if you have a loud stage volume. Everything else about the guitar is road worthy. It is a light guitar and may appear delicate as a result fo being hollow.

I've been playing 35 years and own several guitars. The Casion and Sheraton II korean made Epiphones are probably the best deals on the market today.

It's a standard Casino in natural finish

I play in a beatle tribute band. So this is an excelent guitar for the lennon parts during let it be and the white album periods. I use a Fender m-80 amp through a Fender vibratone cab. It isn't a noisy guitar. The output is pretty high. It has a very warm sound even wehen i play on the bridge pick up it's is warm. The only thing that's a pitty is that it's feed backing like hell. When i'm performing i can't turn my guitar to my amp and not play a note, cause then the audience will be deaf.

When i bought this guitar the action was pretty high. So this was "fixed" in the store. Now it's lovely. The rest of it was great

I've been playing on this guitar for 4 years now. the last 2 years i've giged with it. never had any problems.

Never had contact with them.

This is a great guitar. if it would crack or something i would buy a new one immediatly. So what I want to say: if you want a good sounding reliable guitar: BUY AN EPIPHONE CASINO

My Epiphone Casino has the usual features, but it dates from the early 1980s and so was made in Japan.

I like semi-acoustics for their looks and versatility. You can get a rock'n'roll or funky sound just by the way you play them, without changing anything on the amp.

I have played the Casino both through Marshall valve amps and a Laney solid state one. It worked well with both, but feedback and noise was more of a problem with the transistor amp.

It has a great sound unamplified and is lound enough for you to practice and learn new songs without using an amp. It is superior in this regard to other copies of the Gibson semiacoutics.

There were no problems for many years. I just had to have the frets leveled after a couple of years since they had developed holes.

I'm probably being a bit mean giving only a 6. I got many years of trouble-free playing out of the guitar. However, I had to stop playing it recently since the electics were shot (it developed a nasty hum and the neck pick-up would stop working altogether sometimes) and it became almost impossible to tune or to keep in tune (the fiddly little knobs don't help). I bought a second-hand Vantage for ?200, since it was quicker and cheaper than getting the Epiphone repaired.

Didn't try. The guarantee had expired long before the problems arose.

If current production is as good as the earlier models then they are good value. They cost the same today as mine did almost 20 years ago!

As mentioned above, I have now bought a Vantage semi-acoustic. It does not sound so nice and is quieter when not amplified, but otherwise it as good or better than the Epiphone (less noise and feed back, lower action, longer neck, larger tuning nobs).

Just for the record: this Casino is a fully hollow archtop with a small peg inside supporting the bridge. Trapeze bridge, P-90 singlecoil pickups, vintage tuners, parallelogram inlays, etc. Check the website for further details.

The sound is very unique. This sounds very different from a 335 with humbuckers. It's hollower, more note drop off, but with more dynamics and an acoustic quality that a 335 just doesn't have. The pickups are somewhat noisy, being singlecoils, but not terribly bad at sane volumes. I found using my Boss EQ pedal with a slight bump at 1.6k and 3.5k through my Deluxe Reverb really did wonders for tone. The guitar is really sensitive to the player's dynamics. Sounds good acoustically, too.

The fretwork was a little poor, some dead spots and choked notes. I got it fixed. The pickups are flush with the body, you adjust the pole pieces. I'm a little nervous about that infamous pickup selector switch, but things have been fine so far.

Stays in tune well. I've gigged twice with it with no problems. It's got a hard case, which I highly recommend. The guitar is extremeley lightweight and a little neck-heavy, so a proper strap helps. In my opinion, it's a professional instrument.

n/a

A nice guitar. Certainly not one for all applications. I think it favors more clean or slightly overdriven tones, but that's just me. The Beatles influence was obviously strong in my choice. I like the shape. It's red. It's nice.

Brand new Korean made thin hollow-body with two single coil pickups.
3 way pickup selector, individual volume and tone knobs.
Mine has the natural finish.
Tune-o-matic bridge.
I bought the hard shell case as well.

I play a variety of styles on live gigs, and home recordings - rock, blues, country,Irish nusic, and soft-rock.
I really like the clean rhythm guitar tone with both pickups on, but with the neck pickup volume down a little from full.
I've used on two gigs recently - one through an amp (73 Fender Deluxe Reverb), and one through a Mesa Boogie V-Twin direct through the PA.
Through the amp, and using a Rat overdrive pedal for occasional distorted leads, I had to back off the gain and the volume on the Rat or I'd get feedback - not surprising, the guitar is hollow, with no center block like on a Gibson 335.
Through the Mesa V-Twin and a PA, on a stage with dimmers for the lights, the guitar was noisy...on some single coil gtrs. with two pickups, the "both on" setting is quiet due to the pickups being reverse wound, but that does not seem to be the case on the Casino.
When I play the same room with the same set-up next week, I will bring a different guitar.
I do like the sounds the guitar produces, but it certainly is not the right guitar for high gain sounds, and I'll bring an additional guitar at least for the first time I bring the Casino into a room I haven't used it in yet, in case the noise is too great.

Action was set up great - I'm used to .010s on Gibson scale length guitars, and this came with .009s, and the action low, but I may stick with the .009s.
I'm not much of an expert on finish flaws and the other things in this category, but I haven't found any flaws yet.
I've heard that the Korean pickup selectors were noisy or defective, but the one on mine seems to be fine.

This would seem to be a more delicate guitar than say a Tele or a Les Paul, so I wouldn't beat on it too hard.
I'd use it without a backup once I determine which rooms it'll be quiet enough in...

I've been playing for over 35 years.
I own 12 guitars including this one (3 acoustics, a bass, and 8 electrics, including a Les Paul Custom, a Les Paul Special, a Telecaster and a Rickenbacker 12 string.
I pretty much knew what the Casino's good and bad points were before I bought it, so there were no major surprises...I might buy another if it were stolen or lost.
One really great feature - it weighs next to nothing compared to a solid body, so wearing it all night on a gig is a breeze.

2003 Casino, in Cherry red, Korean Made, Lamnate maple all around, mahogany neck, pair of p-90's wired in series... The standard as can be viewed on the manufacturers website.

It's a pretty typical no frills 6 string, but I do like that it has lots of ways to adjust your fit, feel and intonation

Ok, here's where it gets interesting. This guitar sounds absolutely beautiful when played cleanly, or with a light drive. It's sparkly, resonant, and beautiful. Quite frankly, it's become my favorite guitar for using on recordings and live when a clean sound in desired.

The bad part is, high gain. This poor critter doesn't do high gain, period paragraph. It will squeal like a wounded beast, and make you want to claw your face off with the noises that pour out from within. This in mind....

Effects like chorus, tremolo, reverbs, and a genuine tube with a touch of overdrive sound truly wonderful. Just a sweetheart of a sound... It's sold as a "retro rock" guitar, but keep in mind that the first real distored lead sounds didn't come around til around 64.... this guitar does what it was made to do beatufully, hook it up to a distortion pedal, or a fuzz tone, and it will give you nightmares.

For a clean rhythm guitar, there's nothing finer in this price range I do believe.

he he... welll.... Setup was mighty fine, except for the 9's for strings... 9's on a hollow body? come on... 10's work great, so that's what I run with on it now... Epi's are quite a bit better than they were a few years back... I can't say that this one is really flawed, a few minor paint lines imperfect, and the pick guard cut-out could be a touch neater. The pickgurd liked to vibrate on the pickup housing, so I added a piece of cloth in there to stop it... now all is happy.

It's light, so for a gig it's be great as to not fatigue me... and the build looks to be quite nice... the neck strap button makes me wonder, but the light weight makes it easier on the straps.

When I first checked it out, I was thinking.... Oh crap... Kluson style tuners... another needed tuner change. However I'm pleased to report that these are better than earlier epi models... they hold tune well for a change, but I wish the gear ratio were lower.

I don't see why it wouldn't hold up, and it will most certainly accompany me to select shows... I'd have to use something else if I wanted to play distortion sounds though.

They've backed up their warranty on other epi's and answered my quiestions satisfactory... not bad

I have 11 guitars now... and about 4 years into playing like an addict... Great guitar for what it does, love the feel, love to play it, gonna get some similar ones like a sheraton or a riviera.. love the feel, awesome sound clean. Play one, perhaps you'll fall in love.

This is a follow up review. Please see my prior review.

O>K> In my first review of this guitar- I ended up returning the instrument due to several cosmetic and quality issues. This is my second Casino purchased from Musicians Friend. This Casino has no cosmetic issues at all that I could find. The toggle swith works on this one and is nice and tight.No misaligned tuners. The bridge is very quiet (no rattle like the first on), although I did put a drop of clear fingernail polish (and old trick) on all of the moving bridge parts to KEEP it quiet.
The neck is extremely straight however the frets were a mess- It needed a full fret level and dressing right out of the box ($80 with set up and a new set of 10's included). My tech found several high frets and three loose ones that had to be reseated. It now plays perfectly with no buzzing and action as low as desired, although I personally like a medium action (5/64" on the 6th string down to 3/64th" on the first string, measured at the 12th fret).
My tech said there are a lot of beautiful guitars coming out of Korea these days, the weak link being the fret work. I'm giving this guitar a 10 for the finish, and a 7 for action and fit before the fret work.

Should you have to spend $80 for fretwork and a set up on a brand new guitar? Apparently the answer (unfortunately) is yes, and it's not just on the imported guitars. I bought a Gibson ES333 that was a total dog. Had that infamous hump on the neck where it joins the body making it impossible to set up. Right out of the box it needed a refret ($275). Total crap. I've played several Gibsons since then from Pauls to 335's and the majority had neck/fret problems as well as among the worst factory setups I have ever seen. I have talked to many luthiers and techs that have had to do refrets on brand new $6000 "custom shop" Gibsons. At least the Casino ,and also a brand new Tobacco Sunburst (rare color) Sheraton I recently bought only needed a level and dressing. I suppose I could have kept returning them in hopes of getting perfect ones, but I'm convinced such a bird does not exist, and since they were cosmetically perfect with nice straight tight necks, the fretwork was a small price to pay. Now both of these guitars (Casino and Sheraton)are 10's, but I'm rating at 9 because of the extra work and expense of making them playable.

2003 Sunburst model with all the features a thinline archtop should have.

P-90's sound great, Nails that classic Beatles "Revolver" sound, ie:Taxman, He Said She Said, Your Bird Can Sing, etc. Also sounds great for Blues, which I play a great deal of. All in all a great, classic sounding guitar. P-90 single coils were much quieter than I expected, and much fatter sounding than my American made Strat. Nothing thin about the sound of this guitar.

Here's where all of the problems arose with this guitar, and the main reason I am writing this review. About a half dozen black specs which went through the polyurethane finish of the top side of the guitar. An area about the size of a nickel on the bottom side had no Sunburst finish at all, just unfinished wood that had been polyurethaned over. Three position toggle switch was defective right out of the box. Bridge rattled more than any I have ever heard. Made me wonder what was even holding it together.Misaligned tuners. Left side in a straight line, right side top tuner positioned out of line. This guitar was NOT a factory second, but clearly should have been.On the plus side the neck was straight with low action and only very slight buzzing.Adjusting the Truss Rod and raising the bridge a bit eliminated the buzz while still maintaining a pretty low action. No excess filler around the trapezoid inlays as some have mentioned.No overspray around the headstock or F-holes. Really nice fret work. All in all, though, very disappointing.

Sent it back immediately so did not have a chance to put it in a gigging situation.

Don't know about Epiphone, but Musicians Friend emailed me a prepaid Fedex label immediately and are sending another guitar. They could save themselves a lot of return shipping by simply checking out their gear before they sell it. I have never experienced a problem dealing with Musicians Friend.

I have been playing approximatly 35-40 years. I had read all available reviews for this model and was really looking forward to getting it. I'm going to try again , but what a disappointment this was! Incidently, I also ordered an Epiphone Deluxe Hardshell case for this guitar which arrived with a defective lock, so THAT had to be sent back as well- C'mon!!! I just bought a Diary at the 99 Cent store for one of my students and the lock worked perfectly- gimme a break! (And believe me, the case lock was no more complex).

I didn't think Gibson's horrendous quality control (which is another story altogether) had bled over into the Epiphone Division, but apparently it has. Hopefully the one I got was a fluke and the next one will be better- I'll let you know as soon as I recieve it!

This guitar was made in 2001 I think, by the SN, in Korea. 21 frets with a laminated maple top, back and sides; 2 P-90 open coil pickups with a volume and tone control for each and a 3-way selector switch. Neck is mahognay with a rosewood fretboard. The guitar features a glossy poly finish over a curly maple top; the body is fully hollow with 2 f holes. The guitar also features a tune-o-matic bridge, trapeze tailpiece and Kluson-type tuners. Like most guitars in this price range, the deal includes nothing else--no case, strap, cable, no nothin'. It seems that someone who can afford a Gibson ES335 or similar guitar would be able to afford the case as well, but the case is always included with guitars at that level.

I've been a folkie, strumming away on accoustics for years and decided to learn to play jazz. This unit has a great jazz tone with 11-guage strings (shipped with nines) and it was just what I was looking for. It does feed back but controlling it is a simple matter of adjusting your position relative to the amp. Not much tonal variety, but I mostly play it on the neck pickup with the tone control rolled down.

Chris at Robert M. Sides in Williamsport, PA where I got it did a great job of setting it up, but it didn't really need much right out of the box. I had to have it set up again (by Jack at Magdon Music in Olyphant, PA this time--closer to home) when I went with the heavier guage strings. Everything is great now--perfectly balanced pickups, low-but-not-too-low action and again, just the sound I was looking for. Now that I think of it, I should have had the pickup selector switch replaced while it was in the shop for that last set up. I am having the usual problems with that.

This guitar would be great for a live gig, but treat it gently--it IS delicate. I would have no choice but to play without a backup, as it is my only electric. The strap buttons seemed solid, but I replaced them with Strap-Loks anyway because I'm afraid that even one hit would knock the guitar seriously out of whack.

Haven't had to deal with customer service yet but I do know from experience on other purchases that Sides backs up what they sell very well, and I would probably never have to deal with Gibson/Epiphone directly.

I have been playing for about 30 years, but as I said, mostly as a folkie accoustic strummer. I have a 1981 Madiera, a 2000 Epiphone AJ 15E acoustic/electric, and a 1934 Gibson L4. This is my only electric and I chose it for its fat jazz tone, looks, price, and reputation. There is nothing that I especially love or hate about it; it was simply the guitar that had the most of what I was looking for at a price that I could handle.