Epiphone Casino

Korean made, cherry coloured Casino... you know the rest...

I'll admit that I was incredibly disappointed with this guitar. I bought it being a massive fan of The Beatles and Oasis and after reading many glowing reviews of it on here...
I played it through a Marshall G50RCD and however much I tried I just couldn't get an inspiring sound from it... The feedback at just normal volumes became unbearable and I ended up selling it after 6 months... i did give it a fair chance...

I had no gripe with this part... It was very easy to play and looked great

You have to treat her well... she's fragile being a hollowbody and all...

didn't need it..

Just found it a tad uninspiring... I was kinda glad when I sold it..

Okay, anybody who'll say something about it being an Epiphone and not a Gibson clearly knows nothing. The Casino is an original Epiphone signature model, from before their name was just used for Gibson models made in Indonesia. Why else would all 3 guitar-playing Beatles use them? Anyway, the guitar's features are perfect. I didn't want a locking whammy bar or an EVH D-Tuner or any other gimmicky crap. I wanted 2 P-90s and 4 knobs and they all work.

It sounds like rock 'n' roll. Hollowbody guitars, especially with P-90s, have the perfect 50s and 60s rock sound. Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, John Lennon. That's all one really has to say.

I took it out of the box and played for about 8 hours without so much as stringing it.

It's fine. About as good as a thin, hollow-body could be. You can't expect it to take a huge amount of abuse. The screw on neck-join strap button is a little loose. I plan on gigging and playing for many years without a back-up.

I'm not too sure. I bought the guitar from Long & McQuade, who have discontinued sale of the Casino model. I'm guessing I might be on my own.

I've been playing for about 5 years now. I have some older stuff and some newer stuff. I suppose I chose the guitar based on the Beatles' use of it, but I think that anybody who likes the roots of rock or blues would really dig this guitar. On top of that, the turquoise finish looks really nice, and the price is outstanding.

First off, I didn't buy a Gibson, so I won't say anything else about them. I bought an Epiphone, because that's what I wanted, not a Gibson knock-off, or a cheap alternative. I wanted an Epiphone, and that's what I got.

Anyway, the Casino 2 P-90's, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, 3 way switch. Time-proven setup. The Casino is a completely hollow guitar, which makes for a good little bit of honk, but not so much in the way of sustain. I got the Vintage Sunburst finish. This guitar has everything it needs to sound great.

One thing that surprised me on this guitar was the width of the neck. Being primarily a Strat man myself, I have grown accustom to the weenie-width of the Strat neck, and I was expecting a big difference on the Casino. However, much to my surprise, none could be found. The neck is of a comfortable, thin profile that I instantly found easy to play. After playing Strats with little thin necks for so long, I didn't even notice that the Casino was lacking the charachteristic fatty necks that most guitars of this type have. I was pleased.

This is where it counts. The sound on this thing is excellent. I didn't think that at first, because for the better part of my life, I had played mainly solid-body Fender guitars, so it sounded different. It definitely took some getting used to, but once I got over the fact that it wasn't a thin-coil solid-body, I really liked the sound. It's got a nice fat sound thanks to the P-90's, and it's unbelievably mellow because of the hollow body. Even on the highest tone setting on the bridge pickup, I still couldn't get anything more twangy than a smooth, mellow shimmer. In combination with the neck pickup, it produces that sweet midrange that the Beatles used to put the Casino on the map. The neck pickup by itself can be slightly prone to muddiness, but if you keep your tone knob in check, you can avert unwanted mud.

Another great thing about this guitar is it sounds good, as dirty or clean as you want it. Obviously, a guitar like this was not intended for the fuzz/high-gain world, but even under heavy overdrive situations, it still maintians it's pristine mellow charachteristics.

It's also worth mentioning that one of the biggest influences to buy this guitar was the "Beatles" sound. I'm a huge fan of the Beatles, and this guitar really nails the sound.

I was a bit displeased to see that, on the back near the binding, there was a chip on it, right out of the factory. However, such a minor defect was nothing I was willing to give up my guitar for. the rest of the guitar was in good, finished condition. The laquer was a bit thin around the edges of the F-holes, but such can be expected from a guitar in this price range. The finish on the top, sides, and back is smooth and evenly-applied, and the neck is set into the guitar with no seam whatsoever.

The fretboard left me with mixed feelings. The fake plastic mother-of-pearl looks decent, but was set into a larger hole on the fretboard, leaving small gaps between the inlay and the fretboard, though only closely-scrutinizing eyes would pick up on that. Another thing on the fretboard that I found a tad less than aesthetically-pleasing was the fretboard itself. Down the fretboard there are two large light-red streaks, giving an uneven appearence to the fretboard. However, neither of these aesthetic flaws affected the playability, and as such I am still fairly satisfied.

I've heard that Epiphone is a bit hit-and-miss with their wiring and electronics, but this guitar seems to check out just fine, as did my Epiphone Zephyr Blues Deluxe. The switch seems sound, and the knobs all operate smoothly with no crackle. The pickups both seem sound as well. I don't know about any others, but the Epi's I've owned have all been quite satisfactory.

Never dealt with them. However, Musician's FEIND is usually pretty decent about hooking you up with info to get the company to honor the warranty.

I've been playing for about 10 years, and I've played just about every type of guitar under the sun. I favor Fenders, but I needed something to round out my sound in the studio. Enter the Epiphone. It was an inexpensive, well-made guitar that sounds great and plays very nicely. Epiphone doesn't scrimp on features, extras, or aesthetics, and I respect that a lot.

One word for the haters, the price-tag snobs, and the substitute Gibson buyers: Be proud of what you have. These guitars are not sub-par Gibsons. They're just excellent guitars, straight up. The reason Epi's get such bad raps is because they have to live in the shadow of their Big Brother, Gibson. Obviously, you're going to be pretty hard-pressed to find a guitar that can compete with Gibson's quality, but if you forget for just a second or two that your Casino is an ES 330 spinoff, or that your Les Paul doesn't say Gibson on the headstock, and just take the guitar at face value, you'll see that these guitars are not cheap; they're merely inexpensive. If you're going to buy an Epiphone, be proud of the name, becuase they're quality guitars. Don't compare, don't pretend it's something else, and don't keep yourself from enjoying the guitar because it wasn't $3000. These guitars are tops, and I stand by my axe 100%. I'm proud to be an Epi owner, and I really have no desire to buy the Gibson counterpart. I like my guitar, I like the price, I like the features, and I like the name. So do yourself a favor, forget it's Gibson's sub-company for a moment and treat yourself to a fine guitar. You may know what you're missing, but if you look at an Epiphone, you probably won't care.

stock, poor quality. never stayed in tune. i put on new kluson tuners. pickup switch is crap and cuts out on neck pickup, needs to be replaced. potentiometer shafts are bents, knob's aren't straight, doesn't affect playability. the pickup pole pieces don't align with string, brisge is shaky. binding is poorquality. the rosewood fingerboard is very porous. action is ok but not great. low rating because it has lot's of features but their poor quality, and many need to be replaced.

p-90s sound awesome. this guitar sounds incredible. if i had $2000, i'd buy a 60's ES-330, because epiphones are not good construction.
great for rock and blues.

not good. strings don't line up woth polepieces.action is not so good. tune-o-matic sucks. mine is turquoise finish, looks good, but binding has flaws.

good so far

dunno

i'd pay $250. not that great in features and construction, but killer sound

This is a 2003 Epiphone Casino (natural) made in Korea. Standard features (see musician's friend or other site for details). The only reason i didn't give it a 10 is because it doesn't have humbuckers.

Ive been playing since 1967. I like rock, jazz, and blues. This guitar is well suited for all three styles. It's a hollow body, so don't expect it to sound like an ES 335. Ive owned and ES 330 and a les paul and the casino is my favorite for sound.

Excellent finish, no flaws. Vol and tone knobs lean when turned, as if the shaft is bent. I don't care. I love to play it - very light and well configured. Action is fine.

N/A Haven't had it long enough.

Ive finally found the perfect guitar for me (since i can only have one cause my wife says so). I would replace it if stolen or lost. Made in USA is no longer the gold standard for me.

I purchased my ebony Epiphone Casino about a year ago. It was second hand, but in excellent condition. It was made in 1997. It is all stock with great P90's on it. I was pleased with the quality of workmanship on this guitar. The only thing I don't like about this guitar is the weight. It is too light, and the neck doesn't balance too well. If there was more weight on the headstock, it'd be ideal. I love the trapeze tailpiece, and you can never go wrong with a Tune-O-Matic bridge. This guitar is very 60's, that's what drew me to it. The tuning pegs are crap, and a little loose. Not so they rattle, but not as rigid as i'd like. I can't see a way of tightening them. I didn't like the scratch plate, with it's big "E" on it. It looked like a euro sign. I removed the scratch plate all together to give the guitar a sleeker look. The neck is nice, and the frets are in good shape. The quality of the fret board is as good as my Gibson. It has all the features you need for a guitar like this.

The Casino has a great treble (jangly) sound that gives a sharp distortion. It has the body for an array of rhythm tones that will cover all sorts of music. The pick-ups are good and clean, no buzzing at all. It is good for blues and most lead stuff. I've strung it with 11's, which seem perfect for it. This guitar will always go to the studio with me. With the guitar being so light, it feed backs quickly, but you're always gonna get that with a hollow body.

The set-up was very good when I got the guitar. It needed a few tweaks here and there, and the intonation was a little out, but theses were very easily sorted out. I've not had any problems with the electrics, eveything is smooth and quiet. The "E" on the pick guard had glue comin off it, but that didn't matter to me coz I removed it anyway.

This guitar will age well. When it is freshly strung and nicely polished, it looks sensational, and plays like a beauty. Thats what I love about my "Jezabel"- She always looks great, I can play with her when I like, she doesn't speak unless I make her, and you can put her in a case when you've had enough. I wouldn't gig without a backup, I'm too paranoid. This guitar is very versatile an dependable.

Never had a problem with the guitar.

I've been playin 10 years. I also own a Gibson SG standard and a Fender JM. This guitar is right up there with them, even though it was cheaper. It was a bargain! If it were stolen, I'd definitely replace it with one as close as I could get. I love this guitar. Maybe I should get heavy tuners and solve all my problems.

I bought it in 2002, Natural finish, trapize bridge, everything else is stock parts

I have only tried to use it a couple of times because it keeps flying out of tune every couple of seconds, every time you touch lightly on the body it gives a huge dip in the sound (wammy effect) and also I have not been able to get rid of the feedback playing through mine (marshall 65 watt aniversery series) or any amps i have tried.

Finish is amazing,

Can't play live, won't stay in tune also feedback

n/a

Unless someone can help me with the problems i am having I would not recomend this guitar unless it is to put on display if you are a Lennon fan!

2002 Epiphone Casino, double cutaway cherry finish, hollowbody with two p-90's. Good basic features for simple but elegant guitar. Looks much better without the pickguard.

This sound of this guitar is brighter than my Epiphone Les Paul but warmer than my brothers Fender Telecaster. It is a perfect in between. The clean sound is bright but warm and beautiful and the distorted sound is warm but much clearer than most humbucker guitars. The overall tone is powerful but distiguished like no other guitar I've ever played. Although it is most importantly perfect for the original music I make, I will try and give you a idea of what I think it's good for. I play all kinds of rock n' roll but mainly brit-rock (Oasis, The Verve, Travis) and throwback rock (Superdrag, The Strokes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club). this guitar is very good for all of those bands considering that Noel Gallagher of Oasis has played casinos, John Davis of Superdrag has plays a casino, and Nick Valensi from The Strokes plays a casino.

The on this guitar is very good. It is alot easier to play bar chords on this guitar than any other guitar I've ever played. The cherry finish is flawless and the overall look of the guitar is beautiful. Unfortunatly the pickup selector is already going crap and the bridge pickup cover wasn't properly soldered on one side and buzzed horribly. These problems are easily fixed and well worth it for the sound and playibility.

It is a hollow body and is therefore quite literally less solid than a Les Paul or Tele but other than the faulty hardware the guitar seems very reliable and I would gig without a backup (if I didn't have the Les Paul). The strap buttons look solid even though I will get strap locks eventually. With a little work, very dependable.

Never dealt with them.

This a very rock n' roll guitar. It's very unique and you should definately play before you buy, but if you play any kind of more traditional rock music it's an amazing value. With a little bit of work it can easily become a professional quality guitar. Compared to my Les Paul and my brothers Tele it's definitely my favorite. One the coolest guitars I've ever played.

I had an epiphone casino that i got for a xmas present, and it was the worst guitar i've ever had, the strings were too close together, couldnt get any distortion out of it, and the selector switch broke after a few weeks. i traded it in for a epiphone dot and thats sooo much better.

sound = s**t, sounds like a bad strat copy when it gets distorted. oh and the hum from those pickups arrggh.

the strings are too close together, if u have normal sized fingers playing chords other than fiths is virtually impossible without touching strings u dont want to.

flimsy, very flimsy, the pickup selector switch (mainly the little plastic tip) will break quick. dont do a gig without having another guitar ready to switch too.

epiphone are very eager to help and they are quick to send replacement parts out for a fee.

I've been playing 8 years now and i have an ibanez rg-7620 in black which is probably the best guitar i have ever played, i have a POD 2 into a marshall vs102r. i really think that this is a bad guitar, if u want a beginners guitar get a squire telecaster, its cheaper, will last longer and is easier to play.

1997 'Aged Natural casino' (more of an Orangy color, not the white they are making now,the best looking i have seen of all the casinos). 22 frets, set up in USa (and well too!). Case came with it,..

Perfect. almost. the 'lead' pickup is the best ive heard. i love playing through it.. the 'rhythm', however can get muddy with insufficient Tone, so be careful with that. Of all the hollowbodies ive played, This ones the best; Riviera- great to play, but tone is warbly and mixed up (i.e. the bass is TOO bassy and the highs are too high, the mids not really there), es-335 being muddy (same with other gibson HBs).
Like i said, the 'lead' can give this amazing treble sound ive only heard with others using this guitar (ie the BEATLES and other users of this guitar. but dont get it just because the beatles did.. it has a life of its own).
The rhythm can get muddy, but maybe its just my amp, having a small practice 10w. amp and wanting something near 100w (plus or minus a few of course) to move up on (ANY SUGGESTIONS? PLLLEAAASEEE because i dont know where to start in looking for amps.... )

Also. Feedback: ive never played more than ten watts for a long period of time, so this hasnt been a problem for me. i played through some big vox amp once and turned it up pretty far (not knowing its full potential..me the dummy). i played some chord and the sound blew me away. not so much the beauty of it, just the quantity. Thats how far ive gotten with loudness, no feeback.
AND if you do want to get some, heres a neat little trick ive found to get some *controled* feedback.

1. Put on the 'distortion' or 'overdrive' on the amp. if you need an effects pedal, im not sure if itll work. try it anyway.
2. play any open string hard (ive found an open A works best). pluck it as hard as you can without breaking it
3. behind the bridge but in front of the tailpiece theres 4 inches of string. press on the corresponding string (with me its an A, behind the bridge) until the string vibrates (giving a 'vibrato' sound).

4. do this press on it REALLY fast, with increasing rhythm.
Out of the amp will start to come this almost haunting A note..turning into some REALLY COOL feedback.

you can stop here, learn it better to where you can do it very quickly and any time you have an open A whole note (maybe half if you are really good at it) you can do this to get a cool effect.

however, heres something i like to do even more:

Find an Ab/G# note an octave higher (like first fret G string) while doing the original vibrato motion behind the A string.

What you should get (with some practice) is this..let me try to describe.. flangy, rotating mess that sounds AMAZING when playing some late 60s/early 70s rock (IE JIMI HENDRIX). if you are copying his rendition of 'the star spangled banner', look for an A note and do this to add the the imagery.

Dont think it sounds horrible, used right, it can be the coolest thing ever..

Thats my bit for feedback, thanks.


The other stuff i like to play is jazz. i really like playing django reinhardt and 'gypsy jazz', but also charles mingus and such. oh! and STAN GETZ>>>>>>>AMAZING!!

however, you have to do some serious twitching to get some great jazz tones. for django, leave it at treble and get some vintage tones that make you think of record players.
other jazz, however, can be hard to play along to with this guitar.
maybe i havent found the 'sweet spot' yet, or maybe its my amp (i hope so..) but theres a very fine line between mellow and muddy with this thing.
i really like the stock p90s though, so i wont be changing them. the jazz situation, well its really not horrible. you just have to do some adjusting on the amp as well as your guitar (you may put it on the 'rhythm' channel on your guitar, but youll have to raise the treble on the amp, stuff like that, to balance each other out).

someone else said 'it has the ability to really bite'. they put it best. youll be on a clean channel when you play some double stops and get some distortion. but not bad distortion. just a little frill...a bite really. a growl. its amazing. this guitar's a person

Everything here, great. its used too.

dunno..ive had it for a quarter year.

however, it seems to be quite sturdy. sure its not nearly as strong as a tele or something, but compared to other hollowbodies this is a tank. And the finish (not sure..polyurethane?) alows you to rub it against something and not leave a mark (i doubt youd want to test it with this beauty though..)

i would use it on a gig without a backup. for sure. its never gone down on me.

its used.

everyone says this is just a hyped 'beginners guitar'.
id barely consider myself a beginner, and this is the nicest guitar ive owned. im not a fender fan, i used to like gibsons (until i played a few!) so this seems to be MY GUITAR!! perfect! its my beauty. on past guitars, id have it for three months and id already be trying to surf on it.

if i lost it or if it was stolen (God forbid!) id buy another one. once i found 'the next one' (second only to 'the one').

i love everything about it. its almost as if its a person you love. its not perfect, but you keep finding out more about it you love until its your 'mate'.