Epiphone Casino Labels
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| Epiphone Casino | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Epiphone |
| Period | 1961–present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | hollow |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Scale | 24.75' with 14' fretboard radius |
| Woods | |
| Body | maple (laminated) |
| Neck | mahogany on most models in most periods; sometimes maple |
| Fretboard | rosewood on most models, ebony on some |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | adjustable Tune-o-Matic style |
| Pickup(s) | 2 P-90s |
| Colors available | |
| Vintage Sunburst, Turquoise, Natural[1] | |
- Welcome to a Tuesday Gearday review her at SCHOPFIELD MUSIC!!!!This Week, Napoleon is reviewing his 2018 Epiphone Casino! A great Hollow Body guitar with P.
- The Epiphone John Lennon 1965 Casino Electric Guitar has a heritage as fascinating as the man whose name it bears. In 1966, during the recording of Revolver, John Lennon and George Harrison acquired sunburst Epiphone Casino guitars. John was taken by his new guitar and made it his main axe from that point on, using several different versions.
The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. The guitar debuted in 1961 and has been associated with such guitarists as Howlin' Wolf, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Dave Davies, Paul Weller, The Edge, Josh Homme, Daniel Kessler, Noel Gallagher, Brendon Urie, Gary Clark, Jr., Glenn Frey, John Illsley, Peter Green and Dave Grohl.[1][2]
Casinos have been manufactured in the United States, Japan, Korea and China.
Construction[edit]
The Casino, also designed by Epiphone as model E230TD, is a thinline hollow-bodied guitar with two Gibson P-90 pick-ups. Although generally fitted with a trapeze-type tailpiece, often a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece is used in its place (either as a factory direct feature or as an aftermarket upgrade). Unlike semi-hollow body guitars such as the Gibson ES-335, which have a center block to promote sustain and reduce feedback, the Casino and its cousin, the Gibson ES-330 are true hollow-bodied guitars. This makes it lighter, and louder when played without an amplifier, but much more prone to feedback than semi-hollow or solid-body electrics.
Early versions of the Casino had a spruce top. Through 1970, the Casino headstock was set at a 17-degree angle and the top was made of five laminated layers of maple, birch, maple, birch, and maple.[1][3] With the exception of the John Lennon models, subsequent Casinos have been made with 14-degree headstock angle with five layer all maple laminated tops. Current versions have a laminated maple top, sides, and back, and a mahogany neck.[1]
Factory string gauge guide for Casino[edit]
Per the Epiphone String Gauge Guide, the Casino comes with string gauges (from high to low): 0.010' 0.013' 0.017' 0.026' 0.036' 0.046'.[4]
Use by the Beatles[edit]
In 1964, Paul McCartney, The Beatles' bass player, was the first Beatle to acquire a Casino[5] (a 1962 model), using it for his studio forays into guitar work, including his guitar solos on 'Ticket to Ride' (1965), 'Drive My Car' (1965) and 'Taxman' (1966). In 1965 John Lennon and George Harrison bought 1965 Casinos,[5] which are clearly seen in photos of Japan concerts (last World Tour, 1966).
John Lennon used the Epiphone Casino as his main instrument during the remainder of his time with the Beatles.[5] In 1968 when the Beatles were making the White Album, Lennon had the pick guard removed from his Casino and professionally sanded to bare wood and lightly lacquered with two thin coats of nitro-cellulose.[citation needed] In the early seventies, the original tuners were replaced with a set of gold Grover tuners or machine heads. His stripped guitar (still with the original nickel tuners) is first seen in the 'Revolution' promo film. The guitar was used at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in December 1968, the Apple rooftop concert on January 30, 1969, and the concert of Live Peace in Toronto 1969 with the Plastic Ono Band on September 13, 1969. It can also be seen in the Let It Be film, including the rooftop concert, and most other pictures of Lennon playing guitar after that time.
Harrison had his fitted with a Bigsby trem, removed the pickguard (it can be seen in this state in the 'Hello Goodbye' and 'Penny Lane' videos, and in pictures of the final Beatles show in San Francisco, 1966). He also had it sanded down in 1968.
Current Casinos[edit]
Epiphone currently builds several versions of the Casino. These include:
- Regular 'Archtop-Series' Casino made in China and uses non-American made parts (Korea until 2007)[1]
- Elitist Casino. Made in Japan and set-up in America, and contains American made parts such as the pickups. Body is 5-ply maple, Gibson P-90 pickups, and nickel hardware.[6]
- Casino Coupé. A smaller version. The body is the same size as a Gibson ES-339.[7]
- Inspired by John Lennon were made in China with American-made 'Tribute' P-90 pickups and a five-ply maple body and are less expensive versions of the now defunct United States Collection John Lennon 1965 / Revolution Casino bodies were built in Japan and assembled in America. The 1965 version has a sunburst finish, white pick guard and small button Grover tuners. The Revolution version was based on the modifications Lennon made to his 1965 Casino during the recording of the White Album, which include a 'stripped' (natural) satin finish, gold Grover tuners, no pickguard, a deeper set-in neck, and Lennon's serial number on the back of the headstock.[1]
- Limited Edition 1961 Casino. This limited version is offered in Royal Tan and Vintage Sunburst, with either a trapeze tailpiece or a tremotone tremolo. It sports a 5-layer maple-birch body, Gibson P-90 pickups, 'short' headstock, bullet trussrod cover, tortoiseshell pickguard, and pre-Gibson era Epiphone badge.[8]
References[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Epiphone Casino. |
- ^ abcdef'Epiphone Casino'. Epiphone.com.
- ^'Gary Clark Jr'. GaryClarkJr.com. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^'Antique Vintage Guitars collector info - collecting old VINTAGE GUITARS'. provide.net. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ^'Epiphone String Gauges'(PDF). Web.archive.org. Archived from the original(PDF) on September 23, 2010. Retrieved 2014-06-13.
- ^ abc'Epiphone: A History'. Epiphone.com.
- ^'Epiphone Elitist Casino'. Epiphone.com. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^'Expert Review: Epiphone Casino Coupe - Harmony Central'. harmonycentral.com. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
- ^'Epiphone 1961 50th Anniversary Casino'. Epiphone.com.
External links[edit]
Epiphone used over the years (1931-1957) five different labels for their achtop guitars. According to Wiedler, the Oval label runs from c. 5000 to c. 7400, the Long Island label from c. 7400 to c. 10500, the Rectangular Masterbilt label from c. 10500 to c. 15400, the Green label from c. 15400 to c. 20300. The Blue label starts with a new serial number system from 50000 to c. 69700.
“The blue label was introduced when Epiphone changed their serial number system for acoustic instruments in c. 1943, replacing the green label at the occasion. Note that the guarantee claim of earlier labels is no longer present on the blue label. The reason for this change is not known – possibly it was related to restructuring measures after the untimely death of company president Epi Stathopoulo on June 6, 1943. The new numbering system appears to have started with SN 50000 (the highest documented number of the old system being SN 20301).” (Wiedler: Close-up # 2)
NOTE : Epiphone named their archtops Masterbilt. However, the Long Island labels read Masterbuilt.
References :
Felix Wiedler, NY Epi Reg
Jim Fisch & L.B. Fred, The House of Stathopoulo, 1996, p. 67
Oval label
Long Island label
Rectangular Masterbilt label
Green label
Blue label
When a guitar was later repaired or refurbished at the factory, Epiphone often applied a newer type label with the old s/n typed in. “Although this is speculation: We believe such “untypical” labels were applied when an instrument went back to the Epiphone factory for a repair or refurbish. In the 1939–1943 period replacement labels (with typed SN) are always of the older “Masterbilt” type. But why that? Possibly Epiphone just forgot to produce green labels with “blank” SN, so kept using old stock.” (Wiedler : close-up # 12)
Epiphone Casino Copy
Newer Rectangular Masterbilt label – Old s/n
Newer Blue label – Old s/n
Epiphone Casino Labels Custom
Very unusual is the label of Olympic Plectrum 16243 – a typed Masterbilt label stuck on top of a green label. SN 16243 is the only example known so far which shows a replacement label glued on top of the original one. It would be quite interesting to see what model name was typed on the green label. (Wiedler : close-up # 12)
Except for the Oval label, all labels have the model name typed on the label in capitals. The Blue label however has occasionally the model name typed in small letters or a combination of both.
NOTE: One often notices direct below the label a curved pencilled line, maybe to indicate where the label should be placed. This practice seems to start with the use of the Long Island label and ended at c. s/n 50.000.
Epiphone Casino Artists
August 2015 Wiedler wrote us:
“Talking about that pencil line, I am pretty sure it was done by running a pencil along the f-hole, serving as a positioning guide to glue the label in. I noticed that the pencil line was still used on Spartan 50440. Shortly after 50440 the line was discontinued and they started positioning the label at a different angle: More parallel to the rim than to the f-hole.”