Epiphone Casino
Manufacturer	Epiphone
Period	1958 — present
Construction
Body type	hollow
Neck joint	Set
Scale	24.75"
Woods
Body	maple (laminated)
Neck	mahogany on most models in most periods; sometimes maple
Fretboard	rosewood on most models, ebony on some
Hardware
Bridge	Fixed
Pickup(s)	2 P-90s
Colors available
sunburst, cherry, natural

The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. It is the base of the Gibson ES-330 and is traditionally regarded as a budget version of this guitar, even though it is the original version.^{[citation needed]} However, the guitar's association with guitarists such as John Lennon and Noel Gallagher has caused the popularity of the Casino to rise.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Construction

The Casino is a hollow-bodied guitar with two Gibson P-90 pick-ups, and although generally come with a trapezoid tailpiece, often a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece is used in its place (either as a factory-direct feature and 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 the Gibson ES-330 are true hollow-bodied guitars. This makes them 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][2]. 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^[1][3]. Current versions have a laminated maple top, sides, and back, and a mahogany neck.

[edit] Use by the Beatles

The Casino was made famous when the Beatles used them on many of their recordings.

Paul McCartney with an Epiphone Casino at Live8

In 1964 Paul McCartney, The Beatles' bass player, acquired a Casino and used it for his studio forays into guitar work, including his guitar solos on "Drive My Car" (1965) and "Taxman" (1966). John Lennon and George Harrison bought 1965 Epiphone Casinos, 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. 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. In the early seventies, the original tuners were replaced with a set of gold Grover tuners or machine heads. His stripped guitar, (but 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, and the Apple rooftop concert on January 30, 1969. It can also be seen in the Let It Be film and most other pictures of John playing guitar after that time. George had his fitted with a bigsby trem, removed the pickguard (it can be seen in this state in the hello goodbye video) and too, had it sanded down.

[edit] Other notable players

[edit] Current Casinos

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Epiphone Casino

Epiphone currently builds several versions of the Casino. These include:

• Regular "archtop-series" Casino made in China (Korea until 2007) [1]
• USA Collection John Lennon 1965 Casino [2]
• USA Collection John Lennon Revolution Casino, based on the modifications Lennon made to his guitar during the recording of the White Album [3]

"USA-Collection" Epiphones are assembled in USA from components manufactured in Japan.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Epiphone Musical Instruments
2. ^ Vintage Guitars Info - Epiphone model history collecting vintage guitars
3. ^ Epiphone Musical Instruments

[edit] External links

• Casino Models at Zuitar Guitar DataBase
• Epiphone Casino on Fretbase