Epiphone casino history

Electric guitar

Epiphone Casino
Manufacturer	Epiphone
Period	–present
Body type	hollow
Neck joint	Set
Scale	" with 12" fretboard radius
Body	maple (laminated)
Neck	mahogany on most models in most periods; sometimes maple
Fretboard	rosewood on most models, ebony on some
Bridge	adjustable Tune-o-Matic style
Pickup(s)	2 Ps
Natural, Vintage Sunburst, Turquoise[1]

The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electricguitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. The guitar debuted in and has been associated with such guitarists as Howlin' Wolf, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Keith Richards, Dave Davies, Brad Whitford, Shirley Manson, Paul Weller, The Edge, Josh Homme, Daniel Kessler, Brendon Urie, Gary Clark, Jr., Glenn Frey, John Illsley, and Peter Green.^[1][2]

Construction[edit]

Casinos have been manufactured in the United States, Japan, Korea and China.^{[citation needed]} The Casino, also designated by Epiphone as model ETD, is a thinline hollow-bodied guitar with two Gibson P pick-ups.^{[citation needed]} 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).^{[citation needed]} Unlike semi-hollow body guitars such as the Gibson ES, which have a center block to promote sustain and reduce feedback, the Casino and its cousin, the Gibson ES 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.^{[citation needed]} The Casino neck joins the body at the 16th fret instead of the 19th like on the Gibson ES models.^{[citation needed]}

Early versions of the Casino had a spruce top. Through , the Casino headstock was set at a 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 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]

Per the Epiphone String Gauge Guide, the Casino comes with string gauges (from high to low): " " " " " ".^[4]

Use by the Beatles[edit]

In , Paul McCartney, The Beatles' bass player, was the first Beatle to acquire a Casino^[5] (a model), using it for his studio forays into guitar work, including his guitar solos on "Ticket to Ride" (), "Drive My Car" () and "Taxman" (); he also played it on “Helter Skelter” (). In John Lennon and George Harrison bought Casinos.^[5]

John Lennon used the Epiphone Casino as his main electric instrument during the remainder of his time with the Beatles, replacing the Rickenbacker ^[5] In when the band were making the double album The Beatles, Lennon had the pickguard 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.

Harrison had his fitted with a Bigsby trem and removed the pickguard. He also had it sanded down in

McCartney's Casino, kept in the original sunburst finish, is still owned by him and occasionally used live. Like Harrison's Casino, McCartney removed the pickguard and added a Bigbsy trem to it.^[6]

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 )^[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 pickups, and nickel hardware.^[7]
• Casino Coupé. A smaller version. The body is the same size as a Gibson ES^[8]
• Inspired by John Lennon were made in China with American-made "Tribute" P pickups and a five-ply maple body and are less expensive versions of the now defunct United States Collection John Lennon / Revolution Casino bodies were built in Japan and assembled in America. The 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 Casino during the recording of the Beatles double 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 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 pickups, "short" headstock, bullet trussrod cover, tortoiseshell pickguard, and pre-Gibson era Epiphone badge.^[9]
• In , a Gibson USA made Epiphone Casino became available.^[10]
• In , Epiphone released a new Chinese-made Casino as part of the Original Collection.^[11]

References[edit]

External links[edit]