I need a personal review for a epiphone casino

Connor03 · December 2016

I'm thinking of treating my self and buying an epiphone casino next year but I like to hear other people's opinions on guitars so I do appreciate any reviews on people who have a epiphone casino. Thanks

sakuarius102 · December 2016

Connor03 said:

I'm thinking of treating my self and buying an epiphone casino next year but I like to hear other people's opinions on guitars so I do appreciate any reviews on people who have a epiphone casino. Thanks

Hi my friend, next month I will but a new guitar, but now I between Casino and Sheraton. I will read the reviews in this page

Regards

Rocker · December 2016

My view on any guitar purchase is first try it out, play it for thirty minutes or so and you will know if it is what you are looking for. If it is, then buy that guitar. If not step away and try another guitar. Reviews are other people's opinions. Trust your own judgement on this as you will be the one who plays it. Good luck and enjoy the experience. Let us know the outcome....

lustycourtier · December 2016

I've had a few from mid 90s to the Lennon inspired by. The inspired by was utter rubbish and felt the cheapest. Pickups were ok, but didn't bring it back into the game. The 90s ones have mega hot pick ups as do the newest, but if I was to get another, I'd be happy with any Chinese or Korean, just not a Lennon. Buy used, with a hard case and you'll be golden.

peteri · December 2016

I would say try first.

I had one - loved the look of it so much, and it didn't sound bad.

But nor was it inspiring either, all show and no go to be honest - the pickups were ok at best, and just wasn't that nice to play.

That said, your mileage/opinion could be completely different - and to be fair, i wasn't sure what I was expecting - but it was just very meh to me

menamestom · December 2016

Also look at the Peerless Songbirds, they are a bit neater than the Chinese Casino's, but the pickups will be the same. However, Peerless prices have gone up significantly so it may be worth looking 2nd hand. I had one for about 4 years, it was really nice, neck is not too thin and the finish flawless. I had the pickups rewound, I would put that into your budget unless you like higher output - both the standard Epiphone's and Peerless have the same P90's, they are okay but a bit too high output, they can be a bit muddy and dark.

I had mine rewound by the Creamery, they went from about 12k to 8k which made them a lot clearer and like a good Casino should sound. The good thing about a rewind was that you know they fit (not all dogear cases are the same) and also I got the plug ends re soldered on to the pickups. This meant I was able to take them off and re install them by just loosening the strings and pulling them out, then a 10 minute job to put them back in.

wayneirie · December 2016

I've had one for a long time its a Chinese made Bigsby model. Epiphone custom shop on the back of the head stock. Make sure you try one the neck isn't very wide and is quite chunky it took some getting used to but now I really like it. Finish on mine is pretty nice.

The pickups are quite dark, I like this for the stuff I play Garage Rock, Black keys, Soul blues its great, I have a Tele when I want a brighter sound. I basically only use the bridge pick up on this guitar although there are some good sounds in the middle if you play with the volume and tone controls, Its a lot of fun with a cranked amp and a fuzz pedal.

I plan to swap the neck out for a mojo gold foil at some point. I don't think I'll ever sell mine, Its a great guitar to have around when you just want to pick up and play unplugged. I've become quite attached to it. When I've had to sell guitars for whatever reason, this one is the one I've kept. Now I have the tele I keep that in standard and use my casino for open tunings slide. Try it, It might also be worth looking for a Epiphone Sorrento reissue hollow body with min humbuckers.

Fuengi · December 2016

I had an Ibanez AS93 which personally I believe is a better guitar that the Epiphone. Everyone who saw it loved it, and some much better players than me rated it highly. Worth a look to compare if you can get your hands on one?

mrmorrison · March 2017

I have a korean made blonde casino which I bought in haste it looks fantastic but I should have tried it out first.Lesson learned.

Snags · March 2018

When I was GASsing for a semi a year or two ago I tried a bunch of options. I really, really wanted to like the Casino (or Sheraton) but was sadly underwhelmed when I tried one. I think the amp choice (assistant guided) didn't help, but even allowing for that it was all just a bit Meh. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't great - it was just bland, and the feel was quite plasticky/rattley too.

I also tried a Gretsch (cheapo and mid-price), a Dot, an Ibanez I fell in loved with on paper but not in my hands and ended up with a Guild Starfire V. I didn't try a real 335 just in case I loved it too much

The Starfire ended up being the only electric I played for just over a year, although now it's back to sharing duties with the LP Studio depending on mood/need of the moment.

Basically, try a few, and definitely look around at other makes; I was surprised where I ended up (other than over budget, which was no surprise at all).

Musicwolf · December 2018

I first played a Casino in a Piano Bar in Japan (a sort of open mic club). No idea where it was made (presumably Japan), the strings were incredibly old and I played through a little solid state combo. Had a great night and loved the guitar. I went back on a subsequent visit to the country and played the same guitar with similar results. As a result I ordered a Chinese model from Thomann which came equipped with a Bigsby. It took a bit of setting up straight out of the box but no major problems. I gigged it for a while and whilst it hasn't seen much use recently I'm keeping hold. If I do sell there are a couple of people I know who would bight my hand off.

The only mod I've done is to swap the bridge for one with rollers. The bridge supplied had notched saddles which was giving tuning issues with the trem.

mark123 · February 2019

peteri said:

I would say try first.

I had one - loved the look of it so much, and it didn't sound bad.

But nor was it inspiring either, all show and no go to be honest - the pickups were ok at best, and just wasn't that nice to play.

That said, your mileage/opinion could be completely different - and to be fair, i wasn't sure what I was expecting - but it was just very meh to me

this was me as well

Voxsupertwin · November 2019

I bought a new Epiphone Casino in 1964.....USA Kalamazoo made, with short headstock....quite expensive at time....£276.12.7d.....in old money....about £5K now. It was a very good guitar and served me well throughout the 60’ss R&B beat group period......I parted with it in the late 70’s due to the massive increase in on stage volume....by then I has changed my Vox Supertwin for 120w Matamp.....the guitar suffered badly from acoustic feedback...it was a nightmare on small stages....finger a chord and away it went all on its own....I had to stand in the best position I could find to minimise the problem. I replaced it with a Gibson Les Paul De Luxe..the one with the mini h/bs and that was the end of the troubles.
the new Chinese casinos look pretty authentic but I expect they will feed back as well......al” depends on where/how you want to use the guitar I suppose. There are some more upmarket version around as well which don’t have he sunburst back.....which is as it should be against an original.....The Peerless model is also good and Korean?......but if you want the classic look then it has to be the Epi....

1983 · November 2019

Love casinos! I’ve played a few of the cheaper models made recently that all have been genuinely good guitars. If you can afford it, look for a 90s Japanese model. Played one the other day and it was outstanding.

BeardedRainbow · February 2021

I've owned two casinos. One was a MIC sunburst and the other was a MIK Peerless factory cherry red with a Bigsby.

Aesthetically, the guitars were great, especially the cherry. The wood was decent with nice figuring on both, and the finish was quite good. Playability was as expected for the price point, and both guitars were slightly on the heavier side.

The big letdown with these guitars was their sound. The guitars were lacking top end and sounded 'dead'. No amount of fiddling with the pickups solved the issue. I liked playing them acoustically more than I liked playing plugged-in. Another minor niggle was the shape of the top and back panels; they were almost flat, unlike vintage casinos with a bit more 'sculpting' to them. Another side note if you are obsessive-compulsive about historical accuracy: the placement of the neck joint on the originals is different from current production, so the join between body and neck is at a different fret.

They are nice guitars, but from my experience, I would advise you to budget for pickup replacement. Another big caveat is playability on the upper frets; it is almost practically a 17-fret guitar unless you get one with the shallower neck set.

Stratavarious · February 2021

Zombie!

koneguitarist · February 2021

BeardedRainbow said:

I've owned two casinos. One was a MIC sunburst and the other was a MIK Peerless factory cherry red with a Bigsby.

Aesthetically, the guitars were great, especially the cherry. The wood was decent with nice figuring on both, and the finish was quite good. Playability was as expected for the price point, and both guitars were slightly on the heavier side.

The big letdown with these guitars was their sound. The guitars were lacking top end and sounded 'dead'. No amount of fiddling with the pickups solved the issue. I liked playing them acoustically more than I liked playing plugged-in. Another minor niggle was the shape of the top and back panels; they were almost flat, unlike vintage casinos with a bit more 'sculpting' to them. Another side note if you are obsessive-compulsive about historical accuracy: the placement of the neck joint on the originals is different from current production, so the join between body and neck is at a different fret.

They are nice guitars, but from my experience, I would advise you to budget for pickup replacement. Another big caveat is playability on the upper frets; it is almost practically a 17-fret guitar unless you get one with the shallower neck set.

17 frets, who the hell goes that high ;-)

Stratavarious · April 2021

Mine is an original ‘63 small headstock, short neck, Kalamazoo made.

Wonderful instrument, worn in to me like perfect slippers. Warm and woody with a proper acoustic edge but real bite with the P90s. Tonnes of character.

The new US made ones would be interesting - or a Gibson 330 if your budget stretches to that.

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/epiphone-usa-casino-electric-guitar-royal-tan?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9_mDBhCGARIsAN3PaFO-8UnwIn0mg4KRVa4bMcomaYx7gKJ_Psf_PZ3cNZDWqkj4SQFDN48aAnLIEALw_wcB

As mentioned, feedback is an issue with any high gain or with cranked amps in constricted stages with the fully hollow body.

Avoid anything with ‘too hot’ pickups.. you want a low wind to get the detail and touch.

You will have to try a few to find ‘the one’ though.

i find modern far east Epiphones a bit bland and stiff,

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

I need a personal review for a epiphone casino

Comments