Epiphone Casino
Encyclopedia
The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electric guitar
manufactured by Epiphone
, a branch of Gibson
. It is essentially Epiphone's version of the Gibson ES-330
. The guitar has been associated with such guitarists as George Harrison
, John Lennon
, Paul McCartney
, Keith Richards
, Ryan Ross
, Noel Gallagher
and Gary Clark, Jr.
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 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 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. 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.
In 1965, Paul McCartney
, The Beatles
' bass player, was the first Beatle to acquire a Casino (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 1966 John Lennon
and George Harrison
bought 1965 Casinos, 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. 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" and "Penny Lane" videos, and in pictures of the final Beatles show in San Francisco, 1966) and also, had it sanded down in 1968.
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
manufactured by Epiphone
Epiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
, a branch of Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
. It is essentially Epiphone's version of the Gibson ES-330
Gibson ES-330
The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Though similar in appearance to the popular Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow guitar, the ES-330 was a fairly different guitar in construction and sound...
. The guitar has been associated with such guitarists as George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, Ryan Ross
Ryan Ross
George Ryan Ross III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter most known for his work as the lead guitarist, backup vocalist and main songwriter for the band Panic! at the Disco, before his departure from the band in 2009...
, Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
and Gary Clark, Jr.
Construction
The Casino is a thinline hollow-bodied guitar with two Gibson P-90P-90
The P-90 is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Having a more complex architecture and larger dimensions than Fender's single coils, it is occasionally mistaken for a humbucker.- History :...
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 or as an aftermarket upgrade). Unlike semi-hollow body guitars
Semi-acoustic guitar
A semi-acoustic guitar or hollow-body electric is a type of electric guitar with both a sound box and one or more electric pickups. This is not the same as an electric acoustic guitar, which is an acoustic guitar with the addition of pickups or other means of amplification, either added by the...
such as the Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
, which have a center block to promote sustain and reduce feedback
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
, the Casino and 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. 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.
Use by the Beatles
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' bass player, was the first Beatle to acquire a Casino (a 1962 model), using it for his studio forays into guitar work, including his guitar solos on "Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride
"Ticket to Ride" is a song by The Beatles from their 1965 album, Help!. It was recorded 15 February 1965 and released two months later. -Composition:...
" (1965), "Drive My Car
Drive My Car
"Drive My Car" is a song primarily written by Paul McCartney, with lyrical contributions from John Lennon, and first released by The Beatles on the British version of the 1965 album Rubber Soul; it also appeared in North America on the Yesterday and Today collection...
" (1965) and "Taxman
Taxman
"Taxman" is a song written by George Harrison released as the opening track on The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver. Its lyrics attack the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British Labour government of Harold Wilson.-Composition:...
" (1966). In 1966 John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
bought 1965 Casinos, 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. In 1968 when the Beatles were making the White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
, 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
Revolution (song)
"Revolution" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The Beatles released two distinct arrangements of the song in 1968: a hard rock version as the B-side of the single "Hey Jude", and a slower version titled "Revolution 1" on the eponymous album The Beatles...
" promo film. The guitar was used at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a film released in 1996 of an 11 December 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull...
in December 1968, and the Apple rooftop concert on January 30, 1969. It can also be seen in the Let It Be
Let It Be (film)
Let It Be is a 1970 documentary film about The Beatles rehearsing and recording songs for the album Let It Be in January 1969. The film features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public...
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" and "Penny Lane" videos, and in pictures of the final Beatles show in San Francisco, 1966) and also, had it sanded down in 1968.
Current Casinos
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) http://epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=5&CollectionID=1
- Revolution John Lennon 1965 Casino. This "Inspired by John Lennon" version is made in China with American-made "Tribute" P-90 pickups and a five-ply maple-birch body and is a less expensive version of the now defunct USA Collection John Lennon Revolution Casino which was made in Japan and assembled in America. It 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 signature on the back of the headstock. http://epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=19&CollectionID=2
- John Lennon 1965 Casino. This "Inspired by John Lennon" version is made in China with American-made "Tribute" P-90 pickups and a five-ply maple-birch body and is a less expensive version of the now defunct USA Collection John Lennon 1965 Casino which was made in Japan and assembled in America and was sold as a replica version of John Lennon's 1965 Casino. This version has a traditional satin vintage sunburst finish, white pickguard, "vintage" Kluson tuners, and Lennon's signature at the back of the headstock. http://epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=18&CollectionID=2
- Elitist Casino. Made in Japan and assembled in America and contains American made parts such as the pickups. Body is 5-ply maple, Gibson P-90 pickups, and nickel hardware.
- Limited Edition 1961 Casino. This limited version is offered in Royal Tan and Vintage Sunburst, with either a trapeze tailpiece or a Vibrotone 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.
External links
- Official Epiphone Casino site
- Casino Models at Zuitar Guitar DataBase
- Epiphone Casino on Fretbase
- http://www.garyclarkjr.com/