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tjon901 « The famous thinline hollowbody guitar from the 60s »
Published on 07/13/11 at 11:12The Casino has been on of Epiphones most popular guitar models from the 60s onwards. It was made famous by John Lennon and other British guita rplayers. It may look like a 335 by Gibson but it is more closely based on the Gibson 330. It is a fully hollowbody guitar with no center tone block like on the 335. This means this guitar will feeback at high volumes due to the extra resonance of the hollow body. without the center block it is louder acoustically than the 335. The guitar has a set in mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets. The body is made of laminated maple and this model has a cool cherry finish. The guitar has classic electronics with a set of P-90 single coil pickups. The controls are traditional Gibson fare with a volume and tone control for each pickup and a 3 way toggle.
UTILIZATION
Being a hollowbody guitar it has the same problems you will get on any other hollowbody. It has a older style bridge design that can cause a lot of extra noise. The long distance between the bridge and the tailpiece causes extra string noise so you may have to use some muting material in that area. Being fully hollow means that the guitar will feedback when played at high volume so you will have to take that into consideration. This is amplified by the fact that the pickups are single coil P-90s which produce extra noise on their own.
SOUNDS
With the right settings this guitar sound very good. You can do anything form Jazz to blues nicely with this guitar. The P-90 pickups are mellow like humbuckers but have the extra single coil top and crispness to them. You can get a good rockabilly sound with a moderate about of drive but too much and you still start having feedback problems. With a bit of drive the P-90s really have a classic sound. I am starting to like P-90s more for classic rock than humbuckers. The extra top end on the P-90s give a very classic sound. This guitar is very loud acoustically and this comes out amplified. You can really feel and hear the resonance.
OVERALL OPINION
The Casino is a classic Epiphone model. Frankly it is more popular than the Gibson it is based on because its prevalent use among British guitar players. That really says a lot about the quality difference between Epiphone and Gibson. It is a very versatile guitar and can do all of the classic styles of music. Many of the most popular records of the 60s were recorded with Casinos. If you are looking for a good all around classic guitar or a hollowbody that is easier to handle the Casino has been a popular choice for many decades.
UTILIZATION
Being a hollowbody guitar it has the same problems you will get on any other hollowbody. It has a older style bridge design that can cause a lot of extra noise. The long distance between the bridge and the tailpiece causes extra string noise so you may have to use some muting material in that area. Being fully hollow means that the guitar will feedback when played at high volume so you will have to take that into consideration. This is amplified by the fact that the pickups are single coil P-90s which produce extra noise on their own.
SOUNDS
With the right settings this guitar sound very good. You can do anything form Jazz to blues nicely with this guitar. The P-90 pickups are mellow like humbuckers but have the extra single coil top and crispness to them. You can get a good rockabilly sound with a moderate about of drive but too much and you still start having feedback problems. With a bit of drive the P-90s really have a classic sound. I am starting to like P-90s more for classic rock than humbuckers. The extra top end on the P-90s give a very classic sound. This guitar is very loud acoustically and this comes out amplified. You can really feel and hear the resonance.
OVERALL OPINION
The Casino is a classic Epiphone model. Frankly it is more popular than the Gibson it is based on because its prevalent use among British guitar players. That really says a lot about the quality difference between Epiphone and Gibson. It is a very versatile guitar and can do all of the classic styles of music. Many of the most popular records of the 60s were recorded with Casinos. If you are looking for a good all around classic guitar or a hollowbody that is easier to handle the Casino has been a popular choice for many decades.