NGD !

[3bolt79]

Epiphone Casino in Ebony Worn!
That finish is really comfortable to play in hot weather!

The Ebony color is, to me, not as nice as cherry, worn denim or pelham blue, but it was the only available color...

Contrary to the ones in Olive Drab that I had tried before, this neck feels more like a slim D than a slim C, yet it is very nice to play because it is rather thin.

The hardware is much better than on my Casino Coupe. The bridge is not the same size - on the Casino worn, it is a metric bridge with much larger posts - and it is very tight. No rattling so far - which is a big relief - and it sustains well! The tuners feel equally solid.

Furthermore, its P90 Pro pickups are very convincing and the original strings are very high quality.

The upper fret access is not very good - but I knew that.

The one thing I really don't like on it is the fretwork. There were 8 high frets (!) and action was very high (5 mm) out of the box.
I managed to tap back 6 of them. Two are still a little high but I've been able to lower the strings a bit (action is currently around 3 mm without buzzing, which, for me, is still a little high). And the edges of the top of the frets are so sharp they are painful.
The fretwire is rather low, making bends more difficult than with higher frets.
The shop said they could give me a discount on a set up, but not on fret levelling and crowning.

To put it in a nutshell, I have mixed feelings about this guitar.

On that, if I were you, I would get a notched straight edge, and a 12 inch radius block.

Straighten the neck where the fretboard touches the notched straight edge at all pounds from top to bottom. Then tap the offending frets down again.

Then if there are still highnfrets, mark the high ones and put some sand paper on the radius block and sand the length to the neck. Recheck for high frets. Mit still high, mark the high ones with sharpie marker on the top and again sand a little more.

Once they are all level, put various grades of sandpaper over your finger tip and polish the frets. As the crown on these isn’t as round as a Fender, the depression of the flesh on your finger tip while sanding should provide enough crown.

I have yet to do this on my denim Casino. If you decide you want to try this yourself, I will write you a step by step article with plenty of pics over at Geartalk.com, the new forum where I’m a Moderator, and I will go through the set up step by step with you with pics. It’s really not that hard, and you are looking at probably $30 USD cash outlay for any tools that you may not have already.

Let me know if you would like me to do this. Also, do you have any pokey fret ends?

 

[Paruwi]

My conclusion is that shops in France or Germany don't check the guitars that they receive so the quality control process in Asia has to be perfect (I trust Cort in Indonesia a bit more than others) and the transport then storage of the guitars has to be short-timed and in similar temperature/ humidity otherwise, problems arise.

Some years ago thomann did check every single guitar and proudly advertised this

meanwhile they just can't handle the huge amount of pieces
and you'll find no single word about this on their website

Probably it's way cheaper for them to handle the 'few' returns....

AFAIK they only check their own higher level HarleyBenton models

 

[Paruwi]

Congratulations Mr Squirrel. HNGD!

 

[Robb]

View attachment 26952

I was going to say that, you beat me

 

[Charles Carter]

Congratulations Mr Squirrel. HNGD!
You've inspired me to get my Casino out today. It's been too long.
I think with your mixed feelings you should consider what Jean says above?

Miss/Mrs/Ms? Squirrel, I can only apologise from the bottom of my stupid male heart!

 

[Charles Carter]

View attachment 26952

Ooooops!

 

[Paruwi]

Miss/Mrs/Ms? Squirrel,

Madame Squirrel would be "très bien"

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Some years ago thomann did check every single guitar and proudly advertised this

meanwhile they just can't handle the huge amount of pieces
and you'll find no single word about this on their website

Probably it's way cheaper for them to handle the 'few' returns....

AFAIK they only check their own higher level HarleyBenton models

In my opinion, they no longer check them. And I know that because their customer service told me so over the phone when I bought my EX-76 which was one of their most expensive guitar at the time. They just don't have time, even for their higher-end Harley Benton models, so it's basically just "fingers crossed quality control was good in Asia" there. It is a total crapshoot (as you can see when you read comments on their website).

Meanwhile, I've been super lucky with that guitar. I took it to my local luthier so he could fix straplocks on it (a mod I really recommend with Explorer-inspired guitar shapes as they tend to fall down when playing standing up), and everybody in the shop asked me if they could play it. The luthier told me the frets were as good as on a €1000 guitar, so I know I truly lucked out on that specific guitar's frets and it contrasts with the Epiphones that I got after that.
All I know is that it was made in Indonesia and forums suspected by Cort or World Musical Instruments, but I'm not absolutely sure.
Unfortunately they have changed that model afterwards so you can't actually get the exact same one today.

It's probably riskier to get one in the USA anyway because of shipping.

Overall I've also been truly lucky with my Squiers made by Cort in Indonesia - even the entry-level Bullet.

 

[BlueSquirrel]

Miss/Mrs/Ms? Squirrel, I can only apologise from the bottom of my stupid male heart!

Dear @Charles Carter,
please, don't apologize, mate, as you couldn't know and you don't have "a stupide male heart", you have a great male heart !

 

[Paruwi]

All I know is that it was made in Indonesia and forums suspected by Cort or World Musical Instruments, but I'm not absolutely sure.

the only factory doing OEM for €pi in Indonesia in the last 10 or more years is Samick, factorycode 23 in the serial#
format is: YYMMFFRRRRR

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I meant the Harley Benton, not the Epiphone. It's impossible to know exactly where they are made in Indonesia (a lot of Harley Benton are now made in Indonesia). Could also be Samick or any another Indonesian factory, actually...

 

[Paruwi]

It's impossible to know exactly where they are made

Yep, whatever factory gets them the cheapest offer will get the job

I think meanwhile they get some of the HBs from Vietnam

 

[BlueSquirrel]

They do!
I also have one that is made in Vietnam from the IYV factory, but it is branded Harley Benton.
It is easy to know where the IYV are made because they look exactly and are made exactly like the production of that factory under its own name.
It is the made-in-Indonesia Harley Benton that we don't know where they are from.
I can tell you which ones are from that same factory in Indonesia because they are made the same way and the font they use and their serial numbers are similar.
Anyway, we are drifting off-topic now...

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I've just mustered the courage to file down those two Casino Worn's frets a bit. Action is down to 2.5 mm at the 12th fret on the low E without buzzing.
I don't dare going any further.

Phew! Playing it feels much nicer now!
I'm so relieved!
It's almost like relaxing in a hot bath!

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

They won't exchange it because they only had one, no other shop had any and the next batch might never come.
They have previously phoned Epiphone / Gibson on my behalf because I wanted the worn denim color, but Epiphone / Gibson answered that they had no idea when they would make some more Casino Worn because they were prioritizing other models.

Almost all the Epiphones I have had so far have required some fret job. I don't know if the problem is the way they make them or all the changes in temperature and humidity that they go through between their trips from Asia (then to the USA?) then Europe. It actually is pretty humid in the Paris region. We are very often around 65 % humidity - but other brands seem less affected by that problem.

This time, I bought it from the biggest shop in France because they had told me that they had one in stock and I thought the warranty would be better, but it was actually in a warehouse. They send it to the shop but they had asked me to pay in advance so I could not return it.
And it turns out the warranty is not much better.

I just have to file down two frets, it's not the end of the world. I'll do it when I have more time. It's just not a very good start.

I don't know the specifics, but in the EU, aren't you covered by law? If the product is defective, you should be able to return it and get a refund.

Failing that, the high frets might just need gently hitting down. Support the neck on a sandbag, Or a big bag of frozen peas, then tap the frets down with a rubber mallet. Be careful not to snap the neck though.

As for humidity, Paris isn't that bad. Try the US Gulf Coast (Houston, New Orleans, etc.) 38 Celsius and 95% humidity is normal in summer. It's like living in a tumble driver full of wet towels!

 

[BlueSquirrel]

I don't know the specifics, but in the EU, aren't you covered by law? If the product is defective, you should be able to return it and get a refund.

Failing that, the high frets might just need gently hitting down. Support the neck on a sandbag, Or a big bag of frozen peas, then tap the frets down with a rubber mallet. Be careful not to snap the neck though.

As for humidity, Paris isn't that bad. Try the US Gulf Coast (Houston, New Orleans, etc.) 38 Celsius and 95% humidity is normal in summer. It's like living in a tumble driver full of wet towels!

Thank you very much but I've already explained all that so I'm just repeating myself here, sorry !
I've already tapped down 6 frets. There were two high frets left to file down, which I eventually did but I wasn't too happy because 8 frets is a lot and I've bought a new guitar under warranty so I don't think I should have to do all that.

I still have to file the top edge a bit as it is too sharp and it hurts if I want to slide down the neck and possibly to smooth out the fretboard texture a bit as it is still very rough (I've already oiled it with Music Nomad fretboard oil).

You are right about the European law. They just don't respect it where I live and also in the German shop where I had bought my Casino Coupe and all shops have told me the same thing : They don't receive enough Epiphones to be able to just exchange them or to let the customer play them first and choose the best, so basically, the customer has to order and pay the guitar first thrn it can be arrange to get it delivered at home or to the shop - which I prefer - but they refuse to take them back because they consider that it is normal for an Epiphone to have high frets. Instead, they gave me a discount on a setup (which did not include levelling and crowning).

Thomann (the German shop) has a great return policy, though. I think they are probably going to take a big piece of the market in the future because of that, at least in other parts of the country. Here it is still very complicated to get / take back a big guitar parcel to a remote DHL office without a car. Half of the Paris region's population doesn't have a car. Within Paris and its closest suburb, two thirds of the local inhabitants don't have a car so we appreciate local shops. It is also better for our carbon footprint to avoid having everything delivered by trucks.

Frets problems are unfortunately pretty common on guitars when they reach Europe, notably Epiphone's (I believe they either have a manufacturing problem or a travelling/storage problem). Very few shops here are still Epiphone vendors. To my knowledge there are three shops left in the city but there used to be more and closer to my place. One of them told me they had had too many quality problems with Gibson and Epiphone. Another said it was impossible to know when they would receive the guitars as there was at least a one-year long waiting list.
And the last one - which had the biggest Epiphone selection - closed down due to covid 19.

There are still some big shops that stock Epiphone in the suburbs but they are far away and I don't have a car to get there.

Meanwhile, other brands have filled the void in the city center (Guild, Gretsch, Sire, Tokai, Cort, Yamaha, Ibanez... are rather well-distributed).

I know that it is common in the USA to criticize Guitar Center but these shops are like heaven to us. They offer such a wide selection !

Anyway, the Casino is still a cool guitar, especially when played unplugged, and it's an Epiphone exclusive. I've always liked this brand because a lot of bands that I listen to are Epiphone players (Oasis, U2, The Beatles, Gary Clark Junior...) or Gibson players (Slash, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, Laura Cox, etc).

As to the weather on the West Coast, 38°c with 95 % humidity must be really tough to handle. Still, I would love to visit Houston, New Orleans, etc.
I was super lucky to go to Arizona last summer. Humidity was low but it was very hot (45°c on most days) with incredible landscapes, animals and friendly people. I truly enjoyed it!

So far, we haven't had such high humidity as 95% in Paris or temperature as high as 45°c. The worst we had was 43°c. That is probably why we don't have AC in most buildings. Today it is 33°c outside, 27°c inside with 52 % humidity.