USA Made Epiphone Casino On The Way

[Zero]

Have one coming from Guitar Center in Hollywood Ca


I just called them, and spoke to a guy there named Allen who gave me unbelievable service.


He said the guitar came in Friday night, went up on their wall, and was pulled down minutes later for them to ship to me.


The only person who has touched it, was him, and he said he played it for about 3 minutes.


He is having is vintage guitar guy set it up, great guy and incredible service.


While I was on the phone to him, someone handed him a 20k vintage flying V.

yeah guitar center Hollywood has a huge vintage section downstairs I think. It’s been too many years since I was there... and Norms. I was a dumb kid when I was there and had no interest in anything old. What was I thinking?!

 

[Zero]

I like modding my stuff too much to go that route, also talent level... I love to tinker and it's easier to justify on a $500-$700 axe than it would be on something like an American Pro II Jazzmaster.

Which, I should add, is damn near perfection (IMHO) @ $1600. The only things I'd do are swap in a Pure Tone jack, and (likely) shield it.

Small wonder I like this eh?

after trying to set up one those freakin wiggle sticks on these things, you did MUCH better. Yes purely based on having a hardtail!

 

[Raiyn]

I got my 59 LP from GC and they sent it through the Hollywood store (I'm an hour away from there). Oddly they sent the guitar in a box by itself with tons of bubble wrap and the case was sent to me about 2 weeks later.

What the actual Fadd9? Wow. I buy my cases (SKB TSA) separately, but Sweetwater is under orders to ship my axes in the case. The '59 "comes with" the case.... makes no damn sense.

after trying to set up one those freakin wiggle sticks on these things, you did MUCH better.

Did I though? If I had bought the Am Pro II Jazzmaster, I'd have had it for months now. Also offset trems are a different beast, they want higher bridges with a shim in the neck to put the action back down. They've got archtop geometry on a flat top and you have to approach it like that.

Yes purely based on having a hardtail!

It'll be a hardtail for maybe a day, I'm adding a Bigsby with a Vibramate plate when I do the teardown / mod session.

 

[Darkness]

What the actual Fadd9? Wow. I buy my cases (SKB TSA) separately, but Sweetwater is under orders to ship my axes in the case. The '59 "comes with" the case.... makes no damn sense.

Absolutely agree. When it arrived I was surprised, very confused. I reached out to the sales lady who I had called to order it, she said the case is on the way and didn't know why it was shipped separately.

While I was waiting I called the nearby Westlake Village GC (basically a small satellite store) to ask some questions. I asked them if they might know where my case is and the guy there also said what the ffff? He got on the phone with the Hollywood shop and seemed to have accelerated getting the case to me. He's a good guy, wish I remembered his name.

 

[Zero]

What the actual Fadd9? Wow. I buy my cases (SKB TSA) separately, but Sweetwater is under orders to ship my axes in the case. The '59 "comes with" the case.... makes no damn sense.


Did I though? If I had bought the Am Pro II Jazzmaster, I'd have had it for months now. Also offset trems are a different beast, they want higher bridges with a shim in the neck to put the action back down. They've got archtop geometry on a flat top and you have to approach it like that.


It'll be a hardtail for maybe a day, I'm adding a Bigsby with a Vibramate plate when I do the teardown / mod session.

Vibramate is key!!! I wanted to do an offset with a Bigsby. I ended up buying a Warmoth body with a Tremolo cut out instead. That was a fun little project.

 

[Raiyn]

Vibramate is key!!! I wanted to do an offset with a Bigsby. I ended up buying a Warmoth body with a Tremolo cut out instead. That was a fun little project.

Umm

Perfect for getting your Sixteen Stone vibe on.

Me, I might have gone for a Mastery.

As for that Jag, I've got my V5 (hacked into a V5 ST) ready to roll.... eventually.

 

[Zero]

Umm
View attachment 15283
Perfect for getting your Sixteen Stone vibe on.

Me, I might have gone for a Mastery.

As for that Jag, I've got my V5 (hacked into a V5 ST) ready to roll.... eventually.

There’s gonna be a build thread right?! I want to reserve my seat now please

 

[Mike M]

Here it is , I'm absolutely in love, will get better pix soon

 

[Raiyn]

There’s gonna be a build thread right?! I want to reserve my seat now please

What? For the Jag? Yeah, probably. At the very least I'll do a teardown where, amongst other things, I'll install the new tuners, add shielding, slap on the Bigsby, and install my mandatory Pure Tone jack.

Anything else is dependent on what I find in the cavities, I might replace the switch or take the opportunity to swap the whole kit and kaboodle.

That's not all I have either.

 

[soulman969]

Here it is , I absolutely in love, will get better pix soon

View attachment 15287

Classy chassis.

They did a nice job on the sunburst. Are you gonna remove the pickguard and let more of it show? And then of course we'll want a full written review.

 

[Mike M]

Classy chassis.

They did a nice job on the sunburst. Are you gonna remove the pickguard and let more of it show? And then of course we'll want a full written review.

It's really hard to put the guitar down.

I have been playing guitar for about 40 years. Own a 335, Tele, and Strat, (owned a Les Paul years ago), and love them all. This is the first P90 and hollow body electric guitar I have ever owned, so a lot is new here for me.

The P90's completely blow me away. I know my way around single coil and humbuckers pretty well, but I am totally ignorant about the P90, and cannot believe I have not crossed its path before.

Its the perfect pickup, a almost perfect cross of the two. Has the dynamic range and touch sensitivity I like in single coils, but a little more heft of the humbucker. There is no bad setting between the 3 pickup combinations, but the middle setting with both pickups is just outstanding.

That combined with the hollow body gives it one of the most rounded pleasant tones I have ever heard, no matter what amp I play it through. It takes every pedal I can throw at it.

The Guitar feels balsa wood light, it barely feels like it's there, almost like a toy guitar. Playing it involves almost no work, it has to be the easiest instrument I have ever played.

Will give more later, but I have to get back to it.

 

[soulman969]

The P90's completely blow me away. I know my way around single coil and humbuckers pretty well, but I am totally ignorant about the P90, and cannot believe I have not crossed its path before.

Its the perfect pickup, a almost perfect cross of the two. Has the dynamic range and touch sensitivity I like in single coils, but a little more heft of the humbucker. There is no bad setting between the 3 pickup combinations, but the middle setting with both pickups is just outstanding.

Count me in as another huge fan of P90s. Every one of my Epiphones have P90s; the Casino, the ES 339 P90 Pro, and my '56 Gold Top Tribute. And of course each P90 sounds a little different going from hollow body to semi hollow to solid body.

I truly believe that had Gibson asked Seth Lover to resolve the hum issues a P90 has in another way far more people would be playing P90s today. Their ability to go from sweet to downright nasty is both astounding and useful and there are ways to conquer the hum.

Another pickup design that has some of the same characteristics of a P90 are the MFD pickups Leo Fender designed for his G&L and Music Man models. They're like 1/3 P90, 1/3 Tele/Strat single coil, and 1/3 Jazzmaster. They have a huge dynamic range as well.

Glad you're enjoying your Casino. It really is a sharp looking guitar too.

 

[Raiyn]

Another pickup design that has some of the same characteristics of a P90 are the MFD pickups Leo Fender designed for his G&L and Music Man models. They're like 1/3 P90, 1/3 Tele/Strat single coil, and 1/3 Jazzmaster. They have a huge dynamic range as well.

If you haven't tried the Doheny, I highly recommend it.
Even without the pot and cap tweaks I did that thing is awesome.

 

[BuddyHollywood]

It's really hard to put the guitar down.

I have been playing guitar for about 40 years. Own a 335, Tele, and Strat, (owned a Les Paul years ago), and love them all. This is the first P90 and hollow body electric guitar I have ever owned, so a lot is new here for me.

The P90's completely blow me away. I know my way around single coil and humbuckers pretty well, but I am totally ignorant about the P90, and cannot believe I have not crossed its path before.

Its the perfect pickup, a almost perfect cross of the two. Has the dynamic range and touch sensitivity I like in single coils, but a little more heft of the humbucker. There is no bad setting between the 3 pickup combinations, but the middle setting with both pickups is just outstanding.

That combined with the hollow body gives it one of the most rounded pleasant tones I have ever heard, no matter what amp I play it through. It takes every pedal I can throw at it.

The Guitar feels balsa wood light, it barely feels like it's there, almost like a toy guitar. Playing it involves almost no work, it has to be the easiest instrument I have ever played.

Will give more later, but I have to get back to it.

Congratulations!

I agree with everything you wrote. Another thing I learned about driving P90s on a Casino is that, at least on my 50th Anniversary wtih Gibson P90s, there are sweet spots on the volume sweep. On mine they are around 3, 7 and 10. Playing around with these sweet spots in every combination in the middle position will give you so many great and useable tones. With the bridge on 10 and the neck on 7 I was able to achieve a comparable raunchy bridge Filtertron style humbucker vibe as I was A/Bing the Casino with a Gretsch Tennessee Rose. I have used my Casino at acoustic performances with both volumes on 3. With the neck on 7 and the bridge on 3 I am able to get a really good fat Strat style neck pickup spank. Have fun!

 

[Old Woody]

I like modding my stuff too much to go that route, also talent level... I love to tinker and it's easier to justify on a $500-$700 axe than it would be on something like an American Pro II Jazzmaster.

Which, I should add, is damn near perfection (IMHO) @ $1600. The only things I'd do are swap in a Pure Tone jack, and (likely) shield it.

Small wonder I like this eh?

I totally agree as I have been gassing for a Jaguar for a while now but I will probably have to "settle" for a MiM model .

 

[MrBilt]

I totally agree as I have been gassing for a Jaguar for a while now but I will probably have to "settle" for a MiM model .

If you do go the MIM route for a Jaguar, I can thoroughly recommend the Vintera '60s version (non-modified). I'd been in the same boat as you regarding offsets for a year or so and finally went for it when the Jaguars came back into stock here in the UK.

It's got 11's on it now as opposed to the lighter gauge it shipped with and I have to say that I'm wondering why it took so long for me to dip my toe into the water, so to speak. The neck profile is, for me, great; nice and full, one of the best Fender necks I have played.

The sound options are also really useable! I kept reading about how the 'rhythm circuit' was useless and how you'd knock the various lower 'on/off' pickup switches while you were playing...well, maybe I'm doing it wrong but I've not accidentally muted myself, nor have I sent strings flying out of place from the "saddle that you MUST replace"! Staytrem and Mastery may not be getting my business, sorry chaps!

Anyway, I didn't mean to stoke your GAS (stoke stoke!) but if you are tempted I would really recommend at least trying one of these.

 

[DoctorQ9]

Been gassing for these for a while.

I played the $650 made in Korea/China one and thought "not bad"

Finally found one in the USA, shipping from a Guitar Center in Hollywood, should be here by the end of the week.

Would love to hear any thoughts, good or bad, from anyone who has acquired one or played one

Thanks

If you watch the excellent YouTube video tour of Epiphone's China factory, you will see that they took great pains to set up a bonafide Epiphone factory and NOT simply have one of the huge guitar fabrication contractors make "stenciled" Epiphones.

My point being that any Epiphone coming out of their China factory is going to be hard to beat. That said, I do support having more guitars "Made in the USA" by any company. If I had the $$, I would buy one of the USA-made Casinos just to have one and support USA craftmanship. But I seriously doubt that it would blow the doors off of my "Made in China by Epiphone" Casino.

 

[soulman969]

If you watch the excellent YouTube video tour of Epiphone's China factory, you will see that they took great pains to set up a bonafide Epiphone factory and NOT simply have one of the huge guitar fabrication contractors make "stenciled" Epiphones.

My point being that any Epiphone coming out of their China factory is going to be hard to beat. That said, I do support having more guitars "Made in the USA" by any company. If I had the $$, I would buy one of the USA-made Casinos just to have one and support USA craftmanship. But I seriously doubt that it would blow the doors off of my "Made in China by Epiphone" Casino.

Over the past decade Epiphone has taken it upon themselves to no longer be seen as Gibson's "poor second cousin". I totally agree with you on your take on the MIC Epiphones. They offer extremely high value for their selling price.

My jam buddy and I have compared two of our respective guitars. His are Gibsons while mine are Epiphones. One is our '56 Gold Tops w/P90s and the other our ES339s. As far as tonality and playability it's very difficult to tell them apart. Gibson P90s are a little "edgier" when cranked but otherwise if not for the headstocks you really couldn't tell them apart.

He even offered me $100 for my ES339 than I paid for it because he loved the way it played and he's been after me to sell him my Casino ever since I got it several years ago. And this is a guy who was born and raised in Detroit and is a die hard Gibson guy. He owns about a dozen of them including two acoustics.

IMHO and IME they are certainly one of the best import models available and only getting better and more diverse with their product line.

 

[IGRocker]

If you do go the MIM route for a Jaguar, I can thoroughly recommend the Vintera '60s version (non-modified). I'd been in the same boat as you regarding offsets for a year or so and finally went for it when the Jaguars came back into stock here in the UK.

It's got 11's on it now as opposed to the lighter gauge it shipped with and I have to say that I'm wondering why it took so long for me to dip my toe into the water, so to speak. The neck profile is, for me, great; nice and full, one of the best Fender necks I have played.

The sound options are also really useable! I kept reading about how the 'rhythm circuit' was useless and how you'd knock the various lower 'on/off' pickup switches while you were playing...well, maybe I'm doing it wrong but I've not accidentally muted myself, nor have I sent strings flying out of place from the "saddle that you MUST replace"! Staytrem and Mastery may not be getting my business, sorry chaps!

Anyway, I didn't mean to stoke your GAS (stoke stoke!) but if you are tempted I would really recommend at least trying one of these.

I used flat wound 11’s on my IBJL Casino. I loved the sound with them on there!

 

[Raiyn]

Over the past decade Epiphone has taken it upon themselves to no longer be seen as Gibson's "poor second cousin". I totally agree with you on your take on the MIC Epiphones. T

It's been a skösh longer than that. My '07 G400 was a nice instrument even before I started modding it. The last 2-3 years though have gotten to the point where most of what I'd consider my "day-2" mods are already done from the factory. That's nice from a player's perspective, but for a guy that occasionally gets paid to do such things.... well it's nice for the player.