Beatles and their Casinos

[rickboy88]

The new Vintage Guitar magazine (May 2010) has a nice article about Paul, George, John, and their various Casinos. It initially covers the story of why McCartney got his, which was the first one of the bunch. It covers their usage (including by all 3 on Sgt. Peppers) for various recordings, who sanded their guitar and why they did, etc. I remember McCartney always referring to his as the "Epi."

The cover is hard to miss, as it shows Lennon working with his, probably before a concert.

There is also a "sister" article about the '66 Casino.

I really like that magazine. I've also been getting Bass Guitar magazine, but it looks to be in a slow decline. Vintage Guitar seems to usually have at least one Rickenbacker related article each issue.

I forgot to mention that it was written by Andy Babiuk (Beatles Gear).

[JakeK]

Sounds pretty cool, of course I need to find out what bookstore near me carries VG magazine.

I've always been under the impression that Paul's was a '61 or '62 Casino, and differed from John and George's in that it had a different shaped headstock and black knobs. I've guessed that George's was from '65, just like I knew John's was.

I've never played a Casino before, but it is an Epiphone (as is the Sheraton) that I like and it is a fine guitar. I hope to one day own a new "Inspired by Lennon" 1965 Casino.

[libratune]

Jake, VG single issue price is $6 and a year's subscription (12 issues) is $25. Go for it!

Nice article by Andy Babiuk. Probably nothing new in there, but he pulls together tidbits that make a good story.

I especially liked the part where George says, "If you take the paint and varnish off [a guitar], it seems to sort of breathe." Remember folks, this was 1967. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds era. The walls were breathing, too.

[sloop_john_b]

It was nice seeing this issue arrive in the mail just a day after I got my first Casino. A very happy coincidence!

Much of the information seems to be rehashed from Beatles Gear, but it was nice to re-read it and see the photos anyway.

[sloop_john_b]

BTW, of the Beatle Casino's, my favorite is Paul's. Here's a converted MIC replica done by our own FabGear (Jeff):







Note the reshaped (and accurately reliced) headstock.

[Ricara]

I used to play and collect guitars in the early '70s. We never considered Epiphones to be desirable at all. They were still made in Gibson's Kalamazoo factory back then. Basically they were just poor-man's Gibsons. The Casino was more-or-less a Gibson ES-335, but without the humbucker pickups -- just the P-90 single-coils that picked up hum. Plus the Epipnone headstock was a lot bigger than the Gibson and never looked right to me.

There can be no doubt that the Beatles got some great sounds and great tones from the Epiphones, but I think they would have with almost any guitar.

It's kind of like the Gibson J-160E. Apparently they don't sound all that good acoustically. They deliberately made the top "dead" so that it wouldn't feedback when plugged it. They asked Les Paul to endorse it and he refused. Their collectability only comes from the fact that the Beatles used them. Again, it was to great effect. But like Hendrix, I think he would have sounded great on a Teisco....

Just my $0.02.

Cheers,
Charlie

[libratune]

Charlie,

Good comments, points well taken. One suggestion, though: "The Casino was more-or-less a Gibson ES-335, but without the humbucker pickups -- just the P-90 single-coils that picked up hum."

Actually, the Casino most closely resembled the Gibson 330 in body and electronics -- like the Casino, the 330 no "center block" but was a true hollow-body, also with P-90s but usually w/out a VB.

The 335 had a "center block" -- a solid piece of wood in the center of the body interior -- that reduced feedback and increased sustain(allegedly), provided something on which to anchor the stop-TP (pre-1965)and made the guitar heavier.

[sloop_john_b]

The Casino was more-or-less a Gibson ES-335, but without the humbucker pickups -- just the P-90 single-coils that picked up hum.

ES-330 to be precise - they were the same exact guitar, built side-by-side. Is a 335 "better"? Nope, just a different animal. Something for people who prefer P-90's over PAF's and who prefer a seriously light guitar over one with a center block.

Edit: What he said.

[JakeK]

BTW, of the Beatle Casino's, my favorite is Paul's.

Just an opinion, but I've always thought John's was sort of iconic. Tell us more about your new Casino, JB.

Who else was famous for Casinos?

There was Keith Richards. Does his Casino remind anyone of Paul's (aside from the different tailpieces)?:


There was also Dave Davies. What year does his look like? It looks a lot like a '62, probably from the same batch as Paul's:


Tom Petty also gave high praise to the Casino, said it was a versatile guitar that can cover a lot of ground. He said in 2006 that he spent "a tour rehersal last year on just a Casino." He owns a '65 Casino.

[kennyhowes]

One That Got Away: My old 196? cherry red Casino. Should've kept that one. Looked like this:

Not mine, but I had one just like it.

[Ricara]

Actually, the Casino most closely resembled the Gibson 330 in body and electronics -- like the Casino, the 330 no "center block" but was a true hollow-body, also with P-90s but usually w/out a VB.

The 335 had a "center block" -- a solid piece of wood in the center of the body interior -- that reduced feedback and increased sustain(allegedly), provided something on which to anchor the stop-TP (pre-1965)and made the guitar heavier.

Hi, Thanks for the correction. I never realized that they weren't semi-hollow. It makes me wonder how they ever used those guitars without getting massive unwanted feedback. I had always played solid-bodies, but ended up with an old (1961?) ES-345 from a weird trade. I played it in a few rehearsals with our band and the thing was almost impossible to control when it was time for a solo. Some notes would just take off as soon as you hit them.

But we were still snobs about Epiphones. Even if we had wanted a full hollow-body, we would have gotten a Gibson rather than the corresponding Epiphone...
About the only guitars that the Beatles had that we drooled over were George's in "Let it Be" -- he had that bitchin' rosewood Telecaster plus a "cherry top" Les Paul. We didn't know at the time that the Les Paul had been refinished, but it still is a beautiful guitar!

[sloop_john_b]

Looks like Keith's is earlier than Paul's - it's got the black pickup covers.

[gregga41]

Just received this last week.

1999 Korean-built Casino.

The Apple rooftop session comes to mind!

[just_bassics]

I own a newer Casino and a vintage ES-335. There couldn't be two more different guitars, IMO. The sound and feel are almost polar opposites. Also, the casino neck joins the body about two frets lower (in pitch) than the 335 and with a thicker cutaway, renders frets 21 & 22 useless on the casino, at least for my reach. But I love the casino, it is very light and "airy" feeling, the neck P-90 is sweet and I tend to play very differently on the casino than I do on the 335. I have the maple finish and would like to add a sunburst finish someday, but I'm simply out of room for any more guitars.

I know, buy a bigger house!

[Ricara]

For all of the Epiphone experts out there, JustBassics noted that the ES-335 neck joined the body two frets higher than the Casino. Presumably this was due to the internal construction of the '335, but does anybody know if the ES-330 was like the Casino in this regard or like the ES-335?

Also, Casino owners, do you have any problems with unwanted feedback?

Thanks,
Charlie