Anyone have The JL 1965 Casino?

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:47 am

I was just wondering how different these are from the MIK Casino cuz Musicians friend has these on clearence for $1199.

wj350 · Post by **wj350** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:05 pm

Mitch, I'll let you know...I just ordered one!

I've got the Revolution, and I also have a Korean Casino. The obvious you already know--Gibson USA electronics, p/ups, finish, etc.. I love my Korean Casino--she's got one of the sweetest necks I've ever held. But you can feel the difference with the Rev. I gotta tell you--for a going-in price of $2599 for a "new" 1965, I'd be hard pressed to push for the 1965...but for $1199......whole different ballgame. Speculation is these are more of a marketing problem than a "refurb" problem--so you're looking at a lacquer-finished Gibson-equipped, US-assembled Casino for $200 less than an Elitist. Plus a 45 day refund policy if you're not happy--having a hard time figuring out how this could be a bad idea, and I already have a Rev!!

Bill

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:51 pm

That's great Bill,it seems like the best deal since MF was blowing out the Gretsch Country Classics for $1099.

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:13 pm

At the moment I'm borrowing a friends' '65 JL Casino.How good is it? I got to A/B it with a good condition original at a local store, and IMO, the RI Blew Away the original.And the original was no turkey...YMMV...

greg_feo · Post by **greg_feo** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:49 pm

I have a Kalamazoo '65 , 40 + years old . Its pretty good. Yup.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:47 am

I've got (3) MIK Casinos and (1) MIK Sorrento. They are nice guitars. My MIJ Elitist is absolutely the best Casino I've ever owned, new or vintage. I plan to buy a couple more. These 'refurbs' will no doubt be stamped 'used'. I know a shop selling new Elitists for $1099, so I'm not jumping at the 'refurbs'. If the 'used' stamp doesn't bother you, this is a very good deal. Ebay should soon be flooded with 'refurbs' selling for a lot more than $1199.

greg_feo · Post by **greg_feo** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:13 am

My MIJ Elitist is absolutely the worst Casino I've ever played. Ever.

The necks were my biggest complaint. You can always find a diamond if you look hard enough I suppose.

Made in the U.S.A.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:59 am

Greg: Maybe I got lucky. I bought my Elitist on eBay with an $800 BIN and it's perfect. It was an unplayed presentation instrument with a factory-installed Bigsby. Afterwards I sold my '66 Casino that I had been playing for over twenty years. My '66 was a great guitar but the Elitist was better in my judgement. The overall length of the Elitist is slightly shorter, because the neck is inset further into the body. That might bother some people.

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:48 am

I bought a '65 JL Casino back a few years ago when when MF was selling them as Refurbs for $1399. I also have owned MIK & Elite Casinos and have a Rev. Model.

Big difference in feel, sound, construction and hardware from the MIK to the JL Sigs. The JL Casino has a much more open acoustic sound to it. As Randy pointed out though the neck is joined at the 16 fret rather than the 18th fret.

I've found the necks on the JL and Elites to have the thinner 60s profile vs. the MIK.

Also of note the Corian (Plastic) bridge saddles tend to result in a slightly less resonance. For $1199 it's a real bargain!

I'm just surprised these JL's are still floating around for several years after a 1965 limited run!! Seems like every other Sig guitar out there goes for big bucks now.

greg_feo · Post by **greg_feo** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:29 am

Randy,
I wish I could find a 'great' RI like yours.
Ill keep looking , maybe a Revolution model is in the tea for me.
I have a buyer for my 65' (not cheap that year) when & if I do find one. Wish me luck & all the best!

PS
There are far more than 1965 out there ..multiply that number x3 ..thats what they said at 07 NAMM Reps.

wj350 · Post by **wj350** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:48 pm

Jamie, curious--what was the nature of your refurb?

Bill

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 4:28 pm

Bill- Can't say for sure what the nature of my JL refurb from MF was as I could never get a straight answer from MF or Epiphone on this subject.

I suspect it was simply a production overrun that was marketed and sold as refurbs. Why not just call them seconds if they had a structural or cosmetic problem?

My refurb has a stamped R on the back of the headstock and the internal JL Sig label has a typed serial number pasted on top of the label where the limited run number would have been written. So as far as I can tell it never was originally part of the limited number run that was sent back for refurbishment.

Kind of wish I would have waited longer to buy the Revolution model at a refurb price as well!

Possibly later down the road there were some Refubs that were returned to be refurbished and sold again? lol!

wj350 · Post by **wj350** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:39 am

Jaime, thanks--it'll be interesting to see what these actually are when they show up.

Bill

tennis_nick · Post by **tennis_nick** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:43 am

Epiphone is pretty lax on their refurbs, Musicians friends Refurbs are usually just returns, not guaranteeing anything though

wj350 · Post by **wj350** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 4:02 am

Nick, that's been my experience also. I actually bought my first Ric from Ric's "scratch & dent" section, a 350v63 FG. Not a mark on the guitar, I figured it had to be a return.

It just seems there are too many of these hitting the market all at once to be major repairs. Overrun is a possibility I guess.