Epi Casino questions

[RiverDog]

What's up my people? For the first time in a while I actually have GAS. Yes it did leave me for a while, which was good because it's an expensive affliction! However, I'm slowly coming out the back end of some pretty severe depression and I dunno, GAS kinda feels like proof that the heart is still pumping and the blood is still flowing, if that makes sense. I think that's reason enough not to fight it.

Anyway, the object of my desire is something I've no familiarity with. I've never been interested in a fully hollow electric guitar until now, but there it is. I've been reading up on Casinos and it seems that for a long time the consensus was that of the two offerings, the Korean version was better quality than the Chinese version, as is often the case. But now reviews are coming out about the new Worn series and it seems that Epi has possibly upped the quality level on the Chinese products.

Has anyone owned or played a recent MIC or MIK Epiphone Casino?

[RiverDog]

I find this one sexy

preview.jpg

[Mossman]

I'm a big Casino fan, and I've owned a Korean, a Japanese Elitist, and a 2016 Chinese Casino, and I can tell you that the Casinos they're making in China (at least since 2016) blow the Korean ones out of the water in terms of build and construction. That wasn't the case when Epiphone first transferred all of their manufacturing to their Chinese factory, though. Between 2010 and 2014 I saw some pretty dreadful looking specimens hanging on the wall in guitar stores, and I thought I'd never own a Casino again, unless I bought a used Korean one, but this current one makes my old Korean Casino feel like a toy by comparison. It actually feels closer to the Elitist. One of the changes that I'm aware of is the top, back and sides are now 5-ply, instead of the 3-ply construction of the Korean ones. The pickups in the new one were fairly awful, though. I don't know if that has changed, but mine were wound to 13k with 43awg wire, and they sounded hairy and noisy AF. I had to have Tim rewind them for me. But otherwise the guitar is top-notch.

There are, however, two other caveats...

1) Considering the QC issues I encountered with the 335 "figured" that I recently bought, they may not be up to usual standards (or I may have just gotten a bad batch of 335s... I dunno). I'm sure the construction is still the same, but you might get some sloppy finish work.

2) I don't know anything about these new "worn" Casinos, and I still haven't figured out why they're so much cheaper than the standard Casino model. I suspect some corners have been cut. I don't think a satin vs gloss finish alone constitutes a $150 difference in price.

[RiverDog]

I'm a big Casino fan, and I've owned a Korean, a Japanese Elitist, and a 2016 Chinese Casino, and I can tell you that the Casinos they're making in China (at least since 2016) blow the Korean ones out of the water in terms of build and construction. That wasn't the case when Epiphone first transferred all of their manufacturing to their Chinese factory, though. Between 2010 and 2014 I saw some pretty dreadful looking specimens hanging on the wall in guitar stores, and I thought I'd never own a Casino again, unless I bought a used Korean one, but this current one makes my old Korean Casino feel like a toy by comparison. It actually feels closer to the Elitist. One of the changes that I'm aware of is the top, back and sides are now 5-ply, instead of the 3-ply construction of the Korean ones. The pickups in the new one were fairly awful, though. I don't know if that has changed, but mine were wound to 13k with 43awg wire, and they sounded hairy and noisy AF. I had to have Tim rewind them for me. But otherwise the guitar is top-notch.

There are, however, two other caveats...

1) Considering the QC issues I encountered with the 335 "figured" that I recently bought, they may not be up to usual standards (or I may have just gotten a bad batch of 335s... I dunno). I'm sure the construction is still the same, but you might get some sloppy finish work.

2) I don't know anything about these new "worn" Casinos, and I still haven't figured out why they're so much cheaper than the standard Casino model. I suspect some corners have been cut. I don't think a satin vs gloss finish alone constitutes a $150 difference in price.

I appreciate the feedback. That's interesting about the 335. I've heard good things about those recent ones but as with all things, there are surely a few duds that make it out of the factory. I'll check your post history for more deets.

[OMB]

The Casino has for a very long time been overpriced within the lineup of Epi 335 style guitars. It has a much lower feature set. Less binding, cheaper pickups etc. The Korean fit and finish guitars were good but (skinny neck) I think the Chinese versions did catch up and surpass the Korean plus a little bit bigger neck. I think the new "Worn" version is priced correctly for the market and more in line within Epiphone family. Maybe after some time they will fall apart and turn out to be junk but that seems unlikely. I owned (not meant to impune all Korean Casino's) a black Korean Casino that was a piece of junk but all brands have good and poor representatives just like the OP's difficulties with the 335.

I am quite interested in trying one of the Worn Casino's myself if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity or buy a new guitar. I like the Orange.

[RiverDog]

The Casino has for a very long time been overpriced within the lineup of Epi 335 style guitars. It has a much lower feature set. Less binding, cheaper pickups etc. The Korean fit and finish guitars were good but (skinny neck) I think the Chinese versions did catch up and surpass the Korean plus a little bit bigger neck. I think the new "Worn" version is priced correctly for the market and more in line within Epiphone family. Maybe after some time they will fall apart and turn out to be junk but that seems unlikely. I owned (not meant to impune all Korean Casino's) a black Korean Casino that was a piece of junk but all brands have good and poor representatives just like the OP's difficulties with the 335.

I am quite interested in trying one of the Worn Casino's myself if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity or buy a new guitar. I like the Orange.

Appreciate the thoughts my dude. Seems like the worn series are out of stock at most retailers right now but I keep looking. GC says they'll be shipping in July (!). I haven't asked any of the other guys for dates yet.

The orange looks cool but I'd want to see it in person before buying it.

[honyock]

Mine was a really nice guitar, Agile quality. Think it was $400 new from Musician s Friend. The only thing I wasn't enamored with was the pickups. I replaced the covers with plastic and thought it was a lot better sounding. Got rid of the muddiness.

Mine was a 2015, so not super recent, but I would think the factory in China could not be getting worse...

[OMB]

The Casino has for a very long time been overpriced within the lineup of Epi 335 style guitars. It has a much lower feature set. Less binding, cheaper pickups etc. The Korean fit and finish guitars were good but (skinny neck) I think the Chinese versions did catch up and surpass the Korean plus a little bit bigger neck. I think the new "Worn" version is priced correctly for the market and more in line within Epiphone family. Maybe after some time they will fall apart and turn out to be junk but that seems unlikely. I owned (not meant to impune all Korean Casino's) a black Korean Casino that was a piece of junk but all brands have good and poor representatives just like the OP's difficulties with the 335.

I am quite interested in trying one of the Worn Casino's myself if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity or buy a new guitar. I like the Orange.

Appreciate the thoughts my dude. Seems like the worn series are out of stock at most retailers right now but I keep looking. GC says they'll be shipping in July (!). I haven't asked any of the other guys for dates yet.

The orange looks cool but I'd want to see it in person before buying it.

I don't blame you. The Worn Casino and Riviera were apparently way way pre-announced. Maybe the China connection is falling apart. Ibby makes theirs in Indonesia.

[nomadh]

I think my casino coupe is a great guitar. Even at 6'1 I think the full casino/335 is a bit big. I guess I like to manhandle it more but mine is great. People say the neck carve isnt great and it may not be my fav but that's probably just the internet talking. If I cramp up a bit it's probably because I was playing so much. I bought mine used with a5 stewmac humbuckers.
Inspector number 9 done me right.

20210301_115112.jpg

20210301_115106.jpg

20210301_115051.jpg

Dont know what year.
I guess mine is mic. If you believe what you read.

[RiverDog]

I think my casino coupe is a great guitar. Even at 6'1 I think the full casino/335 is a bit big. I guess I like to manhandle it more but mine is great. People say the neck carve isnt great and it may not be my fav but that's probably just the internet talking. If I cramp up a bit it's probably because I was playing so much. I bought mine used with a5 stewmac humbuckers.
Inspector number 9 done me right.

20210301_115112.jpg20210301_115106.jpg20210301_115051.jpg
Dont know what year.
I guess mine is mic. If you believe what you read.

Nice lookin' coupe! I've heard that those are pretty great guitars overall, and didn't realize they came in natural finish. I would prefer to have the full-size body and the P-90s, though. Just for the full John Lennon experience.

I believe the label inside the top F hole will tell you where it was made, or at least include a serial number, which you can use to look up the year of manufacture. Rock on!

[nomadh]

What I find great with mine is I can get marshall stack with a heavy solid lp type sustain and resonance with my casino at 12 watts. The first few weeks st practice I kept long sustain notes in solos and ending on big long singing notes. It got a little cliche.

[nomadh]

[

I think my casino coupe is a great guitar. Even at 6'1 I think the full casino/335 is a bit big. I guess I like to manhandle it more but mine is great. People say the neck carve isnt great and it may not be my fav but that's probably just the internet talking. If I cramp up a bit it's probably because I was playing so much. I bought mine used with a5 stewmac humbuckers.
Inspector number 9 done me right.

20210301_115112.jpg20210301_115106.jpg20210301_115051.jpg
Dont know what year.
I guess mine is mic. If you believe what you read.

Nice lookin' coupe! I've heard that those are pretty great guitars overall, and didn't realize they came in natural finish. I would prefer to have the full-size body and the P-90s, though. Just for the full John Lennon experience.

I believe the label inside the top F hole will tell you where it was made, or at least include a serial number, which you can use to look up the year of manufacture. Rock on!

I'll look this up.
attachment=0]20210301_145806.jpg[/attachment]

Horrible pic but I think its 2015

[RiverDog]

[

I think my casino coupe is a great guitar. Even at 6'1 I think the full casino/335 is a bit big. I guess I like to manhandle it more but mine is great. People say the neck carve isnt great and it may not be my fav but that's probably just the internet talking. If I cramp up a bit it's probably because I was playing so much. I bought mine used with a5 stewmac humbuckers.
Inspector number 9 done me right.

20210301_115112.jpg20210301_115106.jpg20210301_115051.jpg
Dont know what year.
I guess mine is mic. If you believe what you read.

Nice lookin' coupe! I've heard that those are pretty great guitars overall, and didn't realize they came in natural finish. I would prefer to have the full-size body and the P-90s, though. Just for the full John Lennon experience.

I believe the label inside the top F hole will tell you where it was made, or at least include a serial number, which you can use to look up the year of manufacture. Rock on!

I'll look this up.
attachment=0]20210301_145806.jpg[/attachment]

Horrible pic but I think its 2015

Yep

Production year: May 2015 (serial: 01116)
Made by Qingdao (electric), China

[Mossman]

The Casino has for a very long time been overpriced within the lineup of Epi 335 style guitars. It has a much lower feature set. Less binding, cheaper pickups etc. The Korean fit and finish guitars were good but (skinny neck) I think the Chinese versions did catch up and surpass the Korean plus a little bit bigger neck. I think the new "Worn" version is priced correctly for the market and more in line within Epiphone family. Maybe after some time they will fall apart and turn out to be junk but that seems unlikely. I owned (not meant to impune all Korean Casino's) a black Korean Casino that was a piece of junk but all brands have good and poor representatives just like the OP's difficulties with the 335.

I am quite interested in trying one of the Worn Casino's myself if for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity or buy a new guitar. I like the Orange.

Wow, I just found out the "worn" Casinos are even cheaper than I thought. They're actually $200 less than the standard model, not $150. I agree that the Casino is over-priced for what it is. At $650, it's only $50 less than the blinged-out Sheraton... It really should be around the same price as a Dot ($450), but a Dot doesn't massage the nostalgia gland like a Casino does. Maybe the only reason the worn Casinos are so cheap is because John Lennon never played one in olive green, or matte black.

When the price went up to $650 about a year or two ago, I shrugged it off at first, because the price of that guitar had remained static at $600 for like 20 years, but that just means they were really over-priced 20 years ago. I actually recall seeing a Casino in a guitar store back in the late '90s for $700, but I don't know if that was the standard retail price back then, or if that particular store was just price-gouging.

[Mossman]

Appreciate the thoughts my dude. Seems like the worn series are out of stock at most retailers right now but I keep looking. GC says they'll be shipping in July (!). I haven't asked any of the other guys for dates yet.

I don't blame you. The Worn Casino and Riviera were apparently way way pre-announced. Maybe the China connection is falling apart. Ibby makes theirs in Indonesia.

Everything is out of stock right now. I've done quite a lot of perusing on the major guitar retail sites since the 335 deal turned out to be a bust, and just about everything I check out says: "More coming soon!". All manufacturers are way behind due to Covid, and all retailers shelves are empty due to the great guitar buy-up (also due to Covid). The Ibanez that I was waiting on was supposed to be in stock today, but they pushed that date back twice. First to the 8th, and now it says they won't be in until April 1st.

[ID10t]

Appreciate the thoughts my dude. Seems like the worn series are out of stock at most retailers right now but I keep looking. GC says they'll be shipping in July (!). I haven't asked any of the other guys for dates yet.

I don't blame you. The Worn Casino and Riviera were apparently way way pre-announced. Maybe the China connection is falling apart. Ibby makes theirs in Indonesia.

Everything is out of stock right now. I've done quite a lot of perusing on the major guitar retail sites since the 335 deal turned out to be a bust, and just about everything I check out says: "More coming soon!". All manufacturers are way behind due to Covid, and all retailers shelves are empty due to the great guitar buy-up (also due to Covid). The Ibanez that I was waiting on was supposed to be in stock today, but they pushed that date back twice. First to the 8th, and now it says they won't be in until April 1st.

You speak truth. My question, and I thought about this when Kurt said his stock was not being replenished for a long time, is how come Firefly and Hard Luck Kings continue to get and sell guitars? I mean I really wonder. Everything else is back ordered for months and months now.

[Mossman]

Mine was a really nice guitar, Agile quality. Think it was $400 new from Musician s Friend. The only thing I wasn't enamored with was the pickups. I replaced the covers with plastic and thought it was a lot better sounding. Got rid of the muddiness.

Mine was a 2015, so not super recent, but I would think the factory in China could not be getting worse...

The stock pickups in my 2016 Casino sounded horrific. A cover swap would not have helped them. They were way overwound with 43 gauge wire. Only a re-wind could have fixed them. But the pickups in my Korean Casino sounded almost as good as the Gibson pickups in my Elitist.

Did the plastic covers work out ok? Are they curved on the bottom? Did you have to use a shim for the neck pickup? I've had a set of Gibson P90s for a while now, waiting for some project to put them in, and the other day I thought about putting them in the Casino, but I'll probably never find nickel covers for a Casino with USA screw spacing. So I'll have to use plastic covers, but the height of the neck pickup covers on the Casino are different than standard dog-ear P90 covers.

[Mossman]

You speak truth. My question, and I thought about this when Kurt said his stock was not being replenished for a long time, is how come Firefly and Hard Luck Kings continue to get and sell guitars? I mean I really wonder. Everything else is back ordered for months and months now.

Firefly production seems to be intermittent even in "normal" times... Every time I look for a Firefly, there aren't any.

[ID10t]

You speak truth. My question, and I thought about this when Kurt said his stock was not being replenished for a long time, is how come Firefly and Hard Luck Kings continue to get and sell guitars? I mean I really wonder. Everything else is back ordered for months and months now.

Firefly production seems to be intermittent even in "normal" times... Every time I look for a Firefly, there aren't any.

https://guitarsgarden.com/collections/s ... ic-guitars

A green one has showed up and disappeared frequently over the last few weeks, about as often as I talk myself into and out of getting one. Then I play my AS73 or AM93.

[honyock]

Mine was a really nice guitar, Agile quality. Think it was $400 new from Musician s Friend. The only thing I wasn't enamored with was the pickups. I replaced the covers with plastic and thought it was a lot better sounding. Got rid of the muddiness.

Mine was a 2015, so not super recent, but I would think the factory in China could not be getting worse...

The stock pickups in my 2016 Casino sounded horrific. A cover swap would not have helped them. They were way overwound with 43 gauge wire. Only a re-wind could have fixed them. But the pickups in my Korean Casino sounded almost as good as the Gibson pickups in my Elitist.

Did the plastic covers work out ok? Are they curved on the bottom? Did you have to use a shim for the neck pickup? I've had a set of Gibson P90s for a while now, waiting for some project to put them in, and the other day I thought about putting them in the Casino, but I'll probably never find nickel covers for a Casino with USA screw spacing. So I'll have to use plastic covers, but the height of the neck pickup covers on the Casino are different than standard dog-ear P90 covers.

I don't think I had to do anything special, they just worked if memory serves

If we still had access to the time of AGF, I'm sure I had a thread about it. Can't remember anymore.

[Mossman]

https://guitarsgarden.com/collections/s ... ic-guitars

A green one has showed up and disappeared frequently over the last few weeks, about as often as I talk myself into and out of getting one. Then I play my AS73 or AM93.

I keep forgetting about that site... I usually just look on Amazon.

That spalted one looks nice!

[ID10t]

https://guitarsgarden.com/collections/s ... ic-guitars

A green one has showed up and disappeared frequently over the last few weeks, about as often as I talk myself into and out of getting one. Then I play my AS73 or AM93.

I keep forgetting about that site... I usually just look on Amazon.

That spalted one looks nice!

Yea, I think there are 20 in stock.
I honestly don't know if Amazon carries FF338's anymore, I'm not on The Facepalm so not in the group, but guitargarden does charge shipping.
Like I said though, I play my Ibanezes and ask myself why I even look. Now if the Peavey JP-1 is hollow vs semi, then that has my attention. Don't know why I think I need a hollow hollow body, but, you know.

[Mossman]

Mine was a really nice guitar, Agile quality. Think it was $400 new from Musician s Friend. The only thing I wasn't enamored with was the pickups. I replaced the covers with plastic and thought it was a lot better sounding. Got rid of the muddiness.

Mine was a 2015, so not super recent, but I would think the factory in China could not be getting worse...

The stock pickups in my 2016 Casino sounded horrific. A cover swap would not have helped them. They were way overwound with 43 gauge wire. Only a re-wind could have fixed them. But the pickups in my Korean Casino sounded almost as good as the Gibson pickups in my Elitist.

Did the plastic covers work out ok? Are they curved on the bottom? Did you have to use a shim for the neck pickup? I've had a set of Gibson P90s for a while now, waiting for some project to put them in, and the other day I thought about putting them in the Casino, but I'll probably never find nickel covers for a Casino with USA screw spacing. So I'll have to use plastic covers, but the height of the neck pickup covers on the Casino are different than standard dog-ear P90 covers.

I don't think I had to do anything special, they just worked if memory serves

If we still had access to the time of AGF, I'm sure I had a thread about it. Can't remember anymore.

When I had Tim rewind the stock pickups, I had considered switching to black plastic covers, just because I liked the way they looked on a sunburst Casino, but I wasn't having any luck finding a set that had a slanted cover for the neck pickup, or were the correct height, or had a curved bottom, so I stayed with the chrome ones.

I don't know if that was supposed to be an Amazon link in your post (apparently you can't post Amazon links on this forum either??), but I did a quick search on there, and found a set that look like they'll work on the Casino, and also have USA pole spacing. They don't look like they're curved on the bottom, but I don't think that will matter too much.

[Mossman]

Like I said though, I play my Ibanezes and ask myself why I even look. Now if the Peavey JP-1 is hollow vs semi, then that has my attention. Don't know why I think I need a hollow hollow body, but, you know.

To be honest, the only two reasons I bought my first Casino were: 1) the Beatles, and: 2) because I had played only acoustic guitar for several years up to that point, and a hollow-body electric seemed like the next logical step to me. I didn't know what my preferences were yet, so I thought a hollow-body guitar would be closer to my comfort zone, and less of a "risk". I bonded with that guitar immediately, but it never turned me into a hollow-body enthusiast. I don't really have any desire to own another one, but I think you should have at least one hollow-body guitar at your disposal. It's a different animal... In feel as well as tone... and they're light!


I hope in some small way this has helped you justify buying another guitar.

[Mossman]

I think my casino coupe is a great guitar. Even at 6'1 I think the full casino/335 is a bit big. I guess I like to manhandle it more but mine is great. People say the neck carve isnt great and it may not be my fav but that's probably just the internet talking. If I cramp up a bit it's probably because I was playing so much. I bought mine used with a5 stewmac humbuckers.
Inspector number 9 done me right.

20210301_115112.jpg20210301_115106.jpg20210301_115051.jpg
Dont know what year.
I guess mine is mic. If you believe what you read.

I don't mind the way the 339 looks, but I always thought the "Casino Coupe" looked kinda ridiculous with the big-ass dog-ear P90s on a small body. It looks better with humbuckers.