New Casino Day!

[RiverDog]

I did a thing. If you've seen my other post, you know I've been in the market for an Epi Casino. I tried pre-ordering one of the new Worn finish Casinos, first from Sweetwater and then CME, but due to global conditions the backorders kept turning into back-back-backorders so I kept my eye on Reverb, eBay, and GC used. Monday morning this sweetie was posted on GC and I couldn't pull the trigger fast enough. It was listed (appropriately) as in excellent condition and had decent pics. I could see the PO had changed out the tuners to Grovers (a la John Lennon) and installed a Lennon TRC (the original is in the case). Included was a very nice, brown Gator locking hard case with pink lining and shroud.

I can't find a mark on the guitar. No fretwear to speak of. The serial number starts with "18" so I think it's a 2018 model. Man, I can see why everyone loves these babies. It's so sweet! I just jammed for a bit and I love it. The strings are new but they're obviously 9s so I'm gonna change to a heavier gauge and pull the pickups to see if they're stock while I'm at it. I may just have to get some of those half rounds @Perfect Stranger posted about.

Behold! I think John would be proud.

[sabasgr68]

I did a thing. If you've seen my other post, you know I've been in the market for an Epi Casino. I tried pre-ordering one of the new Worn finish Casinos, first from Sweetwater and then CME, but due to global conditions the backorders kept turning into back-back-backorders so I kept my eye on Reverb, eBay, and GC used. Monday morning this sweetie was posted on GC and I couldn't pull the trigger fast enough. It was listed (appropriately) as in excellent condition and had decent pics. I could see the PO had changed out the tuners to Grovers (a la John Lennon) and installed a Lennon TRC (the original is in the case). Included was a very nice, brown Gator locking hard case with pink lining and shroud.

I can't find a mark on the guitar. No fretwear to speak of. The serial number starts with "18" so I think it's a 2018 model. Man, I can see why everyone loves these babies. It's so sweet! I just jammed for a bit and I love it. The strings are new but they're obviously 9s so I'm gonna change to a heavier gauge and pull the pickups to see if they're stock while I'm at it. I may just have to get some of those half rounds @Perfect Stranger posted about.

Behold! I think John would be proud.

20210326_152627.jpg

Seems like you can´t be happier, Aaron. HNGD!

Enjoy playing it. Hard times require sweet guitar times, my friend.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Outstanding! If I can find one, that's pretty much exactly what I want in a Casino (except it is upside-down). Happy NGD.

[ronnx]

Congrats Riverdog! Nice guitar.

[RiverDog]

I did a thing. If you've seen my other post, you know I've been in the market for an Epi Casino. I tried pre-ordering one of the new Worn finish Casinos, first from Sweetwater and then CME, but due to global conditions the backorders kept turning into back-back-backorders so I kept my eye on Reverb, eBay, and GC used. Monday morning this sweetie was posted on GC and I couldn't pull the trigger fast enough. It was listed (appropriately) as in excellent condition and had decent pics. I could see the PO had changed out the tuners to Grovers (a la John Lennon) and installed a Lennon TRC (the original is in the case). Included was a very nice, brown Gator locking hard case with pink lining and shroud.

I can't find a mark on the guitar. No fretwear to speak of. The serial number starts with "18" so I think it's a 2018 model. Man, I can see why everyone loves these babies. It's so sweet! I just jammed for a bit and I love it. The strings are new but they're obviously 9s so I'm gonna change to a heavier gauge and pull the pickups to see if they're stock while I'm at it. I may just have to get some of those half rounds @Perfect Stranger posted about.

Behold! I think John would be proud.

20210326_152627.jpg

Seems like you can´t be happier, Aaron. HNGD!

Enjoy playing it. Hard times require sweet guitar times, my friend.

Thanks Sabas! They do indeed. I was just remarking to my wife that today was the first time I've set up my board and played through an amp in about a year. This past year has been probably the worst in my life but I'm slowly climbing out of the depths and this proved it to me.

[RiverDog]

Thanks all! This purchase turned out so well, I'm actually tempted to write to the GC I bought it from (Watertown, CT) and thank them for the accurate listing and great shipping job. Whoda thunk?

[Mossman]

Awesome! I'm glad you got a more recent Casino. They really are constructed much better than the Korean ones, and a lot of the early Chinese (pre-2015) examples I've seen were downright awful.

But how do the pickups sound? The ones in mine were over-wound and sounded nasty. I'm curious if they stopped making them that way.

[RiverDog]

Awesome! I'm glad you got a more recent Casino. They really are constructed much better than the Korean ones, and a lot of the early Chinese (pre-2015) examples I've seen were downright awful.

But how do the pickups sound? The ones in mine were over-wound and sounded nasty. I'm curious if they stopped making them that way.

Thanks Ed! Everyone assumes the quality of Korean-made guitars will be superior to MIC, I suppose I'm guilty of that as well, truth be told. So that's interesting.

The pickups seem great so far. I'll have to throw a meter on my cable when I plug in next and see what they read. Regardless, my ears tell me they are pretty decent. I didn't hear anything harsh, and I played through a treble booster, an OD, and a fuzz today. Again, though, I don't know for sure that the pickups are stock yet. I'll try and check tomorrow.

[dearlpitts]

Very nice

[pdcorlis]

HNGD! She is a real doll - I loved mine while I had her. BTW, I’m a big fan of letting folks know when they have gone above and beyond. I bet the the folks at the GC would love to hear a few kind words.

[nomadh]

I did a thing. If you've seen my other post, you know I've been in the market for an Epi Casino. I tried pre-ordering one of the new Worn finish Casinos, first from Sweetwater and then CME, but due to global conditions the backorders kept turning into back-back-backorders so I kept my eye on Reverb, eBay, and GC used. Monday morning this sweetie was posted on GC and I couldn't pull the trigger fast enough. It was listed (appropriately) as in excellent condition and had decent pics. I could see the PO had changed out the tuners to Grovers (a la John Lennon) and installed a Lennon TRC (the original is in the case). Included was a very nice, brown Gator locking hard case with pink lining and shroud.

I can't find a mark on the guitar. No fretwear to speak of. The serial number starts with "18" so I think it's a 2018 model. Man, I can see why everyone loves these babies. It's so sweet! I just jammed for a bit and I love it. The strings are new but they're obviously 9s so I'm gonna change to a heavier gauge and pull the pickups to see if they're stock while I'm at it. I may just have to get some of those half rounds @Perfect Stranger posted about.

Behold! I think John would be proud.

20210326_152627.jpg

Seems like you can´t be happier, Aaron. HNGD!

Enjoy playing it. Hard times require sweet guitar times, my friend.

Thanks Sabas! They do indeed. I was just remarking to my wife that today was the first time I've set up my board and played through an amp in about a year. This past year has been probably the worst in my life but I'm slowly climbing out of the depths and this proved it to me.

So good to hear. Guitars dont solve anything but they sure do help alot hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoy ts little sister blonde coupe I have.

[RiverDog]

Seems like you can´t be happier, Aaron. HNGD!

Enjoy playing it. Hard times require sweet guitar times, my friend.

Thanks Sabas! They do indeed. I was just remarking to my wife that today was the first time I've set up my board and played through an amp in about a year. This past year has been probably the worst in my life but I'm slowly climbing out of the depths and this proved it to me.

So good to hear. Guitars dont solve anything but they sure do help alot hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoy ts little sister blonde coupe I have.

Thanks man!

[Mossman]

Awesome! I'm glad you got a more recent Casino. They really are constructed much better than the Korean ones, and a lot of the early Chinese (pre-2015) examples I've seen were downright awful.

But how do the pickups sound? The ones in mine were over-wound and sounded nasty. I'm curious if they stopped making them that way.

Thanks Ed! Everyone assumes the quality of Korean-made guitars will be superior to MIC, I suppose I'm guilty of that as well, truth be told. So that's interesting.

The pickups seem great so far. I'll have to throw a meter on my cable when I plug in next and see what they read. Regardless, my ears tell me they are pretty decent. I didn't hear anything harsh, and I played through a treble booster, an OD, and a fuzz today. Again, though, I don't know for sure that the pickups are stock yet. I'll try and check tomorrow.

It is natural to assume that the Koren ones would be better, and a lot of people traded on that assumption in the used market for a while... and for a while, they were correct.

I was still active on the Epiphone forum back when the transition happened (winter of '09/'10, I believe), and everyone was worried that quality would suffer as a result. The common logic that was used to assuage those fears was that Epiphone built and own this factory... They weren't just handing off to some anonymous Chinese contractor, they were taking control of manufacturing themselves... They wouldn't go through all that expense and effort just to put out shoddy guitars, right?

Well, they did for a while...

Which I guess shouldn't be so surprising. I mean, they were starting up a brand new manufacturing enterprise in a foreign culture, that was pretty alien to guitars and western music. Even if they were setting up shop in the US, there would be problems. But by around 2015, Epiphone really picked up their game and made a lot of improvements. At least that's when I first noticed it.

After having seen a lot of really shitty looking Casinos, I too was of the opinion that the only good Epiphone was a Korean Epiphone (or an Elitist, but they had gotten crazy expensive by then), and one day I was in my local Sam Ash, and they had a used Korean Casino hanging on the wall right next to a brand new Chinese Casino. Well, I got all excited for the Korean one (made in the Peerless factory, for anyone who knows) and was seriously considering buying it, but out of curiosity, I picked up the Chinese one, and right away the difference was palpable... The first thing that I noticed was that it was heavier, with a thicker top and an all-around sturdier feel to it. To be honest, it made the Korean one feel like a toy by comparison. I checked it all over carefully, and I couldn't find a single flaw, or any signs of sloppy construction, as I had seen on previous examples. It sounded louder acoustically, and it felt and played more like the Elitist that I used to own. Needless to say, I lost all interest in the Korean one... much to the chagrin of Greg, the sales guy who was working me pretty hard for the sale. I didn't have the money to buy the new one. It was right before Christmas, and I was already doing economic gymnastics in my head to figure out how I could afford the used one, but I ended up ordering one from Sweetwater about six months later, and apart from the stock pickups, it's an awesome guitar.

Now that I think of it, I don't remember the pickups sounding bad when I played that Casino in the store, so the ones I got may have been limited to that particular run. I can't imagine them continuing to wind them that way. Sounds like they're not, if you say they sound good (believe me, if they sounded like mine did, there would be no way you could call them anything like "good". It wasn't a subtle thing. ).

[AnotherJim]

Congratulations. Looks like a beautiful guitar!

[RiverDog]

Awesome! I'm glad you got a more recent Casino. They really are constructed much better than the Korean ones, and a lot of the early Chinese (pre-2015) examples I've seen were downright awful.

But how do the pickups sound? The ones in mine were over-wound and sounded nasty. I'm curious if they stopped making them that way.

Thanks Ed! Everyone assumes the quality of Korean-made guitars will be superior to MIC, I suppose I'm guilty of that as well, truth be told. So that's interesting.

The pickups seem great so far. I'll have to throw a meter on my cable when I plug in next and see what they read. Regardless, my ears tell me they are pretty decent. I didn't hear anything harsh, and I played through a treble booster, an OD, and a fuzz today. Again, though, I don't know for sure that the pickups are stock yet. I'll try and check tomorrow.

It is natural to assume that the Koren ones would be better, and a lot of people traded on that assumption in the used market for a while... and for a while, they were correct.

I was still active on the Epiphone forum back when the transition happened (winter of '09/'10, I believe), and everyone was worried that quality would suffer as a result. The common logic that was used to assuage those fears was that Epiphone built and own this factory... They weren't just handing off to some anonymous Chinese contractor, they were taking control of manufacturing themselves... They wouldn't go through all that expense and effort just to put out shoddy guitars, right?

Well, they did for a while...

Which I guess shouldn't be so surprising. I mean, they were starting up a brand new manufacturing enterprise in a foreign culture, that was pretty alien to guitars and western music. Even if they were setting up shop in the US, there would be problems. But by around 2015, Epiphone really picked up their game and made a lot of improvements. At least that's when I first noticed it.

After having seen a lot of really shitty looking Casinos, I too was of the opinion that the only good Epiphone was a Korean Epiphone (or an Elitist, but they had gotten crazy expensive by then), and one day I was in my local Sam Ash, and they had a used Korean Casino hanging on the wall right next to a brand new Chinese Casino. Well, I got all excited for the Korean one (made in the Peerless factory, for anyone who knows) and was seriously considering buying it, but out of curiosity, I picked up the Chinese one, and right away the difference was palpable... The first thing that I noticed was that it was heavier, with a thicker top and an all-around sturdier feel to it. To be honest, it made the Korean one feel like a toy by comparison. I checked it all over carefully, and I couldn't find a single flaw, or any signs of sloppy construction, as I had seen on previous examples. It sounded louder acoustically, and it felt and played more like the Elitist that I used to own. Needless to say, I lost all interest in the Korean one... much to the chagrin of Greg, the sales guy who was working me pretty hard for the sale. I didn't have the money to buy the new one. It was right before Christmas, and I was already doing economic gymnastics in my head to figure out how I could afford the used one, but I ended up ordering one from Sweetwater about six months later, and apart from the stock pickups, it's an awesome guitar.

Now that I think of it, I don't remember the pickups sounding bad when I played that Casino in the store, so the ones I got may have been limited to that particular run. I can't imagine them continuing to wind them that way. Sounds like they're not, if you say they sound good (believe me, if they sounded like mine did, there would be no way you could call them anything like "good". It wasn't a subtle thing. ).

This is all good info Ed. Thanks for sharing!

[Mossman]

This is all good info Ed. Thanks for sharing!

My pleasure... I hope it wasn't too much of a dump.

[redman]

That's a real beauty congrats.

[Frozensoda]

I’be always loved the look of the Casino.
Beautiful guitar!

[jtcnj]

Congrats on a great find!
I hope this is a sign of better times ahead for you.