Epiphone's new Casino found its way into the hands of big name players almost as soon as it was launched in 1961. Beatle Paul Mccartney grabbed himself a 1962 model, towards the end of '64, just prior to the group's Hammersmith Odeon Christmas show. To this day, McCartney says, "If I had to choose one electric guitar, it would be this." Over the following years that first Beatle Casino powered such classics as 'Tick To Ride', 'Paperback Writer' and 'Helter Skelter'. (Another Epiphone, a Texan acoustic, bought at the same time as the Casino, was promptly put to use recording 'Yesterday')
John Lennon and George Harrison
Beatles instruments were invariably shared in the studio, but John Lennon and George Harrison were so taken with the McCartney Casino, that early in 1966 they acquired themselves a pair of 1965 models. You can tell the difference, with McCartney's having dot fingerboard inlays, while the later two have parralelograms - same as our model here, and across 1964/65 Epiphone also changed the P-90 covers from nickel to chrome.
P-90 pickups
Those P-90 pickups, along with the Casino's fully hollow body, gave the model a true sound of its own, setting it apart from the similar looking Gibson ES-335, (a semi-hollow, fitted with humbuckers). The hollow body/P-90 combination lent itself well to controlled feedback, something the ever-exploring Beatles were keen to utilise.
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones also took up Casinos, as did the Kinks, ('All Day And All Of The Night'), and numerous other luminaries down through the years: Howlin' Wolf; Lou Reed; Paul Weller, (a 1964 model); Noel Gallagher; Dwight Yoakam, (who has his own signature model Casino); Shirley Manson; Jeff Tweedy; Gary Clark Jr, (another signature model); Devon Thompson... The Casino is truly a guitar for the ages, and, clearly, a guitar for every kind of music.
Sweet to gnarly
Without the solid Maple centreblock of its ES-335 cousin, the Casino can deliver a lot more in the tone department, able to go from pretty and sweet to gnarly and threatening at the drop of a hat, eg., as above, 'Ticket To Ride' to 'All Day And All Of The Night'. This is a guitar you will love until the day it turns its black, black heart on you and throws you out of the house. Actually, you'll still yearn for it, but it's found itself a new lover.
Beatle specs
This early 1963 Casino has all your desirable Beatle specs - Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard, mother-of-pearl parrallelogram inays, nickel pickup covers, factory Bigsby... and a great Australian touch in its original Stamford case, (see pic # 4, and click HERE, [bottom of the page], for the quick Stamford cases story).
Excellent condition
The guitar plays great and sounds absolutely fab! A skinny-C neck profile, matched to an astonishing 1 9/16" / 39mm nut width makes playing absolutely effortless! Moving into its seventh decade, it is is Excellent condition and mostly original: the pots were replaced some time ago; the original frets have years left on them; the E and A nylon saddles are slightly darker than the remaining four, suggesting that the four may be later replacements; and the original tuners were replaced with a new set of Klusons. Not really noticeable from more than a metre away, when the original shaft holes were dowelled and re-drilled, the G and high-e holes seem to have encountered possible knots in the dowel and veered slightly off centre. In the case of the G, this has actually improved the intonation!
Free courier delivery
As noted, your 1963 Casino comes in its original Stamford case, and includes FREE COURIER DELIVERY to any address in Australia
Weight: 6lb 9.2oz / 2.98kg
Just Guitars
