The earliest Epiphone catalogue to feature the Casino (1961) lists just the single (E230T) and double (E230TD) pickup models - with vibrola as standard. Check out other vintage Epiphone advertisements The Casino was more widely promoted in the UK in the 1960s than the US.Įlectric guitar advertisements originally published from 1963 onwards.

Epiphone engineers studied the original guitar to get these signature instruments as exact as possible. Epiphone make two John Lennon signature Epiphone Casinos - one based on the unstripped 1965 model, and one, the 'Revolution' Casino based on the stripped instrument. He went on to have the Sunburst finish removed in 1968 stripped down to natural maple. It was Lennon's of course that had the most use he was widely pictured with it, and used it extensively live and in the studio. Not surprisingly the two years following this were the highest in terms of sales for this model. Both had a sunburst finish, George's had a Bigsby vibrato, whilst John's had a stop tailpiece. The most famous Casino users were Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles, who were given a pair of Casinos in 1965.

John Lennon with stripped Epiphone Casino

The Frequensator tailpiece was used on a number of models - the point being that it would lengthen either the three thickest or three thinnest strings, maximising treble and bass response. The 1961 models came equipped with the Tremotone vibrato, which was optional by 1962. Initially these had a black bakelite cover, changing to nickel and then chrome-plated brass as the decade wore on. Both were fitted with P90 pickups (single coil), again just like the ES-330. Two variants were available, the single pickup E230T, and the dual pickup E230TD. without the center maple block present in the 335 / 345 etc. Like the 330, the Casino had a completely hollow body, i.e. The Casino had no pre-Gibson equivalent, and corresponds to the Gibson ES-330 launched the previous year, having the same dimensions and construction, but with different headstock shape and (sometimes) tailpiece. The Epiphone range of the 1960s consisted of several guitars based on the pre-Gibson Stathopoulos-era guitars, and a number closely resembling the Gibson guitars of the same time all were produced in the same factory in Kalamazoo, MI, USA. Finishes Shaded/Sunburst, Royal Tan, Cherry from 1967

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