slapthatplank Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Not exactly feeling totally great about this eBay purchase. I paid a pretty substantial amount of money for this Matsumoku Casino, and I knew it wasn't going to be PERFECT, but it ought to be pretty dang good. I just got it back from my tech, and this is what he found: 1) neck hump on bass side around 4th/5th frets, not terrible but not straight. He may be able to heat it up and straighten it out. 2) neck pu isn't grounded. He said he could jump it to the bridge PU no problem. 3) neck pu doesn't sit flush on the guitar. It looks like the cover was made for a flat-topped guitar, not an archtop. Plus it doesn't sit parallel to the strings, it is angled toward the headstock. 4) the fretboard is pretty worn on the 19-22 frets. Kind of odd, like it was scraped or something. The rest of the fretboard and frets look good. Other than that, it seems pretty good. Nice loud sound, and looks killer, even with the bigsby holes in it. I'll get them filled soon enough. The P-90s sound quite tasty in it. I think if I "stole" the guitar on eBay I'd have a better feeling about the purchase. I doubt the seller will do anything to help me out, my tech said worst case would be $200 to get everything fixed. Some NGD thread, I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Welcome to the forum. Anybody that has bought guitars off of eBay is bound to have a story like this. Looks good, but for a few nagging details. Great looking Casino, but I think we have all come to expect a little better from Japan. However, if you can get through this for only $200 and really like how it plays and sounds, you can chalk it up to lesson learned and have a desirable guitar, to boot. Not a huge fan of red guitars (a red Harmony Rocket from earlt on), but I will make an exception for your guitar. Stick around and participate, great bunch of folks here. Now here's your forum warming present. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge_L Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Nice guitar considering it is 25-30 years old, if it is the one that sold on April 15. Return period of 2 days is quite short; shipping back might be expensive, but on the other hand, if your tech can do the job for about $200 and you like it (at least so far), this sounds like a keeper, like Tweed2 said. Other more experienced and knowledgeable members (like Tweed2) will surely chime in shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 welcome to the forum ! Matsu Casinos are sought after guitars in almost any condition... get it fixed and keep it ! or sell it to me ! I "+1"'d you as a warming gift too ! let us know what you do and how it turns out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Hi and welcome to the forums... Seems to be some good/some not so good aspects to this purchase Moi has some experience with Casinos etc...regularly playing a friend's MIC Casino...excellent VFM...as expected, no great classic.. Also owning a MIK Peerless Songbird , fabulous build and looks, but difficult to bond with for some reason... Current squeeze is the Gibson ES 330...'way back when' they were built alongside the Casino and badged accordingly... A US built guitar of real character and quality... Casinos have a huge following on these forums... V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spamonkis Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I would bet the neck pickup is not original. You could look for an original to replace it, but the ground wire is an easy fix and if it sounds good, just learn to love the "character" created by the way it fits the guitar. The worn upper frets were probably caused by someone doing a fret leveling job. The frets over the body on these instruments tend to set high for some reason. When I leveled Ruby's frets, I took a LOT of metal off the last 4-5 frets. The hump is the only real issue I would be concerned about personally, and is the reason I never buy guitars mail-order. I can't deal with an instrument that can't be made to play perfectly. But perhaps your tech can get it to play acceptably, in which case all is well. Good luck with it and welcome to the forum, Spamonkis P.S. Bigsbys rule! I put one on Ruby and in addition to the vibrato effect and cool look, it actually improved the already great tone. Why have patched holes on your guitar. Put a Bigsby back on it! P.P.S. I forgot to mention the Bigsby also improves the balance of the instrument. It's a win-win-win-win situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVL Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Why have patched holes on your guitar. Put a Bigsby back on it! A stellar idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilm3 Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 Wrong neck pick up. Looks like for a flat top. Casino neck pick ups are supposed to slant to the fret board, though. That part is correct. Should be easy to find a proper replacement. I would want a nice neck pick up. It is the one I use almost exclusively on my Casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted May 20, 2013 Share Posted May 20, 2013 I would contact the seller, explain all the issues, and try to get him to at least reimburse you for getting the neck hump fixed. +1 for putting a Bigsby back on it rather than filling the holes. That is one nice looking Casino! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapthatplank Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share Posted May 20, 2013 Thanks all for the input and the warm welcome. I haven't heard from the seller yet, but I did voice some concerns. I think I'm being mostly reasonable, and I agree with your philosophy tweed2. Although I saw this one and promptly threw common sense out the window. And Serge_L, you are correct, that was the eBay auction that ended then. I was in the midst of a Gary Clark Jr phase and couldn't pull the trigger on an ES330 and this was the nicest Casino at a mortal price at the time. Anyway, I'll probably take her up to my tech tomorrow and let him spend some quality time with her. I'll look around for a neck pickup in the meantime, is there anything in particular I should be looking for? Would there be anything gained by getting a new set of pickups? Thanks again everyone. I read much of your input prior to the purchasing decision, so I thank you (and blame you ). I'll let you all know how it turns out. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Hi Slapthatplank, and welcome to the forum. As someone who has owned four Matsumoku Casinos in the past and has one sitting right next to me now, a very nice 83 Blonde (That`s guitar by the way, although the other would be nice too! ). I think I can answer a couple of your concerns. The neck pickup looks original to me, they are flat bottomed, and do slant forward towards the neck, you may need a little turn on the screws to bring it a little lower to close the gap, but not too much or you may strip the threads. The Matsumoku Casinos are earthed through the tailpiece with the grounding wire coming through the strap hole and making contact with the inner face of the tailpiece. Perhaps when your Casino was returned to original spec (From Bigsby) this wasn`t done. These Casinos were to a certain degree hand built, and they do vary a little from one to the other, all four of mine were slightly different in feel, but all were very comfortable. There are a small few that have shallow neck angles, which means even with a highish action, if you hold down the strings at the last fret, they touch the bridge pickup cover! Yours going by the photo looks like it has a really good neck angle with plenty of room under the bridge thumb screws. The colour of your guitar is not one of the export ones, those being ASB (Antique sunburst) or WR (Wine red), a few blonde ones slipped out during 81-84 but not many. As for your other issues, those I cannot help you with, but some probably weren`t there when the guitar left the factory. A good Matsumoku Casino is a joy to play, and the one I have currently has seen off competition from a 64 Gibson 330, a John Lennon 65 re-issue, and a 2003 Elite! Hope this has helped, and good luck getting it sorted out. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dporto Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Really nice guitar! Fairly miner issues - certainly not bad for a thirty year old guitar. A little "hammer and dolly" work with fix that pickup cover in a heartbeat. The neck hump is a little more problematic but not too bad. I love that color and the light natural looking figuring on the top is beautiful. I'd forego the Bigsby as well...but fill the holes in the top for sure. Good luck with 'er Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapthatplank Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Got her back from the tech yesterday. He said he worked on her most of the day, but the results were nothing short of spectacular. The neck pickup was installed incorrectly, so he had to pull it out and re-wire it. The pots have dust caps that are soldered on, which he said he's never seen before in 20+ years of working on guitars. He had to do a lot of fret leveling and polishing, but it's done now. He did a full set up, and put 10's back on her, and she sounds like an angel fart now. I hadn't played her through the Swart Atomic Space Tone yet, so I got to do that for a bit last night and that was really phenomenal. It was late so I couldn't crank it, but that time will come soon. If anyone needs a good tech in KC, I'm glad to recommend Tom. Thanks again to everyone, and I'm sure I'll be back around soon. Enjoy the long weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapthatplank Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Oh yea, the damage was only $80 plus strings, so that's a win! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapthatplank Posted June 20, 2013 Author Share Posted June 20, 2013 Quick question, what kind of bigsby would match up with those holes, or at least cover them up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 A Bigsby B7 is the usual type found on these, although looking at the holes on your Casino, it may have had a couple of different tremolos on it at one time or another. Have you thought of filling the holes at all? I have had some success filling the holes to just below the surface with cut down cocktail sticks (Glued in with white glue), staining the visible wood with an appropriate stain, touching in with thin layers of clear nail varnish Built up to just above the surface, then cutting back with T-cut, and polishing out with a buffing wheel in a drill chuck. You won`t get it perfect, but a good job can be had. That`s what I did to this one. Here it is again (Current owners photo) http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=137924&sid=9985db56fcc3c5e16e0945f57027aac4 Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapthatplank Posted June 26, 2013 Author Share Posted June 26, 2013 A Bigsby B7 is the usual type found on these, although looking at the holes on your Casino, it may have had a couple of different tremolos on it at one time or another. Have you thought of filling the holes at all? I have had some success filling the holes to just below the surface with cut down cocktail sticks (Glued in with white glue), staining the visible wood with an appropriate stain, touching in with thin layers of clear nail varnish Built up to just above the surface, then cutting back with T-cut, and polishing out with a buffing wheel in a drill chuck. You won`t get it perfect, but a good job can be had. Steve. Hi Steve, Yes, I did think about getting the holes filled on this one. I have a guy who can do it for around $60, which is well worth my time because I know how these types of projects can drag out in both cost and time. We'll see what happens. I have it on the trading block now for a '72 Thinline, fwiw. It would probably help my cause to get the holes filled! As always, thanks for the advice, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapthatplank Posted August 8, 2013 Author Share Posted August 8, 2013 Hi Steve, Yes, I did think about getting the holes filled on this one. I have a guy who can do it for around $60, which is well worth my time because I know how these types of projects can drag out in both cost and time. We'll see what happens. I have it on the trading block now for a '72 Thinline, fwiw. It would probably help my cause to get the holes filled! As always, thanks for the advice, Chris Guitar is up for sale now, I'm just not feeling the neck. Otherwise a perfect guitar. My friend was chiding me for selling it, saying I'll probably regret it. I probably will. http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/104274-fs-matsumoku-epi-casino/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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