Zentar Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 +1, the finish on my 2014 MIC Casino is just that to my eyes, applied sparingly, much better than the earlier Peerless Songbird I have which looks much more glassy and over done. I looked at a Casino natural yesterday at Guitar Center. It had a thick finish. Yet my 2014 Casino natural model doesn't have that thick finish. I thought the finish was so thick that it obscured the natural grain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 What I find extremely interesting about Epiphone guitars is their reputation is that of a inexpensive guitar. They had this same second rate reputation in the 1960s. Epiphoe was a middle of the road guitar as far as price yet the Beatles were loaded with money but they owned and played 3 Epiphones. Incorrect re the '60s. When Gibson bought Epiphone and built them in Kalamazoo, they essentially set Epiphone up to expand their dealer network and create an in-house alternative. Epiphone pricing was generally only a few dollars less than a Gibson clone model, but the Excellente for example, was priced higher than any Gibson acoustic, including the J-200. Pricing for the Casino would have been only slightly less than the the Gibson ES-330. Gibson also sought out top endorsers for Epiphone, such as Howard Roberts. Gibson's original intent was to maintain the high quality reputation Epiphone had always enjoyed as a direct competitor to Gibson. Epiphone only became an inexpensive knock-off brand beginning with the 1970 model year, when Gibson elected to shift production of both acoustics and electrics to Japanese manufacturers, in order to compete with the growing market of entry level Asian imports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddyHollywood Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I think people would still opt for the Elitist. even if you can't buy aftermarket Gibson P90's, there are still other options for hot-rodding the standard Casino. Personally, I think Elitist Casinos are not even in the same league as the standard Chinese ones. I hear the Kent Armstrong P90 Casino replacement pickups sound very vintage Gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LPS1976 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I hear the Kent Armstrong P90 Casino replacement pickups sound very vintage Gibson. I've heard good things about the Kent Armstrong P90's also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diverden Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 The 2015 Epiphone print catalog says the Elitist Casino has Spruce in the top. Anderton's was right about Casinos and Spruce tops but only partially. It is the Japanese made Casinos currently using Spruce. The standard Chinese made Casinos are not using Spruce. I also suspect that the Elitist does not use Spruce on the outside visable plys. For instance one of the plys is Spruce and the other plys are Maple. The Chinese made Casinos may use Poplar in the internal plys on the top. Poplar is a very functional wood as far as workability and sonically. my 2003 '65 Casino Elite is definitely Maple. And, it is for sale in the Trading Post section, for no more than you would pay to upgrade a Chinese Casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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