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Epiphone USA Casino


Larsongs

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4 hours ago, Larsongs said:

So, has anyone heard official Prices yet? Or official availability?

Thanks

The Texan is on Sweetwater, but its order only. Its $2699.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/OCRSETVS--epiphone-usa-texan-vintage-sunburst

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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1 hour ago, SteveFord said:

I understand that playing one is truly delightful, it even says so in the ad:

Playing the USA Texan is truly delightful

Good enough for Macca.  Can't wait till CG gets one in that 100 people have already abused so its broken in.

I'm glad advertisers tell me what I should think. Its like actors and rock stars telling me who I should vote for cause I'm dumb. 

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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On January 28, 2020 at 12:49 AM, fazeka said:

 

For the Casino, the rumor I heard was $2799. Summertime availability.

I've heard that too. It seems at this point nothing official has been released... 

I hope someone here will keep us informed of official Price & Availability announcements.

Thanks

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The Beatles were accustomed to reworking their guitars, in particular they preferred their Casinos with the finish removed, they claimed, because they sounded better..

Makes me wonder, were they polyurethane or nitro?

Edited by mihcmac
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I read the Beatles had a hard time getting Gibsons in the UK back then due to legal and/or distribution problems, since they didn't have that problem with Epiphone, they got them instead.

True or rumor, I know not.

I have a Gibson ES335 that I bought used in the 1970s. I liked it a lot and when the early 2000s, I started gigging with sax, wind synth, flute and guitar instead of sax, wind synth, flute and keyboard I didn't want to damage the Gibson so I went to a big music store to buy a Casino.

I played a brand new one and a couple of used ones. I bought the used one that sounded the best to my ears. After I bought it home and investigated it, I found out it was made in the Peerless factory in Korea.

I put the black pick guard and the witch hat knobs on it because I thought it made the guitar look better (probably because I was so used to my Gibson)

GuitarCousins.JPG

 

GuitarCousins2.JPG

Bob

 

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5 hours ago, mihcmac said:

The Beatles were accustomed to reworking their guitars, in particular they preferred their Casinos with the finish removed, they claimed, because they sounded better.  Makes me wonder, were they polyurethane or nitro?

 

Nitro finish, just like their ES-330 counterparts of the day.

Paul’s still has it’s original finish & he says it remains his favorite electric.

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16 hours ago, Larsongs said:

I've heard that too. It seems at this point nothing official has been released... 

I hope someone here will keep us informed of official Price & Availability announcements.

Thanks

 

One thing pointing to a summer release... there was another rumor that these USA Casinos at NAMM served as a preview to the summer NAMM... ??? ...which, if true, is kinda like a preview to the preview. 😕 Would explain why the USA Casino is not shown/marketed on the Epiphone site. On the other hand, someone else on another site said their friend that was a dealer is going to be ordering some soon.

Best thing we can do is just hang tight, I guess.

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33 minutes ago, Murph said:

I'm really happy to see Epiphone get some "Made In U.S.A." respect.

Are they building the laminates in Nashville now that Memphis is gone?

According to the NAMM YouTubes, Yes. 

Preview to a preview? They must be for real. There are no full size Casinos listed on Epiphone's website. 

Neither George or Paul sanded their Casinos finish off.. John did.. But, later painted it Psychedelic. 

One of my Casinos is an IBJL Revolution.. It has a Matte Natural finish which according to Epiphone was the same as Johns'. 

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5 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I watched the John and George one. Need to watch to one about Paul. It was informative.

Pauls is interesting because he had to go to even more rebuild extremes, because no left handed bass's were available.

Edited by mihcmac
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5 hours ago, Larsongs said:

Neither George or Paul sanded their Casinos finish off.. John did.. But, later painted it Psychedelic. 

 

Hmmm...

George indeed did scrape the finish off his Casino:

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W1fvUtW48h4/WixZteVV4uI/AAAAAAAAB_4/Saq9IteMqcgtujAYhmrmRiZy77EbewsBQCLcBGAs/s1600/GH3.jpg

John scraped/sanded the finish off his after his psychedelic finish attempt in '67 (I think this meant spraying the back?)

http://www.thecanteen.com/casinoback.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ8IqsbxlPA/XAexEZC_grI/AAAAAAAAP3M/R4RNq-mxELQQvrDtPNDpq7R7hreeAuoywCLcBGAs/s1600/JL%2B23.jpg

Never was refinished after he stripped it. Here it is in '97 being measured for the 1999 reissue:

http://www.thecanteen.com/casino2a.jpg

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11 hours ago, fazeka said:

 

Hmmm...

George indeed did scrape the finish off his Casino:

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W1fvUtW48h4/WixZteVV4uI/AAAAAAAAB_4/Saq9IteMqcgtujAYhmrmRiZy77EbewsBQCLcBGAs/s1600/GH3.jpg

John scraped/sanded the finish off his after his psychedelic finish attempt in '67 (I think this meant spraying the back?)

http://www.thecanteen.com/casinoback.jpg

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ8IqsbxlPA/XAexEZC_grI/AAAAAAAAP3M/R4RNq-mxELQQvrDtPNDpq7R7hreeAuoywCLcBGAs/s1600/JL%2B23.jpg

Never was refinished after he stripped it. Here it is in '97 being measured for the 1999 reissue:

http://www.thecanteen.com/casino2a.jpg

I stand corrected... So, if they never refinished them they must have a natural matte finish?

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10 hours ago, Larsongs said:

I stand corrected... So, if they never refinished them they must have a natural matte finish?

 

I don't know if George clear-coated his after he stripped it. I presume so as I think George was savvy enough to know that unfinished wood would stain/discolor due to sweat/oils etc. from handling.

John, on the other hand, probably could care less and was more about function, with aesthetics taking a back seat. Look at his original 325 Rick after it was refinished black. Detailed photos of the time show various nicks/dents in the finish. Hell, the vibrato arm on his second 325 is bent in an unusual way, as well. I think I remember reading that when the Gibson rep inspected his Casino in '97 that the body's surface (I'm paraphrasing here) was "porous". That indicates to me that if indeed it was finished, there wasn't much there at best. So yes, I suspect John's Casino's finish is closer to what you say. 

In John's eyes, I suspect he considered his gear as mere tools. I think George took a little better care of his gear, relatively speaking.

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11 hours ago, Larsongs said:

I stand corrected... So, if they never refinished them they must have a natural matte finish?

 

Also to be clear, when I replied that John's Casino was "never refinished after he stripped it" in response to your original comment you said about John painted it psychedelic after he sanded it, what I meant was that he never refinished it in a non-clear coat post the stripping. IOW, the events went like this: original sunburst finish->"psychedelic" spray paint on rear with paint runs on interior cutaway rims->stripped finish.

Edited by fazeka
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I don't know about Unfinished Guitars sounding better. I don't think my IBJL Revolution Casino, which has the Natural Matte Finish,  sounds as good as my other 2 Sunburst Casinos. One being an Epi Peerless with Bigsby  & the other similar Spec  Epi RI 50th Anniv. 1961 with Tremotone. Maybe it's the Bigsby & Tremotone? 

My Casino's are great & I can't imagine letting any of them go. But, I'm really looking forward to getting one of these USA Casinos & hope they are even better.... Like Custom Shop level..... 

My Sweetwater Rep emailed me & said availability will be end of July.. But no Official Prices yet..

I got my name on a Royal Tan.... The waiting is the hardest part.. 

Lucky

Edited by Larsongs
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In the late 50's Englands economy was still recovering from the War. Frivolous things like guitars were not very high on the list for shops selling them and were expensive for the time. John and Paul's first guitars were pretty bad, Paul eventually restringing R-hand guitars for left and building his first bass from one of Johns guitars. Later, in Germany, he found a R-H Hofner Violin Bass that was fairly symmetrical making it easier to setup for L-H, then Hofner eventually provided a left hand version. George managed to secure better guitars like his first Gretch, that was on a different level from what John and Paul were using.. Anyway they overcame many obstacles and had no qualms about reworking their guitars..

Edited by mihcmac
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On February 1, 2020 at 11:23 AM, mihcmac said:

In the late 50's Englands economy was still recovering from the War. Frivolous things like guitars were not very high on the list for shops selling them and were expensive for the time. John and Paul's first guitars were pretty bad, Paul eventually restringing R-hand guitars for left and building his first bass from one of Johns guitars. Later, in Germany, he found a R-H Hofner Violin Bass that was fairly symmetrical making it easier to setup for L-H, then Hofner eventually provided a left hand version. George managed to secure better guitars like his first Gretch, that was on a different level from what John and Paul were using.. Anyway they overcame many obstacles and had no qualms about reworking their guitars..

Humble beginnings for sure. Although by the time they had the Hofner, Ric & Duo Jet those were pretty good Instruments. If I recall in Hamburg they played some Fender Amps.. Then Recording at Abbey Road! The quality Sound they turned was simply amazing.

Still, Just goes to show where there's a will there's a way.. 

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