leicester35 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 We talk a lot about the Beatles' Epiphone Casinos here, but there are other famous ones out there, such as Paul Weller's (a 1966 vintage.) I know I criticize signature guitars a bit, but if Epi ever brought out one of these, then I might be very tempted! We discussed Oasis's popularity in the U.S. the other night (or lack there of.) But are there any Weller fans around the world?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I would love to find out the serial number of Weller`s Casino, because although it is claimed to be a 66, it sure looks earlier. For instance it has Nickel hardware, and Nickel was changed to Chrome during 65. It also has Nylon bridge saddles which again changed to metal during 65. Of more interest to me is the Trapeze Tailpiece, his has the alternative one with the three grooves instead of the diamond, and which I believe was old Epiphone stock ( have seen the same tailpiece on a 1934 De Luxe, a Zenith, and Al Caiola`s 63 casino, and it showed up on quite a few earlier Casino`s, well into 64). Also in 66 the H/stock name moved lower, which Weller`s doesn`t have. So all in all, an educated guess, tell`s me, his is probably a 64. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I am a new owner of a Casino and of course I bang out Beatle tunes every day and night on it. But the one song that I find the most fun to play on my Casino is Weller's (Style Council's) "Shout To The Top." I never owned a hollow body electric so this jazzy sound I can get from my Casino is new to me, and banging out "Shout To The Top" is just heaven. Yeah, Weller probably didn't played it on a Casino, but so what? That song is a blast to play on my Casino with the flatwounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I am a new owner of a Casino and of course I bang out Beatle tunes every day and night on it. But the one song that I find the most fun to play on my Casino is Weller's (Style Council's) "Shout To The Top." I never owned a hollow body electric so this jazzy sound I can get from my Casino is new to me' date=' and banging out "Shout To The Top" is just heaven. Yeah, Weller probably didn't played it on a Casino, but so what? That song is a blast to play on my Casino with the flatwounds.[/quote'] I don`t know if he recorded "Shout to the top" on a Casino, but I was there at Live Aid 85 (Wembley Stadium) where the Style Council played, and that was the first time I saw Weller with his Casino! I love playing his sprangy stuff, like "Hung up, and Sunflower" on my Casino`s. Incidently, Weller has just started to use a Lennon Revolution Casino as well! On the BBC sessions programme from 14th of this month he used one on "Echoes around the sun", and he had the scratchplate on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I have The Stlye Council's Live Aid performance on VHS tape. I'll have to dig it out (or go to youtube) and see what will be nice to play on my Casino. I already do Weller's opening lick to "You're The Best Thing" and as I said above "Shout To The Top" sounds real nice on the Casino. Something tells me "In The City" might not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicester35 Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 I think the Casino probably entered his arsenal around 1982 or thereabouts. In the October 1995 copy of Total Guitar he said the following: "Q. When did you retire the Rickenbackers? A. I used 'em right up until the end of The Jam. When The Jam split up, I just wanted to get rid of that whole Rickenbacker sound. As you know, that guitar really has only one sound - a very prominent, very crashy tone." [source: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/mikejh/totalguitar.html ] Photographs of very late Jam sessions (in 1982) show Weller with what looks to be an SG - so I guess he started experimenting with new guitars around that time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 I think the Casino probably entered his arsenal around 1982 or thereabouts. In the October 1995 copy of Total Guitar he said the following: "Q. When did you retire the Rickenbackers? A. I used 'em right up until the end of The Jam. When The Jam split up' date=' I just wanted to get rid of that whole Rickenbacker sound. As you know, that guitar really has only one sound - a very prominent, very crashy tone." [source: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/mikejh/totalguitar.html '] Photographs of very late Jam sessions (in 1982) show Weller with what looks to be an SG - so I guess he started experimenting with new guitars around that time). He played an Aria ProII TA-100 for a while (the Red Wedge stuff), and endorsed Aria too. According to Phil Harris of "Harris Hire"( they rent out vintage instruments), that Casino was originally his, and Weller badgered him into selling it, and so he sold Weller that one, and now has a late 61 Casino, which you can hire for £75.00 a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicester35 Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Here is a page from the Epiphone catalogue for 1966. I wonder whether Weller's guitar (whether it is a 66 or earlier) is a sunburst that has faded, or if it was originally a "Royal Tan." Either way, it's a beautiful colour now - and quite unlike any current Epi offerings, which would make it all the more worthwhile to produce a signature model. Come on Epiphone...if you can make a signature guitar for Nick Valensi then you can sure as heck turn one out for the Modfather.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Don`t forget the 66 catalogue was put together in 65. If you google "antique vintage guitars collectors info" and follow the links to Epiphone, you will find a timeline for the Casino, and all it`s specification changes. Weller`s Casino has pretty much looked the same since the mid eighties, so my guess is that it`s a "Royal Tan", but you are right, it`s a lovely colour. I don`t know if we will ever get a Weller signature model (maybe a 68 SG), but he has been working with Gibson/Epiphone promoting the Elitist Casino`s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicester35 Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Weller`s Casino has pretty much looked the same since the mid eighties' date=' so my guess is that it`s a "Royal Tan", but you are right, it`s a lovely colour. I don`t know if we will ever get a Weller signature model (maybe a 68 SG), but he has been working with Gibson/Epiphone promoting the Elitist Casino`s.[/quote'] This photo is from a soundcheck for the Jools Holland show in 2005....an especially dark photograph or a different Casino? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Here is a page from the Epiphone catalogue for 1966. I wonder whether Weller's guitar (whether it is a 66 or earlier) is a sunburst that has faded' date=' or if it was originally a "Royal Tan." Either way, it's a beautiful colour now - and quite unlike any current Epi offerings, which would make it all the more worthwhile to produce a signature model. Come on Epiphone...if you can make a signature guitar for Nick Valensi then you can sure as heck turn one out for the Modfather.... [/quote'] Strange. No picture of the Sheraton. Did the Sheraton come out post-'66? I played an Epiphone semi-hollow around '66, but didn't ask which model. I recall that it looked like a 335 sunburst but was stained lighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicester35 Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Strange. No picture of the Sheraton. Did the Sheraton come out post-'66? I played an Epiphone semi-hollow around '66' date=' but didn't ask which model. I recall that it looked like a 335 sunburst but was stained lighter.[/quote'] Here is the link to the website that allows access to the old catalogues. They span a number of years for the mid-60s. You may find the information you are looking for: http://www.vintageguitars.org.uk/catalogues.php hang on...yes, here is the Sheraton from 1966...ring any bells? By the way....look at those Caiolas on the right hand side of the page. I have never seen one of those before. Such is my ignorance, I didn't know who Al Caiola was and had to research him briefly. Apparently he played the theme tune for the "Magnificent Seven" (although the piece itself was written by Elmer Bernstein.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne_buddy Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 +1 Weller fan (from the Jam through TSC to the present). Saw him at Glastonbury in '94. There's only one Weller! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Paul Weller's '66 is the exact shape of mine...which is also a '66...LOL! (Yeah, I know...DUH!) ;>) But...As you can see, it's got more pointed upper bout "horns" than the Lennon, or earlier Casino models. This was typical of both Epi and Gibson "thin-lines" starting that year, or possibly even in late '65. Clapton's Red, Block marker, ES-335 was of the same body shape, as well. CB My '66 Casino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Strum Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 hang on...yes' date=' here is the Sheraton from 1966...ring any bells? [/quote'] yep, my GAS bell, which is better than a gas bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicester35 Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Paul Weller's '66 is the exact shape of mine...which is also a '66...LOL! (Yeah' date=' I know...DUH!) ;>) But...As you can see, it's got more pointed upper bout "horns" than the Lennon, or earlier Casino models. This was typical of both Epi and Gibson "thin-lines" starting that year, or possibly even in late '65. Clapton's Red, Block marker, ES-335 was of the same body shape, as well. CB My '66 Casino [img']http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq333/charliebrown1949/DSC_0014.jpg[/img] That's a beautiful guitar Charlie, really beautiful. If it's not a rude question...in some of your other posts you mentioned that you gave up guitar for many years and then returned to playing. Did you buy the Casino recently as a vintage instrument, or did you buy it new in 1966? If so, it must be wonderful to own an instrument like that for all of its life. My former guitar teacher has a 1968 Les Paul Custom which he bought new when they started making them again, and he has played it ever since as his main guitar. Basically it is part of him, like an extra arm or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JefferySmith Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 leicester35, thanks very much for the link. I've been trying with not too much success to piece together the history of the Sheraton, just as a project for rainy days. I just bought the Brit-made programs DevonAgent and DevonThink for the Mac. With those, I hope to be able to extract some information and cross-reference it. And, no, that doesn't look like Jim's Epiphone semihollow from 1966, so it must have been a Riviera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 That's a beautiful guitar Charlie' date=' really beautiful. If it's not a rude question...in some of your other posts you mentioned that you gave up guitar for many years and then returned to playing. Did you buy the Casino recently as a vintage instrument, or did you buy it new in 1966? If so, it must be wonderful to own an instrument like that for all of its life. My former guitar teacher has a 1968 Les Paul Custom which he bought new when they started making them again, and he has played it ever since as his main guitar. Basically it is part of him, like an extra arm or something.[/quote'] Thanks for the compliment, on my Casino. I bought it, "sight unseen," from a fellow in Seattle Wa. in 1981, a few years prior to all this "Vintage" insanity. Back then, it was just a "used" guitar! LOL! It was a good price, and when I recieved it, I knew why. It had been spray painted, in numerous colors, which he had told me, somewhat, about...but it was back in the "Grunge Era," so that's what that was all about, with him. When I took it down to a fellow I knew, in Hollywood (I lived in Los Angeles, for 30 years), who was an ex-Gibson tech, he looked at it and said it looked as if it had been repainted several times, prior to the spray painting coat(s). So, I asked if there was any chance to take to to "Natural," and he tried that, but the paint had seeped into the first lamiate so far, in certain areas, that he was afraid to sand any deeper, or even use a paint remover, to get it out. So, I had him refinish it "sunburst," instead. I turned out very nice...and it's been that way, since. So, I have owned it, for about 28 years, but I wasn't the original owner. The one guitar I have had since 1964 (purchased new) is my Fender Strat. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Paul Weller's '66 is the exact shape of mine...which is also a '66...LOL! (Yeah' date=' I know...DUH!) ;>) But...As you can see, it's got more pointed upper bout "horns" than the Lennon, or earlier Casino models. This was typical of both Epi and Gibson "thin-lines" starting that year, or possibly even in late '65. Clapton's Red, Block marker, ES-335 was of the same body shape, as well. CB My '66 Casino [img']http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq333/charliebrown1949/DSC_0014.jpg[/img] That`s a lovely Casino you`ve got there Charlie, I do like that finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Thanks, Frenchie! I thought it turned out really well, especially if you'd seen it, prior to it's refinishing. LOL! What a visual disaster it was. But, it's always been structurally sound, and plays like a DREAM! Everyone, literally, that picks it up, never wants to give it back! ;>) CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesBonfire Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Very nice guitar...not sure bout that chair tho haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Very nice guitar...not sure bout that chair tho haha LOL...yeah, everyone has the same comment. The "Aunt Bea" chair. I inherited it, along with the little 100+ year old house I grew up in, when my Mom passed. I'll get around to "remodeling" and changing all that stuffl, when I find some "spare cash" to do so. Until then, it remains. LOL! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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