Juckley Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Hi all, I recently purchased a cherry red '96 Casino through ebay for a good price, in anticipation of some work being needed to bring it up to scratch. I want to gig with this guitar (I currently use a '97 US Telecaster but want some variety and chunkier sounds) and have been playing for 17 years but don't tend to repair/alter my guitars myself. I now have the guitar and have a number of issues which I think will need to be sorted out. Before taking it to a dealer for repair/modifications I thought I'd run it by you guys first to see what advice you might have for me to get the best out of this cool guitar. 1. First thing is I'm having tuning problems and am getting some pretty bad buzz on the 13th fret. If I tune the guitar so that the open notes are perfectly in tune, I still get some tuning problems when playing up the neck. Do these problems sound like the truss rod needs to be adjusted? 2. Second thing is that when I've played the guitar through an amp I haven't been impressed with the clarity or output. Perhaps I'm just used to a jangly tele but I expected a better sound from a Casino. I know that the Korean Casinos from this period are pretty low-spec and cheaply built so I am prepared to pay for new pick ups etc. if needs be. Would your advice be to get all of the electronics checked/replaced and get new pick ups? In terms of sound, will it be worth my money replacing the original standard P90s? If so (which I imagine it will be), what pickups would you recommend which are available in the UK? Thanks in advance for any advice you may have. I'm desperate to start gigging this guitar and just need to know how to get the best out of it without wasting my time and money! Cheers, Juckley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pohatu771 Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 The tuning issue can be solved by adjusting the intonation, not the truss rod. Is the fret buzz at the thirteenth fret, or the thirteenth and higher? If it's everything above that fret, it could be a combination of the truss rod or the bridge. As far as the sound goes... it's hard to say. My Strat and Casino sound very different. Have you experimented with different tone and pickup combinations? In most cases, I find the neck pickup on its own to be a bit too bass-y for my tastes, so I generally play in the middle position with the bridge pickup at about half the strength of the neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 I have a 96 Casino as well and recently I've been playing that more than my 2006 Casino. The guitar sounds like it could do with a good set up. Also, generally the Epi P-90s are very good so perhaps you should try getting the pots and caps modified. I've had 5-6 Epi Casinos and know that they can be a great guitar. If you've got the money gut the whole things and replace the electrics and tuners, new bridge (should already have a bone nut) and have it set up. It will never be like a Tele but obviously should give you a similar satisfaction with a different sound. For the record though, the Epi tuners are terrible and should probably be changed if you can. Always been my biggest complaint about the Casinos. I'd quite happily have paid £50 more for each of my guitars safe in the knowledge that the tuners were good. Bare Knuckle and Seymour Duncan are popular p-90 choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juckley Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 Thanks for the advice people, really appreciate it. Based on what you've said, i think the best thing to do is take it a trustworthy dealer, get it set up properly (which will hopefully sort out the tuning and fret issue) and get the electronics replaced. If the standard pick-ups are usually pretty good I think it must the pots etc. that are letting me down. Hopefully that should make it stage worthy! I'll consider getting the tuners sorted out as well, budget permitting! Clarkuss, cheers for the advice. Could have asked you through .org if I'd thought about it! Juckley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Haha! Crikey... Make sure you put some pictures up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 2. Second thing is that when I've played the guitar through an amp I haven't been impressed with the clarity or output. Perhaps I'm just used to a jangly tele but I expected a better sound from a Casino. Would your advice be to get all of the electronics checked/replaced and get new pick ups? OK, first things first, it ain't going to sound like a Tele. You have to expect a different, certainly not Tele clear, sound. I came upon the same situation as you. My Strat through my VOX sounds like gold, my Casino on the neck pickup sounds like mud. You can go the expensive route of trying to find the perfect electronics and replacing them, but two things I have done to correct my muddiness were this: 1. I rarely use my Casino neck pickup in my VOX (for certain tones I do, it does give me a creamy-jazzy tone) 2. I bought myself a nice little EQ pedal. My Casino now sounds exactly as I want it to. Save your dough on all the electronics, pickups, and pots and just buy an EQ pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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