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John Lennon complaining about his Casino


cyberpunk409

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I'll bet if that guitar could speak English' date=' it would have a few choice words for John as well[/quote']

 

 

LOL! Yeah, no doubt! But, Paul has always said, that if he was limited to one guitar, it would BE his "Casino!"

John, by his own admission, was never much of a "tech" person, so God only knows, what real condition, his

Casino was in, at the time of that Interview/clip? He was, no doubt, "human" like the rest of us...if his playing

wasn't up to his expectations, blame the guitar/amp, whatever. LOL! And too, he was pretty hard on himself,

when it came to his guitar playing abilities. Yet, his rhythm playing was always exceptional...IMHO. His self-

described "Primitive Leads," were just right, for the songs, too. "You Can't Do That," as and early example,

and even "Get Back," later....simple, but quite effective!

 

CB

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Can't say I'm really a fan of John Lennon, and you know what they say about a bad workman blaming his tools... I think both him and the Casino (by association) are overrated... but yeah the way he looks at his fingers at the end of the clip rather than the instrument itself suggests to me that it's hurting his hand because it's poorly set up or he's using heavy strings. It's probably not the guitar's fault. Also JL was probably being sent one Casino a week and so it's likely he's playing a new one that didn't have a pro set-up. Casinos play pretty much the same as any other electric if you ask me, in fact the feel of a Casino is the only thing I actually DO like about the instrument. Yes I know my opinions on all this are highly sacreligious but meh...

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Also JL was probably being sent one Casino a week and so it's likely he's playing a new one that didn't have a pro set-up.

 

I'm pretty sure that's not the case. I mean, why go through the trouble of redoing the finish and changing the tuners for each comped Casino when the one you did works just as well?

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Personally, I have times, when I just can't seem to play, as well, right then, the very same guitar I play all the time, when maybe the day

before, I played it effortlessly. Mood, or even if one's tired, fed up, depressed, things like that...something isn't going

right, or you've done it to death, and it's still not where you want it to be. All that can "seem" to effect the guitar's playability,

when in fact, it's just you! Like, when you practice something over and over, and it just isn't quite right...you take a

break, for an hour, a day, etc....or even just a walk, and come back, and nail it, first time. So, who knows, really...what

was REALLY going on, in that clip?

 

CB

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Found this clip to be amusing...

 

 

At the end' date=' Lennon says this of his Casino;

 

"This guitar is just crippling beyond belief. I can't play it."

 

before anyone thinks I'm bashing Casino's, I'm not! I used to own one and should never have sold it :)[/quote']

 

Keep in mind that for years he used a Rickenbacker that had the shortest scale in electric guitar history. If you then move to a longer scale guitar, the frets are longer, and the strings are tighter.

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as far as i can tell, Lennon only ever had one Casino- the sunburst he bought in '65, stripped in '67 and played at the Apple Building Rooftop gig- that's the guitar the inspired and USA Epis are based on, and the one he's playing there- around 1971 i think.

 

My guess is he either had thicker strings on than he was used to, or hadn't played for a while, or most likely, had been playing for several hours that day. I know I've had times in the studio where my fingers are shredded, but you keep going because you're in a creative groove..

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A lot of folks love guitars that are a bit dodgy and difficult to play, part of the charm of them I guess. So perhaps what he's saying about it being a ***** of a thing, shouldn't really be taken so literally. One of my favourite musicians, Jack White, adopts this philosophy when playing with The White Stripes. He uses an old, mid 50s Montgomery Airline, an old, clapped out Kay hollowbody, a Harmony Rocket, and a Crestwood Astral mostly. All pretty rubbish guitars, not especially well made or designed, with bowed necks and crap tuners that can barely stay in tune for one song. Yet he gets some of the most amazing tones you're likely to hear anywhare. And I think it's that kind of philosophy that does it, the idea that it should be a challenge to make that particular kind of music, enforcing all these restrictions only to force himself to be more creative within a limited means. It's an interesting way of going about things, and sure creates some amazing results.

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A lot of folks love guitars that are a bit dodgy and difficult to play' date=' part of the charm of them I guess. So perhaps what he's saying about it being a ***** of a thing, shouldn't really be taken so literally. One of my favourite musicians, Jack White, adopts this philosophy when playing with The White Stripes. He uses an old, mid 50s Montgomery Airline, an old, clapped out Kay hollowbody, a Harmony Rocket, and a Crestwood Astral mostly. All pretty rubbish guitars, not especially well made or designed, with bowed necks and crap tuners that can barely stay in tune for one song. Yet he gets some of the most amazing tones you're likely to hear anywhare. And I think it's that kind of philosophy that does it, the idea that it should be a challenge to make that particular kind of music, enforcing all these restrictions only to force himself to be more creative within a limited means. It's an interesting way of going about things, and sure creates some amazing results.[/quote']

 

This is a good point. I like my Hofner Club 50 for recording but it's a stinker of a guitar in every possible way except sound and looks. It really is "crippling beyond belief".

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Of all 25 of my guitars my '65 John Lennon Casino is the easiest on the fingers way better than my natural Casino.By the way John used either 8-38s or 9-42s on his guitars according to the Epiphone guys who measured up his original for the '65 and Revolution Casinos.You can tell they're super lights if you look closely at rooftop concert footage.

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The bottom line is, if John didn't like the Casino, he could have dumped it. Instead. he poured money into it to make it sound ever better (or at least that was his intent). This has to be the first time I've heard of a musician complaining about an instrument that he used willingly. Perhaps Yoko disliked it. If John liked it, Yoko would have disliked it. That is her nature. Then John would have disliked it. Yoko did so much to destroy extraordinary talent while producing none of her own. What a legacy she is leaving for herself. Look what I stifled!

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The simple fact of the matter is that he blurted that statment out at the end of a sloppy take. .We've all done it. You blame everything, but your self. It's like an outfielder, trying to catch a fly ball, with the sun in his eyes, and missing. He says "the sun was in my eyes.". It didn't seem, to me, that Lennon was really mocking the guitar. Who know's how long the session went on for?

 

I say, it was either a bad set up, or John hadn't played the guitar or had a set up done in a while. We all know what can happen to a hollowbody that's propped up in a corner for a year. Especially one that has no finish on it.

 

Perhaps he took a vacation from playing guitar for a while, and lost his calluses. Maybe, after The Beatles broke up, he didn't even want to look at a guitar for a while. This is also shortly after the time that he had spent kicking his (rumored) heroine adiction. We all want to picture the guy with a guitar strapped to him 24/7, but that probably wasn't the case.

 

Bottom line, we all know that he liked that guitar. No one has to take the title of this thread litteraly. It's safe to love your Casinos again. Personally, I'll take the Daphne Blue Stratocaster that George Harrison's playing in that clip over Lennon's guitar any day.

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Instead. he poured money into it to make it sound ever better (or at least that was his intent). !

 

:D

 

John sanded and stripped the guitar himself I believe...... And the only thing he purchased for the guitar was a set of gold grover machine heads, and that black little selector washer...... Hell I even think the guitar was given to him by Epiphone......

 

John was a cheap-*** when it came to his guitars

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