MikeInlight1281734170 Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 Righto.. About a year ago I had a MIC Casino with B7 that I installed. It was great, but I sold it earlier this year because it wasn't quite right for the band I was in and I needed the cash. It looked like this: Anyways; now the band's split and I want another, but I want to do it properly. What I'd like to achieve in the long run is a Casino with decent pickups, B7 or B70 Bigsby, with Grover rotomatics and a eventually a refinish in Nitro with a plain, dark coloured back and black top (like the JLI revolution, but black-topped) [..or possible red top, but that's not the point!] I'd like to get this kinda vibe, but not quite Obviously I have several options for what to buy to get to my goal. I could get a MIK/MIC Casino, probably used, and uprate EVERYTHING bar the wood. Or I could get a JLI '65, which would get me the right wiring and a good case, and possibly a better guitar underneath? And no doubt be a better guitar throughout the process. Or a JLI Revolution, which has the right tuners from the start and might be easier to refin, given the thinner finish, but I don't know how long it will be before I can get that bit done, which would leave me for a long time with a guitar in a colour I don't really like.... Is the 1-fret shorter neck on the JLI worth it? Is the body wood significantly better? Any other thoughts? Am I just being silly? Thanks! mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeInlight1281734170 Posted July 5, 2010 Author Share Posted July 5, 2010 Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougg330 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I can speak for the IBJL Casino. I bought one and have been blown away by it. Acoustically, it's louder than my MIC Casino - you can feel the top and back vibrate more freely. The pickups are WAYYYYY better, as are the pots and switch. The pots are so useful, you can dial Volume down to 3 or 4 without sound disappearing (my '66 Casino quits at about 8). The neck has a great feel - not as chunky as my MIC Casino (which was sold to help finance the purchase of a '96 Sorrento and a '95-ish Howard Roberts), and not as thin as the Elitist Casino I tried. I think it's the best overall value of any guitar I have. I would love to have a thinner nitro finish on this baby. Hope you can do it and it turns out well. Dougg330 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bynapkinart Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 I've played the Elitist, IBJL, and my 2004 Peerless-made Casino. I thought the Elitist was very well made, with great looking wood and great unplugged volume. The IBJL and mine are a little bit more quiet, but they have a great resonant tone to them that I can't quite describe...maybe, they ring better and clearer. The Elitist that I played seemed to die a bit quicker, and the acoustic fullness ended up making the P90's overdrive at a lower volume. As far as feeling goes, the IBJL and mine felt pretty close, with my Peerless having a better taper on the neck and better P90 tone. The Elitist had a thinner neck with a different string spacing (not wider or narrower, just different). The standard had the tone I was looking for, while the IBJL was a little tinny and the Elitist was a touch too sensitive to overdrive (i like being able to change the OD levels by pick attack alone, but the Elitist's resonance made it nearly impossible to strum and get a nice clean P90 sound). My thinking is, if you are already planning to strip and refin your Casino, might as well find the best-sounding and best-playing one you can get your hands on and go from there. Even between the 8 or 9 that I tried, there were tons of differences that were make or break. I remember trying 4 or so MIC Casinos that were ok (in a very meh way), the IBJL (ooo), a couple other MIKs (ooo), the Elitist (OO), and my peerless (OOOOAHHHH). After buying, I (deep breath) gutted the wiring and remade the entire harness with American parts and 50's style wiring, Switchcraft jack and switch, CTS pots, I got some Kluson single-line tuners, TUSQ nut and saddles, and the vintage spec trapeze tailpiece that is on the Elitist and certain Gibsons. I didn't touch the pickups for a long long time...until today, in fact...I put some Alnico II mags in and got rid of the chrome covers. It made a MASSIVE difference...I was very very surprised, the whole attack and sustain is much clearer and and smoother. I didn't think that it would make that much of a difference!! I'll post the results for all to see in a couple of days. Weird thing was, I never had to enlarge the holes for the electronics, everything was pre-routed for english-sized pots and electronics. In my mind, if I were going into the project as you are, I would definitely buy the best standard I found, make your changes, and you probably won't regret a bit of it. I hope you have as much fun with yours as I'm having with mine!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony_JB Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 On refinishing your Casino: I have successfully stripped and refinished my 2006 MIC Casino. I'm only 18 and had no prior experience refinishing a guitar at all and it came out amazing for a first time, newbie refin. However, it is VERY difficult to take off the Poly and the chances for sanding through (yes, you MUST sand) the Maple veneer are very high. I'm not going to tell you that it's a stupid idea and it's not worth it and call you an idiot for even thinking about it like, most people would. But what I will say is that my Casino is CLEARLY more resonant and it's a VERY do-able project. It's a pain in the butt, a real pain, but if you have the time and the patience to do it right, it'll be worth it, and the results will be more than satisfactory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bynapkinart Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 hey Anthony, did you ever post pics of that refinish?? I was curious to see how it came out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeInlight1281734170 Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 Wow- thanks for all the replies! It sounds like the IBJL might be the way to go- that it's more than just a standard model with uprated electronics and a fancy case. Just have to save enough cash to get there now! Of course, it's entirely possible I'll get the IBJL and then decide I love it as it is.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamm7215 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Wow- thanks for all the replies! It sounds like the IBJL might be the way to go- that it's more than just a standard model with uprated electronics and a fancy case. Just have to save enough cash to get there now! Of course' date=' it's entirely possible I'll get the IBJL and then decide I love it as it is.. :)[/quote'] I suspect this will be the case... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony_JB Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Tah dah! Here it is. It's done save for a few things here and there. I did a crappy job on the wiring so I'm gonna re-do it and instead of using Alpha pots I'm going to put in CTS pots all with braided cloth wiring. Also, I'm gonna re-do the finish. The amber part of the burst came out really light and isn't yellow enough like that we see on the reissues. I learned a lot of things AFTER the project and I want to apply them. Should make for an easier refin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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