Ebhaugen Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Hi y'all! I recently picked up a 1995 MIK Casino and like to start tinkering with it and wanted to get opinions from other Casino owners as to what things they have done to improve on their already lovely guitars. 1 ) The pickups are too Hot for my taste. I see that Lindy Fralin has just come out with the short dogear neck p90 do I could get some of his PUPs and pop em in, but I cannot determine if the sting spacing will be correct. 2 ) The Feedback is certainly a problem. I play through a Tweed Pro at about 6 and it doesn't howl all the time, but it's always ready to start. Some folks have gotten good results by having a luthier but bracing under the bridge. I don't want to stuff the guitar with anything, I just want to tame it a notch. What I'm hoping is that if I put in some lower output PUPs it'll help enough so I won't have to worry about it. 3 ) To bigsby or not to bigsby. I've read that adding a bigsby helps tame bridge rattle and also adds some sustain and twang. Personally, I love bigsbys, even though I never really use them on the guitars I have with them - just sort like to know it's there if I need it. Any input / advice would much appreciated brothers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casino4Life Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've toyed with replacing the PUPs in my 05 MIK Casino, but decided the stock ones are ok. I don't generally have to bad of a problem with feedback. I replaced the tuners with Grover Rotonatics and improved tuning hands down. I'm leaning towards a Bigsby to, just not sure. Casinos by themselves are solid guitars, I guess it just depends on taste. Oh I did replace the stock bridge with a non wire Gotoh and that's helped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebhaugen Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Thanks! Luckily for me, the previous owner had already installed the grovers! I'll look into that Gotoh bridge, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've toyed with replacing the PUPs in my 05 MIK Casino, but decided the stock ones are ok. I don't generally have to bad of a problem with feedback. I replaced the tuners with Grover Rotonatics and improved tuning hands down. I'm leaning towards a Bigsby to, just not sure. Casinos by themselves are solid guitars, I guess it just depends on taste. Oh I did replace the stock bridge with a non wire Gotoh and that's helped I, too, played with the stock pickups before changing them out. Quite frankly, unless you like spending money, I think that the stock ones are fine, when set up properly. Had I not known exactly what I wanted and how to get it (I matched what another Casino owner had done)I would have kept the stock ones.There have been some posts done here about exchanging the magnets on the stock ones which would help with the "hotness", maybe to A2s or A3s. Easy and inexpensive to do. How about backing the poles down just a hair? I also had my luthier look at adding a post, at the bridge, but it turns out that my '01 had a post already, apparently from the factory. As for eminent feedback, it has never been a problem for me. I have found that being aware of proximity to my amp has kept it from being an issue. At times, I actually use the feedback and control it, it can be quite fun. Finally, as much as I like the looks of Bigsbys and Maestros, I just don't see myself using one enough to justify getting one. I'd do a new bridge and replace the the plastic nut with the money instead. Keep us posted on changes you make and how they improve your guitar. And, welcome to the Forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebhaugen Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 I've lowered the pole pieces a good deal, and it certainly helps clarify the tone a good bit, but theyre still just too much for me. I'll look into changing the magnets out, that sounds like an interesting fix. The nut seems fine, but I'm curious - what difference would a proper bone nut make? Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 3 ) To bigsby or not to bigsby. I've read that adding a bigsby helps tame bridge rattle and also adds some sustain and twang. Personally, I love bigsbys, even though I never really use them on the guitars I have with them - just sort like to know it's there if I need it. Can't help you much on the first 2 questions, but I recently had a Bigsby put on my Elitist. It did improve the sustain a bit, and it's just a lot more solid than the original tailpiece. I did have to add a couple of felt washers to get the strap button to protrude enough past the Bigsby to be able to get the strap attached. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebhaugen Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Oooh! Yup, the bigsby looks fantastic on there. I remember having that same problem with the strap button on my 135 that I bigsby'ed. Can I assume that the bigbsy also helps with the bridge rattle due to the added pressure on the strings from the tension bar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I've lowered the pole pieces a good deal, and it certainly helps clarify the tone a good bit, but theyre still just too much for me. I'll look into changing the magnets out, that sounds like an interesting fix. The nut seems fine, but I'm curious - what difference would a proper bone nut make? Thanks for your help! Don't necessarily favor bone, too inconsistant. I think that there are other great materials like tusq and phenolic. But, a better nut (and just about anything is better than hollow plastic) will give you better sustain and clarity in notes and keep your guitar in tune more easily. I do phenolic on every guitar I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebhaugen Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 Thanks for the info, tweed! I'll look into a new nut when I bring the axe in for work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongMan Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 1 ) The pickups are too Hot for my taste. I see that Lindy Fralin has just come out with the short dogear neck p90 do I could get some of his PUPs and pop em in, but I cannot determine if the sting spacing will be correct. P90s have some punch by design. Being single coils doesn't mean they have low output. 2 ) The Feedback is certainly a problem. I play through a Tweed Pro at about 6 and it doesn't howl all the time, but it's always ready to start. Some folks have gotten good results by having a luthier but bracing under the bridge. I don't want to stuff the guitar with anything, I just want to tame it a notch. What I'm hoping is that if I put in some lower output PUPs it'll help enough so I won't have to worry about it. Did you try a graphic equalizer? Maybe lowering the critical frequency in a small band does help better than messing around with the guitar. 3 ) To bigsby or not to bigsby. I've read that adding a bigsby helps tame bridge rattle and also adds some sustain and twang. Personally, I love bigsbys, even though I never really use them on the guitars I have with them - just sort like to know it's there if I need it. I don't believe a Bigsby does help with a rattling bridge. The Bigsby B7 doesn't change the string angle after the bridge very much, means you don't get higher string pressure on the string saddles. I would recommend to replace the bridge with a non-wire type like Gibson Nashville, Tonepros or ABM. In case you want to mount a Bigsby I would consider a roller bridge for tuning stability. The korean and chinese guitars normally have cheap copies of the wire ABR-1. Just did that change on my 50th ann. Sheraton, and it solved the rattle issue perfectly. Btw.: All my MIJ Elitist Epis (Casino, ES-335, Les Paul) also have a wire ABR-1 type bridge, but none of them does rattle. So it's not faulty construction of the ABR-1, but most likely bad quality of the cheap copies. And more sustain and twang from a Bigsby? No, not really. What really helps is a bone or TUSQ nut and a quality bridge. I did that procedure on my Riviera ltd. edition. First changed nut and bridge, and that improved the tone pretty much. Then changed the tailpiece for a Bigsby B7, that just added flexibility, but the tone did not improve any further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebhaugen Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Thanks everybody for your help! I lowered the pole pieces as low as they can go and have decided that's clear enough for me. I wish I could get a little more detail, but a $200 PUP swap isn't worth it. When I bring this in for a proper setup, I will definitely have my man swap out the bridge and nut. For now, no Bigsby. I appreciate y'all keepin' me from spending unnecessary $$$ on a pretty darn nice guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebhaugen Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Oh yeah, here's a pic of the little lady: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Oh yeah, here's a pic of the little lady: Love the bursts on the 94-97 Peerless casinos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweed2 Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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