The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: Review: 2006 Epiphone Casino

Review: 2006 Epiphone Casino

Note: In 2024, the Casino is probably one of the most well documented guitars of all time. I’ll resist trying to duplicate that wealth of info and just stick with my 2006 remarks.

The Epiphone Casino, a double cutaway hollow-body guitar with P90 pickups, is one of the guitars most associated with the Beatles. John Lennon in particular, who used one pretty much all his life. George Harrison is also linked with it but made most of his early sounds on a Gretsch.

To be honest, it wasn't until the 70's that I realized that they used Casinos. Until then, it was a guitar I associated with Blues Legend John Lee Hooker, who used one in his early days. Also, I owned an ES-330 (double cutaway hollow body) back then, and just assumed the Epiphone was a low-cost copy.

Which it sort of was, but to Gibson's probable amazement, the Casino took off while the ES-330 faded away and was eventually replaced by the ES-335. The Casino was Epiphone's answer to the more expensive Gibson and was equipped with P-90's instead of humbuckers. That made it a better rock and roll guitar, which resonated more with the younger guitar buyers.

It was a fine blues instrument. Listen to John Lee Hooker's Vee-Jay recordings like “Boom Boom”:and you'll see it has a wide range in that genre. Especially with a lot of reverb. This guitar was made for reverb.

However, the modern-day version isn't like the original mid-60's original. A friend of mine has one from that era, and there's no comparison in terms of sound and versatility. This guitar is geared more towards those who want a “vintage rock sound,” which is a vague term and not always what you expect it to be.

Also, the Beatles often filtered their guitar tones through effects and did subtle layering, and the Casino by itself can't duplicate that. Also, George Harrison did a lot of his early leads with a Gretsch, which is a different animal. You'll find your ability to duplicate a Beatle guitar sound will depend on the song and era it was created in.

What you do get are the sounds Lennon created as the rhythm guitarist on the early records, that chunky distortion pouring out of an underpowered Vox amp. Put that through a better amp, and your sounds probably won’t sound the same (though matching a particular sound is what the knobs are there for).

The story of the Beatles guitar sound isn't just about one guitar; it's also about the extra creativity required due to only having a four-track capability at Abbey Road (during a time when others had 8 track, etc), and a lot of creative geniuses working together.

For example, the mono version of the guitar classic, “Paperback Writer” sounded more powerful with studio distortion added and the mix. It wasn't just Lennon’s Casino turned up louder, as there were two guitars playing on that track

Personally, I like the Casino. I never did get one due to its limitations, but no guitar that has P-90's is a total waste. Handled right, the guitar is quite capable of delivering smokey blues licks in the Hooker mold or twangy early English style rock. Hit the half chords and you can get the early Who sound just fine if a Rickenbacker is out of your price range.

Ergonomically, it's a fun guitar to play. It's quite light, fits on the leg just right, and it has very nice neck. The Casino has a cool look that just invites you to play, and for its type of music, there's nothing better in its price range. Plus, the Beatles played one, mojo counts for a lot.

There is three things you can do with a Casino. One, you can play a lot of early blues and rock sounds with it, but it won't necessarily make you sound like a Beatle. So toss away that idea, and you'll find that an easy to play guitar with two P-90's can take you to a lot of fun places.

Two, you can replace the pickups with humbuckers and for thousands of thousands of dollars less get a guitar that will sound close to an ES-330 (a very nice jazz guitar). That might require a lot more work than just screwing in a new set of pickups, though.

Three, you can try to sound like the Beatle records, and discover that their genius was with how they created sound in the studio as they evolved, not in their guitar playing. You'll find yourself stuck in their early period, which sounds fine, but a little dated.

However, getting two out of three isn't bad at all.

- Al Handa

2006

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa