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Post by chrisgrimes on Sept 4, 2004 10:52:07 GMT -5
Congratulations JoMan I'm sure you will have years of fun with the Casino.
I note the Geezer took the pickguard off his Casino, I did the same with my Dot 6 months ago, I haven't looked back and now I think she looks ugly with it on !!
Congrats again, how much did she cost in your country, over here the SRP for a bog standard casino is GBP 735, the USA collection Revolution Casino has an SRP of GBP 3160 !! On the website of the guy I buy all my stuff from, you can get the standard epi casino for GBP 399 and a best price for the USA Revolution I have found thus far is GBP 1955 !!
When I consider I can get a Gibson 335 for 1499 the Revolution seems damned expensive, I'm really ineterested in the cost your side, it may be worth me importing one,, even allowing for the customs duty I'd have to pay over here !!
Chris
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Post by JoMan on Sept 4, 2004 14:17:54 GMT -5
thank you chris!
well, i tell you, it IS damn expensive and again yes, it is a little better over here in austria. You know I've seen, that list prices in GBP are usually just a little lower than Euro list prices in Austria.
So usually, as far as I've seen, our German neighbours are still a little cheaper than us, but not by too much.
For the USA Casino.... well, you still won't buy it!
The importing company my store dealt through is form Germany and lists it as (better sit down) € 3750. I got it for around 3000.
So why did I buy it, when I could get a 335 for less, you may well ask...
Well, a Casino is not the same as a 335. About a year and a half ago I saw this guitar in Lennon's hands, looked up what kind of guitar it was and fell in love with her. A few months later my mother said I could have a guitar for finishing school next year. And my first thought, oh yeah, Casino.
I started some research about the whole thing, saw the MIK Casino for about 800 Euros list rpice. I checked the Epi website and discovered the Elitist line and finally came across the Lennon USA model.
I joint the official forums and some nice people, BobSkippy, Tad and someone else helped me a lot there (thanks again) and the longer I thought about it, the more I wanted the USA thing.
So in the end I made a deal with my grandparents, parents and myself basically that I could have it. I was doing very well in school, so they were in a good mood. ;D ;D
I finally did finish school in June and the rest is obvious. Here I am with this Casino.
I was actually considering buying something else for a while. My store had just become official Gretsch dealer some time in spring and I thought bout getting one of those. They had (and still have, by the way) a nice Duo Jet in stock, just like George Harrison's that I liked. But I would have ordered a Tennessean because that's my favourite Gretsch (and I'm gonna do that some day..... distant future...). The Duo Jet goes for about 2500 list price, I could get it for around 2000, anyone interested? ;D ;D ;D
However, maybe you guys still dont understand, but I just fell in love with that guitar and, as I will tell you in detail tomorrow, I was not disappointed. In fact, she even exceeded my expectations...
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Post by dennisobell on Sept 4, 2004 20:54:31 GMT -5
Hey JoMan:
Thanks for posting your pictures. . . Great looking guitar!
I think that reading your posts and hearing your enthusiasm for the guitar reminds all of us why we are part of this little community-thank you for sharing!
<--- As you can see, you, Ol Geezer and I have a nice little "Casino Club" going. The finish on your "65 looks outstanding, and I am certainly jealous!
I wanted a sunburst finish on mine, but alas, leftys on "regular" Casinos only are available in natural (not that I'm complaining). It must be that I wanted the "McCartney" model! Hehe!
Anyway, I hope that you enjoy!
Dennis
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Post by dgassie on Sept 5, 2004 1:03:34 GMT -5
Congrats Man! That's a hot looking guitar. Enjoy it in good health!
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Post by Ol Geezer on Sept 5, 2004 1:16:10 GMT -5
I note the Geezer took the pickguard off his Casino, I did the same with my Dot 6 months ago, I haven't looked back and now I think she looks ugly with it on !! Yeah, I took the pickguard off my Dot, too. Thanks for the photos, JoMan! |
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Post by Steelpriest on Sept 5, 2004 1:20:20 GMT -5
On your photographs one can see the pure delight and the pride you have...  Congratulations again.  |
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Post by Ol Geezer on Sept 5, 2004 1:20:52 GMT -5
I wanted a sunburst finish on mine, but alas, leftys on "regular" Casinos only are available in natural (not that I'm complaining). It must be that I wanted the "McCartney" model! Hehe! You do realize that McCartney got a standard one in sunburst and "turned it over," don't you? He still has it.... |
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Post by Ol Geezer on Sept 5, 2004 1:21:38 GMT -5
On your photographs one can see the pure delight and the pride you have... Congratulations again. ABSOLUTELY! |
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Post by chrisgrimes on Sept 5, 2004 3:28:33 GMT -5
Hi JoMan
Sorry mate, I forgot you a fellow European like me, getting ripped off left right and centre !!
Your folks sure do love you !! I am in the reverse situation, providing suitable rewards for my children as they progress through school and college, 2 girls and one boy, haven't had to buy guitars for them yet !! My mum and dad bought me a new leather football for making it to grammar school !!! Mind you that was in 1970 !!
Again, I really hope you have so much fun and enjoyment with the Casino, your face gives away the excitement in the photos !!!
Pity about the football result last night !!!
Chris - UK
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Post by dennisobell on Sept 5, 2004 7:41:27 GMT -5
You do realize that McCartney got a standard one in sunburst and "turned it over," don't you? He still has it.... Ol Geezer: Yes, I was aware that all three (John, Paul and George) got Casinos (at the same time?) about the time of the Rubber Soul sessions. I still find it amazing that Epiphone didn't make McCartney a true lefty-he converted it himself! (Wow, have times changed!). There is a book out (I think that it called "Beatles Gear"), that shows a nice picture of his Casino. I also think that he is quoted as saying that it is still his favorite guitar. McCartney was concerned about having to convert assymetrical guitars- he thought that it would look "daft" up on stage with an "upside down-looking" version. I think that it was also his rationale for the Hofner Bass-I believe that it was a converted righty as well. Thanks for the input! Dennis. |
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Post by JoMan on Sept 5, 2004 10:59:18 GMT -5
dennis: McCartney bought his in winter '64, the others got theirs about a year later. the looking-daft thing was a concern for him and in fact he said that that was the reason why he bought the little hofner, but in the end he actually bought a lefty Hofner. So the idea of buying the Hofner because it was easly convertable is probably a good one, but was never really done...
and yeah, "Beatles Gear" by Andy Babiuk is a great book!
chris: Oh yeah, what a game! ;D
I didn't even watch most of it, cause we were sure to lose the whole thing, come on, us against England???
Some time I checked and it was 1:2 and i thought, great, we actually scored a goal and a second later there was the next (and unfortunately the last) goal. Good to know we can still do it fom time to time...
On Wednesday we'll meet Azerbaidschan... I'm sure we'll lose this one in return! ;D ;D ;D
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Post by JoMan on Sept 5, 2004 11:27:18 GMT -5
Well, here's my review... or let's call it an enthusiast's or a happy customer's recollections of his best GAS attack so far. ;D ;D
So what can I tell you about the Casino that you don't know already anyway?
Well, first things first, I guess. When I opened that case (which we had just taken out of the box, you know they called me, ten minutes later I was there, although I had been asleep when they called! My mummy woke me up and told me and off I went...) I said the pink was ugly, but I had known that before ;D
But beneath that pink stuff from the case, oh man, what a beauty. the vintage sunburst nitrocellulose finish looks great. I couldn't really tell you why, but this somehow is miles away from the usual poly finish on other guitars. As is said, I can't say what it is exactly, but this just seems more real, smoother, whatever. Compared to this, my other guitars feel like plastic, you know...
Well, I picked it up and was impressed with it's weight, whcih is just next to nothing. I should have expected this, and in fact I did, but it still surprised me.
Next came the acoustic tone that blew me. Very warm and actually quite loud. This has vibe, in two ways, you know. First it has that vibe like, oh cool guitar, you know the whole feel of but even better is the real vibe. Man that thing resonates. It feels so thin. So together with light weight, this was a strange feeling for a Les Paul Player....
What REALLY impressed me, and I really dont know how they did it, the guitar was tuned to pitch the way I took it out. Must have been good workmanship and a nice portion of luck, i guess. There was nothing to be done, action is great. Oh yeah intonation on the low E was slightly flat, but well, not a problem, really. The neck inlays are fit in perfectly and look great.
Well then we plugged in and had a little jam, just simple rock'n'roll kind of thing, like sweet little sixteen, in C.
Markus had just got his new Strat, handmade by a friend of his, who I actually know too. So he had a nice new toy to play with too.
So far I have not been disappointed, as I said before, I was impressed with the distorted sound, which is exactly like the intro of the "Revolution" single. "Drive My Car" is another nice sound. But of course, it's the clean tone that really has soul. At home I only have my little Crate 15 Watts combo and my Vox Pathfinder 15R, but that little Vox actually sounds quite "voxy". I'm actually thinking about getting a Fender HotRod Deluxe in the not-so-far future (you know, the long wait had one good thing to it, it gave me time to save money again....), any experience with it?
So, quite frankly, I'm very happy with this baby. The only "problem" was the intonation being off just a little, which was easy to repair.
If you have any questions about this guitar, I'll be most happy to answer them. Talking about this beauty is almost as good as playing her ;D ;D
And thank you everyone for your congratulations and the like!
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Post by Ol Geezer on Sept 5, 2004 12:21:37 GMT -5
Ol Geezer: Yes, I was aware that all three (John, Paul and George) got Casinos (at the same time?) about the time of the Rubber Soul sessions. I still find it amazing that Epiphone didn't make McCartney a true lefty-he converted it himself! (Wow, have times changed!). There is a book out (I think that it called "Beatles Gear"), that shows a nice picture of his Casino. I also think that he is quoted as saying that it is still his favorite guitar. McCartney was concerned about having to convert assymetrical guitars- he thought that it would look "daft" up on stage with an "upside down-looking" version. I think that it was also his rationale for the Hofner Bass-I believe that it was a converted righty as well. Thanks for the input! Dennis. Dennis: What a memory you have! I also recall McCartney saying it's his favorite, and recently saw him playing it in the video of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." I can only remember seeing Harrison with his in the "Hello Goodbye" promo film. Did you ever see a photo of Paul with an "upside-down" Telecaster during the Sgt. Pepper sessions for the intro to "Good Morning Good Morning"? Daft indeed! Finally, I found a photo of my Casino posing alongside my matching Dot (pickguards removed, cover the kids' eyes ), so here you all go....  |
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Post by JoMan on Sept 5, 2004 14:26:13 GMT -5
almost twins, eh? ;D ;D by the way, McCartney's Telecaster is actually an Esquire, a Tele with only one pickup, although you probably know anyway... this, too, can be found in Andy Babiuk's "Beatles Gear" here she is (and there's our friend the casino with her!):  |
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Post by Ol Geezer on Sept 5, 2004 15:17:20 GMT -5
almost twins, eh? ;D ;D by the way, McCartney's Telecaster is actually an Esquire, a Tele with only one pickup, although you probably know anyway... this, too, can be found in Andy Babiuk's "Beatles Gear" here she is (and there's our friend the casino with her!): Right, wouldn't want to confuse the Fender fans. Say, is that George's Casino there? I didn't think Paul's had a vibrato.... |
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Congratulations again. 
