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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

NGbirthD - ‘08 Epiphone Casino

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JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Oct 20 2017 12:19 PM First time I finagled my wife into purchasing a guitar for my birthday, from CG no less. More than half the price came from the sale of an ‘08 Epiphone Firebird Studio, so it’s not an extravagant purchase out of our budget. I searched the Internet for the serial number and see it was made at the Saein factory in Inchon, like my black Gretsch 5125 acquired last year. Plays and sounds superb, virtually no wear in 9 yrs. yay South Korea! — Squink Out! Last edited: Oct 20, 2017 12:20:52 Top
Surfadelphia Joined: Sep 04, 2017 Posts: 435	Posted on Oct 21 2017 02:14 PM Nice....those Korean made Casinos are really very good guitars. The only critism you hear sometimes is that the stock P-90's are wound too hot and a bit on the "muddy" side for P-90's but that's all subjective. Personally I think they sound good but you ever decide to go for a lower output more vintage tone I highly recommend the the Kent Armstrong chrome covered dogear Vintage P-90's. The Armstrong's really sound great and are one of the few dogear sets that the covers are the exact right height for a Casino and requier no modifications. If you are having any issues with pu volume balance with the stock P-90's, the better way to go(rather than raising the bridge pu poles which creates a thinner sound) is to put a shim under the pu body to raise it. You can get the shims in various thicknesses from Lindy Fralin Pu's online. Last edited: Oct 21, 2017 14:14:34 Top
CrazyAces Joined: Jul 31, 2012 Posts: 4053 Nashville, TN.	Posted on Oct 21 2017 05:53 PM So kind of your wife, that makes it even more special. Enjoy your new Casino and Happy Birthday to you. Cheers, Jeff — http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Oct 21 2017 09:41 PM Surfadelphia wrote: Nice....those Korean made Casinos are really very good guitars. The only critism you hear sometimes is that the stock P-90's are wound too hot and a bit on the "muddy" side for P-90's but that's all subjective. Personally I think they sound good but you ever decide to go for a lower output more vintage tone I highly recommend the the Kent Armstrong chrome covered dogear Vintage P-90's. The Armstrong's really sound great and are one of the few dogear sets that the covers are the exact right height for a Casino and requier no modifications. If you are having any issues with pu volume balance with the stock P-90's, the better way to go(rather than raising the bridge pu poles which creates a thinner sound) is to put a shim under the pu body to raise it. You can get the shims in various thicknesses from Lindy Fralin Pu's online. I have already come to a similar conclusion that Saein's P90s are too damn hot, at over 12K on the ohmmeter. They won't work with a Surfy Bear, for instance as they overdrive the input too much. Good to hear about Kent Armstrong's replacements - but WD Music is selling them for as much as Seymour Duncan's. I may ask Brett Brubaker about rebuilding the stock ones since he made such excellent DeArmond copies to fit another guitar of mine. I am not of a mind to spend a bunch more money on this guitar at the moment but I love the build, look and sound of it. If I want to keep it with no thought of selling ever, I may sink more into it to make it as good as it can be. It's not a new guitar and the jack may need replacing. They did a good job on the wood lutherie and finish but the electronics have cheap metallurgy. — Squink Out! Top
Surfadelphia Joined: Sep 04, 2017 Posts: 435	Posted on Oct 23 2017 11:31 PM That's too bad the Armstrongs got a bit pricy. Having the stock pu's rewound at a reasonable price sounds like a good idea. You will end up with them transformed into a set of custom wound boutique pu's. With regards to the hardware, you should be able to score a nice Gotoh replacement ABR-1 style bridge at a reasonable price, even cheaper used. Last edited: Oct 23, 2017 23:35:26 Top
JakeDobner Joined: Feb 26, 2006 Posts: 12159 Seattle	Posted on Oct 24 2017 01:12 AM Nice! This model Casino was one of my first guitar loves and we had one in the 'Verb for a little while when we were first starting and writing the first batch of songs. Honestly, if you decide you can't live with the pickups just buy a used set of Gibson P90s somebody is selling on ebay. You can get them really cheap because everybody always thinks to put boutique, or Kent Armstrong, in. FYI, Lollar makes a very good P90. Top
Vince_Ray Joined: Aug 26, 2015 Posts: 252	Posted on Oct 24 2017 02:38 AM The sound of the Sonics. Always loved the opening bars of Louie Louie Top
Vince_Ray Joined: Aug 26, 2015 Posts: 252	Posted on Oct 24 2017 03:38 AM At least I think it was a Casino. I expect some smarty pants will put me right if needed Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Oct 24 2017 03:39 AM Vince, that is a great raw sound on that record. I wonder what guitar is featured on "Have Love, Will Travel". To me it sounds like a Harmony Rocket, neck pickup. Jake, I'm not sure about the dimensions of Saien-made P90s, which may be slightly different than US Gibsons. I haven't seen any of their chrome or nickel dogear p90s for sale lately anyhow. Most are 'soapbar' configured. This tweak may take a while. I'm waiting to hear back from Brett B about the rebuild. He is really partial to DeArmonds so he may demur. Why do guitarmakers overwind their pickups? I got the Gretsch 5125 because folks say the pickups are authentically low-powered and nail that vintage single-coil sound. I haven't measured them but they do seem 'normal'. — Squink Out! Top
bamboozer Joined: Jan 18, 2010 Posts: 672 Delaware	Posted on Oct 24 2017 08:10 AM Casino pickups are different heights for the neck and bridge, they might be dog eared P90's but Gibson or most aftermarket pickups won't fit unless you mod the guitar. But it can be done. Top
CrazyAces Joined: Jul 31, 2012 Posts: 4053 Nashville, TN.	Posted on Oct 24 2017 08:42 AM JObeast, Are you handy with or willing to tackle hollow body wiring? If so replacing the pots with 500K audio taper and wiring the circuit to "50's" spec will allow you to get clearer, more open sounds out of the existing pickups. The early Gibson style, four knob wiring circuit schematic was different than contemporary. It allows the player to turn volumes down without loss of hi frequencies but the tones also react differently. Using this original wiring version, if the player turns down the volume just a little and then also turns down the tone control to say 7 on the knob it causes mids to be removed from the output, effectively "cleaning up" or slightly thinning the sound. After '64 Gibson (and Epiphone) changed the schematic to eliminate part burn out from soldering mistakes at the factory. Pickups aside, this is why the early Freddie King recordings are so twangy (he worked his controls a lot) as well as Scotty Moore's early Elvis cuts, Chuck Berry and more. I'm sure in the end you'll be happy to find some lower output pickups but while waiting you could try this very popular conversion. You can even try it with the existing pots but it seems to work much better with a good, audio taper replacement such at CTS. You also may want to double check your circuit before changing it. Gibson, in recent years has gone back to this circuit in some models by popular demand and there is a chance that the spec may have carried over to some of the Epiphone line. Sorry for the long post but it's a good mod that changes the identity of most P-90 and Humbucker guitars in a way that makes it easier to access the sounds we hear on many old records. Cheers, Jeff — http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Oct 24 2017 11:41 AM Jeff, Excellent idea. But no, I haven’t rewired any hollowbodies yet and it sounds like a potentially bothersome affair that may be prudent to refer to a pro who does this kind of task daily. I really loathe the idea of pouring money into a guitar that’s supposed to be ‘cheap’ but with compromises that make it expensive ultimately. Sure glad the Gretsch 5125 I bought for what, $240? doesn’t require any fixing up. — Squink Out! Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Oct 24 2017 11:12 PM I just read someone’s post on another forum about unwinding hot Casino p90s to a more vintage spec to good result. I’m thinking that might be the no-cost entree into modifying the guitar. If it doesn’t work I can send the pickups to be rebuilt. But still waiting to here back from B. Brubaker. — Squink Out! Top
Twinfin Joined: Apr 05, 2008 Posts: 30 Australia	Posted on Oct 25 2017 04:14 PM Vince_Ray wrote: At least I think it was a Casino. I expect some smarty pants will put me right if needed Very close Vince, but it was a Riviera. Smarty Pants Pete Last edited: Oct 25, 2017 16:16:59 Top
JObeast Joined: Jul 24, 2012 Posts: 2762 Finknabad, Squinkistan	Posted on Oct 25 2017 04:30 PM How about the Canuck winder Jon S. Moore of Tonefordays? People say good things about his work and it’s very reasonably priced. — Squink Out! Top

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