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Epiphone Casino VT

The Epiphone Casino is a semi-acoustic guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. It is based on the Gibson ES-330 and is traditionally regarded as a budget version of this guitar. However, the guitar's association with guitarists such as John Lennon and Noel Gallagher has caused the popularity of the Casino to rise and it is now considered a classic in its own right.

The Casino is a full hollow bodied guitar with two Gibson P-90 pick-ups, it is known for its heavy sound which makes it an ideal rhythm guitar. The sound of the Casino is generally thinner and more trebly than a guitar equipped with humbuckers such as the Gibson ES-335 which is the semi-acoustic of choice for many lead (as well as rhythm) guitarists. Unfortunately due to its hollow body design, it is much more prone to feedback than semi-acoustic or solid-body electrics. The Casino also sports a spruce top, unlike the Gibson ES-335, which usually has a maple top; as a result it tends respond to its player's pick attack more like an acoustic guitar.

The Casino was made famous when the Beatles used them on many of their later recordings.

In 1964, Beatles singer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist Paul McCartney acquired a Casino and used it for his studio forays into guitar work, including his guitar solos on "Drive My Car" (1965) and "Taxman" (1966). Two years later, in 1966, while the Beatles were making Revolver, John Lennon and George Harrison bought 1965 Epiphone Casinos. John Lennon effectively put his Rickenbacker 325 on the shelf and used the Epiphone Casino as his main instrument during the remainder of his time with the Beatles. In 1968, when the Beatles were making the White Album, John decided to sand his guitar down, recoat it with lacquer, take the pick guard off and replace the tuners with a set of gold Grovers. His guitar, in that condition, is first seen in the Revolution promo movie. The guitar was used at the Apple rooftop concert on January 30, 1969, and it can be seen in the Let It Be film and most other pictures of John playing guitar after that time. George similarly sanded down his Casino, but stopped using his Casino in 1967 and began using Fenders and a Gibson Les Paul, "Lucy", which was a gift from Eric Clapton.

Epiphone currently builds several versions of the Casino. These include:

• Regular "archtop-series" Casino made in Korea [1]
• Elitist Casino made in Japan [2]
• USA Collection John Lennon 1965 Casino [3]
• USA Collection John Lennon Revolution Casino, based on the modifications Lennon made to his guitar during the recording of the White Album [4]

"USA-Collection" Epiphones are assembled in USA from components manufactured in Japan.