School me on... Casinos

stimpsonslostson

I've been offered one in a trade for my SG, values are the similar (from what ebay sold items suggests).
I LOVE P90s generally and haven't had a hollowbody for a while, so it could be fun.

Is there anything I should be looking out for. Korean V Chinese etc?
 
Any love/hate for them? 

Freebird

They make them in Japan too.

rico

Waste of money

Winny_Pooh

The John Lennon MIJ have a reputation as the best going.

The Korean/Chinese Epiphones can be hit and miss, I preffered a Peerless songbird over those although it slightly lacked low end. You will need to replace pickups on these as the stock Asian ones are far too hot. They're fun, especially if you add a bigsby and want a more acoustic tone and sustain. Neck pickup tone is awesome, bridge p90 a bit polite so ideally get a dogear humbucker.

JohnPerry

The Chinese ones are indeed hit and miss. Mine is terrific (even compares well with my vintage 330) but some in the same batch were pants. The pickups could usefully be upgraded though, as others have said

underdog

Pickup swaps not so easy on the casino only a couple of makers offer an off the shelf pickup the correct size for the neck.

Having the originals RE wound seems to be the best route 

Jack_

They always win.

SimpleSimon

Winny_Pooh said:

The John Lennon MIJ have a reputation as the best going.

The Korean/Chinese Epiphones can be hit and miss, I preffered a Peerless songbird over those although it slightly lacked low end. You will need to replace pickups on these as the stock Asian ones are far too hot. They're fun, especially if you add a bigsby and want a more acoustic tone and sustain. Neck pickup tone is awesome, bridge p90 a bit polite so ideally get a dogear humbucker.

The Lennons were AIA not MIJ ie Assembled in America from MIJ bodies and necks then finished in Nitro and USA components at the Nashville plant. These are different necks and bodies to those on the MIJ Elitist Casino.

In answer to the OP's question 'what is your budget?' you can score a secondhand MIK/MIC casino for around £350 with a case which might suit your needs. If your after something a little more then a s/h elitist used to go for around £850-£950, though prices have risen as the new models prices have done so. If your after a new Elitist then Amazon had some for £1250 odd the other day bearing in mind they were £1850 odd previously! Best to try before you buy but also your protected by distance selling regs if buying online!

dindude

Never bet what you can't afford to lose.

darthed1981

Play blackjack not roulette, don't even look like you are counting cards as a joke, dont try playing a system, never bet what you can't afford to lose...

oh nuts, the joke has been done five times already.

I want one of those new green ones, they look the nads to me!

RandallFlagg

School me? FFS

Bridgehouse

stimpsonslostson said:

I've been offered one in a trade for my SG, values are the similar (from what ebay sold items suggests).
I LOVE P90s generally and haven't had a hollowbody for a while, so it could be fun.

Is there anything I should be looking out for. Korean V Chinese etc?
 
Any love/hate for them? 

Didn't read my recent thread then?

lustycourtier

The MIC inspired by Lennon ones are utter junk. I've played 3 (owned 1)and all of them were inferior to my old 90s Korean. They didn't even seem finished. I love casinos and would love an elitist but they are about £1800 now. I'd buy a MIK one blindly any time though 

JezWynd

RandallFlagg said:

School me? FFS

It's a thing



 apparently...

Basher

lustycourtier said:

The MIC inspired by Lennon ones are utter junk. I've played 3 (owned 1)and all of them were inferior to my old 90s Korean. They didn't even seem finished. I love casinos and would love an elitist but they are about £1800 now. I'd buy a MIK one blindly any time though 

I played a couple of the IBJL Casinos at the time of release. I seem to remember the sunburst finish being OK but the natural was pretty rough. Wasn't sure if this was intentional - going for the hand-sanded look of the original?

I did, very briefly, try a '61 (50th Anniversary) reissue and thought that was better. They're hard to find and cost much more than they did new!

I bought a 97 Korean (Peerless) Casino and it's a bit of a curate's egg:

The basic guitar (i.e the wooden bits) seems good. Love the chunky-ish neck, although mine has a very narrow nut width that would definitely be a deal-breaker for some. (Have played a couple of later ones from the same factory and they definitely had a wider nut width, making them more playable for most.)

The hardware was OK but a bit rattly. Most has been replaced.

The pickups were bloody awful. Had them rewound and they were slightly less bloody awful. Swapped the metal (unknown type) covers for plastic and they were a tiny bit less bloody awful again but still a bit crap. I've had the pots and wiring changed so I know it's not this that's the cause. I recently learned that @RiftAmps went through a similar experience with the rewind process (twice!) before finding happiness with some new Mojo P90s. Mojo are one of very few builders who make Casino replacements with the correct low-profile neck unit and proper string spacing. I'll try these when funds permit.

I'd love an ES330 but it's out of reach for me. Similarly the Elitist. However, if I was considering the Elitist, I'd be tempted to try the slightly cheaper Eastman T64/V first, if I could find one to play:

olafgarten

Basher said:

lustycourtier said:

The MIC inspired by Lennon ones are utter junk. I've played 3 (owned 1)and all of them were inferior to my old 90s Korean. They didn't even seem finished. I love casinos and would love an elitist but they are about £1800 now. I'd buy a MIK one blindly any time though 

I played a couple of the IBJL Casinos at the time of release. I seem to remember the sunburst finish being OK but the natural was pretty rough. Wasn't sure if this was intentional - going for the hand-sanded look of the original?

I did, very briefly, try a '61 (50th Anniversary) reissue and thought that was better. They're hard to find and cost much more than they did new!

I bought a 97 Korean (Peerless) Casino and it's a bit of a curate's egg:

The basic guitar (i.e the wooden bits) seems good. Love the chunky-ish neck, although mine has a very narrow nut width that would definitely be a deal-breaker for some. (Have played a couple of later ones from the same factory and they definitely had a wider nut width, making them more playable for most.)

The hardware was OK but a bit rattly. Most has been replaced.

The pickups were bloody awful. Had them rewound and they were slightly less bloody awful. Swapped the metal (unknown type) covers for plastic and they were a tiny bit less bloody awful again but still a bit crap. I've had the pots and wiring changed so I know it's not this that's the cause. I recently learned that @RiftAmps went through a similar experience with the rewind process (twice!) before finding happiness with some new Mojo P90s. Mojo are one of very few builders who make Casino replacements with the correct low-profile neck unit and proper string spacing. I'll try these when funds permit.

I'd love an ES330 but it's out of reach for me. Similarly the Elitist. However, if I was considering the Elitist, I'd be tempted to try the slightly cheaper Eastman T64/V first, if I could find one to play:

The eastman doesn't have proper Casino pickups but they sound great.