SORTED!!!! - Gibson ES-330 or Epiphone Casino (USA)

glt56

AvalonAndy said:

kerryboy said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Nice looking guitar, shame about the Bigsby

I know that a lot of people like the look of a Bigsby, but I'm with you, they spoil the look of the guitar in my opinion.

But that is a cracking guitar. Well done.

I prefer it with the Bigsby myself.  I'm interested in either a 330 or 345 myself, but a 330 would have to have the Bigsby for me.  In fact, I might even get one of those shitty-green 345s just for the Bigsby.

I agree that aesthetically, the earlier ES-330 with the short neck is prettier, but I've got the Epiphone Casino for that and I do find the 16th fret neck joint a bit restrictive in live use.  The long neck version is not quite as pretty but MUCH better in use.  Oh, and I like the Bigsby and the cherry red colour too.

glt56

peteri said:

KKJale said:

Drifted past No Tom today and saw a mad clean '67 sunburst 330 for I think £2750... not the long-neck '67 on the website, this one is a short neck. Obvs a narrow nut but seemed like a surprisingly tempting price.

Really? That seems very cheap - and therefore unlike them

I contacted No.Tom about that guitar and had this reply:
"The price should actually be £2995. It is incredibly clean however has had a repaired crack to the headstock. Not all the way through and now as strong as ever. Also tuners have been changed."
I assume hence the price, good of them to be upfront about it though.

peteri

Ah that makes sense, and feels priced about right then.

I've had good experiences with them, I got a LP Custom which had been amazingly well repaired, but they pointed it out all the same

Van_Hayden

Now that’s a nice guitar!

glt56

Van_Hayden said:

Now that’s a nice guitar!

I agree! 

NelsonP

Wow. Lovely guitar!

So, and this has been asked elsewhere, how does the Epi Casino compare to the Gibson 330?

glt56

NelsonP said:

Wow. Lovely guitar!

So, and this has been asked elsewhere, how does the Epi Casino compare to the Gibson 330?

My Casino has the 16th fret neck joint whereas the ES330's is around the 19th so the feel is very different. Also, the 330 has a much slimmer neck with narrower nut, very 1960's, whereas the Casino is much chunkier.  There's not much in it in terms of pickups and tone, the Casino pickups are USA spec so that's understandable.  The 330 is much lighter and more resonant, which sounds great, but that causes it to be more prone to feedback.  When you consider the 330 was nearly 6 times the price of the Casino (OK one is original 1960's and the other virtually new)... you're definitely getting an awful lot of guitar for silly money with the Casino... as long as you don't mind that it's not built in the US of A, but the quality is damned good nonetheless!

NelsonP

Thanks - interesting to get the comparison from someone with experience of both

glt56

NelsonP said:

Thanks - interesting to get the comparison from someone with experience of both

No worries!