Epiphone Casino 2022 worn finish review

Mike58

So.. New Epiphone Casino 2022 made in China , new specs, low wind pickups that should sound brighter and more vintage, tusq nut, CTS pots, PF ‘board and finished in open pore worn ebony … what’s not to like for £399?

more below as I had issues posting pics… there ARE pics eventually after my pic posting rant

Mike58

Can’t work out pic embed with IMGUR. And this forum needs to really , really improve this stuff.
So , without pics… The good:  it looks nice and latest China pickups sound correct, tusq nut is good, well cut strings don’t seat to deeply in it.
Magnetic tunomatic bridge great idea.
The bad : QC is not good, really poor. The pots would not turn easily and were super stiff…??? The pointers were jammed against the knobs.. easy fix but wtf who the hell checked that before packing… nobody.
The ugly: neck bowed way forward 4+mm action at fret 12. Fret ends very sharp , esp bass side.
I activated the dual action truss rod and got neck acceptably straight ( no adj tool supplied but any old 4mm Allen key fits… hellish fret buzz from fret 12… used fret rocker to confirm and fret 12 was very high, fully seated but high.
Used the fret rocker up and down the neck and the clicky  heartsink sound occurred on frets 4,8,10,12,14,15,16.
so needs returned or a full fret level etc.

drofluf

Mike58 said:

Can’t work out pic embed with IMGUR. And this forum needs to really , really improve this stuff.

It’s really no harder than any other forum I use, and way easier than a lot of others. This link explains https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/54241/posting-pics-vids-soundclips-how-to

If you’re using a mobile device the best tip is that you need a space after the image link 

Mike58

So obviously I bought the guitar online, the Casino is selling very well and are actually ( as off Feb 22) nearly sold out. This is my first experience of distance buying a new guitar ( taken a punt on many used ones tho ) and unfortunately this instrument had serious neck issues that your average Joe is not going to fix without paying someone.
I’ve contacted the seller Gear4music listing the defects but I guess they will just say return it.. which is a pain as I’ve then got to go through the process again.

Ok here goes with pics ( thanks for the tip re hitting space button to load image)

Looks quite nice , quite marked grain on the guitar body and finer grain on back of neck ( not shown) so a matt finish all over including headstock. Colour in these first two pics is accurate , the last pic the sunlight makes it look grey but in reality def nearer black or graphite.

Nice grain on ? Pau Ferro fretboard

‘Board has just had a bit of bore oil added hence nice look, it was pretty dry but most guitars are.

If only the neck played as good as it looks…
hey ho.
I’ll make decision about wether to return or pay for a full fret level and dress… that’s what it needs but the fee v cost of the instrument will be high.
buy cheap, buy twice

Mike58

Wow, 3 guitar reviews in 3 yrs on this forum = dead.
Bit sad, but let’s blame it on Brexit or Covid.
Guitar has a warped neck btw so it’s back to Gear4 music for a refund.