Epiphany III
Saturday, September 24th, 2022
Gibson bought Epiphone in the late 50’s (some say 57, some say 58) and started building Casinos in 1961. The first ones had dot necks and tortoise guards.
That brings us to the Gibson ES-330 and the Epiphone Casino. They are virtually the same guitar. Where the Sheraton and Riviera had different pickups from their Gibson counterparts, these two were identical except for the headstock, finishes and sometimes the inlays. The first 330’s were introduced in 1959 and had all the usual 59 features…big neck, dot markers, “burst” knobs. The 330 came in sunburst and blonde. That would change in 1960 when red was added. The 330 wasn’t much like a 335 though. It is fully hollow and comes with one or two P90’s. The first Casinos were built in 1961. The earliest ones had dot markers, a tortoise guard (330’shad a black guard like a 335) and a slightly different trapeze tailpiece. The headstock on the early Casino was nearly identical to the 330.
The evolution of the 330 followed fairly closely the evolution of the 335. Dot markers gave way to small blocks in 1962. No wire ABR-1 was replaced by wire type. The pickup covers changed from black plastic to nickel. By 65, the hardware was chrome. The Casino evolution followed its own path. The guard was changed to white later in 61. The dots were gone by 62 but rather than small blocks, they used small parallelograms. The pickup covers followed the same schedule as the 330 as did the bridge and hardware. The other big change was the now familiar long headstock introduced in 64.
This is all interesting geeky stuff but there is a factor that makes the relationship between 330’s and Casinos unique. An early 355 is worth more than twice what an early Sheraton is worth. An early 335 can be worth more than three times what a Riviera is worth. So why is a Casino worth more than a 330? Let’s leave out the 59 and 60 330’s since there is no Epiphone counterpart. But a 61-68 Casino will often cost you more than a same year 330. Why is that? Three words. John, Paul and George. In the mid 60’s, Gibsons were hard to come by in the UK, even if you were a Beatle. Epiphones were somewhat easier to obtain and Paul got his 62 first and the others liked it so much, they had to have one too. Well, not Ringo. It is strange that Gretsch Gents and Rickenbacker 325’s have never become big collector guitars.
Good enough for these guys, good enough for you. I believe they are both 65’s. Pauls Casino was the earlier and more desirable short headstock wide nut version from 62.
Beyond the Beatle related collectibility, the Casino is an excellent guitar, every bit the equal of the 330. It’s easy to argue that the reason a Sheraton or Riviera doesn’t reach the heights of a 335 or 355 because of the mini humbuckers. But both the 330 and Casino have P90’s and I have nothing negative to say about P90’s. In fact, my personal main guitar is a 59 345 but the next one I reach for is a 60 Epiphone Wilshire with P90’s. The Casino is also a great “couch guitar”. That’s when you’re at home with the family around and you can’t turn it up to 11 and wail. You’re sitting on the couch watching a ballgame and noodling. The full hollow build gives you enough resonance that you can hear it but not annoy anyone. Most semi hollows won’t compete as well with Phil Rizzuto or whoever replaced him coming out of the TV (that tell you how old I am?). I could have said Mel Allen but nobody would get it.
I’m a big fan of Gibson built Epiphones and the whole point of devoting three posts to them is to tell you that they are wonderful, often undervalued gems. Go play one and see for yourself.
The guy on the left here plays an early Casino probably a 62 or 63. Not sure who these guys are but they have excellent taste in guitars. But they need to quit smoking.
