Epiphone Casino E-230TDC Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1967)

Epiphone  Casino E-230TDC Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar  (1967)
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Item # 8482
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Epiphone Casino E-230TDC Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1967), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 873006, cherry lacquer finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.

The 1960s Epiphone Casino and its Gibson twin the ES-330TD are great-sounding, highly versatile guitars -- one of Kalamazoo's most original and adaptable designs. Both versions of this model were featured in countless '60s British invasion bands, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Manfred Mann, and many more, as well as many blues, jazz, and pop situations since their introduction.

This particular Casino has typical features for 1967. The finish is a deep and vibrant cherry red lacquer, a rarer option than the more common sunburst, although not the actual "Beatle spec." It sports a bound, pearloid-trapezoid inlaid rosewood fingerboard and chrome-plated hardware including the pickup covers, standard trapeze tailpiece, and Tune-o-Matic bridge. The thin, double-cutaway, single-bound body is fully hollow (there is no center block as in the ES-335), and the neck joins at the 16th fret. The neck has the typical narrower 1 5/8" nut of the era, but with a fairly substantial back-to-front profile, not as thin as some from this period.

This particular guitar still carries the older-style metal-capped plastic knobs, which were generally replaced this same year by the newer, less aesthetic "amp-style" fittings. The 3-ply white plastic pickguard carries a silver "E" epsilon logo. The Casino represents one of the few examples of an Epiphone guitar considered more collectible and desirable than its Gibson equivalent, as the model is remembered primarily as a "Beatle" instrument. Individual Casinos were used extensively by John, George, and Paul from 1965-70, but beyond that specific identification, the model remains an exceptionally fine-playing and sounding instrument for any era or style!
 
Overall length is 41 1/8 in. (104.5 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).

This is a nice original example, showing some wear but no major damage or repair. Everything appears original except for the pickguard, which is a correct modern replacement. There is some fairly heavy typical checking to the finish overall, with numerous dings and dents -- especially to the headstock edges -- but no excessive play wear. There are a couple of deeper dents into the body, and a bit of touch-up to the finish where it flaked around the switch.

This Casino is also a really good player with a particularly excellent neck angle, and the back pickup has been raised slightly to get a bit more response. The back of the neck shows some small dings and scrapes but not a lot of wear and the frets are also fairly clean, with some light divoting to the fingerboard in the first position. Not the cleanest we have had, but a player's gem. It isn't the exact "Beatle year" model, but a fine-playing and lively-sounding example nonetheless, housed in a modern HSC. Very Good + Condition.