Still, there was a moment when Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon were all playing Epiphone Casinos as their main guitar, which happened when they already were the biggest band in the world. You probably already know this if you consider yourself a hardcore Beatles fan. Since he bought it in 1966, the Epiphone Casino became, without a doubt, an essential part of Lennon’s signature sound during the second half of the fabulous four’s career, and the singer-songwriter legend kept this guitar as his main instrument until the end of his life.Īs proof, nowadays, you can buy two different versions of the Casino, both based on Lennon’s original guitar: the Epiphone John Lennon Revolution Casino in a natural finish and the Epiphone Casino Inspired by John Lennon in vintage sunburst. That’s the same instrument that Lennon played during The Beatles’ last iconic live public performance: the rooftop concert held on the top of their Apple Corps office building in London in 1969. In the end I kept the 335 and sold the AS80.So, if you watched the “Get Back” documentary released on streaming services in late 2021, you probably noticed that John Lennon was playing pretty much only one guitar throughout the entire duration of the series. The AS80 was very well made, but its bridge and tailpiece were selected to increase sustain, which had tonal and dynamic tradeoffs I did not really like. It does have the poly finish though.įor a time I had a Japanese Ibanez AS80, a 335 style guitar and compared the two extensively. That guitar does use similarly graded woods.

I have an Epi Casino 61 reissue, made in Japan by Terada (who make most of the Gretsch Pro-Line models) and then sent to Nashville for assembly with US electronics. In terms of comparing to Epiphones: The woods used on Gibsons are higher grade, as are the parts.

I also played a 1973 Guild Starfire IV for years, an excellent guitar but physically larger (wider) than the 335. Look for used models, this can reduce the cost significantly and if cared for - which doesn't take much, is more of 'don't mistreat it' - will retain value well. I also get to play many, there can be a lot of variations particularly in terms of neck profiles and widths.

Epiphone casino vs epiphone es 335