Epiphone Announces Sale Of Low-Serial Numbered John Lennon Casinos
(Epiphone | Posted 2005-09-11)
For the first time since 1999, Epiphone will make available a very limited offering of the John Lennon 1965 and Revolution Casino electric guitars. These guitars, based on John Lennons original Casino guitar, have been locked in a vault since 1999. The model soon became one of the top-selling Epiphone models of all time due to their direct tie-in with Lennon and highly collectible nature as well as their unique sound and performance.
On September 1, 2005 Epiphone will release serial numbers 2 through 24 of each model, making the 46 instruments available to the public for the very first time. In addition to the guitars, Epiphone has commissioned renowned artist Peter Kellett to produce 46 matching hand-signed limited edition anographic prints of John Lennon. Each is numbered and hand-signed. Kellett combines aluminum media with 30 years of anodizing experience to create one-of-a-kind works of art.
The Epiphone Casino stands out as one of the most significant electric guitars used by John Lennon and the Beatles. The Casino can be heard on many of the most memorable Beatle recordings. By the mid-point of Lennon's career as a Beatle, when guitar manufacturers of the day would have done anything to get their instruments into his hands, Lennon often chose the Epiphone Casino over all other guitars for recordings, live performances, television appearances and films. This preference for the Casino carried on into his years as a solo artist as well. In the vintage guitar collecting community, an original Epiphone Casino such as the one Lennon used, is considered a prized find. As a result, the Epiphone Casino remains one of the most sought after electric guitars that Epiphone has ever produced.
Paul McCartney was actually the first Beatle to acquire an Epiphone Casino. He purchased one, together with an Epiphone Texan in December 1964. This was Lennon's first brush with the Epiphone guitar. Soon after, on February 15, 1965 at EMI Abbey Road Studio Two London, McCartney used the Epiphone Casino, now strung left-handed, to play the memorable lead on the Beatles classic "Ticket to Ride".
By the end of 1965, during the Beatles recording sessions for the "Rubber Soul" album, John Lennon and George Harrison both started to explore the sounds of various new electric guitars. It was in the spring of 1966 during the recording sessions for "Revolver" that both John Lennon and George Harrison acquired a pair of sunburst Casinos.
The John Lennon "1965" Casino is a faithful reproduction of John's beloved Vintage Sunburst Casino as he purchased it in 1966. In 1968, Lennon decided to "strip" the finish off his Casino. The John Lennon "Revolution" Casino is a faithful reproduction of his Casino with a "stripped" natural finish as it was then and as it remains today. Nowhere else in the world can a collector or musician acquire a pure Epiphone Lennon Casino pair as those described here.
Both Casinos feature the following specifications...
Original Body Shape - Mid '60's Kalamazoo, Michigan tooling specs
Body Materials - 5-layer (Maple/Birch/Maple/Birch/Maple)
Top Contour Bracing - Spruce with original relief spacing and depth
One-piece Mahogany neck with 14 degree grain orientation
Rosewood fingerboard with .062" thick pearloid, parallelogram fret markers
Original Fingerboard support spacer height, .071"
Neck shape (elliptical - Neck joint at 16th fret)
Neck binding covers fret-ends
Scale - 24.750"
Original Nut material "Corian" - 1.687" width
Headstock Logo, mother of pearl - inlay thickness, .062"
Larger original style headstock - 17 degree pitch
"Gibson-Factory" electronics
Nickel-Plated, "dog-earred" P-90 Pickup Covers with original pole spacing
Switchcraft, 3-way toggle with old style black washer
Nickel ABR Bridge with nylon saddles
Nickel "Gibson-Factory Hardware
Vintage style case with stroud
Stamped with John's original serial number
Hand-numbered inside label with "1 of xxx"
Color/Finish
"1965" Vintage Sunburst, Nitro Cellulose lacquer over white body binding
"Revolution" stripped Natural, Nitro Cellulose sealer finish over white body binding
Machine Heads
"1965" Nickel Klusons
"Revolution" Gold Grovers
A portion of each sale will go to support the BMI Foundation, John Lennon Scholarship Fund.
