Epiphone Casino Revolution John Lennon
Product Description 1965 Epiphone John Lennon “Revolution” Casino In 1999, Epiphone released a very limited offering of the John Lennon “Revolution” Casino electric guitar. This guitar, based on John Lennon’s original Casino guitar, have been locked in a vault since 1999. 1999 Epiphone USA 1965 John Lennon Revolution Casino! The original Gibson USA-Made Epiphone John Lennon Revolution Casino. Why buy the import guitars for about the same price when you can get the original from 1999-2000. The guitar plays easy and sounds excellent. The guitar is in near mint condition except for a scrat.
The Revolution model is meant to reproduce the condition of John's guitar after he had the sunburst finish (as in the '65) sanded off, so it has only a very light layer of matte-finished laquer on the neck and body. This gives the neck a slightly different feel, and is said by some to increase the resonance of the body. In 1966, during the recording of Revolver, John Lennon and George Harrison each acquired vintage sunburst Epiphone Casino guitars. The 1965 Casino is a reproduction of the original guitar John purchased with its sunburst finish and stock hardware. Epiphone make two John Lennon signature Epiphone Casinos - one based on the unstripped 1965 model, and one, the 'Revolution' Casino based on the stripped instrument. Epiphone engineers studied the original guitar to get these signature instruments as exact as possible.
Figure 1 – The John Lennon 1965 Casino
In the 1960s Epiphone Casinos were ‘in’. And John Lennon wasn’t the only Beatles to own one. In fact Paul McCartney and George Harrison both had Casinos, as did Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. But it was Lennon who became most associated with the instrument, most famously playing it on the infamous rooftop appearance of 1969.
The Epiphone John Lennon Casino
Fast forward to November 1997, and a team from Epiphone visit “The Dakota” in New York to examine John’s Casino. They took measurements of the neck and body, studied the components and photographed everything, in order to create a guitar as close to Lennons original as was possible to acheive.
As a result and in cooperation with Yoko Ono, Epiphone proudly introduced the Limited Edition John Lennon “Revolution” and “1965” Casinos.
The “John Lennon 1965 Casino” is a reproduction of the guitar as John originally purchased it with the sunburst finish and stock hardware.
The “John Lennon Revolution Casino” is a reproduction of the “stripped” guitar featuring one coat of nitro-cellulose lacquer, gold Grover tuners and no pickguard.
Epiphone is, of course, owned by Gibson, and in the sixties guitars by both brands were very similar, and were made side by side in the factory at Kalamazoo, Michigan. Read more about the 1960s Epiphone Casino. Gibson had strict product licensing arrangment that limited the number of dealers stocking Gibsons, and the Epiphone brand was a way to increase sales without breaking these deals.
These Lennon reissues are incredible guitars; manufactured to the standards of the 1960s originals. Just 1,965 instruments have been made, each numbered. A portion of the proceeds from each sale was donated to “The BMI Foundation, Inc. for John Lennon Scholarship fund” which supports music education
Epiphone Casino ‘John Lennon’ Revolution and 1965 specifications
Epiphone Casino Revolution Inspired By John Lennon
Original body shape and materials- Mid 60s Kalamazoo Specifications
- Nitro Cellulose lacquer finish
- One-piece Mahogany neck
- Rosewood fingerboard with pearloid, parallelogram fret markers, binding over fret-ends
- Neck joint at 16th fret
- 24.750″ scale
- Mother-of-pearl headstock logo – 17 degree pitch
- “Gibson USA- factory” electronics and hardware
- Nickel plated, Alnico-V p-90s with original pole spacing
- Switchcraft, 3-way toggle with old style black washer
- Nickel ABR bridge with nylon saddles
- Vintage style case with shroud
Figure 2 – The Beatles perform on the roof of the Apple building, Jan 1969. Note John’s Epiphone Casino is now stripped down to a natural wood finish
Similar guitars
The Casino was very similar to the Gibson ES-330TD. Today Epiphone produce some very nice Casinos, some cheap, and some quite expensive – but all terrific instruments. If you want to play a semi-acoustic guitar, you should certainly try one out!