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1964 Gibson Melody Maker - a classic vintage guitar
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 A closer look at a Gibson Melody maker from 1964. The Melody Maker is one of Gibson's best ever selling guitars - despite it's comparatively low price it didn't skimp on Gibson tradition: well-built instruments, constructed from the finest materials. The body and set neck are both of South American mahogany whilst the fingerboard is South American rosewood. With a sunburst nitrocellulose finish the Melody Maker certainly looked the part. In fact the Melody Maker had more in common with many higher end Gibson instruments than guitars of a similar price bracket made by other manufacturers. The circuitry was simple; just a volume and tone control for one single coil pickup. See also Gibson Melody Maker shipping figures
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1967 Vox (JMI) electric guitar catalogue
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 This was the last guitar and bass catalogue produced by Vox under the ownership of JMI. The cover features Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, playing his trademark Vox Mark VI teardrop, and features a line up of British and Italian built vox guitars and basses; Vox Phantom, Vox Mark, Vox Spitfire, Lynx, Super Lynx and the Jones' Stones colleague Bill Wymans signature Wyman Bass. Twelve pages.
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1966 Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar
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 Details and information on the Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar. The beat boom of the mid 1960s heralded a huge demand for electric guitars; youngsters up and down America were looking for affordable, well-built solid-bodies, with modern looks and a great sound. Gibson, better known for it's high-end jazz guitars, responded by producing the KG guitar and KB bass lines, under the Kalamazoo brand. They were initially modelled on the Fender Mustang, though soon took the shape of the Gibson SG, which was rapidly rising in popularity. The resulting instruments used modern composite wood technology, Fender style construction and actual Gibson hardware. They looked good, played well, and sold in large quantities. See also Kalamazoo KG shipping figures, a 1966 Kalamazoo KG1 (single pickup) and listen to the Kalamazoo KG soundclips.
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1961 Gibson EB3
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 A 1961 Gibson EB3 bass. 1961 was the first year of EB3 production, and the year Gibson first used the classic SG shape. Like the SG guitars, the EB3 was built at the Gibson plant in Kalamazoo. Early EB3s are characterised by their chunky necks, wide-spaced controls, nickel hardware and bakelite neck pickup cover. Have a listen to the soundclips of this bass, through several vintage amplifiers.
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1966 Gibson EB0
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 Profile of a 1966 Gibson EB0 bass. The EB0, like it's big brother the EB3, is something of a 1960s classic; the construction (short scale, mahogany body, set mahogany neck), and the famous Gibson EB humbucker positioned at the neck, gave a deep rumble that perfectly suited the musical environment of the early-mid sixties. But by the early-mid seventies things were going long-scale and maple... Nonetheless, this is a finely built instrument, capable of some terrific sounds that really suit certain musical situations. Have a listen to the soundclips of this bass, through various vintage amplifiers.
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1966 Hagstrom Coronado IV bass
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 The Hagstrom Coronado is one of the most distinctive bass guitars ever manufactured; the quirky controls, 32" scale, and unique shape. The body and neck are mahogany, but with bolt on construction. This 1966 Coronado is one of the later guitars, so does not have the Hagstrom Bi-Sonic pickups, but it is still a great sounding, and highly playable bass. Check out the short Hagstrom Coronado bass sound clips on this site.
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Older updates here
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Epiphone Casino
Thinline semi acoustic
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1960s Casino | 1980s Casino | Casino timeline
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 | 1967 Cherry Epiphone Casino - E230TDC.
Photo ©2007 Andy Brauer |
 1961 full line catalog
The 1961 description mentions humbuckers rather than the single coil P90s more usually associated with the Casino. This anomaly is corrected for the 1962 catalogue
 Powerful humbucking pickups with individually adjustable polepieces provide clear tone and wonderful sustain |
 1962 full line catalog
Brilliant new guitars in a wide range of finishes - dramatic in appearance and tonal qualities. Ultra-modern, thin-body, double cutaway styling in single and double pickup models - with or without trem-o-tone vibrato |
 1964 full line catalogue
This is the first catalogue to show the Casino in colour |
 1966 full line catalog
Today the electric Spanish guitar is found everywhere... orchestras, combos, jazz bands and as a featured solo instrument. Epiphone electric Spanish guitars suit the need of every player, from the top professional, to the semi-pro, to the amateur |
| Model | Casino E230T | Casino E230TD |
| Available | 1961-68 | 1961-69 |
| Pickups | One single coil dog-ear P90 | Two single coil dog-ear P90s |
| Scale | 24 3/4" |
| Body | Maple top sides, bound. 16" wide (lower bout), 19" long, 1 3/4" thick |
| Neck | One-piece set mahogany with binding, rosewood fingerboard with pearloid inlays. 22 frets. |
| Hardware | 1 volume and 1 tone control. Tune-o-matic bridge. Tailpiece is either a trapeze, Frequensator or Tremotone vibrola. | 2 volume and 2s tone control. Tune-o-matic bridge. Tailpiece is either a trapeze, Frequensator or Tremotone vibrola. |
| Finishes | Shaded/Sunburst, Royal Tan, Cherry from 1967
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The Epiphone range of the 1960s closely followed the Gibson guitars of the same time; they were both made in the same fatory in Kalamazoo. The Casino corresponds to the Gibson ES330 having the same dimensions and construction, but with different headstock shape and (sometimes) tailpiece. The 1961 models came equipped with the Tremotone vibrato, which was optional by 1962. The Frequensator tailpiece was used on a number of models - the point being that it would lengthen either the three thickest or three thinest strings, maximising treble and bass response.
 The most famous Casino users were Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, and John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles, who were given a pair of Casinos in 1965. Both had a sunburst finish, Georges had a Bigsby vibrato, whilst John's had a stop tailpiece. It was Lennons of course that had the most use; he was widely pictured with it, and used it extensively live and in the studio. He also had it stripped down in 1968. 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
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| | E230TD | E230TDV | E230TDC | E230TDVC | E230TDRT | E230T | E230TV | TOTAL |
| 1961 | 439 |
| 1962 | 381 |
| 1963 | 376 |
| 1964 | 731 |
| 1965 | 853 |
| 1966 | 1655 |
| 1967 | 1814 |
| 1968 | 468 |
| 1969 | 140 |
| Total | 2852 | 2141 | 440 | 467 | 39 | 764 | 154 | 6857 |
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Shipping figures for 1960s Epiphone Casinos The earliest Epiphone catalogue to feature the Casino (1961) lists just the single (E230T) and double (E230TD) pickup models - with vibrola as standard. These shipping figures suggest that non-vibrola models were shipped later in the same year. Early finishes were Royal Tan and Shaded (sunburst), and figures do not differentiate between the two. From 1967 Cherry became available (C), and Royal Tan was given the designation RT. From '67 models with no colour code were Shaded
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1960s Casino | 1980s Casino | Casino timeline
Back to the Epiphone Index
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If you are looking for specific vintage guitars for sale, you may have to keep an eye on numerous vintage guitar stores, classifieds websites and ebay listings. Below are just the auctions - Vintage guitar stores tend to advertise theirs in their ebay online vintage guitar stores - have a look because there are some different listings.
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