Best Fully Hollow es330 style guitar?

erky32

I've been trying to buy a Ibanez ASR70 but they have stopped marketing them and almost unavailable, so I am wondering if there are any other 330 style guitars for around £400? I know of the Epi Casino, but they seem abit dark sounding to me, thats why I was more impressed with the Ibanez ASR70, which had more acoustic chimes to it. Maybe an Epi Casino with different pups?? ....i believe stock are P90 Alnico V, but maybe a P90 Alnico II would breathe better. I don't want it for heavy overdrive, nor jazz, but more clean tones and sometimes a crunch overdrive for bluesy songs. Interested to learn from you guys!!

stimpsonslostson

Asr70. £329. In stock at Scayles in Edinburgh.
I know they have one in as I played it yesterday (following reading about one on another thread)!

http://www.scayles.co.uk/ProductDetails?ID=MjAxMA==

I'm trying to choose between the AF55 & AG75- I want something with a deeper body so it sounds more like a standard acoustic when I can't be bothered plugging into my amp.

dogload

Does it have to be the 'classic'' 330/ Casino shape? The Fender Pawn Shop Offset Special has a nice acoustic quality to it's sound. 

Chalky

Can I be really boring and say that a Casino with better pups won't make it sound like a 330? I've tried, but the real thing sounds better. Think its a combination of the wood and chunky neck thickness.

menamestom

The Epiphone pickups are wound very hot. My Peerless Songbird had the same pickups and they were around 11k. Sent them to The Creamery for a rewind and they came back much more open, brighter and with more chime.
The Casinos are nice but I'd go for the Peerless and budget for a pickup rewind.

erky32

Mmm... some nice ideas here, wish I could chase them all up, but I live an agricultural part of SW France near the Pyrenees and the scope of shops to try things is a bit limited. I appreciate @Chalky comment on the 330, ...guess there's no getting away from that reality! ...but the price is a bit overbearing! Peerless are a bit hard to come by and the price is higher again, I was hoping to experiment with a more entry level price around £400 or less. Wood & construction are essential ingredients, ...I recently sold-on a Hagstrom Viking after having experimented with loads of pups - orig HJ50s I found dull and uninspiring , ...I tried SD Phat Cats, GFS-mean 90s, SD P-Rails, ..the best sound I got was Axerus kneejerks because they were Alnico II , I believe, HBs and didnt drive as hard , ...but at the end of the day I sold it because I just couldnt get any chimes or woodiness from it and I put it down to the construction & timbers , playability was fantastic, but sound ....boring! I did try a Epi John Lennon, but I must admit I didnt find any sparkle either!! I'm beginning to conclude I'm a Strat person, and thats where the "chimes" are!....and maybe I should buy a new amp instead!! 

Thanks for all your ideas!!

Bucket

Dean Razorback?

GazLion

menamestom;653346" said:

The Epiphone pickups are wound very hot. My Peerless Songbird had the same pickups and they were around 11k. Sent them to The Creamery for a rewind and they came back much more open, brighter and with more chime.
The Casinos are nice but I'd go for the Peerless and budget for a pickup rewind.

Would you mind sharing how much a pickup rewind costs?

Basher

I had the pickups in my 97 Peerless Casino rewound to give a much lower output. They were better but still quite dark sounding. Just as big an improvement in clarity happened when I swapped out the metal covers for plastic.

It sounds *almost* there now to the extent that I'm considering getting hold of a set of Fralin P90s that come in the correct heights for the Casino - low profile neck cover, high bridge (achieved via standard dogear + shim).

There are very limited options for the Casino, due to this unusual height combination. I also think that they have a narrower than usual polepiece spacing on the neck pickup, which further complicates things. I've read that this doesn't really make a huge difference and that any difference with slightly off-centre polepiece screws is minimal. No actual experience of this though.