Anyone tried an elitist Casino

koss59 · August 2014

In the market for a Casino, just wondering if anyone's tried the Elitist and thinks it's worth the extra dosh?

pmg · August 2014

Maybe go on a road trip to Coda and see if you can try a standard casino, an Elitist Casino and a Gibson 330 vos. See which you like the most.

JohnPerry · August 2014

Not tried the Elitist. But I have a beautiful, mint 1970 Gibson 330 in walnut that sits next to a 2011 cherry red Chinese Casino (with upgrades admittedly) and, mojo aside, you'd be surprised how well the latter stacks up against the former. I prefer the Gibbo, but there's not a huge amount in it. What i did find was that the quality was hit and miss with the Casinos. Mine's a beaut but there were others of the same vintage which were pants. It might be the same with the Elitist....you really have to play them and find a good one

Basher · August 2014

Sorry to slightly derail this thread but at least it might stimulate some Casino conversation that might help.

@JohnPerry what mods have you made to your Chinese Casino?

@koss59 you might want to also want to try the "Inspired by John Lennon" model as part of your research. Price-wise it sits between the basic Chinese model and the Elitist. It's Chinese made but has Gibson USA P90s (IIRC possibly pots/switches too). I tried one and liked it a lot. Only downside was a slightly sloppy finish job on the natural model. If they'd had the sunburst in, I'd have bought that.
Unfortunately I bought a used Korean model from ebay and entered a world of pain from which I have yet to emerge.

JohnPerry · August 2014

Bare Knuckle p90s which they briefly made with chrome covers, Gibbo tuners and black top hat knobs, Gibson bridge, new nut and a 60s-style pickguard which Sims Custom Shop did for me. It was an absurd outlay on a relatively cheap guitar if I'm honest, and mostly cosmetic, though the pickups were a substantial improvement.

Basher · August 2014

JohnPerry said:

Bare Knuckle p90s which they briefly made with chrome covers, Gibbo tuners and black top hat knobs, Gibson bridge, new nut and a 60s-style pickguard which Sims Custom Shop did for me. It was an absurd outlay on a relatively cheap guitar if I'm honest, and mostly cosmetic, though the pickups were a substantial improvement.

Thanks for that. I understand about the cosmetic mods - mine's got a few too!

Had the pickups rewound in mine but they still seem quite muddy despite a magnet swap in the neck.
It's difficult to be scientific about the sound because I've never been able to A/B it against another Casino through the same amp settings. Compared to every guitar I own it's much darker but maybe that's par for the course with a hollowbody.

Seriously considering buying a bog-standard Chinese model and starting again.

Thanks once again for the information.

KKJale · August 2014

@koss59

I think the Elitist is hung out to dry at its price point. Solid build, but pickups and neck shape are no great shakes and they STILL get the freaking outline wrong. (As for the The Gibson VOS, that's a right laugh, because for that money you can get into a mid-late 60s original.)

A good Lennon is decent, and the right standard Chinese one can be turned into a useable thing, but a secondhand Korean from about 10 years ago is what I'd go for, every time (even though Basher got a bad one... sorry dude...)

The Peerless factory ones had the best outline, neck profile and detailing IMO, Samick possibly second: Peerless had the Epi deal for a while and basically ripped off the official outlines for their own brand. Haunt the classifieds and if the serial has a P or R preface then it's Peerless, and go and snap it up for under £500 and do the upgrades as JP so wisely advised (and read up on P90s/Casino reissues - they generally use an undersized pickup and that can mess yo shit up).

I've played loads of these as I have an ancient 330 which I've been on the verge of subbing with a copy for ages.

chrisj1602 · August 2014

I had an Elitist Riviera, it was great and I really regret selling it.

knuckleberryfinn · August 2014

KKJale said:

@koss59

I think the Elitist is hung out to dry at its price point. Solid build, but pickups and neck shape are no great shakes and they STILL get the freaking outline wrong. (As for the The Gibson VOS, that's a right laugh, because for that money you can get into a mid-late 60s original.)

A good Lennon is decent, and the right standard Chinese one can be turned into a useable thing, but a secondhand Korean from about 10 years ago is what I'd go for, every time (even though Basher got a bad one... sorry dude...)

The Peerless factory ones had the best outline, neck profile and detailing IMO, Samick possibly second: Peerless had the Epi deal for a while and basically ripped off the official outlines for their own brand. Haunt the classifieds and if the serial has a P or R preface then it's Peerless, and go and snap it up for under £500 and do the upgrades as JP so wisely advised (and read up on P90s/Casino reissues - they generally use an undersized pickup and that can mess yo shit up).

I've played loads of these as I have an ancient 330 which I've been on the verge of subbing with a copy for ages.

I'd agree with all of this. I got an 'R' prefaced '97 Casino recently for £250 on Gumtree. It's a very good guitar, but the pickups were terrible. I got some Mojo replacements, which are brilliant, but they needed pickup rings, and the allparts ones didn't fit because the neck got in the way. I'm taking the advice of someone else on the forum and making some rings out of neoprene. I also soldered up a new loom with Bourns pots. In total it has cost me £370, and it has become my main gigging guitar.

Having said all that, the new Chinese one I had a bash on about six months felt pretty good too.

koss59 · August 2014

Thanks so far everybody, @KKJale are you saying that the outline is better on the Lennons than on the Elitist?

Skipped · August 2014

KKJale said:

@koss59

I think the Elitist is hung out to dry at its price point. Solid build, but pickups and neck shape are no great shakes and they STILL get the freaking outline wrong. (As for the The Gibson VOS, that's a right laugh, because for that money you can get into a mid-late 60s original.)

The more expensive Es-335 Historics get very close in price to a late sixies Es-335 (that is not mint) and that is quite shocking.

I have not really studied the Casinos at the various price points (and probably should not be commenting on this thread) but with regard to Elitists generally.....and accuracy.....I was intrigued by this thread on LPF. After reading this thread you might come to the conclusion that the bodies for the Gibson Historic Clapton Es-335 were outsourced :-O , and that they were "probably" (as near to confirmation from a Gibson employee as you are ever likely to see) the same body as used on the very nice Elitist '63 Es-335.

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184191&highlight=elitist

KKJale · August 2014

@koss59, to be fair, I saw some rotten Elitist horns a few years ago but glancing online they seem to be improved right now.

Basher · August 2014

@KKJale I was probably overstating it with the "world of pain" thing!

Mine is a '97 Peerless with the "R" prefix so I'm guessing it's similar to the one @knuckleberryfin bought (for a bargain price). In terms of the basic guitar it's great. Lovely feel to the neck as well - a bit more depth that the standard slim taper that seems to be the norm on these now. The stock pickups were absolutely fucking awful though.

I've had it refretted and the pickups rewound as well as new bridge, tuners and wiring so it's pretty nice now. However, the pickups are still quite muddy, despite the rewind. I should have grasped the nettle and coughed up for some new ones. Trouble is, as you point out, that there are not many options for replacements that fit. @TheGuitarWeasel (Ash) at Oil City has said that his dogear Firewatch set should fit OK and I think I will order some of these soon. (I actually prefer the black plastic covers as there's more of a 330 vibe!)

I guess I'm still kicking myself at not waiting a bit and getting one of the '61 Reissue Casinos that I thought were great!

Oh, and something to watch out for on the Peerless/Korean Casinos is the nut width. My '97 has a very narrow, 40mm, nut. This is no problem for me but seems to be a dealbreaker for some (although I foolishly got the slots spaced a bit wider and now the top E falls off the fretboard all the time) . My understanding is that the later Peerless and current Chinese guitars feature a wider nut.

Dave_Mc · August 2014

I haven't tried the Elitist but I tried a regular Epi Casino (this was several years ago, admittedly, so things may well be different now) and I didn't think it was that great. If the Elitists are of similar quality to the Japanese guitars I have tried, I'd say it should be a far better guitar. Whether it's worth the extra is up to you (since it is a *lot* more, far as I'm aware).

kelvinburn · August 2014

The one in Monaco?

I'll get me coat!

JookyChap · August 2014

kelvinburn said:

The one in Monaco?

I was going to say I went to quite a sniffy penny arcade in Weston, but I don't think I'll bother now

jeztone2 · August 2014

My brother owns an Elitist 335 & its awesome, go buy Id say

SimpleSimon · August 2014

koss59 · August 2014

@SimpleSimon any idea what the differences are between yours and an Elitist?

drwiddly · August 2014

I have an Elitist 335 and the build quality is up there with the very best. If the Casinos are to the same standard (and there's no reason to suspect otherwise) they'll be very good guitars.

xSkarloey · August 2014

I tried one of the current Chinese models a couple of weeks ago. The neck felt alright to me. At a guess it's a fairly typical width down the nut end (not noticeably narrower). Quite a comfortable neck too. Reminds me of the flat, more 60's type profile.

Not a bad guitar, but not so good I wanted to pay the current RRP for it.

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Anyone tried an elitist Casino

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