Just seeing if any of the fine guitarist on this forum own or have played a true hollowbody. I have owned and played many semi's but not a true hollow. I saw on CME they had this Epi Casino that caught my eye and was thinking about it. My main concern would be the feedback issues. On the semi's I have played I never had that much of an issue I could not manage going pretty aggressive on a 50watt tube head. Just not sure how manageable or unmanageable the hollow would be. Any thoughts?
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
My man at the big music store here said Epiphone is the best quality lower prices guitar on the market and are remarkably similar to their more expensive Gibson first cousins.
As to the Casino, he said the P-90 pickups are first rate but the guitar has a different tone than a Les Paul because of the wood differences.
It is great all purpose guitar and is good for rock, blues, country and western swing. It's a comfortable guitar with a good fast neck and very light and easy on your shoulder and back if you gig a lot.
On the negative side he said on stage playing live you have to be careful how you set up and where you stand as some players report they have some problems with unwanted feedback.
As you know John Lennon apparently preferred Epiphone over it's more expensive Gibson first cousins. Couldn't have been price:)
The Epiphones have improved greatly. I have the Joe B Lazarus LP and Firebird I Treasure.
Fun and of course good values. I have a few fancy guitars but I am enjoying three under $1000 instruments right now, the third being a genuine lawsuit Howard Roberts made in ‘76 at Fujigen. I don’t know how I lucked out but I bought it from the original owner through a consignment shop for $850!
I am getting ready to do some fret work on the Laz. Unlevel frets causing some buzzing and some crowning and polishing needed. After that I am doing the same to the Howard Roberts.
The Firebird is pretty solid.
So my input is play it first or have a good return policy.
Myself if I like the guitar fretwork is just part of setup.
The Epiphones have improved greatly. I have the Joe B Lazarus LP and Firebird I Treasure.
Fun and of course good values. I have a few fancy guitars but I am enjoying three under $1000 instruments right now, the third being a genuine lawsuit Howard Roberts made in ‘76 at Fujigen. I don’t know how I lucked out but I bought it from the original owner through a consignment shop for $850!
I am getting ready to do some fret work on the Laz. Unlevel frets causing some buzzing and some crowning and polishing needed. After that I am doing the same to the Howard Roberts.
The Firebird is pretty solid.
So my input is play it first or have a good return policy.
Myself if I like the guitar fretwork is just part of setup.
Is this the style Howard Roberts you have? If it is they go for decent $$$ these days
@bill_graham I've seen a couple Howard Roberts guitars similar to that and they were over $1,000.00.
I didn't know they were suppose to be a bargain make for someone who wanted a Gibson but couldn't afford it.
Jack Pearson has several Squire by Fender cheap Strats he plays out in Nashville and elsewhere when he gets out of town. Made in Singapore and $90 and $80 dollars. It's hard to believe Jack can play such a guitar. The big music store here doesn't recommend Squires but they do Epiphone to someone who has been playing a good while but short on funds.
Jack claims he paid $87.00 for this Squire Strat. It hard to believe. He always has a big smile when he claims that. At the end he puts on a slide and slides right on our there in outer space somewhere.
Mine is branded Speedfire, the branding indicates where they were sold.
This is how it was when I got it, case kept for several years and the pickguard gassed off damaging the metal.
Ibanez serial number scheme indicating a July ‘76 build. Also came with the Ibanez Gold Star tuners.
Here it is currently, new tuners, tailpiece, and Lollar Johnny Smith mini-humbucker. After I do the frets and sort the odd electronics it will be worth around $1300-1600.
The lawsuit era, c. 74-78, was when high quality copies of American premium guitars were produced at the Fujigen factory.
Sold under many trademarks these instruments were considered at least as good as the guitars they copied.
https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/truth-lawsuit-era-guitars/
As to the Howard Roberts they were first made by Epiphone, then Gibson. By the time of the lawsuit era that model was dropped for the Howard Roberts Fusion line.
The Gibson-Epi models go for around $4000 and the lawsuit era models $1300-1600.
As I mentioned above mine was consigned by the original owner who bought it in 81 in northern AL. I had wanted one for years and jumped all over it despite the metal damage from the pickguard gas-off.
Guitars are fun.
One more bit about the lawsuit Howard Roberts. Last one I promise.
@aiq I was just reading Gibson won their lawsuit against Dean Guitars over the Flying V. The court ruled Gibson owns the shapes of the bodies of their ES, SG, Explorer, Flying V, Firebird guitars. I think the last lawsuite I read about ONLY THE HEADSTOCK couldn't look like another companies headstock. The rest of the guitar is not covered. So this is going to offer companies such as Gibson more protection. As to the Howard Roberts guitar you have, I don't see an exact take on any Gibson guitars.
John Mayer's PRS guitar line has the body looking, to me, just like a Fender Stratocaster. But the headstock is clearly the usual Paul Reed Smith design.
Recently I messed around with a PRS McCarty at the big music store here. My man there said it was designed to squeeze in between a Les Paul with P-90s or Humbuckers and a Strat with stock single coils and give the player the best of both worlds without having to change guitars in the set. I didn't know, I suppose, how to adjust the knobs because I was getting a tone different from a Les Paul and a single coil Strat. But maybe that is what the tone is suppose to be. A new tone that fits in-between those other two tones.
Robert, the Howard Roberts guitar WAS a Gibson guitar! I almost bought one in 1976. Two things prevented this - I didn't have the money (much less than used ones go for now) and it didn't lend itself to the types of music that I was playing (standard classic rock stuff). Here's an example (Reverb) complete with disintegrating nitrogen cellulose pickguard that Aiq describes: https://reverb.com/item/55200661-gibson-howard-roberts-custom-1973-1981
For balance - an Ibanez copy sans dissolved pickguard: https://reverb.com/item/54815412-ibanez-2453-howard-roberts-sunburst-1977-archtop-electric-guitar
Aiq - I have posted on several occasions of the guitars (Strats) built at the Fujigen plant. Outstanding craftsmanship! I know several pro players who play "cloned" Strat's from that plant and period. They prefer them over the Americana counterparts. I also read an article a while back that told of Fender rep's visiting the plant and being shocked/flabbergasted over the fact that these clones equaled or surpassed what was being built in Fullerton.
