Epiphone E230TD Casino, Sunburst (1961)

One of Gibson's most historic creations, the Epiphone Casino has become an iconic thinline hollowbody since its introduction in 1961.

1961 Epiphone E230TD Casino in original Sunburst finish just into the shop!

Gibson's acquisition of Epiphone and subsequent launch of that brand in 1958 brought with it some of the most interesting and underrated guitars of their Golden Era. With two years of transitional production instruments under their belt, Gibson launched into the 60s with a significant addition to the Epiphone lineup - the Casino.

This '61 is what we'd consider Version 1a, with the earliest V1 builds wearing the old "bikini" headstock badges. That's really the only difference, though. The inlaid script logo would stay through the decade and become the standard logo for the brand. While structurally identical to a Gibson ES-330, the Casino had a different aesthetic, and predominantly used the Trem-O-Tone vibrato tailpiece that was designed exclusively for Epiphones in lieu of the trapeze tailpiece often found on the 330s. The Sunburst was also shot differently, with a wider two-tone 'burst that had a thin, dark band that quickly transitioned into a golden yellow. Combined with the black P90 covers, single-ply tortoise pickguard, and walnut-stained back and sides, its presentation almost looked even more elevated than its older brother.

This is a wonderful sounding and playing Casino that seemingly spent the majority of its life with a part-time player who really took pride in their ownership of the guitar. With the exception of the missing tailpiece insert (somewhat common), it's 100% original. There's some old lacquer touchup on the edges of the headstock, likely to clean up the typical bumps and bruises that occur from leaning the guitar against a wall or piece of furniture. Otherwise, it's a very clean instrument.

The earlier 330/Casino builds tend to have this woodier, thumpy, acoustic response that almost give you a little glimpse into some of the electric archtops that pre-dated them. That plays a huge role in how responsive and dynamic the P90s are, and it's what makes these guitars so versatile. Certainly equipped to satisfy a jazz or blues guitarist, these guitars are fantastic sounding in the context of rock, americana, soul, and even indie rock (see Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Jay Bennett of Wilco).

The guitar has just had a fresh setup for the first time in decades, which involved dressing the original frets and cleaning the electronics. It's otherwise as we'd acquired it, and is about as good as these get!