# Epiphone Casino Coupe



## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Hello All,

Anyone had a chance to try out the new Epiphone Casino Coupe? Its a Epiphone Casino in the ES339 body style. Its looks so dang slick. I tried one at Long & McShaft today but I had to play it Albert King style. When will guitar companies and stores realize us lefties love guitars too!

Anyways, here is a pic:


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I do like these too.

Are these hollow, or semi-hollow?
I'd be wary of the feedback problems though with any dirt more than a mild O/D.

Good looking guitar for sure.

I feel for you lefties, slim pickins.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

They are hollow. I could see right through one hole to the other.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2014)

I like. Going by the pic, it has better upper fret access than a traditional casino.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Nice looking guitar and great for those who like the smaller, thinner bodies.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I'm one of those who love smaller semi hollows. With the p90's, this is very tempting.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Chito said:


> I'm one of those who love smaller semi hollows. With the p90's, this is very tempting.


It was only $500 at L&M.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

dcole said:


> It was only $500 at L&M.


It makes it hard to resist at those kind of prices.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I prefere a 339 sized bodyover a 335. I have a an Ibanez AM93 which is 339 sized and fits like glove to me. Since I don't have P90 Casino like guitar, next Gibson month I may cave in and get one of these.



Steadfastly said:


> Nice looking guitar and great for those who like the smaller, thinner bodies.


I like this colour....


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## Jimi D (Oct 27, 2008)

I was playing a Casino Coupe at L&M today and it was really sweet... the frets could have used a fine finishing polish, but the ends were smooth and the neck was a nice, gentle C shape... The guitar itself was very light, and extremely resonant. I didn't plug it in but it was damned loud acoustically - really rang! I nearly bought it.... Hell, I still might... I'd like to try one of the new 339 Pro P90s first though...


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


> I prefere a 339 sized bodyover a 335. I have a an Ibanez AM93 which is 339 sized and fits like glove to me. Since I don't have P90 Casino like guitar, next Gibson month I may cave in and get one of these.
> 
> 
> 
> I like this colour....


So do I. My first hollow body, an AG-75 was basically that colour.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

^That's the colour I prefer as well. I'd love one of these.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Is there a big difference between the 339 Pro and Casino Coupe besides cosmetics?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

dcole said:


> Is there a big difference between the 339 Pro and Casino Coupe besides cosmetics?


The 339 Pro is a semi-hollow with humbuckers w/coil splitting while the Casino Coupe is fully hollow with P-90's. They also have different bridges. So they are similar but different beasts.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> The 339 Pro is a semi-hollow with humbuckers w/coil splitting while the Casino Coupe is fully hollow with P-90's. They also have different bridges. So they are similar but different beasts.


Thanks, I don't know why I couldn't see that on Epiphone's website.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

dcole said:


> Thanks, I don't know why I couldn't see that on Epiphone's website.


That kind of thing happens to all of us more often than we can remember.


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## Intrepid (Oct 9, 2008)

Has anyone here bought one of these yet? Impressions? Very tempting.


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## Jimi D (Oct 27, 2008)

Intrepid said:


> Has anyone here bought one of these yet? Impressions? Very tempting.


I picked one up on Friday. Here's a crappy pic of it with my other two acquisitions from this summer's frenzy of trading, an Ibanez JS1200 on the left, and a Rickenbacker 650 Sierra on the right... The 1200 replaces my JS1000, which was a great guitar but I prefer the CAR finish (jury's still out on the PAF Joe vs the PAF Pro) and the Sierra's hardware is actually 24K gold plated, which means its always a smudgy mess, but I digress...










The first Casino Coupe I played was a natural one they had on the wall at L&M that I really liked on first impression. I went back Friday to check it out more thoroughly and was kind of disappointed to find a couple dead spots around the 15th fret. I'm sure that they could have had their tech fix that up, but that's such a lengthy and painful process there that I didn't want to bother... So I decided to drop by Steve's on my way home from work and found this Vintage Cherry version. Just as resonant and lively and loud as the one at L&M, and the neck was just sweet; no dead spots and it plays very well straight off the wall - I'm sure that it will be perfect with a fret polish and a couple minor tweaks. It's a very light guitar, but I haven't had any trouble with neck dive, despite the strap button being on the neck heel. The neck is a smallish modern C shape, and the fretboard feels like it's got a pretty flat radius - maybe 10-12"? - though not nearly so flat as most Godin's... The tuners feel very solid and have done a good job so far. The bridge is solid too, not a rattley mess like some... The electronics seem solid; large CTS-style pots that feel good, a solid switch, and the jack is mounted on a square of plastic but it's a thick, decent looking piece of plastic... The pickups are well matched and slightly on the hotter side for P90s - growlier than the Duncans that Godin has used in their guitars, but fatter and to my ears better than the Reverend P90s in my Roundhouse, though I'm sure the guitar helps with that... It's an airy, complex guitar and there's a jangle that translates to an edge with some gain - you have to dial back the tone and volume controls to control the treble if you want a mellower jazz sound - but it's really a versatile little beasty, and sounds much better than I expected off the rack. In fact, though I'd sort of been mentally pickup shopping before buying it, now that I've had it a couple days, I've decided to live with the stock pups a while first... I haven't had a chance to play it in a loud band environment yet; my loud band is on practice hiatus while one of us has a baby, so it may be a few weeks before I get to stretch it out at volume... still, it's fully hollow, so I expect it will require some control to use in smaller spaces covering Goddo tunes...
Most important, the silly epsilon "E" thing that's on the pickguard is a sticker and peels right off. :slash:

Only a couple things have disappointed me so far; the edges of the f-holes are just painted black - as is true of the ES-339s and recent Chinese full-sized Dots and Casinos - and looks a little rough close-up (like really close, like 6" close)... and the rosewood fretboard is dyed, so my fingers are getting stained brown when I use the guitar (ya, I know that stops eventually)... 

All and all I'm very chuffed about this little guitar; for the money ($499, case extra) it's an absolute no-brainer imho... I don't think anyone's produced anything quite like it before, and I'll wager Epiphone will have a solid hit on their hands with this model once word gets out.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Nice. I tend to consider 9.5-12" R sort of medium. I start having a little difficulty about that when I try to bend. 14"+ is getting flat for me. I think 16" is a common Godin radius which is why I have not been able click some Godins I have tried.

I like your review. This guitar is on my shortlist for next year.


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