Epiphone Casino

Examples of McCartney's Casino with Gibson-style headstock and Lennon's after being stripped, with the Epiphone "hourglass" headstock

The Epiphone Casino, also known by its model number, ES-230TD, is a hollow-body electric guitar produced by the company since 1961. Based on the Gibson ES-330, it has a 16-inch laminated maple and birch body, one-piece mahogany neck with a bound rosewood fingerboard, two P-90 pickups, and two pairs of volume and control knobs with a three-way pickup-selector switch. Paul McCartney first acquired one in late 1964, with John Lennon and George Harrison obtaining their own in early 1966. It would become a favored guitar by all three, but was especially associated with Lennon, who would use it in performances and recordings into the 1970s.

McCartney

Paul McCartney was first seen with his Casino at the Beatles' 1964 Christmas shows. Photographs of rehearsals on 21 December show him playing the Casino, still stung right-handed, as well as McCartney conferring with Harrison over the guitar, presumably on how to alter it for left-handed play. In addition to reversing the strings, McCartney had the bridge modified for correct intonation and a strap button added to the opposite horn so he could play it standing up. He was influenced to buy the Casino by blues musician John Mayall, who would often play McCartney blues records and owned his own hollow-body electric guitar that he'd purchased in Japan in 1955 while in the army.

McCartney with his Casino, 2005

McCartney's model, serial number 84075, was shipped by the company on 1 November 1962 and was one of only 211 manufactured that year. Retailing at 164 guineas, approximately £3,035 in 2025, it was finished in sunburst, featuring a Bigsby vibrato arm and an early-style Gibson-designed headstock, as well as black rather than gold knobs. Initially, McCartney chose this model since he wanted a guitar with a Bigsby fitted and the Casino was the only model with one offered by Rosetti, Epiphone's British importer. He would frequently use the Casino for recordings, such as sessions on 28 March 1967, when McCartney was photographed alternating between the Casino and his Fender Esquire while working on the solos for "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and "Good Morning Good Morning". Although not known to have been on any of the recorded tracks, McCartney's Casino was seen in photographs in Apple Studios taken during the Let It Be sessions. In a 1997 radio interview for the release of his album Flaming Pie, McCartney declared this his favourite electric guitar and he has continued to use it in live performances.

Lennon

In early 1966, in time for the Revolver sessions, John Lennon and George Harrison also acquired similar Casinos in sunburst finish. Both had the more common Epiphone-style hourglass headstock, but unlike Harrison's, Lennon's had a standard trapeze tailpiece instead of a Bigsby. Unusually, Lennon's also featured a small black rubber ring around its pickup-selector switch. For the Beatles' final tours in 1966, the Casino came to replace his Rickenbacker 325 as Lennon's electric guitar for live performances, as well as Beatles recording sessions until their breakup. Following appearances in Tokyo, Lennon hung a small good luck charm from the neck he had acquired, and which remained on his guitar until at least mid-1967. During the sessions for Sgt. Pepper, Lennon's Casino was still finished in sunburst with its pickguard attached. When the band decided to refinish their guitars in a psychedelic style, Lennon had the back of his Casino sprayed in a white or grey finish. Around this same time, the pickguard was also removed—although the mounting bracket was left on—and one of the original gold-coloured knobs was replaced with a black one.

John Lennon with The Dirty Mac, December 1968

By the recording sessions for the "White Album" a year later, Lennon had the guitar professionally sanded down—along with his Gibson J-160E—to remove their finish, which Donovan had told the band in Rishikesh would improve the sound. The mounting hardware for the pickguard was also put back on the guitar, although not the pickguard itself, which Andy Babiuk says indicates that the "refinishing job may not have been done at a music store or instrument repair shop". Used throughout the recording sessions for the "White Album", Let It Be, and Abbey Road, Lennon also played the guitar live with the impromptu supergroup The Dirty Mac in Toronto on 11 December 1968 and with the Plastic Ono Band at the Lyceum in London on 15 December 1969, by which time the original Kluson tuners were replaced with gold-coloured Grovers. Lennon would continue to use the Casino on his first two solo albums, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. At some point in the 1970s, it was restored to four gold knobs. As of 2015, the guitar is still owned by Yoko Ono.

Lennon appears with the Casino with its original sunburst finish in the promotional videos for "Paperback Writer", "Rain", and "Lady Madonna" (filmed during the recording sessions for "Hey Bulldog"), as well as ones for "Revolution", "Hey Jude", and "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (utilizing footage from the Let It Be sessions) and the Beatles' final rooftop concert in its stripped form.

Harrison

Harrison's Casino, also acquired in early 1966, was largely identical to Lennon's except that it was fitted with a Bigsby B7 vibrato, licensed by Selmer. During the 1966 tours, Harrison would alternate between the Casino and his Gibson SG Standard. By a performance at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on 28 August 1966, Harrison had removed the pickguard. He played the Casino during the Sgt. Pepper sessions and was photographed using Lennon's at rehearsals for the One World performance of "All You Need is Love", although he would actually be filmed playing his psychedelic painted Fender Stratocaster. He can also be seen using it in the promotional film for "Hello, Goodbye". Like Lennon, Harrison had his Casino sanded down in 1968, later saying that removing the paint and varnish allowed the guitar "to sort of breathe". Harrison continued to use the Casino on Beatles' recordings until their final sessions in early 1970. As of 2015, the guitar is still owned by the Harrison estate.

Albums

• Help! (album)³
• Rubber Soul³
• Revolver¹²³
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (album)¹²³
• The Beatles (album)¹³
• Yellow Submarine (album)¹
• Abbey Road (album)¹³
• Let It Be (album)¹
• Magical Mystery Tour (album)¹²
• Past Masters¹²

John Lennon

• She Said She Said
• And Your Bird Can Sing
• Doctor Robert
• Got to Get You Into My Life
• Getting Better
• When I'm Sixty-Four
• Good Morning Good Morning
• Penny Lane
• Strawberry Fields Forever
• Hello, Goodbye
• Lady Madonna
• Hey Bulldog
• Revolution
• Back in the USSR
• Dear Prudence
• Happiness is a Warm Gun
• I'm So Tired
• Birthday
• Yer Blues
• Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey
• Sexy Sadie
• Come Together
• Oh! Darling
• Octopus's Garden
• I Want You (She's So Heavy)
• Because
• You Never Give Me Your Money
• Sun King
• Mean Mr. Mustard
• The End
• Get Back
• Don't Let Me Down
• Dig A Pony (Live At Rooftop)
• I've Got A Felling (Live At Rooftop)
• One After 909 (Live At Rooftop)
• You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Paul McCartney

• The Night Before
• Another Girl
• Ticket to Ride
• Drive My Car
• Taxman
• Here There and Everywhere
• And Your Bird Can Sing
• Got to Get You Into My Life
• Tomorrow Never Knows
• Paperback Writer
• Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Getting Better
• Strawberry Fields Forever
• Flying
• Back In The USSR
• Martha My Dear
• Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
• Birthday
• Helter Skelter
• Maxwell's Silver Hammer
• Carry That Weight
• The End

George Harrison

• And Your Bird Can Sing
• Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?
• Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
• Baby You're A Rich Man
• Hello, Goodbye
• You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
• Let It Be (Album Version)