Epiphone ES230TD Casino

A true rock’n’roll classic, made legendary by the Beatles. Since 1961, the Casino has been Epiphone’s crown jewel. Paul was the first Beatle to buy one—John and George soon followed. It became Lennon’s main guitar through to the iconic Rooftop Concert.

The Epiphone Casino is a hollow-body guitar based on the Gibson ES-330. It features two P-90 pickups and a fully hollow body with no centre block. First produced in the USA in 1961, it's now associated with players like Keith Richards, Dave Davies, Noel Gallagher, The Edge, and Gary Clark Jr. But it was the Beatles who truly made it a legend. Among the many iconic instruments linked to the Fab Four, the Casino is the only one that John, Paul and George all owned.

Paul McCartney was the first Beatle to get one, in 1964, after a tip from bluesman John Mayall. His Casino—a 1962 model (serial #84075)—arrived on 1 November that year, along with the Epiphone Texan used on Yesterday, for £172. Paul modified the guitar for left-handed use and used it to create iconic riffs in Drive My Car, Taxman, Paperback Writer and Ticket to Ride.

Inspired by Paul, John and George were quick to follow. In spring 1966, during a performance on the UK show Top of the Pops, they debuted their brand-new 1965 Sunburst Casinos. Their guitars were nearly identical to Paul’s, except for the “new style” headstocks and, in John’s case, the absence of the Bigsby B7 vibrato unit.

By their final world tour in 1966, the Epiphone Casino had become the Beatles’ main guitar on stage. It remained a studio favourite too—especially for John, who used it for the rest of his career.

In 1968, John and George had their Casinos stripped down to natural wood, inspired in part by Donovan’s stories from India. George would later explain: "If you take the paint and lacquer off and get the wood bare, it seems to breathe."

The guitar in our photo is an Epiphone Inspired by John Lennon Casino, shown next to an Epiphone E230TD Casino Limited Edition 50th Anniversary "1961". The latter is our go-to guitar for video covers. You can spot it in Back in the USSR, Don't Let Me Down, Helter Skelter, Paperback Writer, Strawberry Fields Forever, Get Back, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Dear Prudence and Rain.

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