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Epiphone Casino
After picking up the Melody Maker with the Lollar P90,
I had decided that was the pickup that would grace my next guitar. My initial search was for a semi-hollow with a single P90,
since I never really use anything other than the neck pickup. Except for the early Casino or jazz type archtops, there isn’t
much out there. I came across a local Casino that had some nice upgrades and the description of the neck pickup caught my
eye. “Pete Biltoft Custom-wound P-90 Neck pickup (5% underwound, ceramic magnets) Gives an incredible organic -
almost acoustic sound!”. Hmmm. The guitar was described as “ has possibly the best feel of any of my instruments!
I could sit and just play it acoustically and be in heaven. This Casino is one of the most amazing sounding and playing
examples of the type. Unequalled Sustain - Resonance - Playability compared to any other hollow-body electric”. I immediately made an appointment and played it. She was right. I lost out on the
bidding, which wasn’t the end of the world, it was vintage sunburst (I wanted natural) and a made in China model (although
I have to say it was the best playing MIC I’d ever tried).
So, I found one on eBay that was priced reasonable, had
a nice flamed grain and natural (kinda) finish. I contacted Pete Biltoft and ordered an identical neck pickup and rather than
going with my initial plan of matching it with a Lollar bridge like the MM, I went with Pete’s recommendation for one
of his. I then called Mark Arnquist and asked him to handle gutting the electronics, going all USA and installing the pickups.
He also reattached the bone nut, remounted the bridge posts and rethreaded the adjusting wheels (you wouldn’t believe
how) and did a fret dress and polish. We put Gotoh tuners on it. We also discussed
adding a sound post. Mark and Howard Roberts had done some experimenting on hollowbodys with them a found that a ½”
X ½” balsa post glued in eliminated most of the feedback issue that Casinos get a bad rap for. Turns out there was one
in there already (more on that later).
Well, before Mark called me to tell me he was done, he
decided to sit down a try the guitar out to make sure all was well. Several hours later he realized he’d lost track
of time and was having trouble putting it down. That’s saying a lot as Mark is not all that keen on Korean made guitars.
But this package was special. Rumor has it that around the time this one was made, Peerless was throwing around the idea of
spending a little more time a money on the guitars that they were contracted to build for Epiphone, and others, and sell them
under their own name. Some Epiphones were pulled out of the assembly line and used as ghinea pigs. Better top materials, bracing,
sound posts, etc. They wanted to find out how many increments they needed to be notched up and what it would take. Marks thought
was that this could be one of them as the quality was better than usual and there were little things that weren’t business
as usual. Could be urban legend, or maybe……….
Anyway, this guitar is giving my Ric a run for it’s
money as my favorite. Sounds sweet and deceptively loud, unplugged. And the Biltoft pickups are fantastic. The neck/fret work
that Mark did really increased the playabilty. It stays in tune. And the cream pickups look great. The last thing I wanted
was to have a John Lennon look-a-like. Besides, it has a family resemblance to the Ric. To pay for the guitar (I try to stay
revenue neutral on my music stuff, it keeps the wife happy), I sold the Melody Maker and the Mumbo Jumbo acoustic. The Casino
replaced them both. Besides, it’s hard to justify 5 guitars if you’re not making a living at playing. Stay tuned,
there could be more on the way, though.
Rickenbacker 360-12 WBBT
It took two attempts, and almost a year, to get this guitar. I'll explain. I saw this guitar on eBay and
fell in love with the color combination. I'd played a 360-12 convertible (felt comb that dampened 6 of the 12 strings to make
it sound like a regular guitar) back in the 60's and wanted a Ric ever since. I got outbid at the last second and lost it.
I tried for the next 10 months to find another maple 12 string with black trim, not knowing that it's a rare
model (only 4 in the Rickenbacker Registry). My wife suggested that I contact the eBay winner and make him an offer. Amazingly
enough, the day I contacted him, he said he was looking for my email address to see if I was interested in buying it (oh,
the syncranicity of it all). He collects Rics, but every other one was in the Fire-Glo color (Rics signature color and I feel
the ugliest one) and although he liked the guitar, he was looking for another 12 string in Fire-Glo and wanted to sell it.
We struck a deal, and I had my dream guitar. In order to justify getting it to my wife (and myself), I sold 3 nice acoustic
guitars and a new mandolin to get the money for it.
After spending time on the Rickenbacker Page, I decided to improve the guitar with some of the accepted modifications
that don't detract from the value of the guitar. Things like a 12 saddle bridge, toaster pick ups and Rickenbacker strings.
I went to Mike Lull, a nationally known luthier that I've known since the early 70's (he's worked on every guitar I've owned
except the Ric) to do the work. He informed me that there was somebody else locally that was much more qualified than he was
to work on Rics, Mark Arnquist.
I'd seen his name many times on the Ric Page. Having worked at the Ric factory for years, he knew the guitars well and
his opinion was very well respected, by most. You see, Mark had been ruffling feathers with Rickenbacker for years.
He left the factory after arguments with the owner over quality and design issues. He continued to point out the deficiencies,
besides giving a lot of good advice and insite, in the Ric Pages forums to the point that Ric's owner had him banned
from posting (the Ric Pages are very closely tied to the factory). Mark has since made a good living improving Rics as he
feels they should have come from the factory. The waiting list to get a guitar in to him can be months long. Turns out he
lived within 30 minutes of me and for some reason, I was able to get right in to see him. We know a lot of the same people
in the music business and share similar musical tastes, so talking with him while he works on the guitar is always a pleasure.
Mark not only changed the bridge and pick ups, he did his full package improvement, too. Fix the truss rod, separate
the strings at the nut (amazing how a 3/32" spread can make such a difference in playability), file the pick guards and truss
rod cover, fret dressing and more. He also found that the tailpiece was cracked and could go at any time, not a pretty thought.
I took the opportunity to change out the R tailpiece for a custom made v64 12 string tailpice that I had powdercoated
black, along with the toaster pick up covers and bridge cover. The new Rickenbacker strings went on and the transformation
was incredible. This was a good guitar before, but was now a dream guitar that plays so much better. What I have now is a
fantastic playing guitar that is truly one-of-a-kind. I guess you would call it a 360-12 WBBT v64, as it has all the features
of the v64, and then some. Recently added, Mark's "extra crispy" conversion of the ric-o-sound 5th knob. It actually does
something now.
Fender Custom Strat
Started as an '87 standard American Strat off of eBay. All hardware changed to gold. Pick ups changed
out to Di Marzio Virtual Vintage pick ups with 500k pots. Mike Lull rewired it with the blender control configuration. Finished
off with the cream colored pearl pick guard. Bought this one to use for "test driving" the ClassicRevamp amps. Kept it
(because I could).
Past Alumni that have moved on to make way.
In order to be able to afford the Casino, a new case and the upgrades, I had to make the tough decicion of what to sell.
Since the Casino had P90s, I figured that the Gibson Melody Maker, with the incredible Lollar P90 at the bridge, was one.
And, since the Casino is actually a thin bodied hllowbody acoustic (with pickups), I decided to let the MumboJumbo go. It's
such a unique guitar that really is a good value, I sold it to a family member, who gae it as a gift (nice gift!). hated to
see them both go, but the Casino's playability and versatility quickly took away the sellers remorse. Besides, 5 guitars?
Who really needs 5 guitars? (I can't believe I said that).
Vox ToneLab
After trying other units by Boss and Behringer, I decided in the Vox. The others had too many unusable effects. I use
this as a preamp. I'm tube rolling on it and I'm homing in on using an RCA12au7 blackplate. I've housed it in a tweed enclosure
to match the amps.
JangleBox
Not much to say here. If you own a Ric and want that jangly sound, there's no other compressor pedal that comes close.
They're not cheap and the waiting period for them to be built can be excrutiatingly long. But it's worth it. Works great with
the Strat, too.
Ibanez TS-7 / 808 (by whizzer-mods)
In my quest for tone, I've tried many alternatives. Pre-amps (some with tubes), different amp types (I even ventured
into the realm of 6v6's) and power-soaks. I'd never owned a pedal until I started looking for a compressor for the
Ric. Even then, I never considered using one for overdrive. I wasn't looking to sound like Van Halen or some metal head. But
I found this pedal on eBay and was intrigued by the "thick tube" aspect of the mod. Bill was very "enthusiastic"
about his product when I contacted him, with questions. And he offered a money back guarentee if I didn't like, something
he said he's never had to fulfill.
The pedal sounded great with the Strat, but when I plugged in the Ric, I had to smile. The term "thick tube" is pretty
accurate. When the settings are around 50%, the pedal adds a "thickness" to the signal that almost sounds like double-tracking.
Like adding a third dimension, to a two dimensional picture. I'd heard similar descriptions for the Sparkle Drive
pedals, but this one sells at less than half the cost. It's become as indispensible to my 12 string sound as my JangleBox,
and they work very well together, too.
Bill just does boost/gain/overdrive pedals, nothing else. His goal is to get to the level of Keeley or AnalogMan. He
has the product and the knowledge to get there. Buy his stuff now, while it's inexpensive and readily available.
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