Gambling Man

Little Barrie and Primal Scream alumnus Barrie Cadogan admits that the Casino comes with its own quirks, but – as big-name players from the 60s and beyond have shown – if you take a punt on this legendary Epiphone model, it’ll pay you back in spades

- Jamie Dickson & Neville Marten

What was it about the Epiphone Casino that first attracted you to it?

“The Epiphone Casino and Gibson ES-330 are kind of the same guitar, apart from a few cosmetic things like colour, for example. When I got into music, the first people I saw got me fascinated with this whole semi-acoustic thing. It was all about the image of that. Also, the record I fell in love with was The Stone Roses [1989], and John Squire had a Gretsch Country Gent. It was that and seeing Chuck Berry, the whole f-hole guitar thing.

“Then I saw some footage of The Kinks and early Keith Richards or Brian Jones – I think they both used Keith’s guitar. But there were also contemporary bands like Teenage Fanclub, so eventually, I had to go to a shop to try one, even though I had only just started playing. But I was already hankering after that kind of thing.

“Over the years I’ve had a few Casinos, including cheaper ones. Sometimes I’ve upgraded with various bits and bobs, but the thing I liked about it, when I actually got to try one, was not only how good it looked but how great it sounded. It sounded excellent. And I also liked the way it sat. And after seeing a few and trying them out, Casinos and 330s, I realised they just worked for me.

“Also seeing that footage of The Stones from the Hyde Park gig in 1969 when Keith used a 330, and seeing Paul Weller on TV in the 90s playing his Casino – I thought he got a really great sound out of it. Things like that got me interested, but when I started trying them out, I just realised that with hollow-body guitars with P-90 pickups, you can’t go wrong.”

Do you struggle with feedback playing live because there’s no centre block?