I LOVE my new Casino

Thanks Dogbite and Notes.

So, Notes, do you play the sax too? (judging by your avatar). In the second pic that grey case you can just see is my Sinclair alto.

Happy b-day! Love the guitars! EMGs in the Epi, huh?

Yep :twisted: . Screams, too :mrgreen:

Thanks Dogbite and Notes.

So, Notes, do you play the sax too? (judging by your avatar). In the second pic that grey case you can just see is my Sinclair alto.

Yes.

Sax is my main instrument. To hear a clip go to http://www.nortonmusic.com/cabaret.html I currently have a Grassi Tenor, H.Couf Tenor and a King Alto.

I also play wind synthesizer. To hear a few short clips go to http://www.nortonmusic.com/clips.html

And flute.

I've doubled on guitar and bass for a long time. The guitarists in the bands I was in showed me bar chords and when there was no sax in a song, I either played bass or guitar. Then I also learned some keyboards. Back in the psychedelic era when nobody wanted to hire a sax player, I played bass for a while. I really like playing bass.

I bought the Gibson ES-330 back in the late 70s or early 80s for $300 thinking it was a 335. I had been in a band with a 335 player but when I doubled, he never let me play the 335 but instead let me play one of his other guitars. Later when I found out my mistake, I was glad, because I really like the sound of the P90s better than the Gibson Humbuckers.

Last summer I decided to get serious about the guitar. Since my ES-330 was now worth from $3000 to $5000 as a collectors item, I didn't want to bring it on stage. Switching between sax, flute, wind synth, keyboards, guitar and vocals was too much of a possibility that my collectors item would get damaged. So I bought a cheap Kramer/Focus/Faux-Strat guitar just to see if I could learn to play lead.

I was delighted that my sax soloing theory and the experience on the bass fretboard allowed me to take to lead guitar rather easily. I learned all my Minor and Major pentatonics plus the major and minor scales first. Before I knew it I was banging out decent (mostly pentatonic) improvisations in Blues, Rock and Country songs. But I never really liked playing the Kramer/Focus/Faux-Strat. Oh, I liked the looks, and the whammy bar (that I still couldn't control) but I didn't like the more curved fretboard, the thicker neck, and the bridge (which I found to be harder than my ES to mute the strings with the palm of my hand). I really liked my ES-330 much better. So I traded it in (got out of it what I paid for it) on a used Casino at Guitar Center.

I love the Casino as much as my 330. The main difference is the 330 sounds better unplugged (perhaps better wood, nitro lacquer instead of poly finish, nylon saddles, or the bridge in a different spot on the guitar -- I really don't know). But plugged in they sound almost identical. The Casino is a bit louder and has a bit more sustain, but the pickups are adjusted higher.

When I bought the Casino, I noticed that the previous owner replaced the tuners with Grovers, not really a big thing to me because the Klusons on my GIbson are just fine. Then while changing the looks, I found that he also changed the pots and switch to USA parts. So I also suspect he changed the pickups, but I'm not going to take the guitar apart to see. I'm happy just to play it.

I no longer bring the keyboard on stage so I am now playing sax, wind synth, guitar, flute, vocals and a drum controller (mostly to play "hand drums" when I am singing a difficult to sing song that I don't want to spit my concentration between the voice and guitar). In my duo, http://www.s-cats.com I play with my wife who is a great singer and plays tactile MIDI controller (Buchla Thunder) and guitar (Parker PM-10 Hornet). When we met we were playing in different bands, and after we got serious about each other we decided to play together. Now we are doing mostly Yacht Clubs, Country Clubs, Private Clubs and private parties. We did Cruise Ships for a few years and while on the ships were filmed for MTV, CBS, ABC and NBC Television.

That's probably more than you wanted to know ;)

Notes

Very nice! If you can hear my bike, you'd better hide it quick. :twisted:

Thanks Dogbite and Notes.

So, Notes, do you play the sax too? (judging by your avatar). In the second pic that grey case you can just see is my Sinclair alto.

Yes.

Sax is my main instrument. To hear a clip go to http://www.nortonmusic.com/cabaret.html I currently have a Grassi Tenor, H.Couf Tenor and a King Alto.

I also play wind synthesizer. To hear a few short clips go to http://www.nortonmusic.com/clips.html

And flute.

I've doubled on guitar and bass for a long time. The guitarists in the bands I was in showed me bar chords and when there was no sax in a song, I either played bass or guitar. Then I also learned some keyboards. Back in the psychedelic era when nobody wanted to hire a sax player, I played bass for a while. I really like playing bass.

I bought the Gibson ES-330 back in the late 70s or early 80s for $300 thinking it was a 335. I had been in a band with a 335 player but when I doubled, he never let me play the 335 but instead let me play one of his other guitars. Later when I found out my mistake, I was glad, because I really like the sound of the P90s better than the Gibson Humbuckers.

Last summer I decided to get serious about the guitar. Since my ES-330 was now worth from $3000 to $5000 as a collectors item, I didn't want to bring it on stage. Switching between sax, flute, wind synth, keyboards, guitar and vocals was too much of a possibility that my collectors item would get damaged. So I bought a cheap Kramer/Focus/Faux-Strat guitar just to see if I could learn to play lead.

I was delighted that my sax soloing theory and the experience on the bass fretboard allowed me to take to lead guitar rather easily. I learned all my Minor and Major pentatonics plus the major and minor scales first. Before I knew it I was banging out decent (mostly pentatonic) improvisations in Blues, Rock and Country songs. But I never really liked playing the Kramer/Focus/Faux-Strat. Oh, I liked the looks, and the whammy bar (that I still couldn't control) but I didn't like the more curved fretboard, the thicker neck, and the bridge (which I found to be harder than my ES to mute the strings with the palm of my hand). I really liked my ES-330 much better. So I traded it in (got out of it what I paid for it) on a used Casino at Guitar Center.

I love the Casino as much as my 330. The main difference is the 330 sounds better unplugged (perhaps better wood, nitro lacquer instead of poly finish, nylon saddles, or the bridge in a different spot on the guitar -- I really don't know). But plugged in they sound almost identical. The Casino is a bit louder and has a bit more sustain, but the pickups are adjusted higher.

When I bought the Casino, I noticed that the previous owner replaced the tuners with Grovers, not really a big thing to me because the Klusons on my GIbson are just fine. Then while changing the looks, I found that he also changed the pots and switch to USA parts. So I also suspect he changed the pickups, but I'm not going to take the guitar apart to see. I'm happy just to play it.

I no longer bring the keyboard on stage so I am now playing sax, wind synth, guitar, flute, vocals and a drum controller (mostly to play "hand drums" when I am singing a difficult to sing song that I don't want to spit my concentration between the voice and guitar). In my duo, http://www.s-cats.com I play with my wife who is a great singer and plays tactile MIDI controller (Buchla Thunder) and guitar (Parker PM-10 Hornet). When we met we were playing in different bands, and after we got serious about each other we decided to play together. Now we are doing mostly Yacht Clubs, Country Clubs, Private Clubs and private parties. We did Cruise Ships for a few years and while on the ships were filmed for MTV, CBS, ABC and NBC Television.

That's probably more than you wanted to know ;)

Notes

Not at all :D

I'd really like to try the flute, actually. That and trumpet. Since I started playing with an ensemble group here in school I've been really into jazz and I really wanted the Casino for a jazz band guitar for next year. However, I think that after playing both together which guitar I take is going to depend on the style of the song/set/show...

I'd also like to look into a nicer alto soon, around $1100 or so. Any suggestions?

<...snip...>
I'd also like to look into a nicer alto soon, around $1100 or so. Any suggestions?

The new Cannonball altos are nice. The might be a little more, but they are well built and the nickel plate should last a long time. I'm thinking about getting a Cannonball Tenor in a year or two.

Since they don't re-lacquer brass anymore, I have gone to second-tier, plated horn. The differences between the second tier horn and a first quality horn is only about 10%, while the price of the first quality horn is about 200%

I've had the Grassi for about 10 years. It was the last sax Ida Maria Grassi made before she closed her shop (I think she was in her 90s). The gold plate is starting to flake off so when it starts to look ratty, I'm thinking about a Cannonball or other nickel plated sax.

I've got a silver plated 1925 King Alto with the voice of an angel, but it is a bit of work to keep the tarnish off. I found that gold plated horns have the gold over silver, and when the gold finally flakes off it takes the silver with it, so I won't get another gold one (although in 10 years I certainly got my $1500 out of it). From talking to sax repairmen on the sax on the web forum http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/index.php (a good place to get sax information) I understand that the nickel plate lasts the longest.

If the Cannonball is too expensive, I think you can pick up a silver plated Jupiter for less.

Back to guitars, I think the Casino would make a great jazz guitar. It is capable of a nice, round, mellow tone with nice harmonics. It will also do blues and rock. Since I play in a middle-of-the-road band, I use it for light jazz, light blues, and rock. I have a Zoom G1X pedal (effects and amp modeling) that can make the P90s almost like a humbucker, but there is nothing that can clean up a humbucker to make it sound like a P90, so the Casino (and ES-330) gives me the versatility of both worlds.

Notes

Thanks Notes.

Is there a real issue with going used?

Thanks Notes.

Is there a real issue with going used?

A used sax is fine as long as it is in good shape. Unless you are going for a collectors item, you can usually get more sax for your money if you purchase used.

When buying used, look for obvious signs of dents (that are either there or may have been fixed). Also look for structural defects (mostly the posts that hold the rods up). Try to move the rods back and forth to see if there is too much play in them. This can be fixed but it takes a good repairman and a few dollars to do. If you can, take it to a repairman for an evaluation before you buy, especially if you are an inexperienced player.

Other things to look for (these can be replaced as normal maintenance, so wear should require a price adjustment) - worn or dried out pads, dry or damaged cork, missing felt or cork pieces (that either adjust the height of things or keep metal to metal contact from clicking), or weak springs.

Bring an electronic tuner and the mouthpiece you are currently comfortable with. No horn is in tune with itself, and certain notes must be lipped to play in tune. But some saxes are closer than others. You need to make sure you can lip all the notes to an in-tune state. When I bought my Grassi, I tried three of them out with very close serial numbers. One was much better than the others, which is the one I purchased.

Also, it is always a good idea to practice long tones in front of a tuner. Sooner or later your muscle memory will remember how much you need to lip each note to keep it in tune (I've heard the slight pitch variations referred to as the horns signature). Between your muscle memory anticipating what you need to do an your ears, you should be able to play in tune with the rest of the band.

My first sax was a used Selmer Modele 26, a nice horn, and I played it for years with no problem. I bought my 1925 King Alto used and it has never given me a problem either.

Whatever you get, here is a hint. When you put your sax away, open the G# key, insert a US Dollar bill under it and then close the key. This is the most problematic key on the sax. Pressing your pinky down on the G# key and having the key stay closed is embarrassing. The dollar bill keeps the G# from sticking. I tried regular paper, and it doesn't work, the dollar bill does. I don't know why, perhaps it's the cloth content.

Insights and incites by Notes

WOW! Beautiful! Can we all say GAS?

Happy belated guitarday :-)

The casino is sweet!!! - I want one :roll:

How green a person can get possibly...

Well, congrats to all those who possess a Casino.