1991 Epiphone Casino Electric Guitar Cherry w/ Bigsby & Case, Pre-Elitist, Japan Terada

Up for sale, a 1991 Epiphone Casino in near mint condition and in perfect working order, featuring an upgraded USA-made Bigsby B7 vibrato tailpiece and complete with a hardshell case. Produced in Japan at the Terada factory and featuring a rare gloss Cherry finish, this Epiphone reissue preceded the modern "Elitist" line (also produced at Terada). Acoustically, the fully hollow all-maple body has a smooth, bright tone which works well with the original pair of P-90 pickups. These pickups are wound to vintage spec with plenty of midrange bark, and a glassy, percussive quality. Whether you want articulate cleans or thick overdrive, these pickups can produce either with ease and with a refinement far beyond most other modern Casino reissues. The guitar is notably lightweight at only 7lbs 6oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar and dialed in for optimal action and intonation with 10-46 strings.

The maple neck has a notably slender C-shaped profile carve, with modest shoulder at the nut, gaining just a bit more overall roundness further up the fretboard, measuring .765" deep at the 1st fret and .860" at the 12th. The bound rosewood fretboard features pearloid trapezoid inlay, with original medium jumbo frets which have their full factory height and well-rounded crowns, showing virtually no wear. The guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4" scale with a straight neck and responsive, ideally adjusted truss rod. The original hand-carved bone nut measures 1 9/16" in width, and the headstock retains the original Kluson-style nickel tuners which turn smoothly and hold pitch as they should.

The electronics are untouched, with gold reflector cap knobs on the Volume and Tone controls. There's a light dusting of surface patina on the nickel-plated pickup covers, and the bridge has been updated to a more vintage-correct ABR-1 with nylon saddles that offer a smooth response with the USA-made Bigsby B7 vibrato tailpiece. The five digit serial for Japanese production is visible through the F hole on the orange oval label, with 1 representing the year (1991), and 5 representing the Casino model in Epiphone Japan's lineup.

The Cherry gloss finish is accented by the original elevated pickguard with "E" epsilon badge, and cosmetic wear is limited to just a few exceedingly faint finish scratches and minor marks on the body as a whole. The neck profile retains its smooth gloss with only a few pinhead-sized marks on the bass-side shoulder behind frets 1-4.

A black tolex hardshell case is included, along with the original trapeze tailpiece.