Please help me with my guitar choice!!!

BornToRun75

Hi,
im getting a new guitar in summer and ive narrowed my choice down to 3 either an epiphone casino, epiphone sheraton ii or nick valensi epiphone riveria. they are all around the same price and i need help with the choice! please give me your advise and which one ye think is better!
thanks BTR75

BornToRun75

they're nice alright but not what im looking for i really like the look of the epiphone archtops!

Ravelleman

I'm a big fan of original Epis.

They're pretty different guitars, despite looking quite similar.

Casino: full hollowbody, p-90s, neck joins body at 16th fret, classic Epi model, crap tuners. You also have the 50th Anniversary '61 model, which has better hardware but arguably looks less cool than the standard '65 model.

Sheraton II: semi-hollowbody, humbuckers, neck joins body much further down fretboard, Grover tuners, quite different to the Sheratons of the late 50s and 60s so not exactly classic but more user friendly as a result.

Nick Valensi Riviera: semi-hollowbody, "trapeze" tailpiece according to epiphone.com's description but it's actually a frequensator tailpiece, Gibson p-94s (humbucker-sized p-90s), Grover tuners.

They all sound pretty different and react differently to feedback so it's kind of hard to group them all together. Each is unique.

I would love to own an Elitist Casino or an Elitist Sheraton someday.

BornToRun75

Ravelleman wrote: »

I'm a big fan of original Epis.

They're pretty different guitars, despite looking quite similar.

Casino: full hollowbody, p-90s, neck joins body at 16th fret, classic Epi model, crap tuners. You also have the 50th Anniversary '61 model, which has better hardware but arguably looks less cool than the standard '65 model.

Sheraton II: semi-hollowbody, humbuckers, neck joins body much further down fretboard, Grover tuners, quite different to the Sheratons of the late 50s and 60s so not exactly classic but more user friendly as a result.

Nick Valensi Riviera: semi-hollowbody, "trapeze" tailpiece according to epiphone.com's description but it's actually a frequensator tailpiece, Gibson p-94s (humbucker-sized p-90s), Grover tuners.

They all sound pretty different and react differently to feedback so it's kind of hard to group them all together. Each is unique.

I would love to own an Elitist Casino or an Elitist Sheraton someday.

Thanks you've helped greatly! I'm gradually edging towards the Sheraton I think it looks the nicest! The fact that Lennon played the casino it whats making me think! Anyone have any thoughts on the fender frontman 212r amp or Marshall mg100fx amp! I'm stuck between these two also

Demeyes

BornToRun75 wrote: »

Anyone have any thoughts on the fender frontman 212r amp or Marshall mg100fx amp! I'm stuck between these two also

I've only used the smaller frontman and it wasn't fantastic. The general consensus is to avoid the Mrshall MG series too. I've heard and played through loads of them and they sound pretty bad. I'd recommend looking for a peavey bandit which is a nice SS combo or a low wattage tube combo like the blackstar ht 5.

Ravelleman

Don't get the Marshall MG100fx. It's an awful amp - trust me, I owned one long ago.

To make the most of those sweet semi-hollow tones I'd follow Demeyes advice - a small tube amp would be ideal. There are a lot of options around the same price as the Marshall. And realistically, 100 watts is far, far too much for the average player!

Miklos

Those Nick Valensi Epi's are lovely instruments, there's a lot to be said for a Sheraton or Casino too though. They all have their advantages and charms.

In terms of amps, definitely go for a small tube combo, like a Fender Super Champ XD or something. You'll not regret it.

BornToRun75

NickWray wrote: »

Those Nick Valensi Epi's are lovely instruments, there's a lot to be said for a Sheraton or Casino too though. They all have their advantages and charms.

In terms of amps, definitely go for a small tube combo, like a Fender Super Champ XD or something. You'll not regret it.

Unfortunately my local shop doesn't sell valensi's epi anymore so it looks like I'm going for the Sheraton! What price range are the fender amps your talking about? The guitar will bring my budget Down dramatically!

eoghanie

Don't want to throw a spanner in the works but have you considered an Ibanez AS103? Build quality is way better than Epiphone. You can't get them in any shops in Ireland unfortunately but Thomann stocks them. If your budget can stretch to it it's a quality guitar.

http://www.thomann.de/ie/ibanez_as103vb.htm

Played one in the States briefly. Great neck.

BornToRun75

That is a nice guitar alright but that would be my entire life savings gone! Maybe in a few years...

Ravelleman

I think the Nick Valensi Riviera is the best 'out of the box' option there. You won't need to upgrade the pickups like the Sheraton, nor will you need to upgrade the tuners as you might do with the Stanard Casino.

I still think the Casino is the coolest option of all though, but sometimes these things are irrational.

il gatto

I have a cherry red Casino. I love it but, as your main guitar, go for the Sheraton. The Casino is hollow and with the P90s feeds back pretty bad at volume and also has some microphonic squeal.
The Sheraton would be more usuable and a semi with humbuckers just sounds right.
Epiphone has a bad rep with some because their budget stuff, featherweight Les Pauls that won't tune and SG that feel like balsa wood, is hit and miss at best. Once you spend a bit more they're decent guitars IMO. Those Ibanez semis are good as well.

Matt Bianco

Highly recommend the Sheraton and Super Champ XD recommendation (Super Champ XD has been reduced to €225 as there is a new version coming out) which makes it a steal IMO. I picked up a Korean Sheraton on Adverts with P90s installed and offers an amazing range of tones from smooth jazz to White Stripes esque rippin'. From my experience there was a lot of variation in build quality in the Chinese made Sheratons so opt for brick and mortar if you're heading in that direction

AFAIK there is a Riviera on Adverts recently which looked interesting

punchdrunk

of that lot the nick valensi is the one to get,I seen Eels at Glastonbury last summer and the lead guitarist Chet was absolutely killing on one of them!

BornToRun75

http://www.epiphone.com/News/Features/Features/2011/Presenting-the-Limited-Edition-ES-345-and-ES-355.aspx ive decided on the ebony one!

Ravelleman

Your choice, but I still think the Casino and co are a lot cooler.