Just bought an epi

[kinkaroo]

Hello,i'm new in this forum and i have just bought an epiphone elitist casino but i'm not sure if it is an elitist or a standart casino so i wanted to ask you. I have these doubts because i've bought it for around 530EU.


Here are the pictures ;

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/499/dsc1011u.jpg
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1561/dsc1012n.jpg
http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/106/dsc1013c.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/5373/dsc1014o.jpg
( I removed Made in China and the other labels from the back.)

Thanks for your replies

[Stackabones]

Nice!

Try this Epiphone Serial Number site ... enter the serial number and you should get some info back.
The Guitar Dater Project - Epiphone Serial Number Decoder

[mr. beaumont]

The Elitists are made in Korea.

[kinkaroo]

@Stackabones

I have tried that site and it says : Serial number unrecognized .

@mr. beaumont

The seller told me that it was made in china but has P90's and other American electronics. So this is not an elitist model ?

[Drifter]

I'd say it's a standard Casino, no Elitist, not even a 'Inspired by John Lennon'. Try to judge the guitar from how it speaks to you, not from what's written on a label.

[kinkaroo]

It's not that important at all are there any major differences anyway ?

[Stackabones]

Originally Posted by kinkaroo

@Stackabones

I have tried that site and it says : Serial number unrecognized .

I've had that happen before, too. Try this out ...

Epiphone


Most regular production models since ca. 1993. Many '80s and early '90s serial numbers may follow a similar scheme, but may not include a factory ID code.
FYYMMRRRR
F= Factory code (this can be 2 letters as well)
YY= year of manufacture (this can also be just 1 digit for '90s models)
MM= month of manufacture
R= ranking number (may be more or less digits, not necessarily indicative of total units produced)
Example - S02021234 was issued in Feb. 2002.

Another code used on some current Epiphone models
FYYMRRRR
F= Factory code
YY=Year of manufacture
M= This will be a letter code corresponding to the month (A=January, B=February, etc...)
RRRR= ranking number
Example - R03D0263 was issued in April 2003.

Epiphone Elite/Elitist models
FYSSSS
F= Factory Code (this code will be an "F" or "T")
Y= Year of manufacture (2 = 2002, 3 = 2003, etc.)
SSSS= Sequential Serial Number
Example - T41234 is a 2004 Elitist model.

Gibson Support - Serial Number Search


And here are the country codes ...

This is the factory/country code “cheatsheet”:
KOREA: I= Saein, U=Unsung, S=Samick, P or R=Peerless
CHINA: DW=DeaWon, EA=Gibson/QingDao, EE=Gibson/QingDao, MC=Muse, SJ=SaeJung, Z=ZaozhuangSaehan, BW=China
JAPAN: No letter or F=FujiGen,J or T=Terada
INDONESIA: SI=Samick


http://www.myguitarguide.com/epiphone-serial-numbers/

[kinkaroo]

Mine does not have the factory code :S

Serial number is visible at the fourth picture see by yourself

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by kinkaroo

It's not that important at all are there any major differences anyway ?

The Elitists are going to have some prettier wood, some better workmanship/pickups (in general), better (read: more expensive but also probably more reliable) electronic components and a better setup out of the shop.

Most standard Epiphones can play about as good as an Elitist with some work, setup, intonation, maybe a look at the nut if low position notes are sharp--maybe a little fretwork. they just might not be as "pretty," and you might find in time that the pickups, while absolutely fine, are not the best on the market. The Chinese made Epi's aren't bad guitars really, quite good for the price, and the Casino is among the better ones, IMHO. Enjoy that guitar!

[mad dog]

To the best of my knowledge, all Epi Elite and Elitist models were made in Japan. The elitist guitars I've seen have an "Elitist" sticker somewhere on the back of the headstock.

MD

[Stackabones]

I think mr. b is on the right track. Since your git was not made in Korea, it isn't an Elitist. Also, the serial number doesn't resemble the coding for Epi Elitist.

Maybe your serial number is following this scheme. First two numbers, year; second two numbers, month; next two numbers, factory number; and then the last numbers are the production number. Just a guess. I don't know where to find the factory numbers to identify which factory.

[kinkaroo]

Thank you all for your replies.