Lennon’s guitar also had an uncommon, but factory stock, black grommet ring mounted around his pickup selector switch. The most visual difference between the two almost identical guitars is that Harrison’s Casino had a Bigsby and Lennon’s Casino came with the stock trapeze tailpiece. The serial number indicates that John’s was built in 1965.
It was in the spring of 1966 during the recording sessions for the Beatles “Revolver” that both John and George acquired a pair of sunburst Epiphone Casinos. McCartney continued to use the Epiphone on various over-dubs making the Casino a familiar guitar sound on many of the Beatles records. Soon after, on Monday Februat EMI Abbey Road Studio Two London, McCartney used the Casino (now strung left-handed) to play the memorable lead on the Beatles classic “Ticket to Ride”. This same photo session captured John Lennon playing McCartney’s new instrument and was Lennon’s first brush with the Casino. Pictures taken of the Beatles in their dressing room during the Christmas shows in December of 1964 at the Hammersmith Odean Cinema in London show McCartney with his new early version sunburst Epiphone Casino with it’s “Gibson” shaped head stock and Bigsby (still strung right handed). Paul McCartney purchased a Casino together with an Epiphone Texan acoustic in December 1964.
