He did everything himself except he bought the body & neck from Warmouth. Ne's never gonna sell it, so it's not like he's trying to pass it off as real. The Casino is great, tho the trem arm is missing & damn near impossible to find. The casino is completely hollowbody, so it's got a distinctive tone. The beatles used them starting in '65, and John used his (stripped and refinished) until the very end. Paul still uses his in concert. The new Epi stuff is made in Korea, but they also use inferior wood on fretboards due to the problems with getting the good stuff.