NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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ohm-men
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NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

Post by ohm-men » Sat Oct 06, 2018 6:11 am

Got this one in a trade. I was not particulary looking for this, but when I got it offered for exchange, I just had to try it.
I must confess I never heard of the type before. I vaguely remember the Epiphone Alleycat of which this model seams to be based upon.

So, 2x Alnico P90 Dogears, Bigsby Licensed B70 trem, semi hollow, set neck and a bit of a Gretch knock off. Can't say I like the "F" holes as they look somewhat oversized on a smaller body like this. It also reminds me a bit of a 70's Gibson solid body guitar that had a simelar shape, but i can't remember what it was...

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Guitar is from 2012 but in absolute mint condition. There is not a scratch on it and I guess the previous owner(s) haven't played it much. I was a bit afraid it was going to be a lemon, but it sure isn't.
Build quality is top notch, really. Nice Woods used. Maple neck and top, Maghonie body. Nice binding and the Gretch inspired headstock with "Epiphone's" logo in a T-shape. Really, what's not to like.

I must say it plays rather nice, bit of an oddball though. It's not really a semi as the body is somewhat too small to really sound like one. But you get some tones usually associated with a semi. The Alnico P-90's are a bit "meh", got to admit that I'm spoiled since I have a DIY Semi hollow Firebird that has Bareknuckle Mississipi Queens humbuckersized P-90's which are really, really superb. Epiphone's Alnico P-90's are sterile in comparison with the bareknuckle's. They mis the "gritt" that I usually associate with a P-90 and they are now "Raw" enough...
Also I think the bridge pu sits too low as there is a volume drop when switched to the bridge pu.
The Bigsby is really nice, but the nut of this guitar is not... You can't use the trem without detuning the strings. This is a letdown imho.
So, I have to ether replace the nut or try to work something out with some nut files.

Not sure if it's gonna be a keeper, but I have played it daily over the last week. In fact it fired up my interest in guitar playing again. So rather good, I think. Especially considering that what I traded for it got only picked up to take the dust off...

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zhivago
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Re: NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

Post by zhivago » Sat Oct 06, 2018 6:38 am

Very cool looking guitar...I love the old school Epiphone "bikini" logo :)

Looks like it would be a great comfortable guitar to play on the sofa 8)
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leokula
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Re: NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

Post by leokula » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:07 am

Man, I wanted this guitar real bad, the orange one. I got one and while it's stunning I didn't really get along with it. Didn't like its sound, specially unplugged and found the neck a bit too chunky for me.

Hope you get along with it!
Jaguar > Jazzmaster :)

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mkt3000
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Re: NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

Post by mkt3000 » Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:58 am

I had its cousin a few years ago, the Alleykat. It was a great guitar. I added a Bigsby with a vibramate, and hung on to it until my great gear sell-off before moving to the US.

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Embenny
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Re: NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

Post by Embenny » Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:20 am

I've always had a soft spot for the whole "kat" line (alleykat, wildkat, and even the flamekat!). Don't know why I never ended up getting one. They're really cool guitars. Congrats!
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kalipigeon
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Re: NGD: Epiphone Wildkat

Post by kalipigeon » Fri Nov 30, 2018 4:43 pm

I have the studio version in gold top. I dont like Bigsby tremolos from both a weight and restringing standpoint but I love the look of and neck on the Wildkats.

The reason they sound a bit different than most semi-hollow guitars is they're built differently internally. Instead of the normal block down the middle, the block is at the bottom where all the stress from the tremolo would be applied and hollow under the pickups.

The p90s are a weird design choice by Epiphone, the only slant topped p90s I've ever seen. Since I have a gold top, I'm thinking of replacing the chrome with cream like a 50s LP. These guitars also tend to be a bit dark due to the wiring harness being about 6ft long.

I plan to rewire mine so the master volume is a neck volume and make the triple knobs into a bridge volume, master tone using a TBX tone pot to have bass and treble roll off options, and a rotary that swaps different caps into the tone knob almost like a varitone.

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