Epiphone WildKat

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Epiphone WildKat

Postby hernando » 23 Oct 2014, 10:36

After reading Ryan's thread about his Epiphone es-295, I would like to share my recent Epiphone experiences

I wanted a NEW guitar that combined features of a couple of classic guitars that I owned way back in the day - (Hofner Club 50) single cutaway hollow arch-top and (Gibson SG Junior) solid with P90 pickup. Being an OAP, I didn't want to spend too much on what started out as an experiment.

The Epiphone Kat Series is a semi-hollow, semi acoustic guitar with a body size that is larger than a Les Paul-style guitar but smaller than the traditional ES-335 or Casino guitars. The guitar’s body is also 2 inches deep, making it a bit thicker than both styles. This smaller-body, semi-hollow guitar has great vintage P90 sound, and is remarkably comfortable to play!

This specification seemed to tick all my boxes and the guitar is also stunning looker if your taste lies with '50s rockabilly bling! More importantly, being new and cheap, I could forget about using fragile or expensive museum pieces. After choosing the guitar on-line, I tracked one down mid August, at Guitar Village, Farnham.

For me, the purchase was fantastic value for money, and I did not expect everything to be perfect, as there are some not so good reviews for the WildKat on the internet, mainly to do with quality and tuning issues. I too had some minor quality issues to do with the final assembly, but nothing bad enough to take the guitar back to the shop or spend more money getting them fixed. The neck and body 'carpentry' is excellent.

I had no tuning issues related to the nut, bridge and Bigsby. The guitar was 'factory' fitted with Gibson Brite Wire .010-.046 strings, which didn't need replacing with something heavier.

1617152_10152648690399985_4487565482420605931_o.jpg
2014 Epiphone Wildcat Antique Natural
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Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby Ryan » 23 Oct 2014, 16:43

Hi David,
I looked at 1 of these a couple of years ago, but haven't seen a new 1 around in any of the guitar shops local to me for quite a while. I always fancied 1 myself, i love the look of them. Would you mind if i asked how much you paid for it? Or if you know how much they usually go for nowadays?
I bet it sounds good for all that Rockabilly stuff 8-)
Hope you enjoy it
Ryan
Ryan
 

Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby hernando » 23 Oct 2014, 17:46

Hi Ryan
My WildKat cost only £299 complete with a nice gig-bag, but there are not many around in the UK at the moment.

I had worked out that had I bought it from the US via internet it would have cost something just over £350 e.g.
Nashville Price = [US $349.00] £207.76
Plus import charges (US $116.65) $69.50
Shipping to UK: (US $125) £74.71

So I reckon that I saved over 50 quid against the best NASHVILLE US deal by buying from Guitar Village and only had to go to Farnham !!!

Oh yes, on the subject of rockabilly nostalgia, £299-00 today would been the equivalent of £16.36 in 1964, when a similar spec Hofner Verithin 64 with Bigsby was a whopping 67 Gns !!!.

Dave
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Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby Ryan » 23 Oct 2014, 17:50

Cheers for that mate, sounds like you had a bargain then. Wish we could buy them for £16.36 now :lol:
Enjoy
Ryan
Ryan
 

Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby Paulps » 24 Oct 2014, 15:53

There's one on ebay now http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/32155569 ... rid=229508

1 bid of £200.00 so far
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Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby Paulps » 24 Oct 2014, 15:56

Or £283.52 from Thomann in Germany. Free P&P
Paulps
 

Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby hernando » 24 Oct 2014, 17:11

Based on my experiences, I would say that the e-bay one would be the better bet - so long as the price doesn't go up too high!
In hindsight, I would rather have got a used one that was "as new", already fully sorted and included a hard case (which is a funny size).
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Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby Ryan » 25 Oct 2014, 16:50

Hi All,
I looked in GuitarGuitar, the guitar shop in Birmingham and found they have got 7 of the wildkats in stock priced at £299 new with free p&p :P
Here is the link...
http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/electric_ ... 1315174658
Ryan
Ryan
 

Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby dave robinson » 25 Oct 2014, 17:31

Nice guitar, but I wish it had the Florentine cutaway, I'd have to have it then ! :)
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Re: Epiphone WildKat

Postby Uncle Fiesta » 25 Oct 2014, 23:40

Is the Florentine cutaway the pointed one? If so I'd like to say this one looks much nicer!
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