Seldom does a guitar come along that makes
you do a complete about-face. I'm at one of those stages in my life and in
my hobby where I'm very impressionable and starting to realize that all
the tunes from the 80's Heavy Metal hair bands that I grew up with are
becoming less and less recognizable or attractive to those I play around.
I've been getting more and more into the blues and at least something a
little more challenging than power chords and minor pentatonic scales.
Taking on new challenges sometimes requires a different vehicle, a
different tool. Talk about perfect timing!
What I'm referring to is the limited
edition WildKat from Epiphone. A hollow-body electric with sexy lines and
the sweetest tone I've heard in a while. You see, I haven't had the
pleasure of playing many hollow-bodies in my time. My main musical
interests have always leaned towards metal or hard-rock and although you
could use this instrument to play those types of music, it would be akin
to using a B.C. Rich Warlock to play some classical pieces from Segovia.
Currently, I've been playing this guitar
through my Marshall VS65R with no overdrive on channel 2, and very little
tone or contour adjustment. The only thing I'm adding right now is a
little reverb to taste. The sound coming through the line hardly needs
modification to suit my taste. I have, however, experimented with some
other settings, but tend to lean away from too much gain on the amp. I
hate to muddy this sound. Setting my overdrive channel with a low gain has
a nice effect, and works for some of those songs where you need a little
rock crunch but you still want the best that these pickups can offer to
shine through the signal.
The guitar features two chrome humbuckers (
Alnico V P-90's ), one in the neck position and one in the bridge. There
are 4 knobs for control, two for volume and two for tone. Also, on the top
corner of the body is a switch which effectively gives you a choice of
each pickup, or a combination of both and is labeled Rhythm or Treble.
I've been partial to the middle setting, however, and have played almost
entirely with the switch in this position. I have the volumes each at
about 9 and the tone knobs at the 8 position. Depending on the song I'm
playing, I'll adjust the volume on the neck position to clean up the
sound, especially if there's a lot of chord strumming involved. For lead
work, though, I crank both volumes and savor in the lovely sound.
All the hardware on this baby is chrome
which fits perfectly with the translucent black finish. The bridge is set
with a Bigsby style vibrato bar and the action on this guitar is to die
for. Playing is effortless and for someone with short fingers, I can
really appreciate that!
Did I mention that it's not too hard on the
eye either? I know looks aren't everything, but what a pretty guitar! Also
available are antique natural ( which I'd really love to see ), maple, and
turquoise. The neck is maple and is set into the finish with a Rosewood
Block fingerboard. The body of this fine instrument is mahogany and the
top is laminated maple. Fine ingredients went into making this dish and
she plays as good as she looks.
The WildKat is part of the Epiphone limited
edition lineup and chances are you won't see a guitar with this same
styling for a long time. The quality and craftsmanship that went into the
WildKat will most likely ensure longevity, so if you pick one of these up,
don't let it get away. Chances are, some artist out there will end up
playing a WildKat and make it an instant collectors item. This would
certainly make a beautiful addition to any wall in a Hard Rock Café, if
you know what I mean.
A few of the technical details from
Epiphone's web site:
Pickups
2 Alnico V P-90's
Hardware
Chrome with Vibrato
Scale
24.75"
Nut Width
1.68"
Neck Joint
Set
Neck Material
Maple
Fingerboard
RW/Block
Binding
Body
Body Material
Mahogany
Top
Lam. Maple
Finishes
Antique Natural, Translucent Black, Turquoise
Bottom Line:
For a guitar that claims an MSRP of about
$800, you might get lucky and find this on the street for between $500 and
$600. If you do, and you like this body style, I would highly recommend
considering the WildKat. Go play one and you'll know what I'm talking
about. Epiphone has a reputation for making quality guitars at reasonable
prices, and this is another example of that formula in action.
Epiphone
WildKat Ltd Electric Guitar
