Hot or Not? Epiphone Wildkat Studio

Elias Graves

Common misfit
They finally made a model without the Bigsby, which never worked right on these. The break angle over the bridge is too steep for the Bigsby to work properly. Every one I ever tried hung up.
The issue is addressed now with a tune-o-matic bridge and stop bar tailpiece.

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I dig it. IMHO the Bigsby model just needed a decent roller bridge instead of the garbage TOM it came with. The last time I tried a Wildkat the bridge literally leaned back and forth with the strings.

I still think the big metal plate on the headstock is stupid. Why make a headstock heavy if you don’t have to?
 
I dig it. IMHO the Bigsby model just needed a decent roller bridge instead of the garbage TOM it came with. The last time I tried a Wildkat the bridge literally leaned back and forth with the strings.

I still think the big metal plate on the headstock is stupid. Why make a headstock heavy if you don’t have to?

It's just thin sheet metal. Can't imagine it weighs more than an ounce.
The metal headstock plate is an Epi thing from way back. I dig it. Beats a cheesy waterslide decal any day in my book.
 
Ever since I had my ill-fated AlleyKat, I've had a soft spot for this style of guitar and every time I try one at guitar center, I'm disappointed.
They had a new Red Royale Wildkat there tonight.

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Yes, the dark tone is still there. That damned master volume setup is killer in theory but it just doesn't work. It's too much load on a P90.
However, apart from that, this was far and away the best Wildkat I've played. The action is sick low with no buzz, the finish is gorgeous and the Bigsby didn't throw it out of tune at the first use.
I don't know if Epi is continuing to step up the game or if this one just happened to be a good one, but it smokes.
If I was in the market right now, I would have bought it. But it still doesn't play as well as the white guitar, which was built with a lot of the same specs. It's be kinda silly to pay money for a duplicate.
But if anyone is searching for one of these, the red one in Oklahoma City is a good one.
 
Red Royales are at $399 right now on MF. I woulda jumped on one before if the sound wasn't so damned dark, and I don't (yet) have the patience or cash to bring it up to snuff.
 
Red Royales are at $399 right now on MF. I woulda jumped on one before if the sound wasn't so damned dark, and I don't (yet) have the patience or cash to bring it up to snuff.

Yep. They need pickups, wiring harness, roller bridge, graph tech nut...$$$$
 
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