The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 11-11-2019, 09:45 AM
1stGuitar 1stGuitar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 174
Default Epiphone Wildkat Question

Hi - I have recently taken up playing the guitar just over 8 months. While I am a I suppose upper “middle age” I really enjoy it. But being fairly new, I am not all that Savvy on guitars in general. I come to this Community looking for some honest help/advise.
I have been looking at purchasing a used Epiphone Wildkat Natural guitar with the Bigsby tremolo - 2012 Model. Looks in very nice shape, come with gig bag, setup and the bridge upgraded to a roller bridge. The music shop that I go to said I can take It home for $349.00 US, done, out the door. So my question is ... is it worth it, is it a fair price? Any information/knowledge in regards to the wildcat would be most appreciate it.

In the past I have been told to stay away from Epiphone guitars. I cannot totally say I understand why as I’ve played this guitar several times and it seems pretty darn nice. But that said I don’t want to get beat on it either. Same folks frown on made in China guitars.
I look forward to the education from people who know a heck of a lot more about the things that I do. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-11-2019, 10:13 AM
rmp rmp is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 6,897
Default

Hi,

I wouldn't worry too much about the MIC epi's. They've come a long way in regards to over all fit/finish and quality. In that price range, everything (eg: other brands) are just about equal anyway.

Just a few points of discussion.

You can get these new for $499, of course the case is an add on, so with a decent gig bag if that's the way you want to go, you'd be in the mid 500s new. A hard shell case is going to be closer to 90 bucks.

I'm not sold on roller bridges with bigsby's I've got a few guitars with B7s, and I don't have roller bridges.

I had a Swingster for a few years, that had a roller bridge, and the problem I had there, was occasionally the Low E had a tendency to pop out of the roller unless I kept it strung with 11s.

I didn't not find that the roller bridge made any big difference at all wrt tuning matters, I do make sure the witness points are lubed on my bigsby loaded guitars, and that does a help tuning stability.

All things considered, $350 out the door with a gig bag is reasonable for a second hand purchase for a store for something like this.

Private sale you may do better, but ya know every one is usually trying to recoup their own costs, so you're probably still within 75/50 bucks anyway. And of course ,the store would be able to help with questions or issues you may have. so it may be a safer shot for ya, and IMO probably worth a few extra bucks to have that for backup if there's trouble if you're not 100% comfortable with doing your own maintenance and basic setup work.

I would spend time however to make sure the toggle swtich seems to work properly as well as the ton/volume pots, ... just be sure everything is working as it should..

I think you'll be happy with it. Most people that buy them seem to be.

For more detailed discussions, you can also head over to the Gibson Forum where there is a Epiphone discussion board that is pretty active.

good luck!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-11-2019, 10:30 AM
TNO TNO is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 575
Default

I second rmp's observations on roller bridges and bigsbys. They have poor coupling and suck tone noticeably. A narrow, ABR-1 style bridge will rock when the trem is used and stay in tune fairly well.

Wildkats are pretty decent guitars. Possibly the best value in that price range are the Gretsch Streamliners. Excellent fretwork and good pickups on those.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-11-2019, 12:12 PM
BoneDigger's Avatar
BoneDigger BoneDigger is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Tyler, TX
Posts: 7,184
Default

Great guitars! Read up some on how some people modify these to brighten them up a bit. They can be somewhat dark sounding.
__________________
https://www.mcmakinmusic.com
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-11-2019, 08:26 PM
1stGuitar 1stGuitar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 174
Smile

Thanks guys for the honest and candid advice. It is certainly appreciated.
The shop I go to also has a royal white version of the guitar for the same price. But I seem to be partial to the “natural” one. We shop does offer a 45 day return policy and I will be there on Wednesday night. Maybe I will part with some dollars and bring it home. If anybody has anything additional to add between now and Wednesday, I’m all ears
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-11-2019, 09:22 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Staten Island, NY - for now
Posts: 14,983
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1stGuitar View Post
...If anybody has anything additional to add between now and Wednesday, I’m all ears...
While the pickups are excellent - the ones in my Ultra 339 are every bit as good as the ones in my (since-sold) '86 first-run Gibson SG '61 RI - the necks used on the post-2008 Chinese-made Epi electrics have a thick, chunky, cheeky hard-D shape that can be difficult to handle, very unlike the early-60's "Slim Taper" it purports to duplicate. I'd sit down and play this one - hard - for about an hour or so before buying; if you feel any pain whatsoever in your fretting hand - particularly after playing barre chords in the upper positions - unplug, put it back on the rack, thank the man, and save your money for something better...
__________________
"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool"
- Sicilian proverb (paraphrased)
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-14-2019, 04:16 PM
1stGuitar 1stGuitar is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 174
Default

Ok, played the Wildkat pwithout an amp and was pretty happy with it. Played some more with an amp and it sort of sang to me. The pickups are more then I expected. Picked it up last night. It is a 2014 model (originally thought 2012). With gig bag and setup, $232.32. Out the door after tax $349 even. I liked it, so I bit.
I’m pretty sure this was a total GAS purchase on my part 🙂 Will it replace my Fender Telecaster Modern Player Plus? Probably not. But I am digging the heck out of the guitar, And where I once thought I wouldn’t own an Epiphone, it has giving me a new respect for their guitars. It seems very well-made and rings like a bell.
Thank you to all you guys for your input. It did help me along the way and I look forward to spending more time in this community.

If as able to figure out how to post a pic, I would have .
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Electric Guitars

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:28 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=