Epiphone Wildkat Semi-Hollow Guitar Review

5/5 - (1 vote)

The Epiphone Wildkat is the instrument to look at if you’re a musician who wants to get their hands on a cheap semi-hollow body electric guitar that will offer you the feel of playing on an actual semi-hollow.

For Blues, Jazz, and Rock, the Wildkat guitar is ideal. You may even attempt Country, Alternative rock, or even Country on this guitar if you’re more creative with your playing style.

If you’re searching for a guitar to play in a smaller band, a studio instrument, or just to jam with your pals, this is the guitar for you. The epiphone wildkat review struggles to keep constant tuning due to its epiphone hollow body and the tuning pegs that were added on it, but it does a decent enough job to be fantastic if you’re seeking to perform some street music.

This guitar will fit you just fine if you’re not wanting to blare lots and heaps of sound.

If you’re concerned about the Wildkat’s dependability, bear in mind that it’s popular because it’s an excellent guitar.

Despite the high price tag, Epiphone wildkat guitar took their time and created a guitar that would last for many years.

If you really want to pick apart the instrument, there are a few problems with the overall paint job, but this is a cheap guitar.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the things that this instrument has to offer:

Features of Epiphone Wildkat

epiphone wildkat review — *Epiphone Wildkat edition*

Pearloid dot inlays
12-inch fingerboard radius
P-90R Dogear classic neck pickup
P-90T Dogear classic bridge pickup
Master volume control, two pickup volume controls, one tone control
22 medium jumbo frets on the fretboard
Bigsby 870 Vibrato trapeze tailpiece
Metal vintage-style Epiphone badge headstock
Default strings are D’Addario 10-46
Mahogany body
Maple top
Maple neck
Rosewood fingerboard
Slim Taper “D” neck
Archtop body style
Glued to neck
24.75-inch scale
1.68-inch nut width

You’ll notice a number of various things on this guitar if you win first place at the Wildkat. There are two P90 pickups in this instrument, which give it its signature tone. A three-way selector switch (toggle switch) is also found on a Les Paul guitar. On the cutaway, there are two volume controls for each single-coil pickup (one on the neck and one on the bridge), a master tone control, and a master volume control.

The Wildkat’s body has a single cutaway, which allows for easy access to the upper frets, especially for those with little hands. The block beneath the bridge may be seen if you look closely at the F holes on this guitar, but the rest of the instrument is hollow.

Epiphone hollow body is somewhat thicker than that of the Epiphone ES 335; the total size of this instrument is comparable to that of a Gibson Les Paul, but it is slightly heavier.

Construction of Epiphone Wildkat

epiphone wildkat guitar 561x1024 — *Wildkat Epiphone construction*

The Wildkat from Epiphone deviates from the semi-conventional hollow’s flow. The core block of wood on most semi-hollow body guitars is surrounded by a hollow body. The Epiphone Wildkat, on the other hand, is made up of a hollowed-out piece of solid mahogany.

The body’s top is made of laminate with a flamed maple veneer. The top of this guitar has a very realistic feel thanks to the maple veneer on top of the laminate.

This guitar’s neck is maple, with a modified Les Paul profile piece and a rosewood fretboard. If you’ve ever played the Epiphone ES 335, you’ll notice that the Wildkat is significantly smaller. In reality, the Epiphone Wildkat is significantly smaller than the Gibson Les Paul.

There’s a lot of debate in the guitar community regarding whether the Epiphone Wildkat is a ‘genuine’ semi-hollow body guitar. Personally, I believe the answer depends entirely on the sort of guitar you are comparing it to.

To measure the ‘authenticity’ of Wildkat’s semi-hollow body, you should only compare it to other guitars in the price range for which it was designed. Especially when you consider how realistic this instrument’s antique tone is.

When comparing the Epiphone Wildkat to the Gretsch 5623, a guitar that has a similar build and tone to the Epiphone but isn’t in the same price range, the Wildkat comes off as a shoddy knock-off.

At the end of the day, if you ignore the price difference and compare these two guitars, Epiphone has a long way to go before it can compete with the Gretsch 5623.

The major cosmetic problem that a lot of people, including myself, have observed is that the black paint on the Bigsby tremolo has bled a little. An effort at a rip-off

Playability of Epiphone Wildkat

If you’re hoping to play right away after taking it out of the box, the factory finish that Epiphone applied to this guitar is ideal. Because of the fret scale and the semi-hollow body structure, the action is set low.

One thing about the Epiphone Wildkat guitars that irritated me is the blend of aesthetics and playability. The Epiphone emblem on the headstock did not rest flush on the headstock facia, resulting in rattling.

Even though the rattling wasn’t coming from the amplifier, it was nonetheless irritating to hear when I was attempting to push the Wildkat’s sound to its maximum. I believe this is something Epiphone could simply change at the factory to reduce the amount of work required by novices to master the instrument.

I was also disappointed that the Wildkat did not have a pickguard. This, however, is both a benefit and a drawback. If you’re a novice who wants to start making sounds right away, you’ll have to be careful with your technique straight away if you want to keep your guitar’s finish intact.

However, as someone with a lot of experience, not having a pickguard pushed me to pay much more attention to my technique, which encouraged me to play with a lot more delicacy. This is assisting me in improving my playing technique, which I think is fantastic!

Hardware of Epiphone Wildkat

Combining a vintage tremolo bridge with a Bigsby stopbar tailpiece may be a real challenge. Especially on high-end and extremely pricey guitars.

Many people were surprised when Epiphone launched an affordable semi-hollow that contained both a vintage tremolo bridge and a Bigsby tailpiece when they debuted their Wildkat.

However, if you have any expertise playing the guitar, you’ll be amazed to see that adjusting the tremolo bridge and Bigsby tailpiece doesn’t take much patience.

It might be tough to work with a vintage tremolo bridge with a Bigsby stopbar tailpiece. Particularly on high-end, costly guitars.

Many folks were surprised to learn that Epiphone had launched a cheap semi-hollow featuring both a vintage tremolo bridge and a Bigsby tailpiece.

If you’ve played the guitar before, you’ll be amazed to learn that adjusting the tremolo bridge and Bigsby tailpiece doesn’t take long.

Epiphone Wildkat Semi-Hollow Body Electronics

Epiphone fitted a set of Epiphone P90 pickups in the Wildkat, so the electronics aren’t anything special. The Wildkat and the Epiphone ES 339 are extremely similar guitars. The biggest difference between the Wildkat and the ES 339 is that it has a set of humbuckers fitted.

The pickups used in the Wildkat, without humbuckers, tend to limit the genres in which the instrument may be used. Individual volume knobs for each pickup, a master volume control, a master tone control, and a pickup selector switch are connected to the P90 pickups in the Wildkat.

This is a fairly basic and frequent setup, yet it serves a functional purpose.

How does Epiphone Wildkat sound?

The Wildkat’s two P90 pickups make it ideal for blues and rock, with the capacity to dabble in jazz as well. This guitar offers a lot of range, a lot of projection, and a lot of sustain.

While the Wildkat does not sound like a high-end guitar for tens of thousands of dollars, it comes close and is well worth the relatively inexpensive expenditure for a solid semi-hollow body.

I discovered that by switching to the neck pickup and adding a little reverb and overdrive, I was able to get a hazy electric blues tone.

However, when I switched to the bridge pickup, there was a lot more bite, but the overall tonal quality still hints at a Gibson-esque resonant sound, despite the guitar’s Gretsch-like design.

The solid block of wood in the center of the guitar was one of my favorites since it did an excellent job of eliminating undesired feedback, even when I was a touch too heavy on my drive.

I discovered that when I was extremely heavy on my drive, I got that rowdy rock and roll sound. I was able to dabble in some mild metal before the feedback got too much to handle when I pushed it a bit farther.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Cosmetic look that is truly one of a kind
It’s ideal for blues and rock’n’roll.
Strings of light to medium gauge perform really well.
Produces incredible clear tones.
If you want to practice acoustically, it’s loud enough to play without an amp.

Cons

The headstock sways.
The factory-installed tuning knobs on this instrument aren’t of the highest quality.
There is no pickguard included.

Alternatives

If the Wildkat guitar seems like a fantastic guitar for you, but you’re searching for something a little different, here are a few more guitars to think about:

Gibson ES-335: This semi-hollow body guitar has 57 Classic and Super 57 Classic pickups, a ‘C’ neck shape, and was built entirely in the United States. The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-acoustic electric guitar featuring the high-quality hardware and electronics that have become synonymous with the Gibson brand.

Epiphone Wildkat Review Conclusion

With the development orientation on Blues, Jazz and Rock music, Epiphone Wildkat will definitely be the most suitable electric guitar for you. With a low price and good performance, Epiphone really made a “hit” in the semi-hollow body guitar market and gave guitar lovers a chance to get their hands on it.

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