Epiphone Wildkat Ltd Review

If you've been aching to get your rockabilly mojo working but can't swing the hefty price tags on classic Gretsch or Gibson boxes, your day has come. The Korean-made Epiphone Wildkat is a budget-challenged rockabilly raver's dream with its P-90 pickups, flamed maple top, classy binding, Bigsby vibrato, and headstock nameplate that looks like something you'd find on a 1950's kitchen appliance.

The single-cutaway archtop features a 2"-deep body constructed of multiple slabs of mahogany that have been glued together and routed to create a hollow chamber - a design feature that adds depth and dimension to the Wildkat's sound. The glued-in 22 fret neck is comfy and inviting, the fret ends are smooth and even, and the action is reasonably low.

Plugged into a variety of amps (including a Reverend Hellhound 40/60 combo, a Vox AC30, and a silverface Fender Twin Reverb), the Wildkat kicks out cool retro-flavored tones. It's deliciously microphonic P-90s sound bright and girthy, and no matter how aggressively you wail on the bridge pickup, the 'kat never sounds harsh. The dual-pickup mode yields rumble-ready growl, and the individual volume knobs let you vary the tones from greasy and mean to lanky spanky. Go, Daddy-O! With it's resonant body and sensitive pickups, the Wildkat can be easily coaxed into riotous feedback. But flick to the neck position, ease off the volume, and crank the reverb for a creamy sound that's perfectly suited for "Sleepwalk" or scintillating jazz numbers.

Snapshot: Featuring alnico V P-90 pickups, Bigsby vibrato, and attitude to spare, Epiphone's Wildkat delivers delightfully retro tones and drop-dead looks at a price that'll make you do a double take. The Wildkat wins an Editors Pick Award.

--Shawn Hammond
Guitar Player Magazine
September 2001