Premature Congratulation (New Guitar Day!)

[Brian Krashpad]

I don't have proper pics yet so I daren't post a New Guitar Day thread elsewhere (cough... Harmony-Central... cough), but I thought I'd let y'all know I finally picked up my first guitar with a Bigsby ever.

OK, so I came home from work on July 2nd and took the slightly longer route so as to check out one of my fave pawns.

I've bought 2 guitars there in the past and know how to say the right thing so as to get the best deal from them.

Frankly, it doesn't take much. If you can ID a guitar on the wall by model name and take care to ask what it's "tagged at" or the "asking price" (indicating you know they'll go lower), that's all it takes.

Anyhow, they had a white-blonde Epi Wildkat there. This is not a regular color/finish (ebony/antique natural/turqouise). Back of the headstock says "Epiphone Cutom Shop Limited Edition." Tagged at $449. Here's the stock model shot from Epi, apparently came out for a limited time in 2005 and is now discontinued:

Here's a pic of someone else's that captures the color a bit more accurately:

They immediately offered it to me for three Benjamins even, with no dickering on my part.

The gold hardware is bigtime pitted, though the guitar's finish is still very good. In a couple areas the plating is entirely worn away and underneath appears as chrome/nickel. Unfortunately, no case. I let it sit there awhile because I had no cash and hoped I could get them down even further. My will finally crumbled when I got a big profit sharing this week.

I bought her for 3 bills even, even without the case. I'll sell my cheapie "birthday guitar" (dual-P-90'd modded Bullet Strat) I got a couple months ago to partially offset the cost, and to keep the stable from going up one net, which would risk said stable exploding due to being overfull.

My first Bigsby after all these years!

Pics of the actual should hopefully be along by Sunday, sorry for the delay.

 

[Robert]

You've grown up to be a Bigsby Boy! Congrats! That looks sweet. Hope it sounds great too.

 

[Spudman]

Congratulations Mr. Pre-me. It looks beautiful.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

You've grown up to be a Bigsby Boy! Congrats! That looks sweet. Hope it sounds great too.

Thanks. I played it a bit last night but only through my little 2x8 practice amp cab. Looking forward to hearing her at band volume.

Now I have to think up a name.

 

[warren0728]

glad you ended up getting that one brian....it's a cool looking guitar!

hey it's got a "big"sby and it's an "e"piphone...how 'bout "big-e"? :AOK: :beer:

ww

 

[just strum]

Wow, glad to see that it was still there waiting for you. I think you are really going to enjoy this guitar. I'm still getting use to mine, but the enjoyment part was immediate. Even though I am having trouble adjusting to the pups, the guitar does kick @$$.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Alright Brian make that Wildkat roar!

 

[M29]

Congrats Brian:AOK: I was cruisin your Crashpad sites and see you like to caress the floor occasionally...Slam might be a good name....:rockon:


M29

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats Brian:AOK: I was cruisin your Crashpad sites and see you like to caress the floor occasionally...Slam might be a good name....:rockon:


M29

Haha, yeah I've been known to get down!

I think I'ma go with "Goldie" for this'un.

 

[luvmyshiner]

WOW! She's a beaut Brian. Call her whatever you want, she'll still be hot.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

WOW! She's a beaut Brian. Call her whatever you want, she'll still be hot.

Haha, thanks. Keep in mind those pics are not my exact guitar, the gold bits on mine are pretty pitted and corroded, like the guitar was rode hard and put away wet. A lot of wear for a 3-year-old guitar.

In some ways it's a bit odd of a color combination. The back is a light grayish white blond, while the top is more of a creme color.

 

[just strum]

Haha, thanks. Keep in mind those pics are not my exact guitar, the gold bits on mine are pretty pitted and corroded, like the guitar was rode hard and put away wet. A lot of wear for a 3-year-old guitar.

In some ways it's a bit odd of a color combination. The back is a light grayish white blond, while the top is more of a creme color.

Mine too Brian, but it is cleaning up nicely. I plan to do a complete cleaning very soon. The only thing pitted on mine are the pup covers. In the pictures of mine it appeared that the tremolo had pitting, but the seller assured me it did not, and he was correct.

I assume if the covers don't clean-up, I can get new covers, but I haven't looked around yet.

Keeping with my guitar naming tradition, mine is called the black Wildkat or Kat for short.

 

[mrmudcat]

I have a hidden Bigsby fetish:thwap:

I have yet to aquire a specimen.

That Kat along with strums looks great!!!:master:

 

[evenkeel]

Great looking guitar. :bravo:

Usually not a fan of gold hardware, but on this one.... Perfect. Nicely done

:master: :beer:

 

[Katastrophe]

Now that's one cool Kat!

Congrats, Brian!:rockon:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Great looking guitar. :bravo:

Usually not a fan of gold hardware, but on this one.... Perfect. Nicely done

:master: :beer:

Thanks, I'm the same way about gold hardware. I'm also a sucker for a local deal where I can pick up a guitar and play it, feel it's heft, etc. When I have a local deal like that I'll often buy something in a color or whatever that I ordinarily might not otherwise, if I like the guitar I find the finish or appearance will grow on me. This looks pretty classy, but the wear on the plating adds some mojo and balances it out.

 

[just strum]

Haha, thanks. Keep in mind those pics are not my exact guitar, the gold bits on mine are pretty pitted and corroded, like the guitar was rode hard and put away wet. A lot of wear for a 3-year-old guitar.

Brian, I don't know how bad the pitting is on the metal parts of your Wildkat, but I just used some Turtle Wax Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound on my pups and I pretty much eliminated all the pitting. Right now I have a portion disassembled, but when I start reassembling it, I plan to clean the rest up.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Brian, I don't know how bad the pitting is on the metal parts of your Wildkat, but I just used some Turtle Wax Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound on my pups and I pretty much eliminated all the pitting. Right now I have a portion disassembled, but when I start reassembling it, I plan to clean the rest up.

Thanks, I may try that.

OK, finally took some pics of the actual guitar I bought:

 

[M29]

Oh man Brian that looks nice just like it is, especially the gold wear:AOK:
I see what you were saying with the color differences front to back. It don't look bad, just not what you would expect.
Just curious... what is the knob for on the lower horn?

M29

 

[pes_laul]

congrats dude hows the bigsby play? I haven't had much experience with the bigsby.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Oh man Brian that looks nice just like it is, especially the gold wear:AOK:
I see what you were saying with the color differences front to back. It don't look bad, just not what you would expect.
Just curious... what is the knob for on the lower horn?

M29

That's a master volume. It's a typical Gretsch pot arrangement.

The three at the bottom are individual volumes and a master tone. I guess the master volume is so if you're in a noisy situation prone to feedback, you can kill the volume on the guitar without messing up your relative volume settings.

 

[Katastrophe]

Me likey! IMO, Gold plating is supposed to wear... Clean 'er up a little, but otherwise, leave her as is. Whoever had that guitar relic'd it in the right way, by playing the guitar.

That guitar is gonna look fantastic at your gigs, Brian. Just be sure to wear the pink wighat.:bravo:

 

[just strum]

... what is the knob for on the lower horn?

M29

That is the master volume. It has three volume and one tone.

I have to agree with you about the wear. Maybe clean up the pitting, but it has a nice look to it when it comes to the wear.

Hey Brian, if we could mate our guitars we could have a litter of Epi Buddy Guy guitar style guitars. I've never come across a guitar that was pitted prior to my WildKat.

I looked for covers for the P90's and eveything I found was plastic in cream or black. It wasn't an intense search since mine ended up cleaning up to an accceptable level (not perfect, but acceptable.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

congrats dude hows the bigsby play? I haven't had much experience with the bigsby.

Me neither. Still getting used to it. Better for little shimmy than big bends methinks. May need to put in a roller bridge.

 

[just strum]

Me neither. Still getting used to it. Better for little shimmy than big bends methinks. May need to put in a roller bridge.

I agree. I don't really use mine much, but Brian Setzer's stuff is a good example at what it is meant for and capable of doing. It's definitely not a Hendrix tremolo.

What year was yours manufactured?

 

[Brian Krashpad]

I agree. I don't really use mine much, but Brian Setzer's stuff is a good example at what it is meant for and capable of doing. It's definitely not a Hendrix tremolo.

What year was yours manufactured?

2005. Apparently this white-blond color was a limited run made that year. The headstock back says "Limited Edition Epiphone Custom Shop." Of couurse, there's no such thing as an Epiphone Custom Shop in a physical sense at this point (that I know of anyhow), but the stamp-imprint dealie looks kinda cool. Btw, was yours MIK? I've seen conflicting reports on whether some are or aren't, or maybe all are. Unfortunately the "made in..." sticker on the back of mine is illegible.

But the factory code for Goldie is U, which some quick web research indicates is probably Unsung, which is Korea I believe.

 

[just strum]

2005. Apparently this white-blond color was a limited run made that year. The headstock back says "Limited Edition Epiphone Custom Shop." Of couurse, there's no such thing as an Epiphone Custom Shop in a physical sense at this point (that I know of anyhow), but the stamp-imprint dealie looks kinda cool. Btw, was yours MIK? I've seen conflicting reports on whether some are or aren't, or maybe all are. Unfortunately the "made in..." sticker on the back of mine is illegible.

But the factory code for Goldie is U, which some quick web research indicates is probably Unsung, which is Korea I believe.

From
http://www.guitardaterproject.org/epiphone.aspx

Mine:

Your guitar was made in
Korea
December c.1999
Production Number: 0147