2014 Epiphone Wildkat Semihollow Electric Guitar

It's alarming what new gear you can get for your dollars, these days. These Wildkats are pretty slick guitars and in this "vintage natural" coloration with tons of chrome they almost look a little Bigsby-ish in design-style at a glance. The post-modern use of the bikini-style logo on the headstock cements that retro vibe.

Inside, it's build more like a '60s guitar with a center-block under the press-arched top for the bridge that's mated to a flat back. Electronics are simple with a master volume knob up near the neck pickup. The P90-style, metal-covered pickups are wound pretty hot and filtered through said covers have a mellower, darker sound. They like a bit of drive to get the most out of them but played clean they have a sort-of smoky, growly, jazz-club vibe to them. The Bigsby whammy is a nice touch, though the essentially-new spring still feels stiffer. I think stringing it with 11s or similar (it has 10s or lighter on it at the moment) would go a long way towards it feeling a little more relaxed.

This guy came in for trade/consignment and it's basically a new guitar and comes with a gigbag. There are just a few tiny nicks on the body -- one at the headstock's back top and a couple along the edges of the body -- but it's otherwise clean. There's no fretwear, too, though someone definitely played it a bunch because I cleaned a lot of grunge off of the fretboard. All I did after that was give it a setup and it's playing on-the-dot with 1/16" action overall at the 12th fret. The neck is straight and the truss works as it should.

Specs are: 24 3/4" scale, 1 11/16" nut width, 1 3/8" string spacing at the nut, 2" spacing at the bridge, 14" lower bout, 10 1/2" upper bout, and 1 7/8" body depth (+ some including the arch to the top). The neck has a mild-thickness (fast), D-shaped profile and something like a 12" radius to the board.

Woods are: mahogany back and sides, flamed-maple veneer on the top, maple(?) neck, and rosewood fretboard. The body and board are bound in white.