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Wildkat quality change


curnla

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I purchased a new Epi Wildkat from Sweetwater a couple of months ago. I understood what I was getting because I saw the photo. The finish on the neck and body is very light in color. The body is made of at least four pieces glued together with a thin veneer on the back with grain that is way off center from the axis of the guitar. There are glue marks in several places on the back and sides as well as a pencil line that was varnished over. Anyway, I love the way it plays and everything is perfect except for what I mentioned here. So I decided to keep it, thinking that with an Epi, one must accept some issues. Now I see a new array of Wildkats at the Sweetwater site and there is a major difference. The necks and backs are a much darker mahogany color, like a Les Paul and the back of the body appears to be two piece solid mahogany with beautiful grain that runs parallel to the axis. I even went to the Gibson website and now that site reflects the changes. And the price is still $399.00. Now, I'm somewhat miffed! I have been hoping for such improvements and they happen only weeks after I pull the trigger on the guitar. Now I want to sell the one I have and it is only about two months old.

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I like to look through the sweetwater pictures and also noticed the new wildkats. I think they are maybe from a diffrent factory in China because they have the serial # on the back of the headstock vs on an f hole label. They tend to change factorys a lot there was a lot of indonesian les pauls on there and all in stock cherry dots are indonesian and the rest are chinese. I dont think those new kats are from the quindao factory though.

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One of the hazards of not buying in person. Good luck. :)

Not an option without driving for two hours each way. We have a Guitar Center and I would rather take my chances with Sweetwater or Wildwood.

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I like to look through the sweetwater pictures and also noticed the new wildkats. I think they are maybe from a diffrent factory in China because they have the serial # on the back of the headstock vs on an f hole label. They tend to change factorys a lot there was a lot of indonesian les pauls on there and all in stock cherry dots are indonesian and the rest are chinese. I dont think those new kats are from the quindao factory though.

I'm really thinking of putting mine up for sale and getting one of the newer ones. Considering how inexpensive they are, why not?

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A few things:

 

To the OP - why didn't you take advantage of the return policy from SW? I have a 3 year old 'Kat that I'm thinking was made in Indonesia based on the SN, which is not on the headstock, but sticker in the f hole only. Back looks to be solid piece, not spliced/glued. All in all a good quality guitar. And yeah, they're cheap enough that if you're that unhappy, dump it and buy another.

 

To Russinator - I've bought 4 or 5 guitars from Sweetwater, and have never had any issues. In fact, they called when my Elitist Casino came in, then called later about a ding on the back, so they do look at them as well. YMMV, but I like 'em, although I do understand the touchy/feely thing as well.

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A few things:

 

To the OP - why didn't you take advantage of the return policy from SW? I have a 3 year old 'Kat that I'm thinking was made in Indonesia based on the SN, which is not on the headstock, but sticker in the f hole only. Back looks to be solid piece, not spliced/glued. All in all a good quality guitar. And yeah, they're cheap enough that if you're that unhappy, dump it and buy another.

To answer your question, this is a $400.00 guitar. I really didn't expect much more until I saw the new ones. I just noticed the pencil line under the finish a few days ago. I contacted Epiphone/Gibson customer service this afternoon and they suggested that I take it to a warranty center which is just up the road from where I live. I'm going to do that.

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To answer your question, this is a $400.00 guitar. I really didn't expect much more until I saw the new ones.

Wasn't trying to be a d*ck, just askin'. No harm, no foul and I hope it all works out, because these are really good little guitars for the coin.

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Musiciansfriend used to have a steady selection of "blem" guitars, as did places like warpdrivemusic on ebay. When these offers dried up, I wondered if what were considered to be factory seconds were just being placed in the general population. To be honest, my "blem" ebony Sheraton had nothing on it that would raise my eyebrows other than a slight waviness in the finish on a region on the back. Had I not bought it as a blem guitar, I wouldn't thought of returning it.

 

Are they still making guitars (any of the major labels) that are stamped "2nd" on the back of the headstock?

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A few things:

 

```snip```

To Russinator - I've bought 4 or 5 guitars from Sweetwater, and have never had any issues. In fact, they called when my Elitist Casino came in, then called later about a ding on the back, so they do look at them as well. YMMV, but I like 'em, although I do understand the touchy/feely thing as well.

 

Yes, I've had good luck via internet and even ebay. But I've compared several guitars in person locally - even consecutive serial numbers - that looked, felt and sounded different, and was able to pick the "better" one. So obviously in the OPs case distance can limit your interviews. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just purchased a new Wildkat from Sweetwater. What a difference. This thing is beautiful! I'm going to put the other one up for sale or possibly give it to my son. He plays and had been eyeing it. Anyway, I'll have to get some photos up. Also, I might say that the new Wildkat plays nicely too. The only issue I had was the frets had never been polished in the slightest. Well that's just part of a setup and I took care of that. The neck came with .004 relief (nearly flat). It took a little leveling along with the fret polish and now it sings.

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I just purchased a new Wildkat from Sweetwater. What a difference. This thing is beautiful! I'm going to put the other one up for sale or possibly give it to my son. He plays and had been eyeing it. Anyway, I'll have to get some photos up. Also, I might say that the new Wildkat plays nicely too. The only issue I had was the frets had never been polished in the slightest. Well that's just part of a setup and I took care of that. The neck came with .004 relief (nearly flat). It took a little leveling along with the fret polish and now it sings.

Waiting for the pictures. Glad you are fine with it. [thumbup]

 

By the way, .004" neck relief is a typical adjustment value on my guitars since decades.

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