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Thinking of modding my Wildkat


fightinpikey

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Hello all,

 

I am getting the modding bug bad for my Kat and I would like to ask the opinions/assistance of the fine people here.

 

I have already talked to Jonesy about doing all new wiring so that is covered.

 

As far as pickups, I love the way the stock pups sound clean and with minimum gain (say classic rock at the most) any thing more than that and I feel it just all turns to mud.

 

So if I do replace the pups I will probably start with the p-90's from GFS and then see how the lower output sounds.

 

The main place I need some opinions is in a replacement bridge.

 

I know a roller is the usual choice for a Wildkat but I have not had any tuning issues and I do not get much use out of the Bigsby so I am considering other options.

 

One option I would like to pursue is a bridge with nylon saddles. I know these will create a warmer tone but I love the vintage look of them and I think they will look great and they should help with any string binding just not as much as a roller.

 

The issues I am having is sourcing a bridge with nylon saddles that will drop right in on a Wildkat or at least something that I can install with minimal effort.

 

If any one has any input on my bridge issue please feel free to chime in.

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well i put a schaller roller bridge on my wildkat but on my ric 325 i use a bigsby bow tie base bridge> same as the one john lennon uesd. no problems staying in tune with that. alot of people over to the gretsch site are using compton bridges on there bigsby equiped guitars.those seem to be the rage over there.. the bigsby with the bowtie base are hard to find but they make that same bridge with a metal version of a wood base for an acoustic so you might want to look into that.also seems to be some people like a gretsch rocking bar bridge too.

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GFS Mean 90's are pretty good, especially for the price. You know that you can easily change magnets in a P-90 (they each have two) to change their EQ, so that's always an option.

 

The Mean 90's are humbucker sized so they wont fit, but I have thought about a magnet change but I need to do more research on those.

 

well i put a schaller roller bridge on my wildkat but on my ric 325 i use a bigsby bow tie base bridge> same as the one john lennon uesd. no problems staying in tune with that. alot of people over to the gretsch site are using compton bridges on there bigsby equiped guitars.those seem to be the rage over there.. the bigsby with the bowtie base are hard to find but they make that same bridge with a metal version of a wood base for an acoustic so you might want to look into that.also seems to be some people like a gretsch rocking bar bridge too.

 

Thanks for the info I will look into the Schaller and the compton and see what I come up with. we well as a treble bleed.

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So I just did some more lurking around over on My Les Paul as I do from time to time and I stumbled across a thread about modded epi's and I got a really good idea.

 

One of the members over there has a Sorrento that he modded so it would in a way be a poor mans Gretsch, which was always my goal for the wildkat in a way.

 

Well this Sorrento had its original dog ears replaced with what look to be Filter-trons or at least filter-tronish pups thanks to the TV Jones adapter plate.

 

Does any one have any experience with these adapters? and does it it mean that you could also fit any humbucker to a dog ear equipped guitar?

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As far as pickups, I love the way the stock pups sound clean and with minimum gain (say classic rock at the most) any thing more than that and I feel it just all turns to mud.

 

Mud at high gain could be coming from the amp. Do you get the same thing on different amps?

 

Rolling off some bass before tube gain will help. A more mid-range signal should keep better focus at high gain. Also a parametric EQ boost tuned in to a particular mid-range bandwidth can add some crunch or snarl.

 

An overdrive pedal in front of the amp can sometimes tailor the sound the way you want it.

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So I just did some more lurking around over on My Les Paul as I do from time to time and I stumbled across a thread about modded epi's and I got a really good idea.

 

One of the members over there has a Sorrento that he modded so it would in a way be a poor mans Gretsch, which was always my goal for the wildkat in a way.

 

Well this Sorrento had its original dog ears replaced with what look to be Filter-trons or at least filter-tronish pups thanks to the TV Jones adapter plate.

 

Does any one have any experience with these adapters? and does it it mean that you could also fit any humbucker to a dog ear equipped guitar?

 

the filtertrons are a great pickup have two in my 5120 i english mounted mine my own way but tv jones sells a kit for that.. the english mount makes these pickups mount like humbuckers. i would measure for clearance on the wildkat . i dont think the strings are high enough off the body to standard mount them. also youll probably have to open the hles up a bit . when you english mount them then they are ajustable in height like a humbucker as well un like the standard filtertron mount where you add or remove shims.

 

in my opinion they are much better sounding than p90s.

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the filtertrons are a great pickup have two in my 5120 i english mounted mine my own way but tv jones sells a kit for that.. the english mount makes these pickups mount like humbuckers. i would measure for clearance on the wildkat . i dont think the strings are high enough off the body to standard mount them. also youll probably have to open the hles up a bit . when you english mount them then they are ajustable in height like a humbucker as well un like the standard filtertron mount where you add or remove shims.

 

in my opinion they are much better sounding than p90s.

 

Thanks for the input the mounts that I am looking at do mount the English way so I'm not to worried about height as the adapters are specifically made to retrofit the TV Jones' into a p90 cavity.

 

On another note I found some graph tech bridge saddles that are white versus the normal black and while they are not nylon like my original goal but they should look the part and perform better than the stock saddles.

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Thanks for the input the mounts that I am looking at do mount the English way so I'm not to worried about height as the adapters are specifically made to retrofit the TV Jones' into a p90 cavity.

 

On another note I found some graph tech bridge saddles that are white versus the normal black and while they are not nylon like my original goal but they should look the part and perform better than the stock saddles.

 

well the dog ears being top mounted you might be surprised when you see the size of the hole underneath the pickup. vs the p90 soap bars that are sunk into the body.. i never had mine off but since they are top mounted they only require a small hole for the wire to go theough id think and the magnets to fit into.

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Go to www.stewmac.com they should have just about everything you need as far as both the bridge and pickups are concerned .

 

Thanks, I always seem to forget about them.

 

I did find a set of saddles that I like on all parts but I need to track down the correct fitment.

 

Quick questions regarding the stock bridge.

 

Is it considered a Nashville style? The Graph Tech saddles I found are for a Nashville style.

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