Yorgle Posted October 29, 2018 Author Share Posted October 29, 2018 I haven't tried it with the amp yet. I'm curious if I'll start getting feedback with the gain at distortion level. As for the ground wire, it's still there inside one of the post holes. I suppose I could just pull it up a little further and solder it to the bottom of the thumbscrew post. I wonder how that's done on actual archtops? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted October 29, 2018 Share Posted October 29, 2018 (edited) I haven't tried it with the amp yet. I'm curious if I'll start getting feedback with the gain at distortion level. As for the ground wire, it's still there inside one of the post holes. I suppose I could just pull it up a little further and solder it to the bottom of the thumbscrew post. I wonder how that's done on actual archtops? If you get static noise that goes away when you touch one of the pickup covers, you may need one to ground the strings. If not you're good to go. I think the archtops with floating bridges that have tail pieces or Bigsby's run a ground to the mounting peg. If this is the case you could just a a ground wire from the peg to wiring harness. Or, if you just make a small jumper wire to go from the bridge mounting stud insert (right side or closest to the controls) to the metal on your bridge. Should work and keep it simple. Edited October 30, 2018 by mihcmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 Here's the view of the cut from deep inside... Looking through the pickup opening from the top, you can't see it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 Here's the finished product: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crust Posted November 22, 2018 Share Posted November 22, 2018 Here's the finished product: nice indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 (edited) I can't stop messing with this thing. Over Thanksgiving, I focused on tweaking the Vibrola. First, I took off the spring and flattened it in a vice a wee bit to get a better break angle over the bridge. I also figured out a cheap, easy solution to prevent the string eyes from sitting cockeyed in the slots- just run a bit of thick wire through them: Finally, here's my version of the teaspoon style Vibrola arm- it's literally the handle of a large serving spoon. I call it a mash potato style arm. I think it fits the Wildkat look better than the plastic on the regular arm and it has a more substantial feel. Oh, you'll notice I ditched the roller saddles. They didn't really add that much by way of tuning stability and the knife-edge style just sound better to my ear. I think my next mod is going to be either a brass nut or zero fret to further brighten the tone. Edited November 27, 2018 by Yorgle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolution Six Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Very nice job , perfect design with the vibrola arm. I' m not sure about the Epsilon letter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 Very nice job , perfect design with the vibrola arm. I' m not sure about the Epsilon letter Thanks. I'm not 100% sure I like the stick-on "E" either. Someday, I'd like to try my hand at making a pearl inlay for the tailpiece. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted December 3, 2018 Author Share Posted December 3, 2018 The modding continues... this weekend I added a piezo pickup to pull out even more of the acoustic sounds. The cool thing about the piezos is that they're practically free (I pulled mine out of a smoke alarm buzzer) and you can stick them anywhere in (or even on) the guitar to take advantage of the different tonal qualities of different areas. At first, I stuck it in the slot I had cut under the bridge, but that was way too bright. Sticking it to the underside of the top, itself, sounded great, but picked up too much noise (hand movement, bumps, etc). Eventually I found a sweet underneath the neck pickup, sticking it to the end of the neck. The piezo is wired directly into the jack (no pre-amp) so it's always on, but eventually I'll add a switch- maybe I can replace the master volume pot with a push/pull style like the Epiphone pros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted December 3, 2018 Share Posted December 3, 2018 The modding continues... this weekend I added a piezo pickup to pull out even more of the acoustic sounds. The cool thing about the piezos is that they're practically free (I pulled mine out of a smoke alarm buzzer) and you can stick them anywhere in (or even on) the guitar to take advantage of the different tonal qualities of different areas. At first, I stuck it in the slot I had cut under the bridge, but that was way too bright. Sticking it to the underside of the top, itself, sounded great, but picked up too much noise (hand movement, bumps, etc). Eventually I found a sweet underneath the neck pickup, sticking it to the end of the neck. The piezo is wired directly into the jack (no pre-amp) so it's always on, but eventually I'll add a switch- maybe I can replace the master volume pot with a push/pull style like the Epiphone pros. Sounds like you are well on your way to getting the archtop acoustic sound, nice project.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted December 4, 2018 Author Share Posted December 4, 2018 This piezo phase of my project has me thinking about a total re-wire of my Wildkat. There must be at least a 1/4 mile of wiring in this thing! Last night I played around with different wiring schemes and finally settled on using the master volume pot as a balance control between the piezo and the P90s (at 10, it's all P90, closer to 0, the piezo has priority. Balance between the P90s themselves is still controlled by the 3-way switch and individual volume pots. The Tone pot rules all three. It might be nice to have a separate tone control for the piezo so an onboard preamp is probably needed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted December 18, 2018 Author Share Posted December 18, 2018 Added a home-made zero fret: I can't say it really sounds that much different, but I like the concept of both fretted and open strings being treated the same. I also replaced the chrome phillips head screws on the headstock badge with more vintage looking brass slotted head screws. It's a subtle change, but I think it looks better. I'm going to do the same with the truss cover screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 (edited) I accidentally reclic'd my Wildkat this weekend- tipped over my guitar stand and a quarter-size chunk of the polyester finish cracked off by the cutout. My attempts to sand the area flat and re-coat with some clear failed because I ended up sanding through the colored layer all the way to the veneer. (Did you hear that, Rev6? It's got veneer!) Anyway, after trying several times to match Epiphone's mysterious yellow grain filler, I gave up and decided to do something drastic. Stay tuned for pics after I do some final wetsand/polishing. Reborn as a goldtop: Edited February 11, 2019 by Yorgle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 All back together: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 All back together: Nice save..... It looks great as a goldtop very well done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raphael_Luiz Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 (edited) Awesome topic! Just bought a Alleykat TB and I'm loving it! As a rock player and a mod lover, I did some... Removed the "treble Rythm" plate; Changed the master volume knob to and old and better grip one; Removed original pickups and replaced it with a pair of EVH Wolfgang humbuckers. Changed the potentiometer to a Gotoh A 500k with treble bleed master volume. Edited February 23, 2020 by Raphael_Luiz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warning500 Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 So I recently bought a 2011 Epiphone Wildkat Royale Electric Guitar Pearl White what mods do u guys think I should have done to it? Does the rewiring really help it and does it apply to the 2011 model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 ^^Very nice^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted September 19, 2020 Author Share Posted September 19, 2020 On 9/17/2020 at 5:26 PM, Warning500 said: So I recently bought a 2011 Epiphone Wildkat Royale Electric Guitar Pearl White what mods do u guys think I should have done to it? Does the rewiring really help it and does it apply to the 2011 model? I’m sure the wiring upgrade would be an improvement, but whether it’s enough to justify the cost/difficulty of doing it is questionable. If you like the way it sounds now, just leave it stock and play it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihcmac Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 On 2/13/2019 at 5:25 AM, Yorgle said: All back together: Yorgie how are the mods on your Wildkat holding up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Best of luck if you ever try to sell it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorgle Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 On 8/11/2021 at 1:15 PM, mihcmac said: Yorgie how are the mods on your Wildkat holding up? My daughter has it at college so I rarely get to play it anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radzone Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 (edited) Hi! First of all - hello to everyone as this is my first post here! I've been coming back and forth to this thread every once in a while. Sorry for resurrecting a dead post but I have question to the person who did this amazing golden zebra finish - Crust I guess? Would you be so kind and let me know - how did you remove the existing poly finish without ruining the veneer nor the binding? I plan to do jus the same using paint spray remover on flat surfaces and small pointy brush in areas close to binding. I heard that it was almost impossible just to sand down the finish without sanding through the veneer. Please let me know. I have rewired the original wiring with a better cables and currently have sent the pickups to a tech in order to get them rewired to more classisc P90 standards - 7.5k neck, 8k bridge and maybe AlNiCo 2 magnets. I love the responsiveness and sustain of this thing. I guess that after undulling the pickups and the circuit - it will become a tone monster for 50-70s sounds and the jazz-box thing (towards George Benson, Wes Montgomery). 🙂 zebra Wildkat Edited January 19, 2022 by Radzone photo attachment and topic development Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radzone Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 ooops... I guess it's just an original finish - Royale Zebra. I wasn't aware of this one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radzone Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) On 1/20/2022 at 11:50 AM, Radzone said: ooops... I guess it's just an original finish - Royale Zebra. I wasn't aware of this one... Sooo, I got my P90s rewired with lighter gauge wire and the pickups are mid output - 7.5kOhm for neck, 8kOhm for bridge. After rewiring the harness and installing new-old pickups - this thing SINGS! It has all the lows you would want, great full mids and shiny highs without ice-pickyness. Very nice vintage woody-hollow vibe to it but when I want it to rock - well it ROCKS! Incredible sustain, responsiveness and dynamics. Great, great little guitar. Such a shame that Epiphone doesn't make their dogear P90s more accurate to vintage specs as that would make KILLER guitar right off the bat. Edited February 1, 2022 by Radzone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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