NGD - 2001 Epiphone AlleyKat

[Wilmywood]

Just picked up an Epiphone AlleyKat yesterday, a 2001 model. A rather unique guitar in that they only made them from 2001 to 2008, It has a humbucker bridge pickup and a mini-humbucker neck pickup, with a single tone knob, separate volume knobs for each pickup and a single overall volume knob, as well as a 3 position pickup selector. a 1.68" nut and a 12" radius neck, it is very comfortable to play especially at a bit over 7 lbs in weight. It is a semi-hollow with a center block, sports twin F holes, a 24.75" scale and a 14" lower bout (compared to a 335's 16" lower bout) similar to an ES-339's. One thing that drew me to this particular one is the flame in the top and the burst has almost no yellow or orange in it, almost all brown. Paid $450 which may be a bit high (although in line with Reverb's SOLD units) , but again, these are rather rare.

 

[GAD]

Moving to non-Guild forum.

 

[GGJaguar]

Nice, congrats! I had one of those and gave it to my daughter. She still has it.

 

[steveintampa]

Those mini humbucker are nice. My next tele build will have one in the neck position, Brent Mason style.

 

[Wilmywood]

Those mini humbucker are nice. My next tele build will have one in the neck position, Brent Mason style.

I have an Epiphone Firebird with twin Minis. Love 'em. The ones on the AlleyKat have pole pieces showing, the 'Bird's are smooth.

 

[Cougar]

One thing that drew me to this particular one is the flame in the top....

Yeah, that's some super nice flame. Congrats on your acquisition! I still have a couple Epiphone electrics -- the translucent amber LP has some nicely bookmarked flame, not as dark as yours though....

 

[bobouz]

I used to have one, too, and they are really nice - Congrats! They originally came without a pickguard, so someone added that, and $450 seems like a very good price to me. The mini-humbucker was the big draw, and I kept chasing them until landing this 2000 USA-Series John Lee Hooker Sheraton. The body was made by Terada in Japan (with build quality exceeding even their own Elitist line), and then shipped to Gibson-Nashville for all USA hardware & Gibson mini-humbuckers. Gotta love those mini-hum pickups!

 

[walrus]

Cool guitar!

 

[bobouz]

Just picked up an Epiphone AlleyKat yesterday, a 2001 model. A rather unique guitar in that they only made them from 2001 to 2008, It has a humbucker bridge pickup and a mini-humbucker neck pickup, with a single tone knob, separate volume knobs for each pickup and a single overall volume knob, as well as a 3 position pickup selector. a 1.68" nut and a 12" radius neck, it is very comfortable to play especially at a bit over 7 lbs in weight. It is a semi-hollow with a center block, sports twin F holes, a 24.75" scale and a 14" lower bout (compared to a 335's 16" lower bout) similar to an ES-339's. One thing that drew me to this particular one is the flame in the top and the burst has almost no yellow or orange in it, almost all brown. Paid $450 which may be a bit high (although in line with Reverb's SOLD units) , but again, these are rather rare.

An additional note: Your AlleyKat was made by Samick in Korea. Gibson had four Korean factories building Epi’s during the ‘90s & 2000s: Samick, Peerless, Saein, and Unsung. Very good value at their price points, although it seemed like Unsung’s build quality was not quite up to the other three. My AlleyKat veered heavily towards red. I think yours is much more strikingly beautiful - Enjoy!

 

[Wilmywood]

An additional note: Your AlleyKat was made by Samick in Korea. Gibson had four Korean factories building Epi’s during the ‘90s & 2000s: Samick, Peerless, Saein, and Unsung. Very good value at their price points, although it seemed like Unsung’s build quality was not quite up to the other three. My AlleyKat veered heavily towards red. I think yours is much more strikingly beautiful - Enjoy!

Thanks. I was struck by the lack of orange or yellow in the burst. I was aware it was a Samick. I also have a '98 Casino from Peerless, and the Firebird from Unsung. I am aware of the Koreans' quality.

 

[bobouz]

Thanks. I was struck by the lack of orange or yellow in the burst. I was aware it was a Samick. I also have a '98 Casino from Peerless, and the Firebird from Unsung. I am aware of the Koreans' quality.

Those Peerless Casinos are really nice. I had one from 2004, but sold it upon purchasing an Elitist Casino, which I still have. Should’ve kept the Peerless, too! As for Unsung, it seemed like a number of the one’s I‘d try in stores would have minor fit & finish issues (perhaps just luck of the draw), although I did buy a Nick Valensi Riviera made by them that was quite nice, and a great value at the time with the Gibson P94 pickups. People are now asking crazy money for both the Elitist & Korean Valensi Rivieras, so I should’ve kept that one, too!