More MSS Models - Click Here!The Geoff Empey MSS Edition Custom Guitar:
This lovely custom guitar body was made for Geoff Empey and features construction of butternut, maple, ash, and wenge wood. The neck is a Moses Graphite headless which is fitted with a Langley drop D tuner head piece. The Steinberger R-Trem bridge provides stable quick tuning and stays in tune once strings are streched out.
Elegant and Stylish (and lookin' good from back to front!):
The Danish oiled finish provides a satiny smooth soft luster that brings out the beauty of any wood grain, and provides protection and appealing good looks. High gloss finishes are nice, but nothing compliments fine wood as well as an oiled finish! The back also features a cavity control cover and a switch control cover made from butternut, proving much nicer than plastic ones!
The weight of this instrument is light and well balanced by the combination of the woods selected, and results in an extremely comfortable guitar with super sustain and tone, and feel.
Geoff's Review:This is a 24 fret headless electric made by the talented luthier Bill Wilkat out of Montreal Canada, made in 2002-2003.
It has a unique body that looks like a cross between a Steinberger GM, Pedulla bass and a Ibanez JEM complete with a Steve Vai monkey grip.
The body is made from Swamp ash laminated with Maple and Wenge with Butternut wings. It is hand finished with Danish oil to a smooth rich woodgrain lustre.
The pickup configuration is a Barden HB in the bridge with a Barden Tele SC size in the neck position. The Trem is a Steinberger R-Trem.
It is wired up with a Yamaha 5 way super switch, Torres 1 meg volume pot and a Torres vari-tone and a resistor as a tone control using the Jerry Donahue Custom Shop Telecaster wiring diagram as a basepoint.
The neck is a Moses graphite headless Steinberger style with 6150 jumbo sized frets in a 25.5" scale length utilizing a Langley Guitars D-Head nut, which allows with a spin of a thumbwheel tuning the low 'E' string between 'E' and 'D' - very cool!
The guitar, as it sits, was something I've had stewing in my head for a long time, after jonesin' for a Klein electric for many years. I'd hate to give a rating here as features are subjective, but I'll tell you everything minus the kitchen sink is here! To my specs!
Sound:
I play lots of styles in a cover band we do stuff ranging from soft blues/country to wide open rock borderline metal with Reggae thrown in for good measure.
I got this guitar to be a gigging tone workhorse and boy it delivers! It is a bit on the darkside in tone, with Barden pickups you'd expect shrill and bright.
The tone with the Wilkat is smooth and composed even while grinding @ volumes that would kill yer mom's cat! ;^) I don't know where this comes from, it is either the graphite neck or Bill's choice of wood and lamination technique, where the buttery smooth tone comes from.
SUSTAINNNnnnnn....It has it!! For me I play a lot like a cross between Eric Johnson, Eddy VH plus I try to go for the Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan thing as well then mix it up to be hopefully sounding like me.
It covers the smooth EJ sustain and the flurry of notes that both DG, RB and EVH do, quite well. It doesn't pretend to sound like other guitars though it can very similar to many standard guitars, the Wilkat has a unique voice even compared to guitars I have with the same pickup configuration.
I really feel the Torres Vari-tone is really something special. That, in conjunction with the Yamaha 5 way Superswitch and Jerry Donahue Tele wiring it can sound like Clapton's woman tone or SRV's bright neck tone with a flick of the switch, to a jazz box in the middle postion with the vari-tone set on postion 3 to full shred metal and ZZTop mondo distorto pound your preamp Les-Paul sounds on the bridge pickup.
Very versatile! Barden pickups are powerful, clean and noisefree. Plus with Bill's sheilding and careful wiring this guitar is as quiet as a graveyard @ 4am!
Action, Fit & Finish:
All I can say about the 'Action, Fit & Finish' is that after approx 2 months of owning the guitar it is still perfect.
There was a slight buzz around the middle of the neck that a tweak on the truss rod took care of, so no big deal.
All of Bill's routs for the tummy cut, monkey grip, neck joint, pickups and electronics are done to a artisan's standard.
Bill and I did a fair bit of consultation about switch and knob location so for me it is ergonomically perfect.
I know lots of guys work with shortcomings of other guitars and can be brilliant (Redd Volkeart comes to mind) but I'm a lazy bum.
So with this guitar I was able to put all the controls exactly where I wanted right away.
Though the Torres volume pot feels a bit tight for doing the Roy Buchanan volume swells that is no fault of Luthier Bill. Hopefully that will break in with time.
If there is a flaw I can't see it or let alone feel it! Plays like a dream! 3 thumbs up here!
Being based on a Steinberger R-Trem with the Graphite Moses headless neck I think I'll be hard pressed to have to set this guitar up very often.
Reliability/Durability:
Like I said... Being based on a Steinberger R-Trem with the Graphite Moses headless neck I think I'll be hard pressed to have to set this guitar up very often.
Everytime I pick it up it is in tune ready to wail on doesn't matter if it comes from a cold car to a hot club it is there! It is made for travel and that's one of the reasons why I got it.
The Danish oil finish will never chip or flake off it will only darken with age if something happens you can hand buff it and voila back to new! This is the gigging guitar I should've had years ago!!
Though I'll still bring a backup to gigs as to not is to tempt fate!
Customer Support:
The best thing about working with Bill is that you know EXACTLY what is going on with your project because he emails you almost daily to let you know what he has done that day.
He was also very good about keeping you up to date with pictures of how everything is shaping up.
I have 50-60 pics of my project or more from the design drawing, to the wood we selected, to the finished product.
Try to get that anywhere else...NOT!!!
Bill has been very patient with me as I am a pretty finicky customer.
That being said I had no nagging doubts after receiving the instrument that commisioning an instrument through Bill was the right desicion as the guitar is pretty well perfect in my hands from the get go.
Overall Rating:
I have a pile of Guitars ranging from crazy modded Fender Telecasters to Warmoth Custom Strats. I have been playing almost 30 years lots of pro gigs under my hat though I play live for fun not the money.
With Wilkat guitars, Bill assembles the guitar to your specifications nothing more nothing less. He is just one guy that you deal with, the purchase of a Wilkat is totally different than buying any guitar fron any store, it's much more parsonal and in depth. Bill just supplies the wood and Labour to get it together. I had to source out all the parts ie: neck, pickups, electronics and hardware. It was a bit stressful getting some of the parts as I had to scour both eBay and the H/C classifieds like a hawk to get my pickups nailed down, though in doing that legwork I saved a fair chunk of change, considering! Bill works quick so he needs certain things to go to the next stage of the project. I commisioned the guitar in middle November 2002 and it was complete in Late Febuary 2003!! So it is best to source everything before time and not wait till the last minute like me! I'm sure the guitar could'v ebeen completed quicker if I was more organized. It is not as easy as just buying a guitar, as you have to buy lot's of little things in advance. So in reality those choices have a bearing on what the guitar costs and the what it will play and sound like. With research and knowing what you want it can be a very gratifying part of the Wilkat experience, with Bill giving advice @ every step of the way.
I looked at both Steinberger and Klein guitars I was very tempted by Lorenzo German from Klein at a NAMM show I had the oppurtunity to go to a few years ago, my credit card was burning a hole in my pocket!! ;^) Much to my chagrin I couldn't do it at that time, so when the time was right the price on the Klein's had gone up significantly and a weak local currency (I'm in Canada) put it out of reach. I had asked Lorenzo if I could assemble and finish my own instrument to be able to afford it but he wasn't able to offer me that option. :^( One reason I chose the Wilkat as right away after conversing with Bill I knew I had somebody I could trust with my guitar dream. Plus sourcing out my own parts and having Bill do the nitty gritty appealled to my sense of adventure. While at the same time saving me on the bottom line. Now I have a guitar that could've cost me thousands of dollars more. In hindsight, two things I wish it had was maybe a piezo pickup option for doing acoustic sounds on stage and a side neck marker l.e.d. system for dim stages. But then that would've blown the budget! Next time!! LOL! :^)
Thanks again Bill!!
Bill's Reply: Wow! Thanks Geoff! It means a lot to me that people are happy with my service at all levels, and getting the job done right is very satisfying. We all shoot for perfection but the best we can hope for is getting close and with each project, I like to think I may be getting closer, and closer....
Geoff really was not "finicky" in my perspective, but discriminating in his choices of components, etc. -- hey isn't that what getting a custom instrument built is all about?!Notes: Barden, Moses Graphite, and Steinberger, etc. are registered trade names of the manufacturers and are not affiliated with Wilkat Guitars in any way.Special Thanks to Ned Steinberger for his words of wisdom, and for creating the "original" Steinberger guitars, tuners, and bridges. His ingenious designs will live on!