The Mad Cat reissue Version 2: A faithful rendition of the classic

The Japanese-built Mad Cat is impeccably crafted throughout. The all-maple neck with 21 vintage medium frets, 9.4" radius, bone nut and Gotoh SG360 tuners. The Mad Cat is outfitted with Heartbraker custom-made pickups and sports a medium C neck-profile that has a familiar vintage feel thats very comfortable.The body is crafted out of walnut and ash featuring a highly-figured maple top and bottom, as well as top and back binding. The super-shiny polyurethane lacquer finish exudes a luxurious image that is nicely offset by the leopard-print pickguard that is very similar to the original (H.A. Anderson says the materials supplier is no longer around and that the new version warps less).

Prince and Mad Cat

Prince will probably always be most associated with his H.S. Anderson-designed Hohner T-style that he used on albums like Purple Rain, 1999, and Musicology. Princes Hohner is a Japanese version of the H.S. Anderson Mad Cat, which was released in 1973 by the Morris company. The uber-rare originals (there were only a little more than 500 produced) fetch top dollar whenever they pop up. This reissue is the best version ever produced. Addition to his sheer musical genius, Prince has always had an eye for style. And as any experienced axe-spotter knows, it didnt stop with the Purple Dandys amazing suits. His David Rusan-built cloud guitar and Jerry Auerswald-built symbol guitars became some of Princes most identifiable style trademarks. But though those larger-than-life guitars were among the flashiest of his accoutrements, Prince will probably always be most associated with his comparatively pedestrian H.S. Anderson-designed Hohner T-style that he used on albums like Purple Rain, 1999, and Musicology.The Hohners subdued style had a way of enhancing the mystery around it. It wasnt a vintage Fender, and yet one of the most inventive and ripping guitarists of the day was doing major damage with the thing-there had to be more going on than meets the eye. Indeed, Princes Hohner was more than just another cheap Fender knock-off. In fact, Princes Hohner is a Japanese version of the H.S. Anderson Mad Cat, which was released in 1973 by the Morris company. The uber-rare originals (there were only a little more than 500 produced) fetch top dollar whenever they pop up, but there have been quasi copycats under various brands over the years, too.Over the years, Hohner released several versions of the guitar-Princes Japanese version and a Korean incarnation made by Cort. In 2009, Morris got back into the action and released a limited run of the Mad Cat to commemorate the companys 45th anniversary. But more recently, the original manufacturers, Moridaira Japan released the definitive H.S. Anderson Vintage Reissue Mad Cat. The reissue is handmade in small batches of about seven instruments a month in Japan at the original factory.

Features:

• Vintage Correct Re-issue of the original 1970s H.S. Anderson / Hohner Mad Cats
• Handmade in Japan
• Walnut / Ash / Maple body construction
• Vintage correct bridge pickup position (see picture)
• All maple neck, 21 frets, C-shape, rolled fretboard edge
• 42,8mm nut width, 240R (9,4) Radius
• 2mm (0,0787) x 1mm (0,0394) vintage frets
• 2 string retainers
• Gotoh GTC102 Hardtail Bridge, Callaham USA vintage bent-steel saddles (also included are extra Gotoh modern type saddles), 10,5mm string spacing
• Gotoh SG360 Machine Heads, 1:14 gear ratio
• Heartbreaker custom-made pickups with individual measurement report
• 1 volume control, 1 tone control, 4-way switch
• Polyurethane lacquer, custom made for Moridaira, color matched to 1984 Mad Cat
• Pearloid H.S. Anderson logo
• Stamped serial nr on back of headstock
• Leopard pickguards, leopard output jack plate and black body binding
• SKB-66 case with full-length neck support