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[Edited 6/5/17 7:48am]

Hi Guys, just my experience here.

I have an ORIGINAL MADCAT from first series of Anderson guitar (around 1973) and I can tell you they have no serial number. You can read the whole story here:

http://www.music-trade.co.jp/80000254carte.html

Also, I noted that the string guides on the head are not located at the same place where Prince's one are (to me this is one difference between pre-production and production serie)

I'll post picture if I'll find the way.

Cheers

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:49am]

Also, as a Strat / Tele player (for 20 years now), my Madcat (fully original) doesn't sound /look or feel cheap at all... never you could think that is is a cheap instrument.

At that time DANELECTRO made cheap instruments with "lipstick pickup" (at the beginning it was made for the kids). The Madcat was not in this league.

Japanese instruments were trying to take market shares to Fender/Gibson. They aimed to do quality at agressive price.

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:49am]

My mad cats:

And the '79 which I sold, because the '84 was just better:

I'm of course very biased, but the current production has all the mojo of the old ones, but they are just even better built.

The factory has almost 40 years more experience (building mainly acoustic guitars) now, and it shows.

Not that I'm saying the original mad cats weren't good, but small details like neck-body fit, how they put in the frets, general attention to detail and consistency are all better.

The original Keiyo pickups weren't that great, and feedbacked pretty easily.

The squeals in the purple rain solo are typical for how I remember these.

I'm a bit surprised about the comment that there would be quality issues?

In 5 years, 1 pickup switch that had some crackling going on, and 1 little piece of chipped paint on the body is pretty good I think.

And those minor issues were solved under warranty.

If you refer to the video of the guy who rants for 30 minutes about 'bad customer support', technically he never was a customer of ours.

My dealer in the UK told me the re-issue mad cats are the best tele-style guitars they ever had in 30 years.

If Prince's no-logo mad cat had a single round string tree like my '84, it might be from the same era.

Wild guess; maybe somebody removed the logo and put on a fender decal, which was later removed when Prince got it?

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:49am]

MiceElfAgin said:

But can we drop this argument about the possible price already, please? I think I've provided enough evidence to back up my claim that it couldn't have been $30.-

FWIW, George Lopez recently mentioned that Prince told him he picked the guitar up from a Kress drugstore "for not more than $50". Again, could be just Prince exaggerating a good deal he got, or his own ability ("I'm so good I made a crap guitar sound amazing"), but it seems he did at least tell multiple people a similar thing. And I know more than a few people who have picked up very nice gear second-hand from stores that didn't know any better (I myself once picked up a pristine Fender Tele at half price because the shop owner didn't realise its value).

So I wouldn't say the argument is done and dusted. But on the flipside, you are right that it could well be exaggeration on Prince's part as well. Without some documentation or a first-hand witness, we'll probably never know.

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:49am]

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:50am]

TXfan said:

Here's the video of the guy who claims the pickups were wired backwards He starts discovering it right after the 4:00 mark. He talks about a loose jack plate right after he puts down the black guitar and picks up the mad cat. https://youtu.be/Nn0FCBeOFEc

Ouch... didn't see that video yet, thanks for the link. He should have contacted his dealer, we would have sorted it out.

But it shouldn't have happened in the first place, no idea how that one passed final inspection.

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:50am]

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:50am]

found an interesting article (see Google translate for it)


http://www.paco1977.com/?p=2812

It does contain image of what is claimed to be the very first prototype of Mad Cat

[Edited 6/2/17 5:12am]

And either link shows photo of first production sample

https://reverb.com/item/3...maple-rare


Which demonstrates gorgeous Flame on fornt and neck (check all of them following the link shown above)

[Edited 6/2/17 5:17am]

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:51am]

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:51am]

MiceElfAgin said:

Knightoflight said:

And either link shows photo of first production sample

https://reverb.com/item/3...maple-rare


Which demonstrates gorgeous Flame on fornt and neck (check all of them following the link shown above)

[Edited 6/2/17 5:17am]

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Gorgeous!
Thanks for posting!

Interesting how the seller claims "no damages" while it's clear from the photos that the main pickguard has shrunk (understandable as it's celluloid) and is now completely broken.

[Edited 6/2/17 5:59am]

I believe it was done in two pieces on purpose

[Edited 6/2/17 6:14am]

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:51am]

MiceElfAgin said:

Knightoflight said:

I believe it was done in two pieces on purpose

[Edited 6/2/17 6:14am]

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No way.

Yes, because otherwise one should believe in perfect cracking plate

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:51am]

MiceElfAgin said:

Knightoflight said:

Yes, because otherwise one should believe in perfect cracking plate

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Don't be silly. Celluloid pickguards shrink and warp. When they shrink too much, they snap along a more-or-less straight line. Most probably it broke along one line and the owner simply decided to cut the rest to make it look semi-decent. This is an obvious damage, not by design.

[Edited 6/2/17 8:02am]

Let it be that way if it makes you comfortable

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:52am]

i don't know if this might help in your quest, but i noticed the guitar in this video...

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[Edited 6/5/17 7:52am]