Pussy | guitars

c.1998 Feline Panther

"Pussy"

I found this thanks to a “heads-up” from a forum buddy who knew of my obsession with 80’s-esque guitars with Floyds. The seller needed to shift it quickly, so this was another “right place at the right time” snag. And very lucky I was too. You don’t see too many of these. In fact, during 30 years of my guitar obsession, I’d never actually seen one before in the flesh: I’d only ever seen photographs.

The Feline brand was started by Jonathan Law (another rock guitarist who turned his hand to luthiery) in 1997, after he’d been building and repairing for a decade or so. The brand has a bit of a cult following, thanks to the awesome quality of Jon’s work (and the fact that he is one of two luthiers that build the legendary ... and STUPIDLY expensive 'Blackmachine' guitars).

Jonathan tells me that this one was a custom-build for Barry Fitzgibbon of the band "Dirty Deeds", who toured with Iron Maiden in '98 as their support on the 'Virtual XI' tour, then on Maiden's 'Metal2000' tour ... they were one of Steve Harris’ pet projects and were signed to Beast records (Steve's record label) and managed by Sanctuary music. It was reportedly Barry's main player for both tours, so its seen quite a bit of action. Which is cool (it has been on tour with Maiden ... which automatically gives it more MOJO than mere mortals deserve).

We’ve got an American red alder body, maple neck and rosewood board, with a contoured ‘plate-less’ bolted neck joint. Although it IS a bolt-on, Barry had the neck glued into place ... I'm guessing for increased stability. Whatever, it works. Frets are Dunlop 6100s, and there’s an original German Floyd. The electronics are cool. There's a Seymour Duncan Custom in the bridge and a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the neck. The three-way switch is the same as the one fitted to “Seventeen” and “Leaf”,which splits both of the pickups in the middle position, giving some stratty-quack on demand. The micro-switch is a ‘tone-off’ switch for the neck pickup only (although it sounds more like a "tone down a bit" switch). I reckon that’s a GREAT idea, meaning that you get the advantages of a tone control without constantly having to check that it is in the ‘full on’position! This comes with a ‘Feline’-branded Hiscox hardcase, which I think is a great touch for such a small company (Jaden Rose does that too).

I've spent a long time with this one. As it is a little beaten already, it lives at my office and spends most of its time plugged in and balanced against a filing cabinet ... this is pretty close to being my "#1" guitar, and certainy gets more playtime than many of the others. SUCH a great piece of work .. great tonewood, excellent fit and finish and top-spec hardware ... fantastic.

Lastly, check out the cats-eye 12th fret inlay! All in all, this is a very, very good gutar, and I'm proud to have it on board. Excellent.