NAMM 2021: Epiphone teams with Heart’s Nancy Wilson for the signature Fanatic electric
An authentic and affordable take on the Gibson Nancy Wilson Nighthawk Standard.
Image: Epiphone
NAMM 2021: Epiphone has teamed with Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson for a brand new signature electric guitar called the Fanatic.
The guitar is a wallet-friendly take on the guitarist’s first signature electric model, the Gibson Nancy Wilson Nighthawk Standard.
The Fanatic features the same unique body shape as its predecessor, with a mahogany back and figured maple veneer top. This is matched to a mahogany neck with a rounded C profile and an ebony fingerboard.
Electronics include a pair of ProBucker humbuckers; the bridge pup is slanted just like the original. They route to master volume and tone knobs and a five-way pickup selector.
As for hardware, there’s a Nighthawk Hardtail bridge, Epiphone Deluxe tuning machines and a GraphTech NuBone nut. The Fanatic comes in a Fireburst gloss finish.
When the Nighthawk first launched in 1993, it was noted for its radical body shape, which was somewhat of a departure from the brand’s other standard models. Wilson herself had a big part to play in the guitar’s development.
“In the midst of the distant Eighties, I was approached by Gibson to design a signature model,” Wilson said in a statement.
“I put pencil to paper to first design the body shape and chose a curvy female diminutive silhouette for the cut away. Many years later the body shape remains exact and the hardware I requested makes the Fanatic a solid citizen amongst the great rock guitar screamers.”
The Epiphone Nancy Wilson Fanatic will retail at $529 and come with a hardshell case, though an exact release date has yet to be announced.
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