Product: Patrick Eggle Los Angeles Standard
Price Paid: 499 (#)
Submitted
09/14/2002
at
02:24pm
by
Anonymous
Features
:
10
Made in UK. Very early model - Looks like a slightly better proportioned strat... and sounds and plays like heaven!
From top to bottom: A small headstock with Sperzel locking tuners and straight string pull through a perfectly fine nut. The bird's eye, 24 fret maple neck is subtle and a dream to hold. Lovely jumbo frets. The neck and body feel incredibly sturdy for a design of this type.
The body on my guitar is simply oil finished - but gauging by the numerous comments from other guitarists and people at gigs - this would appear to be the coolest finish in the world.... perhaps because it is clearly a guitar designed for serious playing not showing off. 12 years of sweat, beer and smoke have stained the wood where my arms rest, adding to its workmanlike image. There is no pickguard and it looks lean but inviting at the same time. Really warm to hold with the oil finish - no hard lacquer to get between you and the timber!
Electrics comprise of 3 Kent Armstrong, rail type humbuckers that are controlled via a 5 way rotary selector, a tone control that also pull for single coil, a volume control and an incredibly useful, lead switch that bypasses any setting to switch in the bridge pickup in full HB mode. This switch is so useful it defies belief that no other guitars with complex switching use it. This is clearly a guitar designed for professional live playing.
There is a Wilkinson locking trem that, when adjusted, performs just fine. Really nice vibrato - but not for divebombing - but if you play this guitar you'd be way too COOL for that kind of widdling anyway!
BTW - the case is a superb green Hiscox one - can't really get better!
Sound
:
9
I have a few guitars - '72 Gibson ES345 Stereo (in deep wine red - the most gorgeous thing imaginable), an ancient '62 Casino with P90s and a Fender Flame refitted with Seymour Duncans - but the Eggle is the one in my hands most of the time
I play anything for money I'm afraid. My mercenary mission include everything from C&W to Pop stuff to local pantomimes and recording!!!..... but I come into my own playing in my down and dirty blues band.... often playing raucous 3 hour gigs without a vocalist - just my Eggle + Wah, Bass & Drums... utter Joy!
My main amplification for the past 15 years has always been Mesa Boogie - A MK III Combo wired through a 2x12 half-back ported cab.... basically the "dogs bollocks" in UK parlance!
Effects stop at a CryBaby Wah Wah (unless I can find another MXR Microamp!!!!)
The guitar can be made to sound anywhere between a hot strat or a tight Les Paul - but with a unique thick and gritty edge similar to P90s (I also have a '64 Epiphone Casino - so I know). The boogie can draw a lovely shimmer from the neck and mid pickups when set to single coil and the clean bridge pickup can sound a lot like a Tele. It is a meaty, solid sound - very good for all round playing. never dull and never too sharp - utterly balanced and very solid and resonant.
I give it 9 for Sound simply because it gets so close to sounding exactly like a Les Paul AND a strat that it can get frustrating!!!!
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
Perfect to play from the day I got it - it felt like it was custom made for me - I played a few in the shop and this one had something special as well as having no paint - which may be a significant factor in the way it feels and sounds.
Clearly a small company spent a lot of care and love making my guitar - it was not off the end of a production line - and you can tell!
It has played hundreds of gigs faultlessly but recently I lost a coil in the middle pickup (shorted) - but to be honest the guitar is so versatile I hardly ever notice. One day - I'll fix it but it is still fine for gigging.
The Wilkinson trem can be fiddly to adjust if you need to change string weights for recording etc. but other than that it is really sturdy and not prone to going out of adjustment.
Reliability/Durability
:
10
Utterly reliable with solid Hardware and it is often gigged without equivalent backup - I rarely break a string...
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never needed them... so I can't say
Overall Rating
:
10
A very reliable instrument for a semi-pro looking for a lot of versatility without silly features and toy like adornments.
Irreplaceable - very rare these days and I feel priveliged to own it. I'll be rocking with my Eggle when I'm 100!
If my Patrick Eggle LA standard could read I hope it reads this to knows how much I appreciate it! :)
