Patrick Eggle New York Standard

A pretty standard Guitar, I found regular fender style 5 way pickup selector, two singles and a bridge hum, Kent Armstrong pickups. Some seem to think this guitar leads to have a very thin trebbly tone but I'v never seen this as a bad thing.

Great rich sound with plenty of control and only one tone knob (thankyou!!!) I never found why you need two. The Humbucker really gives a nice kick although i found the hum and the singles a little mismatched. Still ace though

Great action, best thing about it I think. as I say the pickups sound quite different to each other but I prefer it, a little more sound flexibility without having to resort to fx units.

Well I can't say Iv tested it but its strap buttons did come off once but its been fine since i just put a matchstick in the hole, can't complain. I would be fine gigging it.

Considering mine is a 179 pound korean model I'v never seen anything like it. Brilliant sound, great feel and action you could create a bond film from. Awesome. PLays like a 600 pound guitar.

Build

The body is contructed of a one piece slab of alder, with a natural finish that comes up a treat with a bit of light oiling. The neck looks like maple, with a rosewood finger board. The neck is secured to the body with 4 screws, and nice metal plate embossed with the Patrick Eggle Logo. The guitar feels very light and small, and the body is has come subtle contours which makes it very comfortable to play. The strap pegs are well positioned, and the kind that actually stop the guitar falling on the floor. The scratch plate is quite special, being a lovely 3 ply, white, black and tortoise shell finish. This is very smart, and complements the stain of the alder body very nicely.

Neck and headstock

The neck is quite a short scale which can get a little cramped up at the top frets. Other the finish is satin smooth, and is quite thin and fast but not thin it feels insubstantial. The example I tested had not been played in a while and consequently some the frets felt a bit rough but this is nothing that days? playing wouldn?t sort out.

The action on the example tested was nice and low, and pretty fast.

The headstock is nicely angled back from the neck and has been shaped in such way that on the reverse side of the neck before the first fret, the neck scoops up, as if to form a little ridge to stop your left hand sliding down too far. Whilst this is clearly not a common or dangerous problem for guitarists, it is nice and welcome touch that helps gives this guitar it?s class. The headstock is a simple and elegant shape that has clearly been the result of some great function before form design. The stings go over the nut, and stay in an almost perfectly straight line until they meet their respective tuning machines. This means the headstock shape needs to kite shaped, and this shape has only been slightly modified by offsetting it a little, and smoothing our the curves.

The tuning machines used on this guitar are first class. They are Sperzel die cast precision tuners, and feel marvellous. Despite the guitar I tested being about ten years old and had not been regularly serviced, the machines still felt like new. They have a teutonic smoothness and precision to them and work a treat. They really add to the feeling of class and stability that surround this guitar.

Pickups and electronics

The is a single coil at the neck position and tapable humbucker at the bridge. I think these are Kent Armstrong designed pieces. There is a 2 way selector switch so you can?t blend the two pickups which is a shame. This is probably because if you are going to blend a humbucker and a single coil you will certainly need a volume control for each pick up to balance them out, and then you are into Gibson style 4 tone pot territory, which might clutter up the aesthetics of this tiny guitar. There is a very effective tone control, and a volume control. Both the volume and tone operate both pickups. The volume pot on the guitar tested was rather crackly, probably though under-use.

This guitar re-enforces the view that a guitar will sound like it feels. Whilst a big heavy Gibson will sound full and woody, this very small light guitar sounds thin and trebly. This is particularly true on the single coil, where the sound can be almost trill and painful if the tone control is not used. Tactical use of the tone control is certainly required with this guitar. You just can leave the tone on the brightest setting and then forget about it like you can on many guitars. If you are seeking a big fat sustain laden rock rhythm tone, this is not the guitar for you. This guitar is at its best with some half clean tones rounded out with lots of reverb. The sustain is not great, which is unsurprising on such a small light guitar. This encourages you play in quite a heavy handed way, which brings out a pleasant punch and pop to the guitar sounds. Jazz and blues players would feel right at home here.

The set up was great, despite being unused for a year, and not having had a professional set up during years of regular playing.

The guitar I tested has been extensively gigged over several years internationally (in Wales and England) without a back up. It had picked up several minor dings which have done it no harm at all and are far less noticeable in a natural wood finish, rather than a high gloss. Only the slightly crackly volume pot lets it down, but this is easily fixed.

No idea.

This is an English built guitar that despite being small, light and simple in construction oozes class. The guitar feels solid and stable despite it?s meek appearance and has been designed using a tried and tested solid and dependable methods that make it truly dependable. Overall, this is a quality guitar, only slightly let down by a lack of sustain and an over-trebly sound. However for the right player, it will be ideal.

Tom du Pre

Mine is a left-handed New Yorker that was made in 1993.

It's quite a small guitar and weighs very little.

The features have pretty much been covered by other reviewers however the two-way switch has been replaced with a three-way switch giving more pick-up options.

The guitar has no tremelo as it's one of the original New York guitars with the tune-o-matic bridge.

It originally had a black finish but i fancied something different so I took it to Andy's in Denmark Street, London and they sorted me out with a nice transparent green finish - it looks great.

Other than the addition of the 3 way pick-up switch (and the colour change) this guitar is as i bought it.



The guitar came with a gig-bag.

I play alt-rock and it gives me the sounds i need.

The humbuckers give a nice thick sound, sometimes the single-coil pick-up sounds a bit too bright for my liking but my tone-control is broken so this could perhaps be remedied.

I play it through a Mesa Boogie DC-5.

When i got the guitar (8 years ago) my knowledge of guitars and their set-up was fairly minimal (and hasn't increased all that much since then) so I don't know in technical terms what people would make of the set-up etc.. however i had no issues with this at the time.

This guitar would definitely stand up to live playing.

I mentioned that i had some problems with the electronics (some soldered wires came loose) however these were fairly easily fixed (albeit not by me). Unfortunately the guy that fixed it for me messed up the tone control but when i get my act together i'm sure this would be easily sorted out.

The guitar is pretty solid and (once the electronics had been attended to) is happy to take a bit of bashing.

I could use this guitar without a back-up however I generally prefer to play with back-up just in case.

I've never needed to approach the Eggle Company regarding this guitar.

The fact that the company has changed quite alot over the last 10 years might possibly make a difference, their merged with Blade for a while but that is purely speculative.

Unfortunately I cannot remember the duration of the warranty.

I've been playing the guitar for 11 years or so.

I love this guitar it has a lot of personality, suits my needs and arouses interest.

I have also owned an Eggle Berlin but prefer this guitar.