Patrick Eggle New York Standard review

Patrick Eggle New York Standard - Front view

I recently had the opportunity to borrow and test a Patrick Eggle New York Standard. This is an English made guitar which borrows design elements from many well known models, but ends up being dissimilar to any of them.

Materials and construction

The body is constructed of a one piece slab of alder, with a natural finish that comes up a treat with a bit of light oiling. The Alder is very light, and give a good resonant upper midrange sound. 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 standing up or sitting down. The strap pegs are well positioned, and the kind that actually stop the guitar falling on the floor. No strap locks required here. 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. Overall the body resembles a PRS style shape, but without the extensive contouring.

Headstock. Note how the strings stay in an almost perfectly straight line once they go over the nut.

Neck and Headstock

The neck is quite a short scale which can get a little cramped up at the top frets. The finish is satin smooth, and is quite thin and fast but not so 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 or a bit of wire wooling would’t sort out. (I opted for the day's playing option.) The action on the example tested was nice and low, and pretty fast. Ideal for bluesy licks.

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 its 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 result is a headstock that does not seek to imitate or pervert any Fender or Gibson trademarks, neither have they tried to re-invent the wheel and come up with something too original. The result is a is tasteful but still interesting headstock shape. The tuning machines used on this guitar are first class. They are Sperzel die cast precision tuners, and feel marvelous. 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.

An unusual combination of a Telecaster style string -thru body and Gibson style Tune-o-matic bridge.

Pickups

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 two 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, four 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.

Bridge

If I were to design a guitar, it would have a bridge like this. It combines the best part of two different designs. The strings go through the body like on a Telecaster, but the ferrules are staggered, presumably to match the shape the saddles are aligned in to get the correct intonation.

The strings then go over a Gibson style Tune-o-matic bridge. This gives accurate control of string height and intonation. This is a great bridge. It is simple, there's nothing on it to go wrong, and it works.

Sounds

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't 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. Unless this guitar is played with some attitude, it feels as if it might disappear in the mix. In small jazz or blues band with only one guitar, this would not a be a problem, but in a rock band competing with a screaming second guitar, you feel as though it might get lost.

Summary

This is an English built guitar that despite being small, light and simple in construction oozes class. The guitar feels solid and stable despite its meek appearance and has been designed using a tried and tested solid and dependable methods that make it truly dependable. 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. 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.