Apart from the obvious of, I must like the looks and feel of a guitar, I always need a sensitive and decent quality trem. One must wobble the pitch for that lovely surf music.
I'd tried a few guitars out, the day before, at a different shop. A Levinson Blade strat, that was very good quality and a real looker but needed a complete set up. A Brian May guitar; this one with a natural wood finish. I could definitely get used to the short scale and wide fingerboard. Rather too many switches though, yet the tri-sonic pickups were very nice. The trem however , although sensitive, was completely wacky and I knew I couldn't get used to it. I usually steer clear of Jaguars, being more of a Jazzmaster fan. But I have to say, the Classic Player Jag I tried, was, with it's flatwound strings, a joy to play. In metallic red, it was quintessentially surf. But like the JM's, I really don't rate the trems. They are smooth but almost too subtle. Maybe I'll go for the Johnny Marr version, one day.
Anyway, I went out today, to Promenade Music, in Morcambe, with the Patrick Eggle LA Custom, in the forefront of my mind. I'd spotted it there before but had only had a quick, non-amped up play on it. As all my current guitars have various types of single coil pickups on, I thought I'd overcome my prejudice and try something with humbuckers.
I did have a quick try on some other guitars but as soon as I plugged in the Eggle, I knew that was the guitar I'd be getting today. Very playable, with a solid, vibrant feel.
The swamp ash body is of the strat family design, with a bolt-on, maple neck and a lovely ebony fingerboard. The body has a rich, gloss finished, turquoise colour. The colour repeats on the asymmetric headstock, in a matt-satin finish. Initially the action was far too low for me. But Gary sorted that out for me and replaced the 9s with 10s.
The plastic scratchplate has a matt silver aluminium look to it, which compliments the turquoise body and is mirrored by the similarly finished Wilkinson USA trem and Sperzel Trimlock tuners. The black pickups are Seymour Duncan. There are a single volume knob and a single tone knob.
The pickup selector is 5 way, which gives some coil-tapped options. The 5 main sounds are varied and very useable. The only gripe is that some are louder than the others. Being a simple soul, I tend to find just 2 or 3 sounds I like on a guitar and stick to them. And that's no problem on this guitar. I particularly like the bridge humbucker, it has the sound of a Gibson 335, to my ears. And as I already have some stunning sounds from my other, single coiled guitars, this HB based Eggle, makes a refreshing change.
As I said before, I use a lot of trem, in a vintage, surf wobble kind of way. The Wilkinson USA trem is very nice to use. Very sensitive but worth getting used to. The Sperzel locking tuners help keep everything in tune, post wobble, which makes me a very happy twanger.
The Patrick Eggle LA Custom has excellent finishing. The wood grain, through the translucent turquoise, is particularly nice. Some may find the aluminium look scratchplate a strange combination, to the body. And may feel similarly about the strat shaped body and more PRS/Gibson styled headstock. Overall though I think it all works rather well. Different but not without some beauty.
I'm a fan of ebony fretboards and this one doesn't disappoint. Lovely and smooth with a reassuring solidity. I like the satin finish on the neck but would have preferred the headstock to have been in gloss, to match the body.
Early days yet but at a ridiculously low price, for a British made guitar, it's hard to see how I could regret this acquisition.
(apologies for the pics, poor light and a bit rushed)
