Patrick James Eggle – Linville Cutaways Patrick James Eggle Linville Cutaways In a market place where elite guitars battle it out for top slot on your want list, Patrick James Eggle produces a new incarnation of the Linville favourite as contender to that station. Richard Thomas sets the context for you to consider. I t has been said, in recent years, by many writers, that we are living in a golden age of guitar making. It is, I think, undeniably true to say that Martin are making some of their finest instruments, and the USA has produced a crop of smaller makers and individual luthiers who have raised the bar and set new standards in terms of build quality, tone and playability. One thinks of companies such as Bourgeois, Collings, Huss and Dalton and Santa Cruz, for example. It is only natural when one thinks of high-end instruments that one’s mind turns to the USA, the home of the steel-stringed guitar. However, as our new series on British makers will demonstrate, there is a wealth of home grown talent we can tap into. The name Patrick Eggle is not necessarily be the first that springs to mind when one thinks of British acoustic guitar makers. Indeed, my only encounter with Eggle guitars to date was as the owner of a very cool New York Broadway model back in the 1990s. Having become quite well know for his electric guitars, Patrick concentrated on archtops, but then decided to move into making acoustics, at which point he moved to North Carolina. Many would think this a brave, even foolhardy move – a British maker with limited background in acoustics attempting to break into the American market, a market already inundated with luthiers. However, Patrick soon established his reputation there and since his move back to the UK his guitars have been making waves in all the right places on this side of the pond too. He and his small team concentrate on producing a small range of instruments from their Oswestry base. Briefly the range consists of the Etowah (a 12-fret 000), the Linville (an OM), the Saluda (a mini-jumbo), the Skyland (a dreadnought) and the Kanuga (a slope-shouldered dreadnought, a la J45). Each of these guitars may be customised with a wide range of options and prices for base models start at £1,999. The guitars that are the subject of this review are Linvilles – both cutaway models, one with traditional East Indian rosewood back and sides, the other a custom model with exotic myrtle wood construction. 52 Patrick James Eggle – Linville Cutaways “... Patrick soon established his reputation there and since his move back to the UK his guitars have been making waves in all the right places on this side of the pond...” 53 Patrick James Eggle – Linville Cutaways Linville Cutaway Custom Model: Linville Cutaway - Custom Price: £3,200 Manufacturer: Patrick James Eggle Built in: United Kingdom Body Size: Lower bout width: 15 1/8” – 385mm, Upper bout width: 11 1/8” – 283mm, Waist: 9 3/8” – 238mm, Depth: 116mm max – 90mm min Woods used: Top: Alaskan Sitka Spruce Back & sides: Myrtlewood – Bay Laurel Neck: Brazilian Mahogany Fingerboard: Ebony Frets (No. & size): 20 frets 2.15mm wide Tuners: PJE branded Gotoh 301 18/1 ratio Nut Width & Scale Length: Nut width: 1 ¾” – 44.5mm String spacing at bridge: 2 5/32” = 55mm E to E centres Scale length: 25.34” Strings Fitted (Gauge & Brand) D’Addario Phosphor Bronze 12 - 53 Onboard Electronics: No Left handers? Yes Gig Bag/Case Included: Hiscox Lightflight Here is the highly figured myrtlewood and bay laurel back and sides - visually stunning Construction Both Linvilles share similar construction and are based on Martin’s classic OM style, with a slightly less rectangular profile and a fractionally wider (around 3mm or 1/8”) lower bout. Internally they’re as clean as the proverbial whistle, with not a trace of excess glue or residual debris from manufacture. Bracing for both instruments is also very much in the Martin tradition. Having experimented with variations on the theme over the years Patrick has come to the conclusion that Martin got it pretty much right and to deviate simply for the sake of it would be a mistake. I’m inclined to agree. Some nicely grained Alaskan sitka spruce provides the top for each instrument and very good it is too. Some luthiers feel that sitka is too stiff for a smaller bodied instrument, preferring Engleman spruce or cedar to provide a more immediate response, but I’m not convinced personally. I’ve played some beautiful sitka-topped OMs from Martin, Collings and others and, as I’ll mention later on, these instruments certainly don’t seem to be hampered in any way by the choice of tonewood for the top. The more conventionally specified model features some good quality East Indian rosewood for the back and sides, with beautifully figured koa binding. Decoration to the top is simple, taking the form of white fibre and bloodwood purfling and an abalone soundhole rosette. The bolt on neck is made of Brazilian mahogany and is satin finished. At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that the Contact Details Woodview Enterprises Ltd Tel: + 44 1236 824588 www.woodviewenterprises.com What we think Pros: Fabulous build quality, playability and tone from a major home grown talent. Cons: You may not like the headstock shape. I really can’t think of anything else. Overall: Top class instruments from a British maker. A joy to play. Patrick Eggle’s guitars deserve to make a serious impression on both the UK and overseas markets for high-end guitars. ACOUSTIC RATING OUT OF FIVE ebony fingerboard is bound but, in fact, the illusion is created by the insertion of some thin coachlining into the fingerboard, which also continues around the ebony-faced headstock. It’s a nice touch. The fingerboard itself features Patrick’s stunning falling leaf inlay in abalone. It’s beautifully executed and makes a welcome change from the more common snowflake or block inlays that are often used on higher end guitars. I guess decorative features like this are a matter of personal taste and I’m not a big fan of unnecessary ostentation, but I really like this design, which reminds me a little the inlay George Lowden uses on his Brazilian rosewood 38 models. Patrick has his own headstock design – a narrow, elongated shape – with PJE branded Gotoh tuners, sporting black resin buttons. I’m not totally convinced by this design innovation from an aesthetic point of view, but it does help to facilitate a slightly straighter path for the strings between nut and tuner. Turning to the second, more expensive guitar we find the abalone rosette replaced by a thick ring of spalted maple, whilst the body is bound in cocobolo. This guitar is a treat for lovers of good wood! Flipping the body over reveals a back and sides made from drop-dead gorgeous myrtle. Acoustic Ratings Exceptional Excellent Good Average Poor 54 Patrick James Eggle – Linville Cutaways Linville Cutaway Model: Linville Cutaway - Custom Price: £2,500 Manufacturer: Patrick James Eggle Built in: United Kingdom Body Size: Lower bout width: 15 1/8” – 385mm, Upper bout width: 11 1/8” – 283mm, Waist: 9 3/8” – 238mm, Depth: 116mm max – 90mm min Woods used: Top: Alaskan Sitka Spruce Back & sides: East Indian Rosewood Neck: Brazilian Mahogany Fingerboard: Ebony Frets (No. & size): 20 frets 2.15mm wide Tuners: PJE branded Gotoh 301 18/1 ratio Nut Width & Scale Length: Nut width: 1 ¾” – 44.5mm String spacing at bridge: 2 5/32” = 55mm E to E centres Scale length: 25.34” Strings Fitted (Gauge & Brand) D’Addario Phosphor Bronze 12 - 53 Onboard Electronics: No Left handers? Yes Gig Bag/Case Included: Hiscox Lightflight This is still unusual wood for guitar manufacture, but it’s been used to good effect by both Kim Breedlove and George Lowden on some of their custom models. Around two years ago I played a sensational David Oddy M made from myrtle and the memory of that guitar haunts me still. Indeed it was only the need to feed and clothe my family that prevented me from buying it on the spot. Believe me, it was a tough choice! Myrtle is a light coloured wood, a little more olive than maple. It has a lower average density than rosewood and I was immediately struck by how light the guitar was. The neck of this guitar is also much lighter in colour than that of the rosewood model and certainly works well with the myrtle. I checked with Patrick, who assured me that it was, in fact, also Brazilian mahogany. Patrick and his colleagues select the woods carefully, trying to achieve a good match with the woods they use for the body. playability. This has to be one of the best playing, most comfortable necks I’ve encountered. It felt like an old friend from the word go (not that I make a habit of wrapping my hands around the necks of old friends, you understand). For me the action was perfect and in no time I realised that this instrument – for me at least – had that un-putdownable quality that is so difficult to define, but is something that I suppose we all look for in a guitar. The guitar responds beautifully to the dynamics of the player’s style and had warmed up nicely after just a couple of minutes’ playing. It’s unmistakably a rosewood/spruce guitar, with resonant, well-defined bass and lower-mids and trebles that chime and sparkle. Balance across the frequencies was good – as you might expect from an OM style instrument. This is a singersongwriter’s dream, equally capable of articulate fingerpicking and strumming or flatpicking. Personally I’d stick to a medium gauge pick and I didn’t find I needed a thumbpick to get a good, clear bass, but so much depends on an individual player’s style it’s hard to come to any definitive conclusion on these things. This guitar certainly loves open tunings and dropping the bass down to D or C presents no problems. The cutaway provides extended access up the fretboard for the adventurous and it’s good to see that intonation is spot on at the twelfth fret so there should be no problems in that respect either. In Use It’s not often one has the luxury of playing two guitars from the same maker, identical in all significant respects other than the wood chosen for the bodies, so this is an excellent opportunity to evaluate just how much difference choice of wood makes. Picking up the rosewood guitar first, I was pleased to find myself in familiar territory immediately, not simply in terms of tone, but in sheer Contact Details Woodview Enterprises Ltd Tel: + 44 1236 824588 www.woodviewenterprises.com What we think Pros: Fabulous build quality, playability and tone from a major home grown talent. Cons: You may not like the headstock shape. I really can’t think of anything else. Overall: Top class instruments from a British maker. A joy to play. Patrick Eggle’s guitars deserve to make a serious impression on both the UK and overseas markets for high-end guitars. ACOUSTIC RATING OUT OF FIVE Turning to the myrtle Linville I was surprised to find it a little warmer in tone than its rosewood cousin. It’s a slightly softer sound – pretty much the same tonal balance, with just a touch less bass perhaps, and slightly less sustain. I’m struggling to make a comparison, but I thought it had more depth of tone than a typical maple guitar. If anything, it reminded more of walnut – a tonewood I’m quite fond of and one that is highly regarded by luthiers such as George Lowden and Dana Bourgeois. The sound is neither better nor worse than rosewood, merely a little different. Conclusion I remember talking to David Crozier of Guitar Junction a couple of years ago, who was positively raving about PJE acoustics. I’d never played one (or even seen one at the time) but I’ve always found David to be a man of impeccable judgement when it comes to guitars and, one the evidence of these two, I’d have to say that he was absolutely spot on. I have no hesitation in saying that these guitars can truly compete with the likes of Collings and other American high-end guitar makers. I remember my Eggle electric with fondness, but I’m very glad Patrick has made the move into making acoustics. The thorny question is which one would I buy, and I really would part with my cash for one – the rosewood or the myrtle? I have a feeling the only satisfactory answer would be….both! Richard Thomas 55 Acoustic Ratings Exceptional Excellent Good Average Poor Delicately finished falling leaves inlay the ebony