Patrick Eggle Berlin

[Stevepage]

My tastes in guitars are changing, I no longer want a guitar with a really thin neck, powerfull pickups and a floyd rose.

But I want something that's versatile enough to do the heavy stuff but be able to do everything else. The Patrick Eggle Berlin has really caught my attention.

How much should I expect to pay for one of these and how do they play?

I hear they're the 'british PRS'.

[Mr. Air]

I got a Godin LG and I find it very versatile. Not sure of it will fit your metal bill, but you could look into that (it hsn't got a trem). Or check out some of Godin's other models.

I must add that mine is an older model and I don't know how the newer ones compare.

[Dazza1004]

Had a Berlin, bought and sold for around the £500 mark



 They are very well made and play really nice, a couple of things to consider

The string spacing at the nut is 42mm not 43 like most guitars.

The body is physically quite small, there's a picture somewhere of one sat next to a PRS Cu22 and the Eggle is noticably smaller. I had more than a few comments about it looking like a toy guitar on me (I am 6ft and fairly chunky).

I know neither are probably deal breakers but worth while considering.

If you go over to the Eggle forum they are pretty friendly and they have a list of what all of the recent ebay sales have sold for, should give you a better idea on pricing.

[dave_mc]

agreed about going to the eggle forum. The older ones are supposedly better; I haven't tried enough to say categorically one way or the other, but I suspect they're right.

Nice guitars, I like them a lot, but I'm not sure if I've tried a berlin.

[Pete24v]

I've been to the factory 4 times, 3 were late 90's when i had a custom New York built and the last time was 2-3 years ago. Stick with the old stuff, the quality is right up there. The new stuff i tried was all dreadful, my baja tele played, sounded and was better built than a £1200 new Eggle.

[Matt77]

I've not been dazzled by the new stuff. I spent 20mins or so talking to them at the Manchester Guitar Show a while ago. Nice set of people. The old stuff has a good rep but I haven't played one. They used to get a lot of coverage in the UK mags before the company had a lot of changes

[HTH AMPS]

I've played some JJ guitars at shows before and very nearly bought one.  I had a '67 SG junior with me when I tried one of the guitars and started talking about an exchange, but the deal they were prepared to offer took the piss so I didn't bother.  Very nice guitars though and well priced... http://www.jjguitars.com/

You should also look at Feline guitars - very popular on this forum... http://www.felineguitars.com/

I especially like this one, reminds me of Anthrax... 


 

[choucas09]

Can I add another plus on JJ guitars. I've had a JJ retro for some years now. It was a nice guitar stock, but when I put in a BKP90 neck and a split coil Mule Bridge the F*cker just sings. I've had a PRS Mcarty Goldtop P90 and the fact that I only kept it about 9 months tells a tale. My JJ is going nowhere.

[ToneMonkey]

I have an Eggle Berlin, I think that pre-96 are supposed to be the best years (while Mr Eggle himself was still in charge of the company).

There's a few members of the PE forum here, so hopefully they can chip in as mine still isn't playable (I'm just that lazy).  Bloody lovely guitars and seem excellemt value for money.

[Simon D]

A friend bought a '95 Berlin Pro 22 (trem version) earlier this year for around £600. However, I've seen them up for as much as £950, and a store near me had one for £850 a few months back, in cr@p condition.

As Tonemonkey says, the recieved wisdom is that the pre-96 guitars, made before the firm was sold to Gordon Tilley, are the ones to have. I've only played four old Eggles, so I'm not in a postion to offer judgement on that. However, I would say that I wasn't all that impressed with the new one I played at Music Live in Brum a month or so ago, especially as they were asking about £1,400 for it. As we know, there's some bloody serious competition around that price point, and it just did not cut it.

My buddy's Berlin is a very smooth player - fretboard radius is around a 12" and the neck itself is a slim-ish C-shape, if i remember right, and it's in decent, although not perfect, condition. The sound is pretty good, although the Duncan pickups did sound a little bit thin - then again it was being A/B'd with my Warpig-loaded Warmoth! Overall, I have a feeling he got a bargain, as every one I've seen since has been pricier.

There's a decent amount of info on them over here: http://gadge.biz/ . Hope this helps.

[Pete24v]

I had my New York built in '98, while Dave Quill from MX owned Eggle. It was built by Rob Williams and, and Trev Wilkinson. I remember the guy in charge was Peter Goalby (uriah heap) who i believe now works for Hiscox. They certainly had some good people there upto the Selby take over!

[Mr. Air]

Maybe a TC Ellis "Mantis" could have some appeal?

http://tcellisguitars.com/

[HTH AMPS]

Maybe a TC Ellis "Mantis" could have some appeal?

http://tcellisguitars.com/

wow, whats the deal with these guitars? - their Series 2 looks nice and starts from £299.00 - I'm taking it that they're built in China or Korea ??? (can't see how you could have a handmade, UK-built guitar retail for £299.00)

[maverickf1jockey]

Seems like a good business model; have the gear designed in house and built by a custom shop overseas to be assembled and finished in Britain.
It's similar to what Maverick used to do and what Vintage still does.
Hopefully those guitars should be nice; I'm interested as to how much the custom shop models rack up to in price.

[Mr. Air]

I just read a review of the TC Ellis series 2 (LP). The guy was very sattisfied. I can feel the GAS breathing down my neck!