New PEG Day

drwiddly

Doh! Looking again it appears this is not a 90's PEG but a 'Tiggle' - i.e. made by Patrick Eggle Guitars after the company was taken over by Gordon Tilley. As I have no idea what features are 'correct' for PEG's from that era, please disregard my previous post!

TTony

drwiddly said:

There are a few non-standard features on that one for a 90's Berlin. You've already mentioned the back plates not being recessed (they're usually recessed on all Berlins but on Los Angeles models the trem covers are not recessed). There's usually a belly carve on a Berlin and any made after mid 1992 had a volute. It would also be highly unusual for the top to be a veneer. All this suggests it might have been an employee guitar or a special order. Might be worth a post on the Eggle forum if you want more info as there are some very knowledgeable people on there.

You're right - it's not a standard off-the-shop-wall guitar.

The background to it (from the original FS thread) is ...

Pete24v said:

Here's a lovely 90's Patrick Eggle Berlin. It was purchased by a friend of mine, (a non guitar player) who came with me to the factory relocation event where Patrick Eggle were selling off some unfinished parts. This guitar was bought as a finished neck and body, it literally just needed hardware.. pickups, tuners, bridge, electronics. But as a non guitar player he decided to just let it hang on his lounge wall as a decorative piece, for 15 years or so!

4 or 5 years ago he decided to get it built, using Sperzel Locking machine heads, a Gotoh Wilkinson VS100 and a fine pair of Bulldog Fat PAF's. He learnt a few chords, but then it went back on his wall! 

So that allows for a pretty accurate dating of its age.

It's in minty condition - perhaps unsurprisingly given its history! - and the spec is (IMHO) pretty good too.  No issues with the quality of the worksmanship (although I've not examined in from the inside yet), finishing or materials (ditto).  From the quick bit of research I did before I bought it, PEG prices seem to be all over the place, but it seemed a fair price given the condition/spec, and allows me to scratch that particular itch.

We'll see how it settles in over the next few weeks.  If it doesn't settle - for whatever reason - I've an idea of someone else who might fancy it anyways.

drwiddly

Looks like a cracking guitar and the Bulldog p/u's are a nice bonus. Eggles in the 90's were generally fitted with Seymour Duncan or Kent Armstrong p/u's, neither of which I'm very fond of. They really don't bring out the best in the guitars IMHO. I recently fitted some Oil City p/u's in my Berlin Deluxe and the improvement over the SD's was massive.

Pete24v

It was definitely purchased in 1996, that's when we went over to the factory and I ordered my custom New York at the  same time. I remember the chap we dealt with was called Peter Goalby, he was overseeing things at the time as Musical Exchanges in Birmingham had recently purchased Patrick Eggle Guitars. 

I can't remember any back plates on the Berlin, I presume they were made by the Luthier here in Leicester who finished the guitar off. 

Pete

Pete24v

The Bulldogs came about as my friend really liked the sound of my old Japanese Tokai, which has the same pickups in. He simply ordered a set, rather than period correct Seymour Duncan. 

DrBob

I'm loving the 3 way switch tip, I'd like to get one the same shape for my Heritage. Any idea where it's from

Dave_Mc

TTony said:

I've wanted to try one for a while.  Part of it is probably the Bailey connection, and another part of it is the small-UK builder thing.  

So, having sold a few recently, I was in a fortunate position of being able to grab this one when it appeared.  It has a bit of a story to it, and has apparently been hung on a wall as a piece of art for most of its life.  So, it looks and feels like new, and sounds pretty damn good too.  Feels good, the weight is comfortable, neck is different - but not in a bad way.  It's not bling, but has the feel of good solid quality materials and workmanship.

Did Bailey work for PEG?

TTony

@Dave_Mc - he did indeed.   Early thru late 90's - it's where he learned to make guitars! 

Pete24v

DrBob;243905" said:

I'm loving the 3 way switch tip, I'd like to get one the same shape for my Heritage. Any idea where it's from

I remember allparts and or Wd being used for other hardware, might be from there?

drwiddly

Pete24v;243750" said:

It was definitely purchased in 1996, that's when we went over to the factory and I ordered my custom New York at the same time. I remember the chap we dealt with was called Peter Goalby, he was overseeing things at the time as Musical Exchanges in Birmingham had recently purchased Patrick Eggle Guitars.

I can't remember any back plates on the Berlin, I presume they were made by the Luthier here in Leicester who finished the guitar off.

Pete

That's interesting because it's too early to be a Tiggle as I suggested above. I have a 1996 Berlin Pro V and it's a very different beast - recessed back plates, volute, belly carve and no edge binding. I'll go back to my original theory of it being a prototype or a staff guitar

Pete24v

drwiddly said:

Pete24v;243750" said:

It was definitely purchased in 1996, that's when we went over to the factory and I ordered my custom New York at the same time. I remember the chap we dealt with was called Peter Goalby, he was overseeing things at the time as Musical Exchanges in Birmingham had recently purchased Patrick Eggle Guitars.

I can't remember any back plates on the Berlin, I presume they were made by the Luthier here in Leicester who finished the guitar off.

Pete

That's interesting because it's too early to be a Tiggle as I suggested above. I have a 1996 Berlin Pro V and it's a very different beast - recessed back plates, volute, belly carve and no edge binding. I'll go back to my original theory of it being a prototype or a staff guitar

I recall quite a few guitars that were in various 'states' on the open day. They were all made in the Coventry factory, and were not going to be finished in the Birmingham factory. There were unfinished rough cut bodies, necks with no frets, and some carcases just needing hardware. Some had finish flaws, some had minor damage, but my friend picked this one as the best of the bunch.

The Serial Number is 009609 if that of any use.

I think i'd agree with the staff/prototype theory.

drwiddly

Gadge on the Eggle forum could probably make use of the serial number and tell us all sorts of interesting stuff ;-) I'm no expert on the fine details. @Revmatt may stop by and he knows a lot more than I do. He's pretty much owned about half of all Eggles ever made! :-D

TTony

drwiddly said:

Gadge on the Eggle forum could probably make use of the serial number and tell us all sorts of interesting stuff ;-) I'm no expert on the fine details. @Revmatt may stop by and he knows a lot more than I do. He's pretty much owned about half of all Eggles ever made! :-D

I did try to join the Eggle forum when I was looking at this, but you have to wait to be "approved" so I never bothered actually joining and posting anything.

RevMatt

The serial no. confirms that it's a circa 1996 guitar, but it doesn't reveal anything else of interest. As @drwiddly says, there are quite a few anomalies with this guitar compared to a standard production model, nearly all of which have been mentioned already (non volute neck, incorrect hardware, non belly contour etc), but the one that hasn't been mentioned is the binding. Is that plastic body binding? If so, it's the only Eggle I've ever seen with this feature - by the mid nineties many Berlins had natural edge binding which I would expect to reveal a lovely thick maple top (no veneers here).

The other thing that caught my eye from previous comments is the versatility comparison between this and a PRS SC - I was surprised at first as I've always found the Berlin Pro to be an extremely versatile guitar and certainly more so than the PRS SCs that I've owned. In this instance, the lack of versatility is definitely down to the pickups / wiring which are non standard.

Anyway, the beauty with Eggles is that there are lots of quirks and anomalies and no two are ever quite the same which adds charm and character. This is a great looking guitar and I hope that rather than just scratching your Eggle itch it'll aggravate it and maybe you'll need another one!

Dave_Mc

TTony said:

@Dave_Mc - he did indeed.   Early thru late 90's - it's where he learned to make guitars! 

Thanks. I didn't know that )