MusicRadar

The minimal dimensions and weight mean the Parlour is comfortable to play.

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• Review

Patrick James Eggle is obsessed with guitars. Some 10,000 guitars and 30 years after he built his first one, Eggle is one of the few UK luthiers who enjoys an enviable reputation both at home and overseas.

His current acoustic range covers all the key bases (dreadnought, OM, jumbo and so on), with one noticeable exception - until recently, Eggle's catalogue was missing a parlour-shaped guitar.

As Eggle tells us, for years, customers would ask, "When are you going to build a parlour? And now that I've done it, I'm really excited about this guitar."

The lines and curves of a parlour are perhaps more 'old world'-looking than other body shapes. Evoking images of early Martin 0 and 00 guitars, the parlour remains essentially a vintage model.

"The 'bearclaw of the solid Italian spruce top gives natural decoration to the very simple, understated looks."

Being a 12-fret guitar, the parlour's body appears long in form; a perception augmented by the ultra-tight waist. Due to their sweet, intricate tone and the finger-friendly characteristics of short scale, parlour guitars are particularly popular with fingerstyle players, though they're rarely a pure player's guitar.

Eggle himself admits that his target consumer is someone looking for a second, or even third, high-end guitar.

In terms of its dimensions, our review model measures just 207mm across the waist with a standard 102mm (four-inch) soundhole. Although the eye would try to tell you differently, our parlour is just 2mm shorter than a Martin OM-28, measuring 487mm tall.

At its widest, the parlour is a slender 342mm, which, to put that into perspective, is 54mm less than a D-18 and a whopping 77mm less than a Lowden jumbo! The smaller body inevitably reduces the guitar's mass and it tips the scales at just 1.7kgs.

These minimal dimensions and reduced weight result in an extremely comfortable guitar to play. In the seated position (which is where Eggle expects the parlour to be played as evidenced by the lack of any strap buttons) you can wrap yourself around the guitar and cradle it.

The playing position also brings your left hand much closer to the guitar's body, making fretboard orientation much easier than on larger, 14-fret guitars.

Our review model's soundboard is constructed from solid, book-matched Italian spruce, described by its maker as 'bearclaw'. Viewed from certain angles, the 'claw' scars give a quilted appearance.

This natural decoration provides a deep, layered appearance to the very simple, understated top. The only decorative indulgence being a soundhole rosette made from green paua shell, no less.

The parlour's back and sides are shaped from solid East Indian rosewood, which is full of texture and grain detail. The binding, as fitted to both the front and back of the guitar, is crafted from cocobolo (hand-picked by Eggle himself); a tropical hardwood found mostly in Central America and often used to make basses.