The Guitar Magazine – September 2019

LIKE THIS? TRY THESE...

PRS McCarty Singlecut 594 £3,399, Nik Huber Orca Tiger Eye
£5,195, Gibson 1954 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue VOS £3,699

The thrill ride of an old classic with
9 /10 modern boutique production values

The back of the neck’s ‘worn through’
open-pore finish between the first and
14th frets has an organic but smooth feel
reminiscent of one of Eggle’s fabulous
acoustics, while the ‘Fat C’ carve is
beautifully rounded and will score many
points with fans of old Gibsons. Yet when
you work your way up to those higher
reaches, you’ll notice that it’s a much softer
ride than the traditional LP neck joint.
Many instruments are described as vocal
sounding, but plugging the Macon into our
Lazy J combo quickly reveals this guitar’s
vocabulary extends further than most. The
bridge P-90 has a raunchy snarl for riffs
and chords that soon transforms into a
wonderfully expressive blues-rock lead tone
that’s at once creamy and nasal, with plenty
of upper-harmonic interest.
The Mojo Staple pickup is a very
different animal – played clean, it’s easy
to hear the evolutionary link back to the
DeArmond Dynasonics that Les Paul
stuffed inside P-90 covers on his early
Goldtops. There are such clear highs and
deep, articulate bass notes that jazz, hybrid-
picking and fingerstyle workouts are equally
well served.
Wind up the drive and take a Hendrix-y
approach and the percussive dynamics of
the pickup and the elastic response of the
24.6-inch scale length – even strung with
Aynsley’s preferred Curt Mangan 0.11s –
combine into something resembling a fat
and visceral Strat tone. Exhilarating stuff.
What happens in the middle position?
We imagine this is where Aynsley will spend
a lot of his time, because there’s so much
light and shade available for blues playing

• from sweet to savage and all points in
  between. The onboard controls are musical
  and responsive; it’s possible to create
  pseudo-wah effects by rolling the neck
  pickup’s volume in and out of the mix and
  there’s a sweet spot around seven and a half
  for a quacky, cocked-wah-style lead tone.
  Although our time with this instrument
  merely allows us to scratch the surface (not
  literally, Aynsley, we promise), it’s clear
  there’s a beguiling array of tones on offer.
  Once again, we find ourselves saluting
  Eggle’s formidable luthiery skills.

Even the Kluson-style

Gotoh SD90 tuners

are aged by hand

The neck joint aids

upper-fret access

and player comfort

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