Faith Legacy Series
IF YOU LIKE HARMONY, HERE’S A TRIO YOU’LL LOVE.
Faith Guitars, founded in 2002 and led by renowned British luthier Patrick James Eggle, is making quite a stir around the world. Eggle’s vision seems to be to respect tradition but to do it a whole lot bet ter.
Having seen quite a few Faith instruments, they have all had an inviting vibe – friendly, stylish, playable, and with a great sound. So, when they asked me to review the new Legacy range, I was very pleased to spend some time with these beautiful instrument. Oh… And the guitars arrived professionally set-up, each in its pro-quality Faith case.
LONG LASTING LEGACY
The Legacy Series has a very traditional flavour but with some very sweet touches, all three models sharing the same build values: solid African Mahogany body, torrefied (roasted) solid Sitka Spruce soundboard, mahogany neck, Macassar Ebony fretboard, solid figured maple binding, bone nut & saddle, Grover Rotomatics, abalone rosette…even the scatchplate is ebony. All the right stuff. They each have a 16” fretboard radius and a 25.6” scale. Since the body shapes are the only variable (the OM-ish Earth, the small jumbo Neptune, and dreadnought Mars), this seems a great comparison of those classic shapes.
NOTHING TO DREAD HERE
Dreadnoughts being more familiar to most people, the Mars sports the round shoulders of a J-35, giving it a very traditional vibe. The tone, too, has a vintage flavour, somewhere between the edgy-ness of a square-shouldered Martin and the softer bloom of an old Gibson. Having said that, the Mars delivers extraordinary volume across its very even sound spectrum. There’s not the mid honk of a Martin, nor is there the overly soft low end of a Gibson. Eggle has managed to design a dreadnought with enough sub-sonics to keep a dreadnought player happy and provide a smooth transition through the mids to the high end. The treble register has a warm, full tone and doesn’t lack for volume – if you want to take a solo, this guitar won’t “disappear” above the 8th fret. Fingerstyle, it takes a little more to drive that large soundboard but the result is very satifying. Use a pick lightly and there’s plenty of sweet articulation; dig in and you’ll hear a seriously big, wide sound. The Mars loves to be driven and it loves a heavy pick. Too much fun!
DOWN TO EARTH
The Earth is an auditorium model, but a touch deeper (4.45” – closer to dreadnought depth) and this gives it a much richer and deeper tone than one would expect. It doesn’t have the controlled boom of the Mars but neither does it have the thin low end of traditional OOOs. The Earth excels at fingerstyle – its extraordinarily sweet tone has a warm top end, a not-too-dominant midrange, and that round, precise bass. Under the pick, it performs well and cuts throught the mix. But, with fingers, the Earth has a voice that is clear, rich and articulate. It has great note separation, so every finger pattern or roll has clarity and complex chords won’t collapse into a harmonic mush. For a fingerpicker or a band’s acoustic
player, the Earth is ready to rock (or folk, as the case may be).
A NICE MIDDLE-GROUND
The Neptune is a small jumbo – a big guitar shrunk down to fit, tonally, somewhere between an OM and a dreadnought. However, while the dimensions are much like a dreadnought, the shape is quite different and this gives the Neptune its unique voice. The lows are big but not boomy, and present a definite fundamental note. The mids are smooth and warm, and the treble register is round and resonant, even up around the neck joint. In fact, the overall sound is so harmonically detailed that it seemed begging for some alternate tunings. DADGAD and Open G sounded great but Dropped D gave the D, A and G strings a little extra zing that I haven’t heard in a new guitar (usually, you have to wait decades). The Neptune is a great all-rounder, and plays well with pick or fingers.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Each of these guitars, with their shared values and unique features, has its own voice. The roasted Spruce tops are especially resonant and responsive; the high gloss finish protects the instrument; the quality fretwork feels great and plays true throughout; the Fishman Flex Blend system (pickup + mike, and a tuner that’s always ready, plugged in or not), through a Fishman SA-330 and a Fishman Artist, sounds accurate and quite fabulous. Everything about these guitars speaks of a level of care way beyond the standard. Faith Guitars may be a fairly new “player” in the industry but these guitars have a certain olde worlde charm, complemented by a contemporary attitude. If you can get over the big brand name fixation and live with the quirky model names (I mean…who’d name their band after an insect???), the Mars, Earth, and Neptune have a whole lot to offer the modern guitarist.