Post by Danny on Sept 14, 2010 18:56:57 GMT
Manufacturer & Model *: Faith Saturn
Where Purchased: Art's Council 'Take It Away' Scheme, can't remember
Year Purchased: '07?
Sound *: Well, Max, as I have called her, is a Spruce and Mahogany Dreadnought, designed as a modern version of a pre war Martin D-18, albeit designed for modern construction at an affordable price.
For instance she was built in Indonesia, with Indonesian mahogany for her back, sides and neck (Mahogany is my favorite tone wood in the world ever, just so ya all know)
I bought her, several years after trying a previous version in my local guitar shop. In between my trying the original guitar, and getting Max, the specs of the model had been upgraded, to my initial worry. However when she arrived she was magnificent. I now call her my 'burning building' guitar, cos if the building was alight and I only had time to grab one instrument, it'd be her, kinda like 'Desert Island Discs', the guitar version.
She sounds GREAT, full even and sweet across all the frequencies, she never fails to make me smile, I own one other Faith guitar (a Parlour, with the model name Mercury, a review to follow shortly)
Sound Rating *: 10
Setup *: Faultless.
After 2 years or so she developed a slight fret buzz on her open high e string, which I fixed with the old 'baking soda and super glue trick' Get back to me if you need more info on that.
Special mention must go to the strings that the guys at Faith and Barnes and Mullins (the parent company) string these guitars with as standard. Elixir Polyweb 12-53 Guage.
These strings are coated to resist corrosion from acidic sweat and so forth. As I happen to have VERY acidic sweat and can't use a regular set of strings for more than a few hours without needing to change them, these strings were a bloody godsend, they're now the only strings I'll use.
Setup Rating *: 10
Appearance *: Very plain, the design let's the natural beauty of the wood do it's thing rather than detracting from it with artificial bling and cheap nasty cosmetics. Something I personally prefer.
The small amount of decoration that she does have is tasteful and elegant. An Abalone rosette, with minimal fuss to distract the eye. Ebony fret board and bridge with matching bridge pins and gold plated Grover tuners with the 'kidney bean' heads made out of ebony, a very classy look to my eyes.
It's worth noting that she has a pin on the treble side of the neck heel, as well as the lower butt, this makes playing her on a strap MUCH easier.
The only negative I could give is that, on first arrival, the sound board was very pale indeed, however it has since aged to nice vintage yellow colour. How much of this is due to my dads smoking I wouldn't like to speculate.
Also the pearl diamond finger board markers have since been replaced with something nastier. Not an issue for me, but it might be if you're considering buying a similar model
Appearance Rating *: 9
Reliability *: Home use only for the most part, but she's very well built and comes with a hard case, all at only £400 quid, 10/10 from me. Although it should be noted that aside from the soundboards gloss finish, the rest of the instrument is a thin matt satin, which marks and scars VERY easily. It don't bother me in the slightest, but it needed to be mentioned
Reliability Rating *: 10
Components *: Solid Engleman Spruce,
Solid Indonesian Mahogany,
Macassar Ebony AND a solid lockable case for only £400 notes! Top bloody notch mate, top notch!
Components Rating *: 10
Pre-sale Customer Service: The shop (who's name I forget) and the Arts Council's 'Take It Away' scheme people were brilliant, they both bent over back words to be helpful
Pre-sale Customer Service Rating: 10
Post-sale Customer Service: Exchanged a few emails with Barnes and Mullins, very helpful and friendly, although they failed to send me a spare key for her case when I asked, even though they said the would. All in all 9/10
Post-sale Customer Service Rating: 9
Any Other Information: I can't praise faith guitars enough. Feel free to email me at MADGENIUSMUSIC [AT] GOOGLEMAIL [DOT] COM or send me a private message here on Uk Folkies if you need more info.
I'm gonna be posting a review of my Faith Mercury parlour guitar here in the next day or so, maybe even my Bart Reiter banjo too....
Ok, Who's next?
Danny
Where Purchased: Art's Council 'Take It Away' Scheme, can't remember
Year Purchased: '07?
Sound *: Well, Max, as I have called her, is a Spruce and Mahogany Dreadnought, designed as a modern version of a pre war Martin D-18, albeit designed for modern construction at an affordable price.
For instance she was built in Indonesia, with Indonesian mahogany for her back, sides and neck (Mahogany is my favorite tone wood in the world ever, just so ya all know)
I bought her, several years after trying a previous version in my local guitar shop. In between my trying the original guitar, and getting Max, the specs of the model had been upgraded, to my initial worry. However when she arrived she was magnificent. I now call her my 'burning building' guitar, cos if the building was alight and I only had time to grab one instrument, it'd be her, kinda like 'Desert Island Discs', the guitar version.
She sounds GREAT, full even and sweet across all the frequencies, she never fails to make me smile, I own one other Faith guitar (a Parlour, with the model name Mercury, a review to follow shortly)
Sound Rating *: 10
Setup *: Faultless.
After 2 years or so she developed a slight fret buzz on her open high e string, which I fixed with the old 'baking soda and super glue trick' Get back to me if you need more info on that.
Special mention must go to the strings that the guys at Faith and Barnes and Mullins (the parent company) string these guitars with as standard. Elixir Polyweb 12-53 Guage.
These strings are coated to resist corrosion from acidic sweat and so forth. As I happen to have VERY acidic sweat and can't use a regular set of strings for more than a few hours without needing to change them, these strings were a bloody godsend, they're now the only strings I'll use.
Setup Rating *: 10
Appearance *: Very plain, the design let's the natural beauty of the wood do it's thing rather than detracting from it with artificial bling and cheap nasty cosmetics. Something I personally prefer.
The small amount of decoration that she does have is tasteful and elegant. An Abalone rosette, with minimal fuss to distract the eye. Ebony fret board and bridge with matching bridge pins and gold plated Grover tuners with the 'kidney bean' heads made out of ebony, a very classy look to my eyes.
It's worth noting that she has a pin on the treble side of the neck heel, as well as the lower butt, this makes playing her on a strap MUCH easier.
The only negative I could give is that, on first arrival, the sound board was very pale indeed, however it has since aged to nice vintage yellow colour. How much of this is due to my dads smoking I wouldn't like to speculate.
Also the pearl diamond finger board markers have since been replaced with something nastier. Not an issue for me, but it might be if you're considering buying a similar model
Appearance Rating *: 9
Reliability *: Home use only for the most part, but she's very well built and comes with a hard case, all at only £400 quid, 10/10 from me. Although it should be noted that aside from the soundboards gloss finish, the rest of the instrument is a thin matt satin, which marks and scars VERY easily. It don't bother me in the slightest, but it needed to be mentioned
Reliability Rating *: 10
Components *: Solid Engleman Spruce,
Solid Indonesian Mahogany,
Macassar Ebony AND a solid lockable case for only £400 notes! Top bloody notch mate, top notch!
Components Rating *: 10
Pre-sale Customer Service: The shop (who's name I forget) and the Arts Council's 'Take It Away' scheme people were brilliant, they both bent over back words to be helpful
Pre-sale Customer Service Rating: 10
Post-sale Customer Service: Exchanged a few emails with Barnes and Mullins, very helpful and friendly, although they failed to send me a spare key for her case when I asked, even though they said the would. All in all 9/10
Post-sale Customer Service Rating: 9
Any Other Information: I can't praise faith guitars enough. Feel free to email me at MADGENIUSMUSIC [AT] GOOGLEMAIL [DOT] COM or send me a private message here on Uk Folkies if you need more info.
I'm gonna be posting a review of my Faith Mercury parlour guitar here in the next day or so, maybe even my Bart Reiter banjo too....
Ok, Who's next?
Danny
