SOLD: Taylor GS Mini or Faith Mercury Highgloss

RevMatt

UPDATE: Taylor sold and Faith withdrawn

Having just taken the Faith Mercury in.part exchange against something else, I now need to sell one of my compact acoustics...

They're both superb guitars and I'm struggling to decide which - the Faith is higher spec with the added benefit of on board electrics whilst the Taylor is a guitar that I've already bonded with having owned it and used it regularly for the last 4 years.

So, you decide - whichever doesn't sell first, I'll keep

So onto the guitars... Prices assume collection but happy to pack and post either at cost.

Taylor  GS Mini mahogany - £395

Owned by me from new and played regularly but cared for and kept in its high density padded case.

All mahogany build with ebony 'board.

Superb lively tone, compact and easy to play.

The condition is excellent with no dings or significant marks, just very light signs of use. Will need new strings but I'm still enjoying the played in set that are on it so haven't replaced them recently.

RevMatt

Faith Mercury HiGloss Electro - £450 - trades or p/x possible.

Faith have built themselves a superb reputation in recent years, helped significantly by the input of legendary British luthier Patrick James Eggle. Patrick has contributed to development and design of the range including his bespoke bracing system. As such, Faith Guitars are brilliantly spec'd and built offering very high end features so real life money!

The Mercury HiGloss Electro represents one of the company's top line compact / parlour sized acoustics, with a retail price of around £800 - not to be confused with the cheaper 'naked' range. The HiGloss range features pro spec appointments including solid wood construction (rosewood, spruce, ebony etc) and tuners from Grover and electrics from Shadow. As the pictures show, it's a stunning guitar!

More importantly, it plays very nicely and has a lovely bright and lively sound - you could say, zingy!

Faith describe the guitar as "a little beauty, this Mercury is a traditional short-scale parlour model. With the neck joining the body at the 12th fret - rather than the 14th - the strings are held at a slightly lower tension than on regular models. Another implication of the 12th fret join is that the bridge is shifted further from the soundhole. These features result in a guitar that is physically easier to play, sounds much bigger than you would imagine and is also simple to handle and transport."

Specification

Electrics: Shadow Performer Tuner Preamp / Shadow Nanoflex Pickup
Top Wood Solid Engelmann Spruce
Back Wood Solid Rosewood
Side Wood Solid Rosewood
Binding Solid Flamed Maple
Bracing Material Quarter-Sawn Spruce
Bracing Pattern Patrick James Eggle X-Brace Design
Rosette 5mm Abalone with Fibre Border
Neck Mahogany
Neck Finish Satin
Neck Joint Patrick James Eggle Bolt-On Design
Fingerboard Macassan Figured Ebony
Fingerboard Radius 16"
Fingerboard Inlays Mother of Pearl 'F' at 12th Fret
Machine Head Grover Rotomatic Gold
Trussrod 2 Way
Nut / Saddle TUSQ (PQ-6116)/(PQ-9110)
Nut Width 43mm / String Spacing 55mm
Bridge Macassan Figured Ebony
Bridge Pins Macassan Figured Ebony with Abalone Dots
Finish Type High Gloss Top, Back and Sides

As you can see, no expense is spared, especially on the woods which all represent ethically sourced top quality timber.

The guitar comes with a nice fitted Faith case and the various tags/booklets.

The condition is very nice. The guitar is used and has been played and enjoyed, so has picked up some little indentations on the top, sides and back. These are virtually impossible to photograph but are visible in the flesh. The lovely wooden truss rod cover also has a small crack in it. The neck strap button has been relocated from the side of the heel to the end.

The case is nice, but has a few little scuffs to show that it's done its job and also some wear to the handle.

The guitar is set up nicely and plays very well.

RevMatt

A strange list of trade ideas (against the Faith):

Guitars - Strats, Charvels, Eggles...
Chorus/flanger pedal - TC Electronic Dreamscape or TRex Twister 2
Or... Anyone got an alto saxophone?

Or other interesting stuff.