anyone had any experience of Faith Naked range

sunshinewelly

I am in the market for a 12 string and see that they are available at around £500 for an electro acoustic version

My other option after much deliberation is an Alvarez artist 12 string AD60 which is £329

I sat through a demo on andertons where both the alvarez and faith (6 string versions) were played and the faith did not sound that great - but that might have been just that guitar.

the faith is obvioulsy solid wood all round with the alvarez being laminate back and sides.

i am not sure how important solid wood is when considering 12 strings and the extra force of the strings

the faith are also bolt on compared to the more traditional alvarez construction

drofluf

Haven't got any experience of the 12 string but I've liked every Faith that I've played; so much so that I bought two of them. In my opinion they're great value instruments; well made, quality tuners and comfortable to play. Goes without saying that I like the sound. 

Having said that I wouldn't get too hung up on the solid vs. laminate argument. There are examples of great sounding laminate instruments and poor sounding all-solid ones. Likewise the neck construction. However there is a perception that solid is "better" and that might affect resale value if that's a concern for you?

There was also a Faith 12 string in the classifieds a month or so ago. Don't know if it's still there?

GTC

When I got back into playing a few years ago, my first decent guitar was a second-hand Faith Naked Venus lefty. Excellent build, playability and tone - but just remember that the bare finish and lack of body binding make the Naked series guitars susceptible to edge dings. 

I agree with drofluf regarding the practical implications of laminate back and sides. However, in my limited experience, the more recent Alvarez models have been disappointing, even in the Masterworks range.

SimonBarden

I had one of the first Faith acoustics that came out.  IMO the finish was far too thin, which as GTC says, made them very easy to mark.  I also found that it was very susceptible to humidity and temperature changes in the way it sounded, far more so than any other acoustic I've had.  It could sound absolutely wonderful one day, and complete pants the next.  I do prefer something that's a bit more dependable.  

I've tried out some of the gloss finish ones recently and was very impressed, but my earlier experience of the light 'naked' finish hasn't tempted by to try them again at all, even though things may now be different in terms of depth of finish applied.

As the top is where all the real stress is on a 12-string, I wouldn't worry too much about the back and sides big solid or laminate.  You'll sometimes hear about the top bellying out on a 12-string, but never issues with the back/sides.

sunshinewelly

Cheers

I did find a Andertons video where one of the naked faiths was being demoed along with some other guitars including the alvarez which I have now ordered 

The faith did not seem any better than the others 

The sire they demoed sounded the best to me but no 12 string version

sunshinewelly

took delivery of the alvarez and first thoughts is that it a complete dog.