NGD: Faith FG1RE – PJE Legacy Mars

grayn

I had one of those days yesterday, where I went to try a couple of guitars, of a certain type, and came away with something different.  I'd recently acquired a Taylor AD27, an all mahogany acoustic and have really fallen for it.  It's not an electro, so I fancied getting a dedicated electro, that was built more for being amped up.  So went over to Promenade music, to try out an Ovation C2078AXP-KOA Exoticwood Elite Cutaway Electro, an Enya X4 Pro Carbon Fibre Electro and a Fender Highway Series Dreadnought, All-Mahogany.  

All 3 are quite different from the average acoustic, with a piezo put in, if needed.  The Ovation was a real beauty, with the usual wood (Koa) top and lyracord body, reminiscent of the old Adamas model.  Acoustically it had the expected, tight, ringing tone, with plenty of top and mid, but little bass.  The neck plays very nicely and is geared more for electric players.  This was the guitar I thought I would leave with but although it's amplified tone was good for a piezo, it didn't really do it for me.  The Enya is of carbon fibre and is well made and looks quite cool.  Acoustically it had a lot of bass and treble, with not much mids.  Amplified it sounded very nice, better than most piezo pickups but did lack a little realism.  It comes with built in effects (Reverb, Chorus & Delay), that can be heard acoustically, as well as through an amp.  These were OK but nowhere near good as Yamaha's Transacoustic system.   Although it had quite low action, the strings seemed to have quite high tension.  So no.

Next I played the Fender Highway.  I do like the look of these and the Fender necks are very comfy to play.  The big downfall though, is the Fishman Fluence pickup.  However you adjust the controls, this guitar sounds nothing like an acoustic, through an amp.  It just sounds like a very dull electric guitar, to my ears.

So I decided to have a good look around the shop's large stock and try out anything in my price range, that took my fancy.  And to my surprise, I ended up with a Faith.  Faith make some great acoustics, at many price points but I have never been impressed with their pickup systems.  The model that I tried was a Faith FG1RE – PJE Legacy Mars Electro.  The PJE (Patrick James Eggle) Legacy range are specced up from the other Faiths.  With Torrefied Canadian Sitka Spruce tops, that not only sound better but look much nicer than the stark white, Engleman spruce tops on most other models, with a knd of caramel hue.  Back and sides are African Khaya Mahogany and rather tastefully, the pickguard is of figured macassan ebony.  The tuners are Grover Rotomatic 18:1 Nickel and electrically, this Mars contains a Fishman Flex Blend , piezo/condenser mic mix.  Which by far, sounded the best of all the guitars I'd tried, including a Martin, with an Aura system.

This slope shouldered dread also had a lovely acoustic tone.  With that ringing sweetness and full harmonic spread you'd expect from a well made, large(ish), all solid spruce/mahogany acoustic.  To my ears, this Faith outshone every other guitar I'd played, both acoustically and electrically.  To top that, you get a very stylish Faith Premium Hardcase.  I even had enough cash left to pick up a preowned, mint, Roland AC60 acoustic combo.

Result.

Soupman

Looks nice. Great write-up by the way. HNGD.
 
 

TTony

Co-incidentally, I have both a Faith PJE Legacy (FG1NCE) and a Taylor AD27 (though mine has the ES2 system). so fully approve of your choices!

grayn

TTony said:

Co-incidentally, I have both a Faith PJE Legacy (FG1NCE) and a Taylor AD27 (though mine has the ES2 system). so fully approve of your choices!

Like wise.  I would have preferred the AD27 with the pickup system but it was in a sale, at a very good price, so I grabbed it.

Teyeplayer

I’ve a buddy looking to upgrade his acoustic that I’ve been firing suggestions to. I’d missed these, but will definitely advise him to check one out on this recommendation. Cheers,   

Rich31k

If you’re thinking of adding a pickup I installed a Fishman Rare Earth Blend in my AD27. It sounds great and it wasn’t too difficult to install. 

Also a revelation has been switching to Martin Monel 13s.

The Faith looks excellent. Such good instruments. I had a blood moon for ages before the AD27. 

grayn

Rich31k said:

If you’re thinking of adding a pickup I installed a Fishman Rare Earth Blend in my AD27. It sounds great and it wasn’t too difficult to install. 

Also a revelation has been switching to Martin Monel 13s.

The Faith looks excellent. Such good instruments. I had a blood moon for ages before the AD27. 

Cheers.  I have never been that impressed with magnetic, acoustic pickups but blended with a mic, it could work.
I was thinking of a K&K or possibly one of those KNA piezos, that goes under the strings, between saddle and string plugs.

Monkeybone

Welcome to the Faith Legacy club, absolutely fantastic guitars.