“For any singer-songwriter, busker or open-mic-night trooper it really has everything going for it”: Faith PJE Legacy FG4 Earth review

What is it?

Faith’s latest entry in its PJE Legacy range is, we’re told, an all-rounder: “Big enough to perform well unplugged but small enough to be used on stage for long periods by players of any stature,” states the website.

It certainly sounds like a good proposition to us, but dig a little deeper and we find that designer Patrick James Eggle has taken the renowned OM body shape and tweaked it to his own taste, based on his own Linville model from his acoustic-building era.

In essence, the body width of 400mm (15 inches) is the same as Faith’s Venus model, but, to quote the company once again, “its overall contour is somewhat more refined”.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the brand, Faith acoustic guitars first appeared in the marketplace around the turn of this century.

The design team is helmed by Mr Eggle, and they have won a shelfload of awards for best in breed ever since launch. The FG4 Earth we have before us inhabits Faith’s slightly higher tier of Legacy models, but it still retails at the £1.5k mark and includes a rather posh-looking ABS hard case to protect your investment.

Add to that the fact the instrument is stage-ready with a Fishman Flex Blend system, combining an under-saddle piezo with an internal condenser microphone, and the FG4 would appear to be a one-stop shop for your mid-priced acoustic needs – whether you’re looking for a sofa buddy or a get-up-and-go open-mic companion. But that’s enough of an introduction from us; time to zoom in for a close-up on the finer details.

Faith guitars have always had kerb appeal. And, opening the FG4’s case, it’s apparent that a lot of creative thought has passed its way – not just from the general design point of view, but also the aesthetics of the fixtures and fittings, which have a definite ‘pick me up’ lure.

As you’ll have gathered from the guitar’s full name, its finish is satin throughout and this is not only for purely artistic reasons, there’s a function here, too. Faith tells us that the finish allows the tonewoods present to work at a premium level.

And if you’re curious as to what those woods are, the top is torrefied Sitka spruce. In other words, it’s gone through a drying and heating process whereby the wood dries out more thoroughly in order to ‘age’ the wood and deliver a more vintage-inspired tone.

It’s not a new process, for sure, but one that has had the nodding approval of builders big and small across the globe, and who have universally claimed that, yes, there is a difference in tone.

The spruce is supported by mahogany for the back and sides, set off with the contrasting flamed-maple binding. Add in the multi-hued abalone rosette and a scratchplate of unspecified wood (that looks like figured ebony to us) and there’s no doubt that the FG4 is dressed to impress. The neck is mahogany, with an Indonesian ebony ’board that is bare of the usual position markers on top, save for Faith’s signature mother-of-pearl ‘F’ at the 12th fret.

In all, there are 20 very nicely polished and well-seated medium frets that have been smartly finished with no discernible sharp edges. Both the 45mm nut and saddle are unbleached bone, the former expertly cut, the latter sitting in a Macassan figured ebony bridge. The tuners are Grover Rotomatics featuring very subtle matte-black buttons.

All well and good, of course, and acoustic players everywhere will agree that the sum of the FG4’s parts should add up to an extremely capable instrument. But the fun doesn’t end there: if your acoustic world extends to playing in a band or being a regular at open mic spots, then you’ll definitely be interested in the Fishman Flex Blend acoustic guitar pickup and preamp system.

This entails not only an under-saddle piezo but an under-bridge-mounted condenser microphone with its own blend control set into the upper bout, too, along with the regular volume and tone rotaries. There’s also an onboard tuner that mutes the output when activated to ensure that keeping everything harmonious remains a strictly private player experience.

Everything about the general build quality is typically fine and dandy as we would expect, having seen some very good instruments coming out of Indonesian workshops recently. So the next thing to do is strum a few chords and see how everything sounds.

Specs

• PRICE: $1,979 | £1,565 | €1,831 (inc hard case)
• ORIGIN: Indonesia
• TYPE: OM cutaway
• TOP: Torrefied Sitka spruce
• Back/Sides: African mahogany
• MAX RIM DEPTH: 111mm
• MAX BODY WIDTH: 400mm
• NECK: Mahogany
• SCALE LENGTH: 650mm
• TUNERS: Grover Rotomatic 18:1 nickel
• NUT/WIDTH: Bone/45mm
• FINGERBOARD: Indonesian ebony
• FRETS: 20
• BRIDGE/SPACING: Macassan figured ebony/55mm
• ELECTRICS: Fishman Flex Blend with condenser mic
• WEIGHT (kg/lb): 1.95/4.3
• LEFT-HANDERS: Not for this model
• FINISHES: Satin
• CONTACT: PJE Guitars

Playability and sounds

Not only is the FG4’s satin finish pleasing to the eye, it’s also a very pleasant tactile experience, inasmuch as the guitar feels very nice in the hand.

Naturally, the finish extends to the back of the neck, which will help with those rapid barre-chord changes by presenting a minimal drag factor for the left hand. The neck itself is a fairly slim and shallow C profile, which sits at that precise point where it’s neither too skinny nor too chunky.

A lowish action means there is little resistance for the fingers while playing chords or single notes, and both give a good account of themselves with chords sounding full and single notes singing out exactly as they should.

There’s a good amount of snarl to the bass register, sitting beneath a full midrange and sweet trebles. We tried a variety of different styles – a bit of bluesy fingerstyle, chordal strumming with and without a pick and so on – and the FG4 dealt with everything we threw at it like an absolute pro.

Plugged in, the Fishman Flex Blend was a new pickup system to us. There are three rotary controls that deal with volume, tone and condenser mic blend.

The tone control gives a flat EQ when fully anti-clockwise, whereas in the middle of its travel it thickens up the midrange, and at the top (fully clockwise) it scoops some of the mids out for those busy strumming sessions. Furthermore, press and hold the volume control and it activates the onboard tuner; do the same to the tone control and it reverses the phase. Very neat and compact.

In practice, the controls work precisely as described, and we discovered that we had a whole range of sounds available to us with the guitar plugged into our Boss Katana-50 EX Gen 3’s acoustic preset. The mic adds some necessary ‘air’ to the audio signal, complementing the under-saddle piezo perfectly.

In short, what Faith said about this instrument being something of an all-rounder is shaping up to be bang on the button.

Verdict

Verdict: ★★★★

Faith’s PJE Legacy FG4 Earth sits at that price point where it’s well above and beyond the budget range and, at the same time, well below the boutique and bespoke world.

And it fits in that midrange niche very well, ticking all the musical boxes necessary for a workmanlike, no-fuss instrument that is particularly able for both living room and gig duty, as well as giving a very good account of itself through an amp or PA.

Guitar World verdict: For any singer-songwriter, busker or open-mic-night trooper it really has everything going for it. Or if you’re in a band where you cover a couple of acoustic songs per gig, it has all bases covered.

Hands-on videos

Faith Guitars

Faith Guitars | PJE Legacy Earth | Cutaway Electro | Satin Sunburst | FG4HCE - YouTube

Watch On

• “The tuning did not need tweaking for the entire time we spent trying to avoid playing Stairway To Heaven”: Faith Eclipse Venus E/Cutaway & Neptune E/Cutaway 12-String review
• This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.