Faith Guitars has just added two very smart models to its mid-priced range of Nexus series acoustics with the launch of the Nexus Venus E/Cut Solar Flare and Nexus Neptune E/Cut Coffee Brown.
As the “E/CUT” in the designation suggests, these are acoustic electric guitars with a cutaway, with the Neptune a based on the Patrick James Eggle-designed Saluda shape – thinking baby jumbo, with a 16” lower bout – and the Venus a slimmer 15” cutaway that sits somewhere between an orchestra model or auditorium shape.
Both come with all solid builds. Both look very easy on the eye. It is one of Faith Guitars’ signature power moves that year after year it releases head-turning acoustic guitars that require a double-take at the prices. Sure, the product photography here is all tasteful lighting; the guitars look their best. But they typically look that way in person, too. And there is a lot of guitar here for the asking price.
Faith has gone for Fishman PreSys II and Sonicore electronics, with the controls mounted inside the soundhole, and a handy guitar tuner to keep things in good order during open mic night.
Some of the aesthetic details are similar too, with a 2mm abalone rosette, and MOP “F” inlays on the figured ebony fingerboards. Those ‘boards have similar dimensions, with a 16” radius and 43mm nut width as standard.
The Venus E/Cut Solar Flare is the more conventional of the two, with all-solid mahogany on the body’s top, back and sides, a satin sunburst finish, and black with white purfling tying the whole thing together.
There’s a mahogany neck that joins the body with one of PJE’s neck joints. Indeed, both of these Nexus series models share that feature, and have a X pattern bracing that was similarly developed by Eggle, and applied to hand-scalloped quarter-sawn spruce.
And so the Nexus Neptune E/Cut Coffee Brown, another Faith guitar that makes use of Javanese trembesi, but unlike its siblings in the lineup, which typically top the guitars with Engelmann spruce, this Nexus model pushes the trembesi front and centre and gives it the eponymous stain to bring out all the figuring in the wood.
Tonally, Faith promises a sound not unlike mahogany, so there will be some warm, some depth to the voice, but ultimately a balanced profile. This one has ABS cream binding around the body, fingerboard and headstock and looks incredible.
These new Nexus models ship in a gig bag, and look at the pictures, look at the price. There’s something not quite tallying up here. The Nexus Neptune E/Cut Coffee Brown is priced at £849.00 / $1039. The Venus E/Cut Solar Flare is £869.00 / $1069. And you will probably find them in stores for less. For more details, head over to Faith Guitars.
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