NGD Faith Naked Neptune from Richards Guitars.

Jemahl

Hi All, my first post. I normally review books and comedy stuff on my blog but picked up a lovely Faith acoustic and wanted to share. I've put a link at the bottom to my blog as there's some images there as well.

Review Faith Naked Neptune from Richards Guitars.

A bit of a departure for my blog to review a guitar, but I have picked up a beautiful model from Richards Guitars in Stratford-on-Avon and decided to share. To note: I am a very amateur guitarist (I’ve always been a singer in bands and actual guitarists who know me will agree to my limited proficiency with the instrument), but I have played/owned a few high end models and brands over the years.

The Faith Neptune is a baby jumbo sized guitar, made of all solid wood, and designed by Patrick Eggle. The highly regarded team at Faith been winning awards galore for their acoustic guitars, although I confess I only knew of Eggle’s electric guitars so when I started looking for a new acoustic it wasn’t first on my list. I spotted the Neptune on Richards Guitars’ Youtube channel and was instantly drawn to the instrument’s looks and sound. 

The Naked model is stripped back with a satin rather than gloss finish, and an austere look about it that makes it cheaper to produce than some of the more expensive Faith range. Actually, the satin finish gives it a beautiful tone that I preferred to a more expensive Seagull I tried, and much better than a mostly laminate Martin I saw at nearly twice the price (there’s a reason Donavan told John Lennon to sand the gloss off his Epi Casino and Martin). I managed to get hold of a shop model and give it a go and it was good but needed a setup. It was also far more comfortable to hand than the aforesaid Martin and Seagull. This is where I came back to Richards Guitars.

I have a wonderful local guitar tech who I have taken my instruments to in the past, but he has a six week waiting list and we are in a global pandemic so pickups and drop offs are limited. Richards offer a setup as a part of their service to every customer. So I pulled the trigger on one just over a fortnight ago. I can’t speak highly enough about the service from Richards Guitars. The process from purchase to workshop to despatch was updated as my model worked through the system, and I was kept updated with automatic emails. I did have a query and the responses were quick and helpful.  I dealt with Sally and Richard over email, and a genuine passion for the guitars and their customers just exuded from them. That was a refreshing change in the modern world of disposable consumerism – don’t worry I’m not about to go on a rant.

Despite a global pandemic and four day bank holiday weekend it only took a fortnight for a perfectly set up instrument to arrive at my door. You can see from the pictures just how well setup the action was and the beautiful wood top and back. For fingerstyle players, there is enough room at the saddle to take the action down some more, but I generally dig in with my pick so it is perfect for my heavy hands. Guitarists will talk about having a bond with their instrument and it generally takes me a while, but it honestly felt like I had been playing the Faith for years. The look and sound is absolutely stunning.  There is a swirling red grain in the ebony fretboard that I adore, and it came with a free gigbag to keep her safe although I may invest in a proper case.

If you’re on the lookout for a new acoustic, the Faith range is a rare breed: a British designed, award winning, beautifully built instrument. All Faith guitars are CITES compliant if you’re at all concerned about sustainability – hint, you should be – and there’s lots of different sizes and models to fit any frame (I’m 6.4 so a baby jumbo size is perfect for me). Richards Guitars is a wonderful seller with a team who are happy to help if you’re unsure what exactly you need. All in all, a fabulous experience and a guitar that will be with me for the rest of my days – hopefully a very long time! Now, I just need to stop myself from looking at the Gordon Smith electrics that Richards have on their website…

My website https://jemahlevans.wixsite.com/jemahlevans/single-post/2020/04/21/Review-Faith-Naked-Neptune-from-Richards-Guitars

idiotwindow

I wouldn’t buy from that shop if it was the last remaining guitar shop on the planet. 

Wazmeister

This should be good...

TTony

Richards??

I don’t think they’ve been mentioned here before...

mrkb

Hi Richard!

Teyeplayer

Oh dear, here we go again...

fastonebaz

I half expected the blog link to be to Richard's blog.

Those Faith acoustics are superb though, great guitar there!

octatonic

mrkb said:

Hi Richard!

Actually in this instance probably not- the OP is fairly easily googleable as a real person and not a sock account.

Welcome to the forum @Jemahl.
Just so you understand some of the comments Richard has been a contentious vendor on this forum- no point into going into the specifics.

Bridgehouse

octatonic said:

mrkb said:

Hi Richard!

Actually in this instance probably not- the OP is fairly easily googleable as a real person and not a sock account.

Welcome to the forum @Jemahl.
Just so you understand some of the comments Richard has been a contentious vendor on this forum- no point into going into the specifics.

Indeed, this poster has been thoroughly checked out by the modmin team given Richard’s past penchant for socks, and there is no evidence to suggest any puppetry at all.

idiotwindow

Don't make me laugh. The poster might be real but the posting is written like an unsubtle press release. It just isn't the kind of thing anyone writes normally.

Fifty9

I mailed them last week asking about a faith that was showing as available on the site but for some reason wasn't possible for me to add to basket/checkout. No response. I was expecting they'd jump at the chance to sell me the guitar or an alternative if it actually wasn't available. But nada...

imalrightjack

I have a high gloss one that I pretty much couldn't give away on this site

EricTheWeary

idiotwindow said:

Don't make me laugh. The poster might be real but the posting is written like an unsubtle press release. It just isn't the kind of thing anyone writes normally.

He’s a teacher and professional writer/ author. So perhaps this explains why the ( my head hurts, there are reasons why people don’t drink at 5pm them post online...FFS...what word am I after...) language isn’t ‘normal?’

Anyway, off for a nap...

Andy79

imalrightjack said:

I have a high gloss one that I pretty much couldn't give away on this site

I remember it well. I too am now in the can’t sell a Faith for toffee camp. 

Whitecat

Fifty9 said:

I mailed them last week asking about a faith that was showing as available on the site but for some reason wasn't possible for me to add to basket/checkout. No response. I was expecting they'd jump at the chance to sell me the guitar or an alternative if it actually wasn't available. But nada...

I emailed them about a Gordon Smith once and similarly got zero reply and I had lost interest just a few days later. I presume their email filtering is too aggressive. 

drofluf

There’s obviously a backstory here that I’m unaware of (and if someone is happy to fill me in, privately if necessary...) but in the interest of balance...

 I’ve bought 2 guitars from him in the past 9 months and both have been very easy: good communication, well set up guitars and an enjoyable experience. I tried out one guitar in the store before buying later online: they had it ready for me and gave me a room to play in, even staying open late for me.  I met Richard and he came across to me as very passionate about what he does. 

P.S. if you want to get in touch I’ve found that they’re very responsive on the online chat. 

TheOtherDennis

@drofluf  ;A few people on here have had issues with him in the past. He joined tFB and defended himself very aggressively, started a few rows and wound up getting banned for creating multiple accounts, amongst other behaviour. The modmins then had to fend off multiple attempts to re-register himself, again amongst other things.

I think it's fair to say he'll always get mixed reviews on here.

Fifty9

drofluf said:

P.S. if you want to get in touch I’ve found that they’re very responsive on the online chat. 

It was the online chat I used but nothing back.

Bridgehouse

TheOtherDennis said:

@drofluf  ;A few people on here have had issues with him in the past. He joined tFB and defended himself very aggressively, started a few rows and wound up getting banned for creating multiple accounts, amongst other behaviour. The modmins then had to fend off multiple attempts to re-register himself, again amongst other things.

I think it's fair to say he'll always get mixed reviews on here.

To be factually correct, it was the threat of legal action against the fretboard that instigated the original ban.

TheOtherDennis

@Bridgehouse My apologies

Bridgehouse

TheOtherDennis said:

@Bridgehouse My apologies

Nothing to apologise for - the other facts you stated were true - but I reiterated the original cause as per our rules