Post by grayn on Apr 11, 2015 19:07:48 GMT
Well, guess what? It's another NGD for grayn.
For those getting bored with my incessant acquisitions, I do apologise.
Of course, I have some feeble reasoning and excuses.
Apart from a bass, all my present instruments cost under a grand.
But I am very pleased with all of them. As pleased as with any of my multi-K purchases of the past.
The reason for my latest NGD is semi-pragmatic.
The acoustic trio I've been working on, finally has a reliable 3rd member and gigs are to be booked.
I'm someone who likes a back up instrument, when playing live.
So my Yammy twelver needed a pal.
Now, I had given serious consideration to another Yammy. The APX 700ii 12er.
But it did seem rather unadventurous of me.
I didn't want to pay too much. I don't like twelvers with huge bodies and I do prefer a cutaway.
I'd already rung around many of my more local shops but didn't find much to inspire me.
So I drove over to Leyland and Rimmers Music, this morning.
They had a couple of budget twelvers. An Alvarez AD60-12CE and a Fender Villager.
I've owned a Villager before, a few years back. I had quite good memories of it.
But either this particular model wasn't as good or my tastes have changed.
It needed a better set-up and generally seemed to lack body and definition.
The Alvarez, on the other hand, was very good, especially for it's price.
It had a very pleasant tone, acoustically and amped up, sounded great.
I think it had a B-Band pickup/pre-amp and I'm very impressed with it.
It combines an under-saddle piezo pickup, with an under-soundboard transducer.
Couldn't fault that amplified tone, at all. Good on-board tuner, too.
So, apart from having dead strings on, it had everything going for it.
It looked a lot better in person, than in photos. Playable neck, reasonable action and not too stiff.
No reason not to get it. Almost a perfect back-up for my Yammy.
Except I just didn't want it. Just didn't give me a buzz.
I need a buzz, to fork out cash.
So I headed home. Mrs grayn wanted to pop into Burnley, so I decided to try Burnley's only, smallish, music shop, Pro Solo. I hadn't bought a guitar here, for yonks. Although I have bought quite a few effects and like the guy who owns it.
Turns out, they only had one electro twelver. A Faith FV12TB Venus Trembesi 12 String.
Now, I'd played the "Naked" version of this, last saturday.
It was a good guitar but didn't really wow me.
This Trembesi version, is a quite a different beast, though.
Well it should be, it's a lot more dosh.
It has an all-solid spruce/trembesi body, with ebony bridge, fingerboard and tuner buttons.
Tuned up to my preferred, standard pitch, it was comfortable to play.
Tone wise, it really shone. A strong, full sound, with plenty of mid-harmonics, to give projection.
It was quite a bit more than I'd wanted to spend. A fair bit more than my Yammy.
I should have walked but instead it came home with me.
I've had time to compare it, side by side, with my Yammy and they share much but are also quite different.
Visually, from the front, I slightly prefer the Yamaha, although the Faith's ebony fingerboard and bridge do look quality. From behind, the Faith's trembesi really outshines, the CPX's nato.
Sonically, the Faith has the stronger, more defined tone. Though I'm yet to decide, which I like the most, sonically. Both have top sounding pickup systems. I slightly prefer the Yamaha's but that could change. They do sound quite different from each other. The Yamaha is warmer with more shimmer. The Faith is more like a finger picker's guitar, with punch and definition. They both serve as very nice twelvers, with the lushness and sparkle, you always want. The Faith has a slighly wider nut and string spacing, which gives it a very positive feel. Fortunately
it's not different enough, to need much getting used to. Moving from on guitar to the other is very comfortable.
Specifications:
Top Wood: Solid Engelmann Spruce
Back Wood: Solid Indonesian Trembesi
Side Wood: Solid Indonesian Trembesi
Binding: Solid Rosewood
Bracing Material: Quarter-Sawn Spruce
Bracing Pattern: Patrick James Eggle X-Brace Design
Rosette: 5mm Abalone with Fibre Border
Neck: Mahogany
Neck: Finish Satin
Neck Joint: Patrick James Eggle Bolt-On Design
Fingerboard: Macassan Figured Ebony
Fingerboard Radius: 16"
Fingerboard Inlays: Mother of Pearl 'F' at 12th Fret
Machine Heads: Grover Rotomatic Gold
Trussrod: 2 Way
Nut / Saddle: TUSQ
Nut Width Nut: 46mm
String Spacing: 55mm
Bridge: Macassan Figured Ebony
Bridge Pins: Macassan Figured Ebony with Abalone Dots
Finish Type: Gloss Top / Satin Back and Sides
Pickup / Preamp Shadow Performer Tuner Preamp / Shadow Nanoflex Pickup
Hardcase: Included
Dimensions:
Upper bout: 290mm (11.4 ins)
Lower bout: 385mm (15.2 ins)
Body Depth: 100 - 115mm (4 - 4.5 ins)
Body Length: 490mm (19.3 ins)
Soundhole Diameter: 100mm (4 ins)
Scale Length: 650mm (25.6 ins)
Fingerboard Radius: 406mm (16 ins)
For those getting bored with my incessant acquisitions, I do apologise.
Of course, I have some feeble reasoning and excuses.
Apart from a bass, all my present instruments cost under a grand.
But I am very pleased with all of them. As pleased as with any of my multi-K purchases of the past.
The reason for my latest NGD is semi-pragmatic.
The acoustic trio I've been working on, finally has a reliable 3rd member and gigs are to be booked.
I'm someone who likes a back up instrument, when playing live.
So my Yammy twelver needed a pal.
Now, I had given serious consideration to another Yammy. The APX 700ii 12er.
But it did seem rather unadventurous of me.
I didn't want to pay too much. I don't like twelvers with huge bodies and I do prefer a cutaway.
I'd already rung around many of my more local shops but didn't find much to inspire me.
So I drove over to Leyland and Rimmers Music, this morning.
They had a couple of budget twelvers. An Alvarez AD60-12CE and a Fender Villager.
I've owned a Villager before, a few years back. I had quite good memories of it.
But either this particular model wasn't as good or my tastes have changed.
It needed a better set-up and generally seemed to lack body and definition.
The Alvarez, on the other hand, was very good, especially for it's price.
It had a very pleasant tone, acoustically and amped up, sounded great.
I think it had a B-Band pickup/pre-amp and I'm very impressed with it.
It combines an under-saddle piezo pickup, with an under-soundboard transducer.
Couldn't fault that amplified tone, at all. Good on-board tuner, too.
So, apart from having dead strings on, it had everything going for it.
It looked a lot better in person, than in photos. Playable neck, reasonable action and not too stiff.
No reason not to get it. Almost a perfect back-up for my Yammy.
Except I just didn't want it. Just didn't give me a buzz.
I need a buzz, to fork out cash.
So I headed home. Mrs grayn wanted to pop into Burnley, so I decided to try Burnley's only, smallish, music shop, Pro Solo. I hadn't bought a guitar here, for yonks. Although I have bought quite a few effects and like the guy who owns it.
Turns out, they only had one electro twelver. A Faith FV12TB Venus Trembesi 12 String.
Now, I'd played the "Naked" version of this, last saturday.
It was a good guitar but didn't really wow me.
This Trembesi version, is a quite a different beast, though.
Well it should be, it's a lot more dosh.
It has an all-solid spruce/trembesi body, with ebony bridge, fingerboard and tuner buttons.
Tuned up to my preferred, standard pitch, it was comfortable to play.
Tone wise, it really shone. A strong, full sound, with plenty of mid-harmonics, to give projection.
It was quite a bit more than I'd wanted to spend. A fair bit more than my Yammy.
I should have walked but instead it came home with me.
I've had time to compare it, side by side, with my Yammy and they share much but are also quite different.
Visually, from the front, I slightly prefer the Yamaha, although the Faith's ebony fingerboard and bridge do look quality. From behind, the Faith's trembesi really outshines, the CPX's nato.
Sonically, the Faith has the stronger, more defined tone. Though I'm yet to decide, which I like the most, sonically. Both have top sounding pickup systems. I slightly prefer the Yamaha's but that could change. They do sound quite different from each other. The Yamaha is warmer with more shimmer. The Faith is more like a finger picker's guitar, with punch and definition. They both serve as very nice twelvers, with the lushness and sparkle, you always want. The Faith has a slighly wider nut and string spacing, which gives it a very positive feel. Fortunately
it's not different enough, to need much getting used to. Moving from on guitar to the other is very comfortable.
Specifications:
Top Wood: Solid Engelmann Spruce
Back Wood: Solid Indonesian Trembesi
Side Wood: Solid Indonesian Trembesi
Binding: Solid Rosewood
Bracing Material: Quarter-Sawn Spruce
Bracing Pattern: Patrick James Eggle X-Brace Design
Rosette: 5mm Abalone with Fibre Border
Neck: Mahogany
Neck: Finish Satin
Neck Joint: Patrick James Eggle Bolt-On Design
Fingerboard: Macassan Figured Ebony
Fingerboard Radius: 16"
Fingerboard Inlays: Mother of Pearl 'F' at 12th Fret
Machine Heads: Grover Rotomatic Gold
Trussrod: 2 Way
Nut / Saddle: TUSQ
Nut Width Nut: 46mm
String Spacing: 55mm
Bridge: Macassan Figured Ebony
Bridge Pins: Macassan Figured Ebony with Abalone Dots
Finish Type: Gloss Top / Satin Back and Sides
Pickup / Preamp Shadow Performer Tuner Preamp / Shadow Nanoflex Pickup
Hardcase: Included
Dimensions:
Upper bout: 290mm (11.4 ins)
Lower bout: 385mm (15.2 ins)
Body Depth: 100 - 115mm (4 - 4.5 ins)
Body Length: 490mm (19.3 ins)
Soundhole Diameter: 100mm (4 ins)
Scale Length: 650mm (25.6 ins)
Fingerboard Radius: 406mm (16 ins)