Faith guitars? (Furch, Auden, Dowina, …)

[stillsteven]

Any opinions about Faith guitars in general? If I’m not mistaken Faith is a UK-based company with guitars manufactured in Asia (Indonesia?). They surely look nice. How about lesser known Dowina or Auden?

I think guitar on the clip is Faith’s version of Grand Auditorium rosewood models https://faithguitarsusa.com/by-shape...electro-1.html Engelmann/Rosewood combo does remind me of L series from Yamaha but with an active pickup installed.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qIqahHRycXc

[The Bard Rocks]

No experience, but i do recall from posts here that they are well-regarded compared to others in the same price range.

[Robin, Wales]

I owned a Faith Jupiter for a few years but it was really too much guitar for what I was playing so I sold it to a friend who still has it. It was a wonderfully rich and resonant beast that was monstrous in DADGAD. And I have two friends with the parlour sized Faith Mercury - they are lovely little guitars, again with a great resonance.

I like guitar companies that plough their own furrow, and that is something Faith has done. To my ears, the Faith range have their own timbre and are not trying to achieve Martin or Gibson or Taylor etc. and there is something to be respected about that. Plus the build quality is really good, and the three I have personally worked on to do set-ups for friends all had excellent geometry and stability.

[boombox]

Happy owner of three Faith guitars - a 45mm nut cedar/hog Mars 12-fret slope, all hog 14-fret slope and a spruce/mahogany 12-fret Mercury parlour. The latter 1 11/16" models do have quite skinny necks, though. Not tried a rosewood model yet - the small jumbo Neptune in the clip is a pretty big guitar - bigger than a GA in my experience. Faiths are always well built and very reasonably priced. I did try a trembesi Neptune in a shop once, but it was the only Faith I didn't bond with. When finances allow, I may well go for a 12-string Venus.

[stillsteven]

Recently I’ve been intrigued by lesser known European makers such as Furch, Auden, Faith, Dowina etc. Furch being the most well known of the bunch but it is still not as popular as Lowden. These small manufacturers offer what look like nice-sounding guitars that are finished beautifully at a lower cost than equivalent North American counterparts. I have seen compliments after compliments thrown at these guitars here on this forum. But it is still a risky choice to get them without ever seeing one in person, costly shipping + more complicated return process doesn’t help. Furch is better in terms of accessibility but I still have to buy it sight unseen. I really do hope they grow in popularity so we get to see them more often in local dealers here in USA/Canada.

[Jamolay]

Originally Posted by stillsteven

Recently I’ve been intrigued by lesser known European makers such as Furch, Auden, Faith, Dowina etc. Furch being the most well known of the bunch but it is still not as popular as Lowden. These small manufacturers offer what look like nice-sounding guitars that are finished beautifully at a lower cost than equivalent North American counterparts. I have seen compliments after compliments thrown at these guitars here on this forum. But it is still a risky choice to get them without ever seeing one in person, costly shipping + more complicated return process doesn’t help. Furch is better in terms of accessibility but I still have to buy it sight unseen. I really do hope they grow in popularity so we get to see them more often in local dealers here in USA/Canada.

We have a Dowina dealer here in Denver. I liked them, very nice light and bright sounding guitars. Their entry level wasn’t as comfortable as their more advanced models.

[Cool555]

I own a Faith Venus Blood Moon Burst since March 2018. IMHO, it is a really beautiful guitar and it has a great tone too. Its tone is somewhere between a mahogany and a koa, closer to mahogany and with some high end chime.

You can check out the link below, which is my NGD & also Faith Owner's Club thread. There are 3 videos in the first post to give you an idea of how the guitar sounds and looks.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=530533

[stillsteven]

Originally Posted by Jamolay

Their entry level wasn’t as comfortable as their more advanced models.

I’m not sure what you mean by comfortable. Do they have different body shapes for entry vs high end models? What I notice is some of Dowina’s Master guitars have satin finish on the body, quite uncommon and unique for high end models of any brands.

Originally Posted by Cool555

I own a Faith Venus Blood Moon Burst since March 2018. IMHO, it is a really beautiful guitar and it has a great tone too.

Their Venus/Earth body shape are the two that attract me the most. Where did you get that guitar, if I may ask?

Originally Posted by Cool555

Its tone is somewhere between a mahogany and a koa, closer to mahogany and with some high end chime.

Interestingly, its look is somewhere between mahogany and koa too but closer to koa. It looks just as mesmerizing as Taylor K24ce imo.

[Cool555]

Originally Posted by stillsteven

Their Venus/Earth body shape are the two that attract me the most. Where did you get that guitar, if I may ask?

Interestingly, its look is somewhere between mahogany and koa too but closer to koa. It looks just as mesmerizing as Taylor K24ce imo.

I'm from Singapore and I had to wait for about 2 months for the guitar shop to bring 2 pieces in then (in 2018). I'm not sure if Faith guitars have a dealer in Canada.

Thanks for the compliment on the guitar. Its lower bout is actually 15". So closer to a K22ce.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

Faith are ok guitars for their price, but in my opinion Dowina are better.

[Martyn Eden]

Auden and Faith are British guitars made in the far East. Dowina are Slovakian. Richard's guitars in Stratford upon Avon is a dealer for all three and has lots of videos on YouTube.

[deg123]

Very happy owner of an Auden Chester (Spruce/Rosewood 45 mm edition), also bought from Richards Guitars. Amazing instruments, especially for their price. It still surprises me that these are not yet more well known / popular.

[stillsteven]

Originally Posted by deg123

Very happy owner of an Auden Chester (Spruce/Rosewood 45 mm edition), also bought from Richards Guitars. Amazing instruments, especially for their price. It still surprises me that these are not yet more well known / popular.

You got a good one there. It seems like the ones I like from Auden come with 43mm nut width. I have a guitar with 43mm (1 11/16”) nut and I’m okay with it but for fingerpicking it’s certainly noticeable from 45mm (1 3/4”) that I’m used to.

[deg123]

Yes I think the 45mm versions are specially commissioned for Richards Guitars. I agree that for fingerpicking the extra 2mm makes a difference.

[Nick84]

Faith are nice for the money - Dowina, Furch and Auden are a step up in quality IMHO