PJE Legacy Earth - Cutaway Electro - Rosewood

The importance of body shape:

Faith Legacy Series guitars raise the standard for professional quality ever higher and focus entirely on Patrick James Eggle's historic acoustic body designs. This model is an ‘Earth’ which is based upon Patrick’s historic ‘Linville’ shape, taking inspiration from Orchestra Models (OM) of old. Across the lower bout it measures 15” – the same as the Venus model - but its overall contour that is somewhat more refined. This size and shape however definitely qualify as a perfect ‘all-rounder’, being big enough to perform well unplugged, but small enough to be used on stage for long periods by players of any stature.

What is Torrefied Wood?

Complementing the elegant design, a process of torrefaction or torrefication has been used to age the Sitka Spruce tops of these guitars. This Canadian Spruce is air dried to minimise moisture content before being ‘roasted’ in a kiln with precise controls over atmospheric conditions and oxygen levels, removing nearly all of the natural moisture. After this drying process however, as it cools, the wood has a controlled level of moisture re-introduced to its environment which then re-humidifies the wood to an exact, ideal level. This resulting ‘torrefied’ tonewood is not only enriched with a deeper colouration, but it is more stable thanks to a change in the cellular fibres of the wood.

When wood is ‘young’ and recently sawn, the wood fibres are positioned somewhat irregularly. A guitar with a ‘young’ top will, over years of playing, gradually vibrate its fibres into a steady state where they find a final resting position. At that point, the tonewood will sound its best, which explains why older guitars can so often have ‘that’ sound. And this is the secret of torrefaction. The precise drying and re-hydration process causes the fibres to settle into a steadier state very quickly, allowing the tonewood to ‘age’ rapidly, producing an even better tone much more quickly.

Which Tonewoods are used and Why?

For the back and sides of this Legacy FG2 model, the tonewood of choice is Solid Rosewood. The back features 2 pieces of beautifully book-matched Rosewood, which is truly a premium choice, as large pieces of rosewood – big enough for guitar backs – are highly sought after.
Most of our Rosewood comes from Indonesia, which due to its unique climate, produces trees with remarkable figuring, often somewhat wavy in appearance and much more varied in colour than its Indian Rosewood relations.

Using two pieces that are book-matched (mirror images), an infinitely mesmerising number of patterns can be discovered across every guitar, which makes them even more special.

How does it all come together?

So, when we are pairing aged, caramel-hued Spruce with the famously stiff and resonant properties of Rosewood, we can be confident of a strong low-end but still with brilliance at the top too. This clarity of tone is tempered by the mature voicing of the Torrefied Spruce, so overall is reminiscent of a guitar already 20 years into its journey.

Each Legacy FG2 model is bound in highly figured Flamed Maple; has Figured Ebony fingerboard, bridges; plus, genuine unbleached bone nuts, saddles, and bridge pins for incredible resonant transfer. Each guitar also has a 1mm thick figured Ebony pickguard which will help protect your beautiful instrument.

The Electronics:

Faith Legacy models are fitted with Fishman's FLEX-T-BLEND preamp system which features an undersaddle piezo pickup and condenser microphone located just inside the soundhole. By combining these two pickup types, a greater sound balance is achieved, plus percussive techniques can be fully explored as the body sound can be more easily ‘dialed-in’ when required. The preamp features 3 ultra-discreet knobs integrated into the side of the guitar; a built in tuner with a discreet screen; an EQ contour control; a pickup blend control (Piezo/Mic); and a phase control to control feedback.

The battery is stored in a special bag located inside the guitar fixed to the neck block, and the jack output is combined with the strap button at the base.

The Case:

Your new Faith Legacy Earth will be complete with an ABS moulded hardcase, designed to protect your beautiful new guitar from the elements. We always recommend that you keep your guitar in the hardcase whenever not in use.