Godin Guitars?

[Markyboy]

I have an acoustic 5th avenue and it is worth every penny. I also own an Epitaph Joe Pass and a Hopf SL 320. Used to have a Simon and Patrick - don't remember which model, which was a decent guitar but not my piece of cake, and a Norman B 20 which I loved very much.

[0zoro]

I play a Montreal, which I got this spring. I admit that I had looked at pic´s about a year ago and was floored by its looks. As I live in Sweden it was hard to get my hands on, but i did try an acoustic model in London this past winter. I finally got to play one, and it was a marriage at first sight. I have never been more pleased, and less yearning/dreaming of a move up than since I bought the Montreal. Tone is fantastic, I like the somewhat smaller size of the body which fits comfortably into mine. The neck is the best Ive played, and the general workmanship is excellent.

[Norman931]

I have a Kingpin, which is a definite keeper. I think it's the only guitar I've had that I've never considered selling.

[PDMan]

I've never been a big fan of the a-series acoustics, but the archtops are another matter. The 5th Avenue models are beautiful guitars. I wouldn't mind having an Uptown.

[ScottM]

I love my Montreal!

-Scott

[bob32069]

I have an LGX-SA, perhaps the most versatile guitar in the world. Has synth access, RMC piezo bridge for a steel string acoustic sound, and 2 humbuckers. The original owner replaced the stock pups with duncan p-rails which can be played as single coil, humbuckers, or P90s. The synth, electric, and acoustic sounds can be blended. Godin really out-did themselves on this one.

[RoyaleT]

I have just bought a used Kingpin II CW for under $600, set it up with Chrome 12's. Very comfortable size, nice neck and excellent build quality. Sounds good through a Roland Cube and my Fender Princeton Chorus, a lot of fun to play.

[tonyknight]

Have any of you guys with these Godin's been able to compare them (tone, playability, quality) with other not-too-expensive archtops? Especially the Peerless or Loar models which would appear to be similarly priced or close enough anyway.

[RoyaleT]

I had looked at a Peerless Gigmaster ($1000 new, $700 used) which is about the same size as the Godin, but with humbuckers instead of P-90's. Nice guitar, but I liked the sound of the KPII a little better.

[bentjazz]

I love this guitar company. I have had four Godin's through the years, but my two mainstays are the Mahog Burst Flat V-X and the Transparent Black Flat V. Really upset that they discontinued this model, but the Montreal isn't bad. i did change the pick-ups out to Duncans for a more rich, punchier tone. Love 'em.

[ah.clem]

I have a spruce top Seagull and a 5th Avenue acoustic. I love both of them. I put medium D'Addario 80/20s and a compensated bridge on the 5th Ave. I plan on installing a Benedetto floating pickup and an archtop TOM bridge this fall. The mediums produce greater volume as an acoustic instrument (primary use) but are harder on my arthritis. I use light D'Addario 80/20s on the Seagull and it has incredible tone and volume. I added a new, very hard, compensated bridge. I would not swap that instrument for anything; I use it for slack key and finger style. These guitars are some of my favorite instruments, the ones I pick up daily. And they are (IMO) beautiful to look at.

[Eddie Lang]

I bought a 5th Ave a year ago because I needed a guitar that I could travel with (my other guitars are vintage Gibsons and Martins), but that I could still enjoy playing. And that's what this guitar offered me: affordable price, durable construction, nice playability and good sound. Plus it looks good. This is certainly one of the best buys one can make for that price.

(...) And why not post pics with that!

[Frank67]

I have a number of Godin guitars and they are all wonderfully built and very versatile. The relevant for this forum are a multiac jazz, the montreal, a kingpin ii and a multiac nylon.

Of those i believe that the multiac jazz has the most classic jazz tone. The mini humbucker sounds incredible and the solid aaa spruce top ensures a nice, full, warm, deep tone. The neck of this guitar (25.5 scale) is certainly not for everyone and more a hybrid of classical and electric guitar necks. The more classically oriented headstock adds to that. I am not too crazy about the piezo but coupled to the right amp it adds more versatility. And of course if you are into the synth thing then this guitar is a great choice. I am still uncertain what the best strings for this guitar are. After trying chromes and thomastic infield 13 flats i presently have much thinner d'addario halfrounds and also like them. This guitar is quite versatile and can accomodate a lot.

The montreal is distinctly more geared towards blues and rock. It is a nice guitar. it has the shorter 24-3/4 scale but a very comfortable and not too chunky neck profile. The two humbuckers are on the dark side but together with the option to split them there is quite some tonal versatility and it also has the piezo option but no synth access. The guitar can do everything fro, rock to jazz and if i had to bring a single guitar somewhere i would choose this one.

My relationship with my kingpin has always been difficult. It just doesn't play that well in my opinion. I always wanted to get the fat jazztones out of it that say, a gibson archtop has, and in my opinion it just doesn't do that. I am much happier with it since i put phosphor bronze strings on it - it sounds special with these strings and the p90s are nice on this guitar. It gets a bit of a gypsy vibe in this way. Perhaps i should try argentine strings? But still i find this guitar much harder to play than any of my other guitars. I don't really know why. Maybe the action is too high or the neck too narrow. i have never tried one of the new fifth avenue jazz but unless the neck is different from the kingpin i likely don't like it much better. Of all my guitars the kingpin is probably still the one that i would most readily part with (despite it being so pretty - but my kids wouldn't let me)

The nylon string multiac is nice for latin things and for bringing nylon string sound on stage. But it is not true that it doesn't feedback - it does, but it can be controlled. It generally sounds nice and plays nice, a likeable guitar and also synth ready. It would probably be too much to ask that it sounds like a highvend accoustic classical guitar - the amplification is by a piezo after all and that just always sounds a bit thin and brittle. But after playing with the eq one does get nice sounds.

I guess one can play jazz on pretty much any guitar. Its in the head, the hands and the heart. But godin guitars are certainly nice, modern, innovative and versatile. i find them really fairly priced and of nice and consistent quality.

[technogeek]

I have a Godin Seagull Acoustic. The sound is beautiful - very mellow. I lowered the action a while ago which made a lot of difference to fretting and changed the strings to a medium gauge.

I prefer playing my Stratocaster for most music but once in while I reach for the Godin and every time i am blown away how sweet it sounds.

[entresz]

I have a Godin 5th Avenue acoustic that has a Vintage Vibe floating CC pickup fitted on it. It's a great guitar, and very well built too. The only things that I think would improve it would be larger frets (the frets are very small, I guess like many vintage guitars), and a bit more of a radius on the fingerboard. The fingerboard is pretty flat; although most people I know seem to prefer a flatter fingerboard.

I've played a Multiac jazz and was very impressed.

Godins seem to represent very good value. I know if my 5th Avenue had 'Gibson' on the headstock it would have cost four times what I paid for it.

[Archie]

Godin seem contentious. Personally I've never played a Godin that i liked the look of, or the sound of.

They have some good marketing but when it comes down to the actual guitars, I dont find it matches.

Just my opinion

[Chazmo]

I love my two Godins: A 5th Avenue acoustic with Bartolini floater and a 5th Avenue Jazz. Both are well-built, comfortable, and play great. I had a Kingpin for a while and wish now I hadn't sold it.

[medblues]

I have a Grand Concert Multiac Duet Ambiance, Lionel Loueke plays Godins. His album Karibu showcases the Grand Concert I believe. Sylvain Luc also plays Godins.

If you want a Swiss Army Knife of a guitar, LGX-SA has two splittable humbuckers, piezo and synth output.

Summit Classic CT has a two P-Rails model with a revoicer.

[Jehu]

I have a 5th Ave Kingpin II, and I couldn't be happier. I see a lot of drool-worthy pics on this site of high end guitars, but once the fantasy wears off and I pick up the Godin, I don't really see any reason to spend more money.

They have some good marketing but when it comes down to the actual guitars, I dont find it matches.

ATH is of course welcome to his opinion, but this simply doesn't make any sense to me. If anything I'd say Godin is cutting themselves short in the advertising department, and their QA is up there with anyone. It's pretty hard to beat Godin's level of quality for the price point.

[entresz]

Agree re. the build quality of Godin in regards to the price point. The build quality of my 5th Avenue was excellent, far better than my 2011 Gibson L6-S reissue (which cost nearly three times as much).

[Chazmo]

Longtime ES-175 user Philip Catherine switched to a Godin 5th Avenue Composer a few years ago.

[wildschwein]

They make amazing guitars and you can pick them up second hand for a song. I have a couple of Seagull acoustics (the Seagull brand is Godin's acoustic branch) and they are superb instruments made from beautiful woods that play, look and sound amazing; and cost about 30%-40% of what you would pay for a bigger name brand with similar or even lesser quality assurance.

[djelley]

I have several Godin's and love them all. If you are looking for a Montreal Premiere and like or don't mind red, Amazon has them at the amazing price of $983.92. If I didn't already have one, I would have jumped on it. The Montreal is a GREAT guitar.

[Doctor Jeff]

The Godin thread bubbles to the surface after 6 years...

I'm a big fan--currently have a 5th Avenue which I enhanced with a GFS floater, used to have a Kingpin. Both extremely well-made guitars, super playable with comfortable necks.

That is a great price on the Premiere. I have long wanted one, bid for a couple on Ebay and lost, and in the end went with a Peerless in a similar thinline configuration. Despite its arched center block, it will most definitely achieve a mellow jazz tone.

Though I will point out there are a bunch of nice thinlines now mostly made in Asia around the same price that are in the same league quality and sound-wise--Peerless, D'Angelico, Eastman. If the price were equal, I would still go for the Godin--great North American quality.

[mad dog]

Count me as a fan. I picked up a used Montreal Premiere around New Years, have been practising jazz stuff on it since then. Much to appreciate in terms of build quality, playability and sound. The p/us are too bright for my taste, so if I were keeping it, that's an upgrade I'd be doing. But I'll probably be selling it, as I just grabbed a very nice seventy seven Albatross P-90 in the For Sale section here.

Can't keep em all, and anything P-90 gets priority in my house.

MD