Godin Freeway Classic

2007 Canada-USA made. I don't know why they just don't say " made in North America"...It would take less words on the head stock. 22 frets, mine has a maple fret board, and it is in a wonderful leaftop sunburst. H-S-H godin pick ups. 5 way switch and one volume one tone knob. all what it need. Maple middle body with poplar wings body, so the weight is just perfect. Startocaster style body and bridge. Lovely and usefull gigbag is include with the guitar. I would say the neck have a "C" or "D" shape with a 12" radius. It really handles like a strat.

I'm playing in a cover band, and this guitar is so versatile with her pickups combinations, it can suit a lot of style. We are playing mainly classic rock, old rock'n'roll and danse music and it fit right there in all those styles. I play it true a Fender Blues jr. ( micked ) and it makes the job without any doubt. It's noiseless as long you don't play too near the amp in a room full of neon. But even there it's not that bad. This guitar was bought to be the backup of my Epi Les Paul Ultra, but it now taking her place for half of the songs we are doing. You can approach a lot the Start sound as well as you can be near the Les Paul sound. It's not exactly the same sound, but near. I should say it have the full Godin sound, that is very good by instance. I took a little bit of time to get use to it but now that we are pals, I love her. I would say this guitar is one of the most unknown jewel in the industry.

Since I bought it used, I can't say about her original setup, but it was perfect for my taste when I had it. It comes with 9-46 gauge strings and I left it this way. All of the electronics woks fine, it stayed in tune for days ( as long you don't use the tremolo arm ) the finish is very nice, and I don't really care about what kind of laminated this and that it's made, as long it looks good, and in this case...it looks very good. The frets level is straight, no buzz, action is low and the frets are soft at the edge, what I find a lot more important than the wood it's made of. It really look and feel like a lot more expensive guitar. I've seen some American made Fender with a lot more rough frets edge. I hate to give 10 all the time for a review, but I have to, if I want to be fare for it finish in that price range.

Since the guitar is already 2 years, I presume it will stay as straight as it is now. You can certainly gig with that Freeway, I'm doing it, and it's really a professional instrument. No way you should play without a backup, eveen if it's only for a string break, you always need a backup. This Godin was bought to backup my Les Paul Ultra, but it's now an headache to choose between the two to start the gigs. I think I have now two number one. I will be able to finally give a 9 instead of a 10... The strap buttons are weak...you will need to fix that, but it's so easy to do...

Never dealt with them, and hope I won't have to do it...

Playing guitar for over 40 years, I had so many guitars, it would make no sense to enumerate it overhere. I still gig 25 times a year, and don't want more. I was to buy a Mexican made Stratocaster for backup, but I finally opted for that Godin Freeway. It's the best move I've ever made. It blows away any MIM Strat and I would even say it's par to American ones. If it got stolen, I would run to buy another one. If you are looking for a profesionnal instrument for the price of a beginner's one, get one of those. It's a superb sounding guitar, well built and really nice.

Hecha a mano en Canada y Armada en USA
22 Espacios
Cuerpo de Tres piezas centro de maple y alas de alamo
1 Volumen, 1 Tono, Selector de 5 posiciones
configuracion H S H
Pickups Godin Neck GHN 1, Mid GS 1, Bridge GHB 1
Capsulas Pasivas
Mango solido de Maple, diapason de Maple
Puente flotante de 6 puntas
Tuners 6 en linea Godin por lo que me han dicho son marca Jin Ho, sin bloqueo
Jumbo Frets
Color Sumburts Flameada probablemente lacada
Venia con Gig Bag Godin

eh tocado varios estilos rock, jazz, funk, metal, progresivo, blues, pop, etc, y la guitarra anda super bien en todos, a mi pareser se destaca especialmente para blues y rock. pero muy versatil la guitarra

estoy tocando con un Fender Roc Pro 1000 y la Pod xt Live y los tres se complementan muy bien

la guitarra es muy comoda eso si que me gusta de la guitarra.

La guitarra se comparta muy bien, desafina rara ves, las terminaciones son de primera

La guitarra la tengo hace 4 a??os y nunca me a dado un problema.

Es una exelente guitarra creo que supera ampliamente a varias guitarras que estan en el precio incluso a otras de gama alta, total y absolutamente recomendable.

22 medium frets, maple fingerboard, 2 piece neck (i.e. no skunk stripe), H/S/H Godin pickup configuration, classic Strat-style - 6-screw tremolo system. Flame maple top with silver-leaf maple core and poplar wings. 25.25" string length. An excellent gigbag is included and a couple of hex keys for adjustment. Schaller straplocks are installed by default.

The neck has rolled fingerboard edges, so it's comfortable to play e.g. thumb-over styles. A very familiar-feeling neck with a satin finish.

The neck/body joint is beveled, and cut away slightly so moving to the higher frets is really comfortable. Not as much bevel for the strumming arm.

A comfortable, classic, very flexible guitar.

With all the maple in this guitar, it's very tight and bright sounding. I have the trem hard against the body (not floating) and the sustain is amazing.

I play blues and rock and it's perfect for those tones. I use a PODxt with all of the addons so I have tried it with ultra clean, light tube breakup all the way to super high gain, and you can get a huge variety out of the stock setup. Super high gain seekers might want to replace the bridge pickup. The neck pickup is pretty much perfect, warm, clear and breaks up nicely with the right amp.

I found positions 2 & 4 to be a bit noisy with gain and fluorescent lights around. I discovered that the pickups are 4-wire pickups so coil tapping IS possible (even though the customer service guy said no). I replaced the stock 5-way switch with a superswitch, and split the humbuckers in position 2 & 4 and WOW what a great clear Strat sound that is not noisy at all. I also made position 3 using all 5 coils and it sounds wonderful, a real twangy/thick rhythm tone. If you have this guitar, try it, you won't believe how good it can sound.

I also added a treble-bleed capacitor to the volume pot so it wouldn't get dull when you turned the volume down. This should have been added from the factory.

Rating 10 after my changes but I'll knock one off for the fact that I had to make them.

Setup was tight as I've ever seen. I did have to lower the action a little, but it came with hybrid .09s and I much prefer .10s, so that probably explains that. Slight bit of buzzing on the low E after a year or so after I lowered the action, not too surprising.

This guitar is rock solid. I'd trust it without a backup, no question.

The straplocks are a nice feature but the top one keeps coming unscrewed.

The finish on the neck was satin when I got it, but has worn down somewhat now to a light gloss. I don't mind, as it doesn't feel any slicker or grippier. The fingerboard finish is still solid and feels great.

Very quick response when I mailed them, even though he said you couldn't split the coils in the humbuckers (you can). To give him the benefit of the doubt, either he could have been reading standard specs and mine was an exception, or he was reading the official company line, to try and upsell the customer.

I've been playing 20 years off and on, and got good sounds out of junk equipment. My expectations aren't sky high but this one keeps delivering, I've had it for a year and a half now and I'm still loving it.

If it were stolen or lost, I would probably get the same one, or possibly go for the SA model that adds piezos. It does so much in a single guitar. It's comfortable and after playing other guitars for a bit this one is like coming home.

I seriously compared against MIM Strats, G&Ls, PRS SE, and Variax. This one had more to offer and felt so much better in my hands. The unplugged tone was remarkably better than anything else.

I may consider a pickup replacement, but I need to look at that closely. The stock ones work fine.

Double cutaway H/S/H "Super Strat" style solid body with one volume, one tone, and 5-way selector, assembled in New Hampshire from parts made in Canada (though I believe the hardware and electronics might come from the ROK). The body consists of a solid silverleaf maple center block with poplar wings and a "lightburst" bookmatched flamed maple top. Gorgeous glossy polyurethane finish. The neck was the real selling point for me: hard rock maple with satin finish, 12" radius and very comfortable; very similar to the Ibanez Prestige necks, though they might be too thin for some. Nice Rosewood fretboard; also available in maple. The neck joint is rock solid, with no metal plate to impede access to upper frets. Some reviews had led me to believe this was a lighter guitar, but it has some heft to it, and it's well-balanced. Pickups are Godin's own. Since they use Duncans in their better premium models, one can conclude that these are not going to be the best. Pickups are not very sensitive to the guitar controls alone. To get any variation in sound you have to play with the amp settings. One drawback with the single coil in the middle is that you cannot get both humbuckers on at the same time. The selections are H, H-S, S, S-H, and H. No coil tapping. Nice gig bag included.

With the maple body and the maple neck, it's pretty bright, yet not terribly articulate. With the guitar's tone all the way down you get a flat acoustic sound, as opposed to a clean electric blues tone, which is what I was looking for. I'm playing it through a Roland Cube 30. I'm either going to have to get better as a player, switch out the pickups, get a tube amp, or all of the above. Crank up the gain and it will play metal, though

As I said, the finish is a beautiful, very nicely bookmatched flamed maple top. Maybe the best thing about the guitar. The fret edges were a little sharp. Action was low, intonation was good, but there is a little fret buzz in the low E. I don't know if it's the pickups or the pots, but there could be a little more sensitivity in the tone and volume controls. No noise or popping in the pots or selector, though.

This is a very solidly-built guitar. The finish seems very durable, though there is no pickguard. There could be better documentation. They give you a generic overview of the hardware and electronics, but nothing specific to the Freeway model with this pickup configuration and bridge. One example of more helpful documentation would have been an explanation of the straplocks, which do not include the male buttons. Be sure to get Schaller male ends; any other brand probably will not fit, as I found out the hard way.

Got this from Music 123, which is one of the few online stores that carries a wide selection of Godins. I had to wait a few weeks to get it from the Godin factory, which I didn't mind, as it gave me the sense that it was being built just for me. Music 123 was very responsive and forthright about everything, and you can't beat free shipping and no sales tax; plus they throw in a tuner and a stand.

I've been playing guitar for over 50 years, I've played everything from vintage L-5s to Mosrites to Danelectros to Duesenbergs to Alembics to Daisy Rocks, and I've jammed with everybody from Les Paul to Wes Montgomery to Paul Westerberg, and I can honestly say without hesitation that the Godin Freeway Classic is a very good choice for a first electric guitar. As with many products at this price point, you can switch out the pickups, change hardware, and give it a professional set-up to make it just as good as guitars costing twice as much or more. The high quality of the body and neck make for a very solid foundation from which to build an even better guitar when you're ready.

Good features for the money. An excellent gig bag. The tremolo arm is not threaded, so it just slides in and out... no need to screw it in. The strap buttons are buttons for schaller straplocks. The rest is mentioned on the website. Don't forget it's entirely made in N. America.

I wish they put the piezo bridge on this guitar.

I'm impressed with the sound. I'm very happy with the lead tone, the rhythm sound holds up pretty well. Everything you play comes through pretty well. I think this guitar has a pretty hot sound... it seems like the sound is broad and powerful across the frequency range. Good sustain, decent intonation. I have doubts that it'd even be worthwhile to switch out the pickups. So far I think they suit the guitar well, and they haven't had any problems. I have played lots of metal on this guitar, and some clean stuff as well. Not the best sounding guitar out there in clean, heavy, or lead, but it doesn't lack in any one area, and all in all I think it sounds pretty good.

No equal at this price level. The neck feels great. Body is nice and solid, and the guitar feels like one cohesive piece. The lacquer is well applied. The guitar's finish is beautiful. Wiring is good.

My only complaint is that the strap buttons seem to be poorly made. I bought the schaller straplock system, since you pretty much have to (not expensive, and good to have, anyway), and the clips wouldn't fit over the buttons! I had to replace the buttons. Now one of the screws comes a little loose now and then, leading to sort of a wobbly button. I think I know how to fix that, but still, it's a pain. Other than that small detail, I think the build of the guitar is excellent. I think the guitar will last and is quite dependable. Not a broken string to date either! I think other brands @ this price would have many many more problems.

I think everyone could use one of these. Excellent purchase for a beginner, but even an intermediate or advanced player would be satisfied with the quality of this guitar. I bought this so that I wouldn't have to bring my more expensive guitar to band practice and risk it getting dinged up, but I've been playing it a lot at home, and have even recorded with it. I have not played a guitar of this quality @ the price they're selling it for.

This guitar is a Strat shape/style guitar finished in Trans Blue Flamed Maple with a 12" radius maple neck. 22 frets and a h/s/h/ passive Godin pick-up configuration, which are fully adjustable, along with a Fender style 6 screw vibrato bridge, fully adjustable saddles and pop-in vibrato arm. One tone and one volume control for all pick-ups with a 5 way pick-up selector switch. The scale is Fender like as well (25.5) as is the 50s/60s headstock with 2 string trees. Godin tuners. The guitar comes with a high quality padded gig bag, bridge, pick-up and neck adjustment tools.

The guitar has a variety of sounds thanks to the pick-up set up. The bridge humbucker pick-up is very bright and the neck is a little warmer as to be expected. The output of both are not overly hot nor are they faint either. In other words, standard humbucker output. The single coil in the middle however is surprisingly strong as there is very little loss in signal when switching from one of the humbuckers to the single, or vice versa, during mid song. This is nice little advantage when playing various cover songs. The overall sound does however tend to be more on the bright side. This is likely due to the solid maple body and the 25.5 scale. Great for pop and rock sounds and certain styles of electric blues. Metal-heads will love it too but since I do not play that particular genre, no comment.

The factory set-up was O.K. but then I am a little fussy about such things and I generally do my own set-up. Godin does give you the basic tools to do the job and the guitar is very adjustable to begin with so as far as I am concerned it is not an issue. The fit and finish of the guitar are first class all the way. The Flamed Maple finish is very attractive and the frets and neck are solid and top notch. There were absolutely no flaws in the guitar what so ever. The weight and balance of the guitar are also very good. It does not feel like a boat anchor on your shoulder. Very comfortable to play.

I use this guitar in live situations all the time and it has never failed to produce. I have had this guitar for 15 months now and it is as reliable as it is beautiful. I get many positive comments on the appearance of my Freeway Classic. It is built to last. The finish is as fresh now as it was when I bought the guitar. Nothing has broken, fallen off or any other calamities.

There was only one slight problem out of the gate and that was a noisy volume pot. It made a crackling sound. The dealer changed it immediately at Godin's cost. Since then nothing but happy motoring.

I have been playing off and on for 30 years, but seriously only in the past 3 years. I bought the guitar because I liked the looks and then when I tried it, I really enjoyed the feel and the playability. It is a little harsher sounding than my Strat and ES335, but it does give me a fast action rock guitar when that type of song is played. Through a Vox AC30CC2 and Boss pedals (CS-3, BD-2, DS-1) and a Marshall Regenerator, very good pedal by the way, the Godin Freeway Classic gives me good tone and great playability. I would give the guitar a 9.5 overall but since .5 is not available, 9 is the overall rating. I highly recommend this guitar for serious players on a budget because the price point for what you get with this guitar is outstanding !!

Mine is a blue leaftop with the h-s-h and the traditional bridge, rosewood fretboard. I have owned it for 2 years, and due to Canadian weather, I have to make adjustments to the set up fall and spring. I have been playing 20 years and I'm 33 so you know the kind of R & R types around then. I like them all.

I use this guitar with both a Roland Jazz Chorus 120W, and a Line 6 SpiderII for dirt. The pickups are ok, I recommend raising them to obtain better tones. I just set it up, and it sounds pretty good, but the strings always seem to feel like they're not tight enough...strange I know, and I'm using a quality tuner, with quality strings. Sounds are good, but I don't find it punchy enough clean, or dirty enough dirty...so I may swap out the pick ups someday.

This guitar requires set up during season changes if you're in Canada or areas that have significant seasonal weather changes.
The guitar does play well, but I find it buzzes when action set low. I have a Peavey Patriot that has action so low without buzzing, it will make you blow your load. Bridge and neck feel are nice, and I think it is a good balanced weight. The electronics are kinda cheap, and the tone control is very extreme, tone or no tone. Because of the poor electronics, I only give it a 4 this category. I expect more from a Canadian/American guitar company...dont give me shitty electronics when there are so many quality parts available.

Body and neck are well crafted, although the neck joint is not perfect, I have felt movement during a hard session. I would not use this exclusively, unless the electronics, and pick ups were changed to high quality parts. The neck is very nice, and I enjoy playing it due to its feel.

Overall it is a good guitar for the money. The bridge is nice, and it stays in tune, but don't let the humidity or extreme dryness get to it, you may have to set it up again.

This is a Godin Freeway classic, with duncan designed pups (H-S-H) With a trem bridge. Maple Neck, maple core with poplar wings. 22 frets. parts form canada, and assembled in the US. 5 way pup selector, and one volume and tone with steel dome knobs, and Schaller lockign strap buttons.

This is a nice guitar, suitable for virtually all styles of music. I typically paly anythign from blues to all out melodic heavy metal, this guitar suits it all. But then again, I switched out the humbuckers for a jb/jazz combo.

I'll just go through the pickups and tell you how they sound.

Bridge (jb): This position is very bright and it may be too bright for some people. The cleans arent amazing, but tehy were better with the stock pups. They can grab almost any 80s metal tone, and gives a great lead tone.

Middle (stock single coil): this is a good pickup, it is a very standard single coil sound, and reflects the sound of a Fender almost. This is a good position for most light crunch surf rock or blues.

Neck (jazz): This is probably the best position to me. The jazz really makes a great smooth creamy tone. It distorts well, and is a great jazz position, but can also handle blues and rhythm rock guitar.

I'm giving this section a 9, becuase no matter how great a guitar is (trust me this is an amazing guitar), there is no perfect.

When I first got this guitar, the action was a bit high for my prefrences, but it was about the same height on all the otehr guitars. The pickups were all set flat, and gave a nice equal sound. And the fret job was nice and clean, no uneven frets, and the frets were crowned very well. The only problem I had was a small dent near the output jack, but it's barely noticable. But everything was great, no electronics problems, no sharp saddles, not even a loose tuning peg. Great guitar, top notch set ups comparing to gibson and prs setups.

This is a very solid guitar, hard finish, it has some mass on the body that make you feel like your actually holding something. I woudl definatly gig without a backup. One thing though is that when I got this guitar, it came with strap lock buttons instead of regular buttons, so I had to go out and buy a strap lock for this guitar.

Never dealed with them. I figure they should be alright, for building such a nice guitar.

Overall this is a great guitar, the best one I've ever played. If it were stolen, I may look our for osme other guitars, but eventually I think I'd come back to another Godin freeway classic.

I've been playing guitar for 3 years, doing a couple gigs, and such nothign major. I own a custom guitar (lp body with a fender neck, s-s-h) And a couple of different distortion pedals. I run these through a genz Benz el diablo 60c. I also have a dean acoustic with a piezo isntalled in it. But the Godin is my favorite of all of them.

One thing I do wish sometimes is for a floyd rose, but then I know godin has that freeway floyd, so I might look at oen of those one day too.

maple neck and maple fingerboard , black body finish
6 screw tremolo,with a micro whammy bar screw that fix the whammy bar
body is sliver leaf maple block with poplar wing
neck is a flater than fender's. very good for shred,
25.5 scale with 22 frets
godin stocked pickups

my music style:from folk to metal,
i am using Laney 15W practice amp,Zoom GFX1,
not noisy, not deadly noiseless,

neck pickup sounds warm, sweet, deep (nice presence), balance which reminds me my old Dimarzio Norton's Sound but godin is more balance.

middle single sounds a bit brighter and crisper but not as crisp as fender's single coils.

bridge pickup sounds relatively duller in clean and nice for distortion.

i think the sound combination is designed for versatile players,or for section players.

only complain is it doesn't sound vintage feel.

i love the neck sound the most, in clean mode, it's very balance, good for jazz,roll back the tone it's bassy and smooth.
and sensitive.
all position i can get good sustain sound.

I can say this guitar has most versatile soild electric guitar sound, and one of the best sounding guitar in this price range.

factory setup is good and playable,but i still setup myself,
the neck relief is right now, and i set the tremolo a bit floated so i can use tremolo to higher half note.
action is reasonable, i won't set it too low as i will strum it hard when playing folks,the strings are above the fret about 2mm at 12th fret.

the factory set the neck pickup a bit lower than standard. but neck pickup still sound rich and full, so i keep the setting.

no any flaws, build very solid

it's good for studio as well as performing,
the hardwares seems solid
thick finishing
strap button is too small,but i will upgrade a dunlop strap lock


if i have a gig,i will backup with a non tremolo guitar

it comes with a very pretty guitar bag,the guitar bag include a pillow that can be removed as a guitar fixing platform.
i don't know about the warranty.
but the salesman is very nice and highly appreciate godin

i have been playing for about 6 years
i owned and played ibanez,squier,epiphone,kramer,aria pro II,spirit,yamaha.
most of gear i owned is mid-low price guitars.

Kramer and Godin has the best quality in my experience.

only about US$350 u can get a usa made guitar,i can see every fret is hand grinded by the one who loves guitar

Bought this new last year (05) from a trader on Ebay. Very cheap for what it is, and the bargain of last year for me.

Very well made at any price, but especially at this price. Good quality woods and hardware. Have read the complaints about Godin pickups but they work fine unles you're a metal nut looking to thrash the hell out of your amp. Not what I needed, and this Freeway is just great as it is.

Poplar body with thin (but real) flame maple top. Rock maple neck with rosewood board. Vintage type trem and Godin pickups (H-s-H in the Ibanez style). One volume, one tone pot. Comes with a very high quality Godin gigbag as well.

I play all sorts of stuff in a pub band. I have three elecs and two acoustics, and I play keys half the time. This Godin gets plenty of use live and for recording. I have a Godin acoustic as well so you could say I'm a happy customer.

Surprisingly, this guitar isn't your typical full-on superstrat. It's got more of a classic strat sound to me, which suits my style. If you're looking for a metal tool then this might not put out enough juice for you. You'd think those two humbuckers would kick out, but they're fairly restrained. I like that but you may not.

I use a Roland Blues Cube, and/or a POD 2, and/or a Magicstomp. I'm not an amp freak and will happily go direct in to a PA with either the POD or the Magicstomp. Try it, you'd be surprised how good these toys are. This guitar sounds great whatever I plug it into.

One or two minor dents in the underside of the body, hardly noticable and the reason why I got it cheap I think. No other faults. The neck is superb. Unbelievably well made at the price. I had a US standard strat until last year - I sold it because it was badly put together and no fun to play. And I don't mean the set-up. I mean that US Fenders are bloody expensive for the average quality they ship out. This Godin was a third of the cost and is twice the quality. No bull.

How many guitars break at gigs these days. It's well made and of course you can depend on it. Comes with Schaller strap buttons so you can lock on your strap, just like a US Fender.

I have no idea. Never needed Godin for anything other than the original build.

Been playing guitar for 20 years or so. I have several guitars and a few keyboards as well. This is one of my best buys ever. Would get another if stolen. Can't think of any reason not to keep this one a long time.