Godin Freeway Floyd

I'm a trained keyboard musician with over 40 years experience. I'm extremely picky. This is my first guitar. Body is a Fender knockoff made of silver maple and has poplar wings. It is well made, and I cannot fault the finish. The neck is also a Fender knockoff, 25-1/2" scale made of rock maple and has a 22 fret rosewood fingerboard, the inlays are small off to the side closest your eyes. The frets are medium jumbo. Neck humbucker is a Godin NHN2 (double); Center is a GSB (single); and the Bridge humbucker is a NHB2 (double). 5-way switch, one volume, one tone control. Licenced Floyd Rose type bridge. Trem locks.

So far this is doing the job. I play it with a Fender Hotrod DeVille 212. The single wound center pickup has some hum, but that's pretty normal for singles. I find the neck pickup a bit muddy, but the center/neck combo works great on clean. The bridge humbuckers are nice and bright. Using the overdrive channel on the amp, I use the center/bridge for classic rock, and the bridge alone for some more metal stuff. The whammy is like power steering, use it gently.

I can get a good crunch from the bridge pickup. I really don't think I've fully explored everything I can do with this guitar.

I had to take it into the store's service shop for adjustment on the first day. The neck was set way too low and was fretting out around 12. It took two times to get it just right -- again I'm very picky. Everything else was set up fine. It looked beautiful. The neck is nice and smooth, and doesn't get sticky even in the most humid weather. Pickups were adjusted fine. There was no other tweaking needed. If you're going from a smaller fret remember that you don't have to depress the strings too far otherwise you'll change pitch. The guitar is made for some speed. I had strap locks put on. Tuning can be difficult for the first time Floyd user. Just stretch the strings, loosen the locks, and tune it. Once you've got that, lock the locks, but don't crank too hard otherwise you could strip them (that's just common sense), Then go back and using the fine adjust tuners on the bridge, even out the tuning. Once this is done, you shouldn't have to retune maybe for a few days.

I've only had this a few months. I expect it to last. Godin has a good warranty. The finish looks great. Just use a microfiber cloth and some ammonialess glass cleaner to clean the body (apply to the cloth). It should last for years. For a gig? I'd use it, but I'd have a backup regardless of what brand I played. If you break a string on a Floyd Rose it can take a while to swap strings. Like everything this will wear out. I'd replace the bridge at that time with a Genuine Floyd Rose.

The set up was redone at no cost. Oh, and they'd already discontinued this model when I ordered it, but found enough parts to make this one. They didn't have to do that.

I chose this guitar based upon the reputation of the company. It lives up to that. This model has been discontinued so it would have to be replaced with something else. I'd want to check another Godin. They make a great instrument for the price. The neck sits well in my hand, however, I don't have very large hands, some chords are hard for me to reach. Compared to a 1960s Gibson D-neck, this neck fits my hand better. Really you should try several brands in a price range before deciding. Every guitar is different if only because the wood isn't uniform.

Made in the USA and Canada

Neck: Rock Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood w/ Radius 12?
Body: Silverleaf Maple center w/ Poplar wings
Nut: locking
Scale: 25 ??
Bridge: licenced, low-profile, Floyd Rose
Frets: 22 medium jumbo
Pickups: Neck: Godin NHN2
Middle: Godin NSM2
Bridge: Godin NHB2
Controls: 5-way pickup switch, volume and tone

I'm relatively new to guitar but focus most of my playing on classic Rock which this guitar suits very well. I play through a line 6 Spider Amp and the tones with this amp are varied and interesting.

The pickups are very clean (low noise) and I find the tones to be full (not bright) and warm.

This guitar was given to me as a gift (because I asked for it) and needed some serious setup. The neck needed to be straightend, the action lowered, the bridge and pickups height adjusted, etc. I was really surprised at the overall setup because every other Godin guitar I've tested has typically been meticulously setup from the factory. My point is that I belive that this guitar was an anomaly and not the usual example of Godin's setup quality.

The qualit of the woods and finish were fantastic and my only complaint was setup which was easily taken care of by my local tech.

I'm not a profession musician so I don't gig with it. It seems to be built very well (ie: solid)!

I haven't contacted them yet (no reason so far).

I also have an Ibanez SA260FMGA and a Line 6 Spider amp which both suit me very well. I don't really have a use for the Floyd bridge which is the key feature of this guitar so it really isn't ideal for me.

I really do love the range of tones this guitar is capable of, and the quality of workmanship is undeniable but the quality of setup from the factory was very poor. I'm also a little leary of the floating bridge as it's quite difficult to tune.

If it was lost or stolen, I'd likely replace with another guitar but it almost surely would be another Godin.