Godin G-1000

My guitar was made in 1993, although I bought it for ??350 second-hand from a friend of a friend in early 2000. It is a light blue sunburst with two sigle coil pickups and a humbucker at the bridge (all Godin, none replaced, altered, etc), white scratchplate and some handsome gold tuners and strat-style tremolo bridge. Oh and a a 24 3/4" scale for the neck. When I contacted Godin guitars about 4 years ago they said the guitar had a Limewood body, and a rock maple neck...but I though my guitar was a Godin G-2000 at the time (there is no labelling other than 'Godin G-series USA' on the head) so these might not be the type of woods used. The body cavity fits me just beautifully and I loved the look of this guitar from the moment I got it. Also, all Godins are hand-crafted in Canada (assembled in America) - and done with precision. After 16 years the only thing that has come loose or otherwise is the little strap holder screw. Easily sorted. Excellent piece of engineering this.

I have a big Laney TF-100 (50amp) that I use this with and I must say that together they are an absolute treat on the old ear-drums! This is a hugely versitile guitar sound-wise, with the neck pickup producing some very smooth bluesy sounds - certainly best for me with a clean or slightly distorted setting, although when highly distorted it has a very tonal dark and crunchy sound which is just as good. The mid range of the selector switch (5-way) produces a real array of sounds which are great for funk and slapping techniques. The humbucker? Well it just kicks your ass clean or distorted! A reasonable volume boost comes with this pickup (mine is raised slightly higher than the single coils) which is just so crisp and resonant. The sustain is amazing too - I think this is down to the build quality of the guitar as much as the pickups. Overall - it's my favourite sounding guitar. Beautiful.

As far as factory setup - having got the guitar 7 years after it was made - I can only say that it has lasted brilliantly well having been very, very well used by myself and the previous owner. There are some superficial scratches and cracks which were there when I got the guitar but they cause no problems whatsoever. I do, however find the guitar a bit fiddly when I get up past the 17th fret or so as the frets are quite tight together, so it is a little harder work to make these notes sound perfect. The plus side to this is that it makes things like harp harmonics on the fret board a little easier for me - but that is just personal preference. The action is incredibly smooth and easy if you move around the fretboard frequently - great for fingerpicking too I find (I use earnie ball regular slinkys). As I said before it is extremely comfortable to sit or stand with too. I would also say that I don't use the tremolo on this guitar because I find it goes out of tune fairly eaily when used a lot - so if you want to gig with one of these make sure it is set up very well.

I am not a gigging musician so I can't say how reliable it'd be for prolongued gig useage, but the hardware on the guitar is pretty solid. In nine years I have had only one full re-fret, one partial, changed the guage of string to a higher guage with no problems, had the wiring fixed about eight years ago and no problems since, and not much else at all. The strap button on the horn of the body used to come loose (as it seems with a lot og Godins), but again that's easily fixed. The only significant thing is that is goes out of tune fauirly easily, but I should also have more regular set-ups for my guitars! After 16 years it's done very, very well and will last for decades to come I'm sure. Care for it and it will last :)

Asked for info on my Godins a couple of times and I have to say that their customer service dept. is really excellent. They replied to me rapidly - giving me the type of G-series it was, the components, and even told me which year it was made just from the serial number! Super-de-duper.

Love it. Quite simply. It was my first guitar and will be my last possesion if I had to get rid of anything else. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Bought in 1994 in Sacramento. Classic sunburst with a black pickguard. HSS configuration.

Generally gets used for pop/rock music. Great bluesy tone in the neck position. Decent variety of tones available. Stands up well against my American Standard Strat. Due to the 24 frets the neck pickup is closer to the bridge than on the AS Strat thus doesn't give as full neck tone as the strat.

Across the board very good (see below) There were some superficial scratches and some marks on the bridge in particular. See below for more

Tuning pegs needed a little adjustment. Easily fixed by me.

Had it for 11 years now - wouldn't trade it. A great solid guitar. Have taken it all over the place without a problem.

Spoke with Robert Godin and his son at a trade show - they were great! Robert signed my guitar as well.

Did a little research - this guitar was the particular one reviewed in Guitar Player. It may have been set up a little better because of it. The GP reviewer stated that he did certain things to the guitar. It was obvious. He stripped the head of one of the screws on the bridge. It has been great. If you find one used in good condition, pick it up - its a great second guitar or great guitar for beginners or intermediates.

Great blues guitar - especially the mid pickup. To all those folks that have replaced the pickups on this guitar: the G 1000 the pickups are S. Duncan?s designed especially for this guitar. I think it is a perfect match. I have Gibson LP Custom and Fender Tele but somehow, I play mostly on this guitar. The guitar sounds definitely much better with size .10 strings. I dislike the position of 5 way switch it is somehow to close to the strings.

Perfect quality

Never had contact

Pitty Godin produces it no longer. Dislike design.

everything desribed in upper submitts..mine is black

I was recently using a Gibson Sg and an Ibanez s470, I equipped it with a seymour duncan sh6 pups and I thought theres nothing more I can do for better sound. But then one day one man came and told me: see, I was playing guitar, but since I have that new job, I dont have time anymore..and he gave me a godin g1000 as a backup guitar.
I was not bothering with the guitar too much, I didnt even try it and I took it to my gig as a backup (our band votchi was a support for Whitesnake in T-mobile arena that evening). The first song came and e string went off. So I had to take G1000 for the rest of the gig. I was heavily shocked what started to come from my engl r. blackmore sign. behind me!! Full and crispy concrete sound which I was waiting for for years..I dont like the design of the guitar - its awfull, but the sound forced me to use Ibanez as backup and my main guitar is g1000 now

This is a great guitar.It is made in the United States.It has a very nice finish and a Vintage Strat bridge.It has one volume knob,and one tone knob.The tuners and bridge are gold plated.It has Fat Strat pickup configuration.With 24 frets it enables you to have a wide variety of tones.To my understaning this is a 1994 guitar.

The sound is O.K. I did replace the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan JB-4.It now sounds like a les paul and a strat combined,it is great better than a $3,000 PRS.I give it a 9 because I did change the bridge pickup.

The action on this guitar is great the sunburst blue finish is very beautiful. I only adjusted the bridge and set the intonation.The nut was very detailed.You could really tell that this guitar was made in the United States.

It was an icy day and I was carrying the guitar in a soft case(i did replace it)and slipped on the ice only to fall right on my guitar.I freaked out,I knew I cracked it.But when I looked it wasn't even blemished,Great Finish!!I also had a stomach virus and had it on a guitar stand and accidently barfed right on the guitar,but again it didnt hurt it at all.Very Durable!!!I would use it without a backup.

I have two Godin guitars and they are great.I have talked to them and they are very friendly.

I havebeen playing for 4 years but have some knowledge on guitars.I have a 1973 Gibson L6-S,not the crappy one with the bolt-on neck,that has the most variety of sounds I have ever heard from just a guitar and the G-Series can compete with it.

A unique adaptaion of the classic double cutaway. It came to me second hand, almost by accident. I didn't really care for the body at first, but it played so nice I figured why not? But it kinda grew on me. I'm not really a strat fan anyways. This is just enough of a departure. It has the standard Strat double-single-single pickup layout. The pickups are fine for what they are, but I would upgrade. They are a little on the generic side for my taste. Controls are also standard, volume/tone/5 way switch. Some pretty good sounds coming out of his thing tough. The 24 fret maple neck is smooth and fast. The Bridge is a floating trem, not my preference there either, but I don't use it anyways, as the pegs aren't locking ones. I do like the Godin headstock. Its kinda cool.
Overall appearance: Black High Gloss finish with white pickguard, natural finished neck and peghead, Gold Hardware. A nice looking and well-setup guitar for a low to mid budget strat-style.

The pickups were good, but still kind of generic. The double-single -single layout is good for a variety of tones, although I personally prefer a twin humbucker layout. I play a variety of styles, blues being my mainstay. This guitar held its own all the way around, both with effects applied and without. I even tuned it to an open G and tried it out with a glass slide... it didn't do half bad for an electric.
Overall sound: Great for what it is. I liked it better than some of the comparable entries from the mainstream manufacturers, and it definately does the job it was designed for and more.

Action wise, as it came to me it needed a bit of work, but like I said before, I bought it used. Once I played around with it a bit I was more than happy with the results. It played well, and the action was plenty smooth. A little low for the slide though, but that was more an experiment than anything. Finish was good, worn but obviously of good quality.
Overall Fit/Finish: Good, but needed work. Again, more than adequate for what it is. Still, a very well made guitar.

With non-locking pegs and the floating bridge, I wouldn't take this thing on tour by any means. But it would serve as a backup or a one song rig. The hardware shows wear, but that is to be expected I guess. I don't know who owned it before me. Electronics seem sound enough but I would upgrade them to if I were going to use this as a main gig rig. Strap buttons are a bit of a dissapointment. I would change to Dunlop Strap locks.
Overall reliability: Not intended for hardcore gigging... but it will do in a pinch. It is very well made. Definately need some upgrading before you want to depend on it as a main player.

I bought it used and just recently traded it off... I have heard that Godin is pretty good for Customer Service, but I can't vouch for it. All I can say is that Canadians are usually pretty friendly folks, eh?

I have been playng for about 15 years, give or take a few. I have only owned one strat style guitar previously, and this guitar outdid that by far. I prefer the Les Paul style and pickup layout.
For a used purchase, this was more than satisfactory. I would own another Godin if the chance arose, but I would not seek it out.
My favorite feature was the overall solidness, and the craftmanship.
The things I would change if I had kept it would have been the pickups and the hardware (locking pegs, maybe upgrade the bridge)
If it were stolen I would definately get something more to my taste.
Overall Rating: A great guitar for a used one. I would not be too terribly upset if it were the only one I could have.

I've been playing my Godin G-1000 for two years. It was left at my school by some kid who didn't really care, so my music teacher said I could have it. It is now my favorite guitar of my 3 electrics and 3 acoustics. It's a '96, made in Canada, 24-fret, volume and tone knobs, pickup selector toggle switch, Samuel Duncan dual pickups and humbucker, gold-plated hardware.... just a very very nice axe.

My G-1000 works beautifully for what I play. I am a jazz/blues/funk/rock guitarist, and I generally play either totally clean with low tone and high bass, or with a natural gain produced by my VOX 30watt tube amp. There is no buzz on any pickup selection, and each pickup has a great distinct tone. If you are into funk or blues, this is certainly the guitar to get...

The action is perfect, especially for heavy blues riffs. I'm using .10 to .46 strings by Ernie Ball, and, really, this guitar bites. The pickups are very well wired. The finish is a tobacco sunburst w/ rosewood fingerboard, mother of pearl inlays. The body is perfect... and it's a used guitar!

I did deal personally with the company, Godin Guitars (at www.lasido.com), when I first was given the guitar. The guy, Rich, was extremely helpful and friendly.

I love this guitar to death. If I lost it, I would not likely be able to buy another because production has been discontinued, but if I could, I would. I've been playing since I was 12 years old... that's 5 years now. In addition to my Godin, I own a Fernandes Strat, an Epiphone Les Paul studio, an Alvarez Professional acoustic, a Hohner acoustic, and a 12-string custom guitar. I use a VOX Cambridge 30 Reverb amp, a Digitech RP-3 effects processor, a Jim Dunlop CryBaby, an MT-2 distortion pedal, and GP, Fender, D'addario, and Ernie Ball accessories.

1996 Godin, made in USA
24 frets
Controls: Volume knob, tone knob, 5-way selector
Pickup Configuration: S/S/H
Pickup Manufacturer: Godin
Body: Maple?
Neck: Maple (pretty sure)
Finish: translparent indigo
Body style: cross between a strat/ibanez rg/les paul
Bridge style: string through

Features are basic Strat controls.....design is a unique blend of a strat, ibanez rg, and les paul, has a body contour

The sound of this guitar is pretty good. It has no definitive style, you can do anything from Beatles to Rammstein.....the S/S/H Godin pickups are fairly good quality, but they can get a little noisy sometimes.....you can get pretty good crunch on it actually, although i havent really noticed a twangy sound in it (like a Rickenbacker). The bridge humbucker is great for heavy stuff, the crunch comes from there. Either of the singles have a light, mellow sound, good for blues or jazz. I have a Dean Markley K-15 amp, and i'm pretty happy with the overall range of styles that it can generate. It really is a nice-sounding guitar.....very versatile and able.

This guitar was built to last a lifetime. I haven't noticed any flaws with it in my just about 5 years of ownership of it. It's too bad all guitars can't be made like this one was.

This guitar was so well built that it can take a ton of abuse without even so much as a wince. The hardware is very well done and it has stood up pretty well except for a few times when the 5-way selector got a little bit screwy. The strap buttons are solid also, my strap often falls off a lot but i believe that that is the strap itself. It is a very dependable guitar, I had had five of the six strings on it for about 2-2.5-maybe even 3 years.....one had broke, but most likely from old age.....The only reason I'd have a backup at a gig for this would be for drop-d tuning.....otherwise i wouldn't even consider it.

Never had to deal with them

This is an excellent guitar. Its craftsmanship is unmatched by most other popular guitar companies these days. I have had it for just about 5 years now and I can't say enough about its quality. If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably rip whoever stole it's eyes out.....I don't really know what I love most about this guitar, but its simplicity yet attention to detail and preciseness impress me a lot, not to mention the fact that it's got a cool design and it's not just an upscale strat rip-off. It's a shame that they had to discontinue it, because I'm sure that if more people knew about it they'd buy it. For the price (which is about the same as a standard strat or tele), it's a much better deal than a Fender or Fender rip-off, and you can probably get the same sound if not a more versatile sound because of the humbucker. It can appreciated by both amateurs and professionals who can acknowledge a good guitar for a great price with a versatility that is unmatched.

Mine was "hand-made in Canada" as the sticker on it reads. I bought it new in 1994.
It has 24-frets (they're really crammed), solid top, and standard Strat-style controls: volume, tone and 5-way pickup selector (all Godin passive pickups). The bridge pickup is a humbucker, the middle and neck pickups are singles.
Its a pseudo-strat body-style. Mine has a nice solid black finish with a white pickguard. All the accessories/knobs are finished in black. It has a Floyd-Rose floating tremelo system. It also came with a nice coffin-style hardcase.
It would have been nicer if it had a humbucker in the neck position, but I didn't care when I bought it (I mainly used the bridge position then, but now I prefer the neck position). The hum is annoying and is magnified heavily when played through distortion/overdrive.

I bought for the bridge position sound. I love it. Sounds full and is great for rockin' out (through built-in distortion of my Crate 60Watt combo-amp). The neck position sounds good, but isn't bright enough - and the pickup hums a lot.
Overall, its very versatile, though I only use a small fraction of what it is capable of.
Compared to the piece-of-junk I had before this, the sound is amazing. And for the price, it is very competitive. I would much rather play this guitar than a similarly priced Jackson, Ibanez, Gibson, Washburn, or Fender.

The action is amazingly low, which is how I like it. Everything was setup up perfectly when I bought it. The volume selector has a little noise in it, but aside from that, it was setup and intonated quite well. Its very playable, and I think it is much nicer to play then even instruments 3 times its price (I would rather play my G-1000 than a $1500 Ernie Ball or similar - based on playability anyways).

I've only used it live a couple of times. I think it will last forever though. Its already almost 6 years old, and I've only had a few problems: the lock on the neck stripped and had to be replaced (simple enough- cost less than 20 bucks), and I had to fix the input jack. The screws holding the jack in came too loose- then it they came off, and the jack just hanging was enough weight to mess up some of the wiring. But it was really easy to repair myself for a dollar or so worth of solder and wire (though I epoxied the jack back on so it will never fall and over-tension the wires inside again).
I have used this instrument at a gig without a backup - and in fact did so all the time until I could afford another guitar. And if something happened to the other ones, I would have no problem using it once again at a gig w/out a backup.

Never had to deal with them

I've been playing for just over ten years now. For the first few years, I didn't have enough money for a real instrument. This was my first "real" guitar, and I have found it *very* nice. Its far from perfect, but is great for the money. If you are on a budget (like I was), it would be my first pick (and was). My only other *real* guitars are other Godins, in fact. They are consistently ahead of the game for the money. My main axe now is a '98 Godin Artisan ST - and wow! It is both beautiful to look at and to listen to.

This guitar is great I'm 14 but don't get me wrong I'm a hard coor musician and probly know and play more than some local older musicians. This guitar has been made in USA,it has 24 frets,solid top,have volume,tone,and 5 way select,picups go,/S/S/H/,active electronics,the body is solid maple and the neck is birdseye(sweet),finish gloss black the pick guard is black w/ wight lile border,string thru body,non-lock tuners,thin,

well I preform so It does good on stage and for just playing sounds great.

It was very well set up and It needed no ajustments it was good

I use this at gigs w/ no back up easy, it will take a beating trust me!

very helpfull the kept seeing if I wanted to have anything ajusted or anything

I've been playing 6 years I own a fender squier bass a wight pearl drum set 7 different amps and a ariana acoustic so I know what I'm doing, I like mostly every thing about it and If it was stolen I probly upgrade but if not i'm keepin it