Godin G-4000

C'MON...FEATURES??? TWO SINGLE COILS, ONE HUMBUCKER, VOLUME AND TONE POTS...BLUE-COLLAR ALL THE WAY. MAPLE NECK/FRETBOARD...PERFECTION IN THIS ASPECT. EXCELLENT WOOD CASE, ALL THE HARDWARE (INCL. THE FLOYD) IS SUPERB, ESPECIALLY FOR THE PRICE RANGE...PHENOMINAL FOR THE PRICE RANGE!!! THE FRET WORK IS NEAR PERFECTION...THE FINISH IS GREAT...A LOT OF GUITAR FOR THE MONEY.

i'M INTO NEO-HALEN, DREAM THEATRE, SATRIANI, TOOL, PANTERA, ??? THIS GUITAR SUITS SOLOING AND HIGHER FRET LICKS BETTER THAN ASS-KICKING RHYTHMS. THE PICKUPS DON'T SEEM TO WANT TO "GRIND" FOR THE BEEFY POWER CHORDS...I PLAY THROUGH A MESA DC-5 FOR RHYTHMS (LIVE), A POD FOR LEADS AND CLEAN VIA A/B BOX (LIVE) AND AT HOME, I PLAY THROUGH A 1-12" FLEXTONE II. THE MESA COMPENSATES MORE FOR THE LACK OF OUTPUT FROM THE PICKUPS, YOU CAN OBTAIN ENOUGH GROWL FOR THE RHYTHMS, BUT I WOULDN'T CALL IT IDEAL...THE CLEAN AND LEADS SOUND ERIC JOHNSON TONE-ESQUE (DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?) GREAT SUSTAIN, A REAL SMOOTH TONE, PINCHING HARMONICS PROVES TO BE DIFFICULT AT TIMES THOUGH...A PEARLY GATES WOULD DO THE TRICK FOR THIS GUITAR...PROBABLY AN UPGRADE AWAITS FOR THIS GUITAR IN THE FUTURE...

THIS IS WHERE THE G-4000 SHINES...I'M A GEAR FREAK, IF IT'S BEEN MADE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, I'VE EITHER PLAYED IT OR OWNED IT...SO I FEEL THAT I CAN MAKE AN EDUCATED OPINION AS COMPARED TO OTHER MANUFACTURER'S...THE G-4000 IS AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THAN $1300 USA STRATS WHEN IT COMES TO OVERALL QUALITY. EVERYTHING IS TIGHT, THE FRETS ARE NEAR-PERFECTION, THE FINISH IS SUPERB. NOTHING SHORT OF AMZING CONSIDERING YOU CAN BUY THESE FOR $300-$350 WITH A CASE.

i'VE TAKEN THE G-4000 TO OVER 20 GIGS, I'M ANAL ABOUT THE CARE OF MY EQUIPMENT WHEN IT COMES TO SHOWS...SO SHE MIGHT NOT HAVE SEEN THE ABUSE THAT OTHERS MIGHT HAVE PUT HER THROUGH, BUT IT HAS STEPPED UP AND DELIVERED EVERY TIME...LIKE A TWO OUT, BOTTOM OF THE NINTH HOME RUN WITH AN 0-2 COUNT...THAT'S WHY I BOUGHT IT...ROCK SOLID...SOUNDS AND PERFORMS THE SAME EVERY NIGHT, NO FEEDBACK PROBLEMS, NOTHING...I TAKE 4 GUITARS TO GIGS, DIFFERENT WOOD FOR DIFFERENT SONGS...BUT I CAN SAY THAT, IF I COULD ONLY TAKE ONE GUITAR TO THE SHOW...IT WOULD BE A TOSS UP BETWEEN THE G-4000 AND A CARVIN BOLT-KIT GUITAR THAT I ASSEMBLED MYSELF...BOTH GUITARS ARE STURDY, VERSATILE...BUT THE G'S GOT A FLOYD...SO SHE'S PROBABLY WIN OUT IN THE LONG RUN.

NEVER HAD THE NEED.

I'VE PLAYED FOR TEN + YEARS...AND THIS IS ONE OF THOSE "ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE" GUITARS. A LOT OF QUALITY FOR A MINIMAL AMOUNT OF CASH...THE ONLY THING I WOULD CHANGE IS THE PICKUPS(MAINLY THE BRIDGE HUMBUCKER), WHICH WILL PROBABLY GET CHANGED HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE...OTHER THAN THAT, IT'S A KILLER!!!

Designed in Canada, made in the USA (New Hampshire, I believe). The body is alder, with a beautiful high-gloss, sunburst finish. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard. I chose this over the laquered maple neck model for my own aesthetic reasons. It has two single coil pickups plus a pair of humbuckers at the bridge. The pickups are marked "Godin". I was told by the local Godin rep that these are possibly Schaller pickups, but they're wound to Godin specs. The body style is similar to a strat, but different enough to please my eye. The top, leading horn sticks out farther and the lower "horn" is almost not there. The scale is shorter than a strat, also (24.75", I believe). The tuners are gold, locking Schallers with black knobs. The bridge is a Schaller Trem 2000 in black and gold. Very nice combination of black and gold in the hardware IMO (I don't care for the full-force gold look). A Godin hardcase with fitted cutouts inside was included. There are hex keys included for bridge adjustments. Controls: volume, (single) tone, and a 5-way selector. The jack is mounted on the bottom edge of the guitar, unlike a strat inset face-mount. At the price, the level of hardware is incredible. I'll drop my rating by a point for lacking the "cooler" new Godin Tetrad pickups or Seymour Duncans (easily retrofitted though).

I'm a beginning player, so I can't claim to have a "style", yet. But I'll tell you that I don't intend to be the next speed or death metal soloist. So if that's the sound you're going for, you might be better off with a regular strat. I lean towards surf, blues, and any kind of odd sounding rock. The humbucker on the bridge sounds nice and "fat", while the single coil pickups don't sound nearly as bright or harsh as some strats I tried (a Yamaha Pacifica 604W and several Fenders and Squires). So I'd describe the single coils as being more full or mellow than bright. The single coils seem quite noise free. I have two complaints: 1. I don't hear very much difference between the neck and middle pickups alone. 2. The tone control has quite a drastic change around the "2" position and from then on up, it doesn't change much. Not a terrible thing though, because with the tone full on, the otherwise mellow single coils sound really nice. Great sustain on all strings.

The finish is incredible. The action is comfortably low. The wood is beautifully exposed in the sunburst. The neck fits into the body very very nicely. No flaws. Nothing loose. The Shaller trem feels so smooth it's incredible.

I have had the guitar for less than a month, so I can't really comment.

I've e-mailed Godin in the past and their response was prompt and factual. I spoke to a Godin rep in a local store and he was a nice guy who could tell me details about this guitar that the shop couldn't. The warranty is 2 years. I can't say the support is incredible because I haven't needed it, but my impression of the company is very good.

If this guitar was stolen, I probably wouldn't be able to get it replaced with another G-4000 because they're no longer made. But I would _definitely_ run to the local shops to check out the new Godin models. The LGT(S) is a current model with the same hardware as the G-4000. Different body style. More expensive. Godin's attention to details has blown me away. The price is great, even on their new stuff, because it's not widely known. I looked at a Yamaha Pacifica 604W (I liked most things about it, except the tone), several Fenders (nothing jumped out at me and the prices seemed to be higher than they should be for the features and build-quality -- I mean, show me an American-made fender for this price!), some Squires (I just can't get excited about them), and the wacky Danelectro reissues (they have character, but that's about it!) This is a guitar I'm excited to call my own.