Godin LG SP90

Purchased in 2009. Comes with a really nice flamed maple top with a sort of heritage cherry sunburst. Fixed bridge and a pair a Seymour Duncan ceramic P90's. Body style is somewhere around a Les Paul/Telecaster. The body is mahogany (and quite dense - looks like 3 or 4 pieces glued together.

Giving it 9 because it doesnt have extra gadgets like coil taps and a trem and so on - but who wants that on this style of guitar anyway?

The bridge has a whopping big solid metal block submerged into the wood to anchor the strings

I tend to play classic rock/bluesy/folky stuff and this guitar is a very versatile contender in all of these genres. The original pickups sounded OK but as I make my own pickups, I dropped a couple of Alnico P90's wound to the traditional spcification in - A5 at the bridge and A2 at the neck. Nothing wrong with the Seymours, I just wanted something with more chime and clarity - Alnico wins over ceramics in this respect in my opinion.

The guitar itself is very lively, sustains really well and despite the single coils is very quiet (the control cavity is screened with shielding paint as standard).

Bridge pickup can spit and bite when driven, cleans up great for articulate airy near acoustic sounds, neck pickup fuller but very detailed and the two together have a very open sound with a bit of single coil "quack" in the mix.

Great sounding guitar - (the quality construction is a major factor) and really versatile. Sounds a damn site better than a P90 equiped SG that I once owned and 1/3rd of the price! And more solid.

The neck is relatively wide but it really suits me and is so easy to play (I tend to go for wider necks anyway). Nice flattish radius (16"?), no string cholking and effortless bends.

Lowered the action to taste, no rattles at all. Frets immaculately finished.

The wood finishing is top notch. Gloss on the body, satin neck.

Balances perfectly, not too heavy, comforable and sits in just the right playing position for me when strapped on.

Only one complaint - the pickup selector switch. Just could not rely on getting the bridge pickup every time and in the end gave up and fitted a Oak Grigsby 3 way switch.

Otherwise built like a tank. I've owned far more expensive guitars than this that would give up or snap first.

Still give it a 10 because the switch is just an unfortunate niggle.

Can't imagine that I'd have to bother them.

Been playing for over 30 years and comparing this to all the guitars that I've owned over this time, the Godin is is an excellent instrument that contends easily with the expensive American names.

The price tag is irrelevent; this is a simply a seriously good guitar. Godin have obviously put a lot of thought into this instrument because so many individual things are right and work so well together.

I've got the early 00's 24 fret model. Dark gold flake. Black hardware. Simple simple simple. That is not a bad thing. Electronically speaking it's a tele (2xpups, 3way, vol + tone pots). Except the pickups are p90s.

The paint on it appears to be indestructible. I paw away at it week after week with my nails and blue tortex, and it cleans right up with no visible wear.

The knobs are those little heavily knurled guys. Wish they had numbers sometimes, but great for pinkie volume swells and quick adjusts from chordal to single note playing.

I've been looking for a second guitar that sounds like this one. It doesn't exist. Running through a Dr. Z Mazerati Sr. combo is just ridiculous. Detail, metal, wood, how old your strings are, what angle the pick was at, what you had for lunch, you can hear it all. I played this guitar in a two piece band with a drummer and with a little boost at the amp for some bass, you didn't feel like it was missing anything.

I've played a couple others, and I do have this to say - don't waste this guitar or the pickups on 9's. Beef up on the strings and you will be massively rewarded in tone. And controllable feedback. And using the volume knob as your overdrive. Almost every time we play out a couple guitarist come up and compliment my sound... which is not all that common for an indie band.

Had great setup when I bought it for 10s.

My favorite thing other than the sound of the guitar is how low to the body the strings are. It's not an inch off the body like some Les Pauls, it's just less than a centimeter. Just feels tight, close.

I run the action a tad high to allow absolutely abusive dynamics. The beast can take it!

Oh, and lastly, most guitars have subtle intonation errors, nut/zero fret problems, etc. I can run my Petersen up and down this thing and be amazed at the results, it's the most in tune guitar I've ever owned.

My tone pot crackles a tad. My output jack is a bit loose. I suppose I should fix them. *shrug* Other than that it's a tank, no signs of degradation in spite of this being my main guitar in two rehearsals per week plus shows since I bought it.

No need, it's a guitar.

I've been playing for 19 years. I use small tube combos (mostly made by Dr. Z but I keep a Yamaha T-100 and a Seymour Duncan combo around).

I just bought another very similar 24 fret Godin (except it has humbuckers and someone swapped the tuners out) as a home guitar. Nice to have the same feel at home and at the studio.

I'm one of those guys who can spend all day in a guitar store just playing everything there. At first I go by brand, or looks. This guitar had neither. But since I've owned it, no Gibson LP comes close. I've played one Jr and an SG that have the same sorta vibe... and both were vintage and spendy. This is my all around guitar. I occasionally dust off my Silvertone or Tele Reissue if the tune calls for a thinner more biting tone, but this thing is the best piece I've got (and also one of the cheapest!). Great sound, great playability, dense but not overwhelmingly heavy, reliable.

Godin should re-release the 24 fret versions of this.

Features adequately described elsewhere. Key here is the SIMPLICITY of the design and features - 2 pickups; three-position switch; one tone and one volume control. A really cool, basic "hot rod".

If you're looking for something that'll give you "option anxiety", this ain't it. I give it a '10' for basic, simple goodness.

Nice freebie: more-than-decent gig bag.

Add it up: Mahogany body and neck + rosewood fingerboard + Seymour Duncan P90's = rude-boy dirt, grit, earthiness and honk.

"Delicate", "round" and "sweet" are NOT part of the vocabulary of this bad boy.

Played through either my (new) Fender Super Champ XD or my (old, slightly modified) Roland Bolt 60, sound is pure dirty heaven.

I'm not a believer in the "one guitar that does it all" concept. I don't believe such a guitar exists, no matter how many switches it has. Also, such a guitar would eliminate the reason to have a lot of fun, special-purpose guitars.

How can you really complain about stuff like string gauges or action set too high (or low)? Everyone's different. I changed the strings to 11-53's and raised the action a tad. Started smiling even bigger.

Straight neck. Clean frets. Finish without blemishes. Nice touch - wooden truss rod adjustment cover plate.

Read some complaints about the tuners. Can't find anything wrong with them personally.

Body SEEMS to be a single piece of mahogany (if not, I sure can't find the seam); no binding or trim.

Hey, it's a guitar, not an SUV - you take care of it, it'll take care of you.

That said, it feels very solid.

No basis for an opinion.

Apart from the other good stuff above, the thing that stands out for me, maybe above EVERYTHING else, is how comfortable this thing is to play, especially standing up.

It's beautifully balanced. The short-scale length and overall dimensions make it feel like my old Miata sports car. Nothing; Strat, LP or anything else just "fits" so damn good. Feels like a tailor-made suit.

This body style is aesthetically pleasing, functional and comfortable. I'm getting more of it. Anyone want to buy a couple of Telecasters, a Strat and LP?

Guitars like this might make you feel stupid for spending more than $1000 on one.

I have the older Godin p90. The model i own dosent have the nicer looking body, its just a plain dark brown finish rather than the quilted body or whatever it is they make them off now. So if the wood is different im not sure but im 99% sure their the same.

I dont think this guitar is packed with features but that dosent make it a bad guitar, sometimes all you need is a simple but beautiful sounding guitar rather than a bunch of gimmicks.

I wont lie, this guitar had to grow on me. My parents bought it for my birthday when i was 18. So have had it 3 years now. After playing with it though it started to really suit my tastes, its very easy to play, i love how the bridge is set up and the pickups are deep down inside the body really makes for nice action. It dosent sound as great for lead guitar as my strat does but all in all its a BETTER GUITAR and better sounding than my much more expensive strat.

FAVORITE POINT: The rolling lows on this guitar is amazing it has such a beautiful tone.

Frankly one of the things that i didnt like about this guitar was it wasnt fancy looking, so naturally as a young player i didnt like that ive now matured and bit and dont mind it (mine is the older model without flame or quilt top, just a dark brown, completely flat bodied guitar). HOWEVER the newer Godin p90's are now very beautiful, if they play anything like mine which is effortless, Then you shouldent hesitate to buy one, go to your local store try a few out and pick your favorite i promise its a solid quality guitar.

only thing that might bother you... its heavy, like a les paul style heavy.

Its solid, 3 years strong so far, no problems. Replace the strings every now and then and have a blast.

Ive never had to call them so i honestly cant say.

If your looking for a guitar with alot of bang for buck. Dont hesitate to buy. Heck if your looking for at guitars that are much more expensive PLEASE TRY THESE OUT FIRST and then compare to guitars that are more expensive. I think youll find this is a well made guitar.

this guitar was made i think in canada,it has a mahogany body and neck nice semi closs finish 2 duncan sp3 p90s in it came with gig bag. also sperzel type strap locks but i didnt get the male are the part that went on the strap. one volume and tone control. which i rate high cause i like it simple.

i like it real well playing blues and southern rock and some country. which what i had bought it for. and i was playing it on a peavey delta blues 210 tube amp and it was cool but it just would not clean up for me aand i almost got rid of it. and i didnt want to because it played well the neck was just my style, but just would not stay clean so i was going to change pickups. but then i played it on my dean markley signature 120 all tube amp 120 watts, an amp like clapton i seen use and it was awesome. on the higher wattage tube amps because of the headroom plus the 6L6 tubes the godin and the duncan sp90s came alive clean think of les paul mary ford jazz clean, i love it. i keep the guitar just for that amp to play clean. it a good guitar cheaper then a gibson if you like p90 guitar i suggest trying this out. i use godin, zion strat with emgs, a american 64 fender tele, i have a gibson es335 and a usa fender p-bass this guitar is as good.

it was decent did slight adjustment on the neck and that was it, finish was very good every thing was great.

everything on this guitar is made wel and should last with proper care. but iam very picky and i gig 2to3 times a month. the only reason i take a back up not because iam worried about the guitar in case i break a string.

never had to deal with them, never had a problem.

been playing 40 plus year, if lost i might buy another depend what caught my eye are what they had but yea.i like everything about it are wouldnt have bought it. it would been cool if it had a bigby on it.i choose it cause it was on sell. i own a zion strat with sa/sa/81 emgs, a fender usa tele, gibson es335, fender usa p-bass a carvin br615 bass amp, swr workingman 15 bass amp dean markley signature series 120 tube head 212 cab guitar amp,mesa boogie mark 3, peavey delta blues 210 and a little ibanez 35 watt bass practise amp, a car a house a dog, some cloths a tv. anything i like to share. BE COOL CAUSE GOD RULZ

As previous reviews. Natural mahogany finish. 2 x Seymour Duncan P90 pups. Tuners work great. Came with very nice Godin semi soft case.

I go from pop to rock. Sound is quite bright which is great for jangly rhythm. Used with a Matamp 1224 (valve) and Fender Stage lead (tranny) it sounds excellent. Very cutting but not as harsh as a Telecaster. Wouldn't choose it for blues/metal but you could probably make it work with a bit of knob twiddling. Very quiet guitar.

Very solidly built. Good weight and balance. Excellent finish. I bought it used off eBay and with a bit of cleaning up and adjustment, I've got an excellent guitar. Action is low with no fret buzz. Strings very easy to bend with no choking. Natural satin finish is also classy.

Would trust this guitar implicitly. Very confident that it will last for years.

N/A

Lovely guitar. looks a bit conservative for some I would guess, but a very good guitar. If this one went missing, I would get another.

The Godin SP90 is a great looking guitar with through the body stringing, Seymour Duncan P90 pickups, passive electronics, a maple neck, and a gorgeous finish. Godin parts are made in Montreal, Canada and shipped for assembly to the US. The tuners are closed with a 3 and 3 configuration. The body is Les Paul style. Godin guitars generously come with a guitar case, and strap mounts that are compatible with locking tuner mechanisms (although they don't include the male parts that go on the straps).

Having a rear-mounted bridge looks really cool. One drawback I will mention about re-stringing: you thread new strings through the back of the guitar. Once in the back, the end of the string must be aimed RIGHT through the centre of the hole at the front of the guitar, otherwise it won't make it through the guitar (it gets stuck in the middle). This gives restringing a "threading the needle" frustration. Multiply that by 6 strings, and it gets annoying quickly. Further, since the string must be aimed perfectly in the centre, forget about re-threading a previously-used guitar string. If the end of the string is bent, it makes re-stringing close to impossible.

I don't know whether it is Godin, the shop I bought the guitar at, or me, but there was a buzz in my guitar that nobody could get rid of. Getting tired of the loose-change sounds coming through my amp, I'm returning it today. I brought it in for adjustment, and the buzz never went away. The tech actually made it worse. I bought this guitar to have a decent sound for recording. I believe I just ended up with a lemon. Even when I set the action VERY high and let the tension rod out, I still got buzz. I'm very disappointed because it's a great looking guitar and has all the features I like. The pickups are nice too. The neck appears to be warped.

The factory settings had the neck straight flat. When I capo'd the first fret and fretted the 14th, the strings were all flush down on the neck with no play. This led to lots of buzzing. Tinkering didn't fix the problem, nor did taking it in to the shop. I am by enlarge an accoustic guitar player and have an aggressive strum; however, I lent the guitar to my friend who's been playing electric for 15 years and he said the buzz would drive him crazy. I don't mean to bash Godin here - the guitar looks well made. I think I just bought a lemon.

The guitar is a bit heavy and sturdy. It looks like it would have no problem gigging. Add strap locks to your budget and you're in business.

I didn't deal with Godin. The store I'm dealing with told me that a certain amount of buzz for electrics is normal. I hate when service people tell you there's nothing wrong with your product ("It's supposed to do that"). No it isn't, it sounds like a bumble bee!

I've been playing guitar for over 15 years, and have 3 other guitars. I tried out a Godin Exit22 before this one and had a problem with one of the tuners, but no buzz. I wrote a scathing review for the Music Research Works EGJ24 but in retrospect after fixing all its problems, it plays better than the Godin I bought (better action, no buzzing). However, it's very likely that I just bought a lemon, it happens. Other people have had very good things to say about their SP90. Notwithstanding, mine's going back to the store.

Bought new for ??350 in 2006 from Matchetts Belfast
Price includes excellent gig bag

Specs (from the Godin website)
Honduras Mahogany neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Honduras Mahogany Body with Cream Binding
Premium Grade Figured Flame Maple top
16 " fingerboard radius
24 3/4" Scale
1 11/16" nut width
2x Seymour Duncan P90 single-coil pickups
3-way switch, 1x volume, 1x tone
Schaller Bridge

I play rock/blues/contemporary Christian worship. Use Pod X3 live through PA or through Laney LC15R (small but classic valve amp).

A range of tones - classic rock, rock and roll, jazz - all warm and pure but it can put out a beautiful crunch. Roll off the volume for smooth, creamy tones. But it won't get anywhere close to a strat sound. P90s are noisy near the amp/speakers (as expected).

No flaws, very well set up, good action, looks beautiful (I think). Access higher up the neck is a little limited, so I don't think it will suit those who like loads of upper fret noodling.

All high quality parts and manufacture. No reliability issues after two years.

No experience.

* How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
* Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?
* If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
* What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
* Did you compare it to other guitars? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
* Anything you wish it had?
* Anything else you'd like to share?

Been playing 35 years. Also have Tele Thinline (f-hole with humbuckers).

I wanted something with P90s to supplement the humbuckered Tele. Tried Les Paul studio types (compared the Gibson with the Tokais - thought the Gibson was superior to the Korean Tokai but inferior to the Japanese Tokai). But these were all about ??700, so I looked elsewhere and came across the Godin - which in my opinion is the best of the lot and half the price. Amazing.

I love playing this guitar and enjoy handling it every time I pick it up. The only limitation is the (relatively) limited access to the very highest frets. If lost I would certainly replace it. Well done Godin.

Mine is the dark gold with the p-90s.I paid about $400 for it used. I wanted this guitar for the pickups and the color. I am very happy with both. I wanted a guitar for some gigs so I wouldnt have to bring my les paul custom or my custom shop tele. Now, all I bring is my Godin. I love this guitar. You can get the sweetest cleans to the most rockin tones from this guitar. It is not a metal axe. It was made to be played through a tube amp. It just sings out with every note.

I love the short neck and the width of the neck. It fits like a glove. I used to have an old melody maker whose neck felt alot like this one. The body really resonates with the strings too. kind of like a tele. The tones from the p 90s are sharp and crisp with lots of bite, but not over-bearing. To me they are perfect.

Even though I got mine used, it didnt need anything at all. Godins are known for their quality guitars. I knew it would be a great guitar.

They dont make enough gold sparkle guitars. Im already looking for a gold lg with the humbuckers.

never had a problem. I CALLED them once to find out which Seymour Duncan P-90 was used in the bridge position ( since there is about 10 different ones) because the previous owner swapped it out.????????????. I talked to a live person who gave me the model number.

I am sold on Godin guitars. This coming from somebody who wouldnt even pick up a guitar unless it was a gibson or fender.

Godin LG SP90
Just as so abundantly, previously described.

I've played classic rock & blues for 20 years. I've owned this guitar for 2 years and have put it thru it's paces on several different amps (all tube; Hiwatt DR100, Peavey valve king, Fender vibrochamp, Epiphone valve junior) and although the tone varies with each different amp, this guitar with it's P90's has the best overall tone I've ever heard. And yes, I've played strats, teles and LP's.

This guitar is set up perfectly and the craftmanship is immpecible.
Although the neck is a bolt on, I find the finely crafted heel makes the upper register frets even more accessible (all 24 of them), than any other guitar I've played. The body thru bridge also gives this guitar as much sustain as any neck thru design I've played.
The overall impression of this guitar is that of pure Class, and demands respect.

This guitar is definitely a well crafted, dependable, durable machine.

Never needed, but hear Godin is excellent.

Definitely a "10".