Godin LGX-SA

There isn't a heck of a lot more you can ask for. A Duncan Jazz in the neck, a duncan something in the bridge with Baggs piezos and synth capabilities. It all makes for a lot of knobs and faders. I've actually come to like the 5way pickup selector.
The guitar is all mahogany with a flamed maple top and ebony fretboard. I really like the neck, it's real thin and wide without being like a wizard neck.

I'm really into jazz, from bop jazz to jazz funk to fusion, but I can't deny (or get away) from playing all kinds of rock. I play it through a Line 6 Flextone III, and periodically, namely for church playin', I'll use the piezos through the PA.
The guitar sounds magnificent. The neck humbucker is fat and ballenced and smooth, and the bridge humbucker provides enough output and bite to get nice dirty tones as well as tempered mellow tones. The vollume drops with both pickups selected, and of course when splitting them. The piezos sound good for piezos, for what it's worth. I've never used the synth stuff (I only bought the SA because I found this one cheaper than one without it). This guitar won't get trashy punk tone and will have trouble getting country twang, but aside from that it's a versitile little beast. The only issue is that at times, the bridge humbucker has seemed a bit too harsh compared to the neck, but that's partly due to the fact that it isn't covered (it was taken off at some point) whereas the neck is.

I bought it used from some dude who had the strings actually laying down on the frets. He said he actually played it like that, which is scary, because no notes would actually sound like that.
Aside from the battle scars that the original owner accumulated with it, the finish is awesome. By what can tell, any problems that I've had with it were from the other guy and not the factory. I won't rate this, because it didn't come from the factory.

This guitar had a rocky period for me. It's seen a lot of abuse from it's former owner and then I bought it and 5 days later a kid dropped it and broke the headstock off. I got it fixed by Rob at Rossi Music in Canandaigua new york and it's great now. But like at one point the bridge humbucker was shorting out, so we had to pull the cover off of it. The guitar itself is 8 years old mind you, and I can't really tell what is Godin's fault and what's the guy's fault. But from that point on it's been great. It doesn't lose tuning, the finish is solid, the strap buttons are like they've been set in with cement. I've gigged a lot with it without a backup.

Never dealt with them. Of course, I hear they seldom speak english over there in quebec, so that's probably for the best.

I love this guitar. It's a bit heavy, but I like the weight, and I love the feel of it. Plus the tone I'm getting now is the best I've ever had. I bought this after selling my epi les paul because I hated the neck of it so much, and after playing that the Godin was like a breath of fresh air. I'm not going to sell this until it crumbles into dust.

The 3 main feature of this guitar include:

-Electric guitar tones via 2 Seymour Duncan Custom pickups
-Acoustic guitar tones via the L.R. Baggs transducer saddles with custom Pre-Amp EQ for: Acoustic Volume, Treble, Mid-Range and Bass controls
-AND Synth guitar tones via a synth bridge pick up and a 13 pin output (RolandTM GR-synth pickup).

Other features worth mentioning are:

-Locking tunes...Only on the new models...This was not included in years past...A very good upgrade (A must as far as I'm concerned. It really makes chnaging strings painless...I HATE changing strings, so it's got to be easy.)
-Mahogany neck and Ebony Fingerboard(Simply beautiful)
-Godin's new custom gig bag (It's a little thing, but a great design none the less)

How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?
-The #1 reason for buying this unit was for it's flexability. I need to be able to play any and all styles at the drop of a hat. Both live and in the studio. And having the ability to switch from electric to acoustic to my synth/GR-33 setup at the flip of a switch is invaluable to me.

What amps and effects are you using it with?
-Electric: DigiTech RP300 (This may change soon...I'm used to using a BOSS GT-6 and this simply can not compare...But that's not the guitars fault)
-Acoustic: BOSS AD-8 (There is NO better acoustic processor and direct box anywhere near this price...NONE)
-Synth: Roland GR-33 (This unit has done more to chnage my approach to my music than any other single piece of equipment...Simply wonderful...Tons of useable tones)
-Amp: Since I need to run a minimum of 3 channels, sometimes 4, I am using the Carvin S400D.

Is it noisy? On what settings?
-Not at all.

Likes and dislikes?
-I really haven't found a thing that I don't like about this guitar. The only thing that's taking me a bit to get used to is the weight. It's about the same weight as a Fender Strat, but I have been playing a Parker Fly Deluxe for a number of years, and I got spoiled with how good the Parker felt after hours of use. But Parker is simply not putting out a guitar with this many features right now, and even if they were it would cost at least twice what I paid ($1,200).

The setup from the factory really surprised me. It was perfect. I haven't had to change anything. I may bring it in just to check the intonation, but other than that, everything is wonderful (lovin; the action).

And the paint job, and it's over all apperiance is beautiful. I've gotten a lot of possative comments.

This is a very sturdy and quality feeling guitar. As good as any HIGHER end Gibson or Fender, and much better than any LOWER end Gibson or Fender.

This has been a big diapointment. I've owned 2 Godin's, and neither came with any kind of manual or customer support number. With this many options it would be nice to see a small manual like my Parkers had to explain all of its options and settings. All of the knobs and switches can take a while to figure out.

And I am VERY disapointed that they do not make themselves available as Parker has done. They currently don't even have a phone number listed on their web site. Very poor. Parker always seemed to welcome my calls, and I always sent my guitar back to the factory for any setups and/or tuneups. It dosen't look like the factory wants to hear from or service any of their customers. I'm really NOT impressed with this. There are a lot of electronics in this baby, and if anything went wrong I would like to send it to them, not some tech off the street.

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
-I have been playing for over 20 years and I own a small recording studio.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
-I would buy this guitar again in a second. No questions asked.

What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
-Love: Total flexability. Great tone. Great look and feel. Solid and meticulace construction.
-Hate: Lack of any manual or customer support.
-Favorite features: It's a "Three Voice" system (Electric/Acoustic/Synth)

Did you compare it to other guitars? Which ones?
-I compared it against the Brian Moore's and I would pick the GODIN each time.

Anything else you'd like to share?
Along with the GR-33 this is truly the best tracking guitar I've ever used. This guitar would be worth owning for that feature alone, but along with all of it's other features this guitar has become my #1 instrument for both my live and studio work. I would recomend this guitar to anyone looking for both a good giutar and a flexable unit, because this guitar excels in all departments.

mine is I think a 1999 made in the US in trans blue (amazing finish, must be AAA maple on top) mahogany body and neck and ebony fingerboard. One of the main features is that its a 3 voice guitar, elevtric with 2 seymour duncan humbuckers, a jazz in the neck postion and a special design custom in the bridge position, an LR Baggs piezo under the saddle for acoustic tones with seperate volume and 3 band eq and a roalnd 13 pin synth output for guitar synth along with onboard synth volume and patch change controls. bridge is sort of a tunamatic style, the tuners are schaller minis and the neck has a beautiful radius and shape just right for me. I would say the only thing about the neck is that i like really big frets and these are more or less medium size.

when i got the guitar it was part of an order of 3 instruments (I got a multiac and a seagull acoustic from them as well) and i didnt really even know why I got this one. but once i had it i wasn't going to part with it. this guitar is beautiful to look at and has gorgeous warm tones. not really a metal or high gain kind of axe but for fusion or funk or jazz or pop this is a great guitar. blending in the acoustic sound is truly amazing. one of the first things i did with this guitar was a pre record for the superbowl (a motown tribute). obviously i mostly do session work. it was a remake of dancing machine and theres a solo and for it I split the sound to 2 channels one through a sans amp pedal and the other was the acoustic direct into the console and it was amazing with it panned hard left and hard right. I usually have it out as an all purpose writing and recording guitar in my project studio as its so easy to just switch for the electric to the acoustic sound. i just wish they would have a way of using one stereo cable for getting both sounds seperately instead of being tethered to your guitar by 2 or maybe even 3 different cables to use this guitar for its various sounds. (you can get a mix of acoustic and electric through one of the jacks but it seems as though the electric sound is weak this way.

i would use this guitar for anything but super hi gain.

i got this guitar directly from godin but it wasnt set up all that well. the action was a little high. the fit anf finsh of this guiatr is excellent. the finish is a beautiful trans blue AAA maple top. the 5 way switch is a little noisy and in the single p/u positions this guitar can be a little noisy especially when around computer omitors in the studio.

the guitar is solid and would definitely stand up in regualr live use. the strap buttons are a bit of a problem as they seem a little small and the strap does fall off from time to time. i would use this guitar without a back up. its very solid.

never had to have this guitar repaired but the folks at godin are a real class act.

overall i would give this guitar a 9 there are no perfect guitars but price performance wise you can't do better.

My guitar is a 2002 model, assembled and hand-finished in the USA from woods and parts from Canada. The features are all sufficiently described in the earlier reviews so I won't go into detail. Mine has a beautiful AAA highly figured dark red flame maple top so it costs a few hundred bucks more than the regular model. As this guitar is a 2002 model, the neck is somewhat different from earlier models. It has a little more girth. I believe this has a positive effect on the guitar's overall tone. The neck feels really comfortable, much more comfortable than a Les Paul.

It comes with Seymour Duncan magnetic humbuckers with a 5-way selector, a L.R. Baggs transducer under the saddle with separate acoustic EQ, and a 13-pin Out for Synth access. You can dial in the three voices separately or altogether.

All these great features for this price deserve a 10 rating.

This guitar is ideally suited for jazz, pop, blues and light rock. It is not designed for heavy metal.

When I first got the guitar, I spent a considerable amount of time just playing it unplugged. I was pleasantly surprised at how acoustically loud it was. Unplugged, it is much louder than any other solid body electric guitar that I have played. I believe this is due to the neck being tightly fitted into a very deep neck pocket in the body (Just compare this to a Fender and you'll know what I mean). This ensures very efficient transfer of vibration between the neck and the body. An acoustically responsive guitar is always a good sign as it provides a great foundation for the amplified sound (and I was not wrong - see below). In my humble opinion, many guitars (including some well known "high-end" ones) have very weak acoustic response and have to rely on powerful pickups to make up for the lack of natural tone, producing a very "fake" but loud tone. Not the LGX-SA. It is made to be acoustically responsive because it doubles up as a solid-body acoustic quitar. As a result the electric tone benefits from the rich overtones and harmonics. Sustain is so good that I often have to mute the open strings with my right palm while playing.

I play the guitar through a Fender Super 60 tube amp. The magnetic pickups sound really good. Kudos to Seymour Duncan. I am told that he specially customized the bridge pickup for this model. The 5-way switch gives you a wide variety of useable tones. The bridge SD Custom Custom humbucker is great for strong, fat leads with an edge. Switch that to single coil and it sounds almost as snappy and rude as any Strat. The neck pickup in humbucker mode gives you a really clean, warm, full tone that is perfect for jazz and blues. Dial in a little gain and you'd think you are B.B. King. I use this mode most of the time.

Just the tones from the magnetic pickups alone make this guitar worth the price. But as a bonus, you get a very reasonable piezo-powered acoustic sound as well from the Baggs transducer under the saddle. To really do justice to the acoustic sound, you should plug it into an acoustic amp or to the house PA via a direct box. The great thing about this is that there is zero feedback (unlike conventional acoustic guitars). And with the 13-pin MIDI Synth Access, the sky is the limit when it comes to variety.

What I don't particularly like is the significant drop in volume when switching from humbucker to single-coil mode. But this is usual for most humbuckers, so I won't minus points for this.

I had to straighten the truss rod a bit when the guitar came. The action was a little high, so I lowered it just a tad. I prefer medium low action. Besides these, the neck is perfect. Nothing wrong with the frets and hardware. The flimsy truss rod cover on the headstock is cracked though. I have asked for a replacement.

The pickups were a little too close to the strings, so I lowered them a little.

The 5-way selector is slighly noisy. I plan to fix this soon.

I felt that the strap buttons were a little small so I replaced them with Dunlop strap locks. I feel more secure now when I play it.

The guitar has been with me for 3 months. It is still a little early to judge how durable or reliable it is.

I depend a lot on it because I play both electric and acoustic guitar, mostly live. Now I don't have to switch guitars. So far it has not let me down, except for one occasion when the battery for the acoustic preamp died on me. But that's not the guitar's fault.

I e-mailed both the dealer and Godin with a query and a request for a new truss rod cover (mine is cracked). I never got any reply.

They may well reply a few weeks or months down the road, so I will give them a 4, instead of 1.

I am basically a bass guitar player, although I also play acoustic and electric guitars. I have been playing for more than 20 years. I own a couple of Taylor acoustic guitars, a Fender bass and a Lakland bass. I also dabble in keyboards and have owned quite a number of synthesizers over the years.

I have owned and sold a few electric guitars (including Fenders)in the past. Somehow they did not blow me away. This is the first electric guitar which I feel I would keep forever.

In my search, I tried out the usual suspects including the Fenders, PRS's and Gibson Les Pauls. The Fenders seem to have quality control issues. Maybe 1 out of 10 is a good one. The Les Pauls to me were just overpriced mass production guitars. The heavy weight is also a deterrent. I think people buy them because of sentimental reasons (due to its long history), and also because their guitar heroes play them. To my ears, they don't sound better than the LGX-SA (just louder and more aggressive because of the pickups), yet cost twice as much. In fact, a Les Paul with a AAA flamed maple top like what my Godin has would probably cost at least US$5000. Similarly, the PRS guitars I tried did not sound better than the LGX-SA, yet cost more. It is not that I cannot afford these brand name guitars. I am an attorney by day, and I can go out and buy a couple of Les Pauls and PRS's if I want to. But I believe in getting value for money, and the LGX-SA gives me that and more. The features and sounds I get are almost too good to be true for this price. If it were stolen, I'd get another one without thinking twice. In fact I am thinking of getting the LGXT, a sister model from Godin that comes with a tremelo bar.

The Godin name may not be as well known as Fender and Gibson, but if this Canadian company continues to produce such high quality guitars at sensible prices, it will become a household name before too long.

I am giving this a 9 overall since no guitar is perfect.

The most versatile guitar I ever owned. Mine is with godin Tetrad Pickups, L.R Baggs Piezo Pickup and Synth Acess. Through the Push pull tone Poti you can activate a mid range filter for strat like sounds.

Wonderful clear sounds from the magnetic pickups. Through the 5 way switch and the push pull tone poti ten different sound options just with them.
The synth acess allows a much better tracking than the roland gk2a Pickup at least in my opinion. The Piezo pickup is the best sounding i tried in a solid guitar.

Beatiful guitar with an flamed maple top in amber, that shines wonderful. Perfect to play with just out of the box.

I've already submitted one review of my Godin, but wanted to follow up with a recent experience with it. Played a solo gig at a very fashionable establishment recently using the Godin with a Boomerang sampler and a Roland GR-30 guitar synth. I played my usual chord/melody arrangments of some standards for one set. The Seymour Duncan neck position pickup, along with the L.R. Baggs acoustic bridge pickup sounded excellent in this application. The show stopper, however, was when I recorded the changes to 'On Broadway' with the 'rang' using the neck pickup and then switched to the midi pickup to lay down a bass guitar and acoustic keyboard sound on top of the guitar part. I then traded solos (with myself!) playing guitar, keyboard and jazz organ. Way too cool. The midi pickup on the Godin works MUCH better than the GK2A pickup. What a cool guitar!!!

I thought you guys would like to hear from a keyboard player (who dabbles in guitar). I own a Talor 614 and a Chet Atkins Classical. I wanted to get into an electric guitar, but I wanted versatility. This axe has it. I'm playing thru a Line 6 POD with the piezo output run through a direct box into a PA.

Magnetics sound great. Nice hot output from the SD pickups (my friends tell me it sounds hotter and fatter than a standard Tele or a Parker Fly. The Baggs piezos sound incredible (better than the Fly's Fishman piezo). No noise in either output. I am not using the midi output (since I am a keyboard player), but I have played it in the store before I bought it. It tracks better than anything I have played before (I used to work in Guitar Center).

I had a setup done on it after I bought it to lower the action and adjust the intonation (standard procedure for any axe, in my opinion). Plays great now! Replaced tuners with Grovers (personal taste), replaced strap buttons with Schaler strap-locks (and here was my one and only problem) but the screw on the front strap lock came out about a week later (stripped the hole in the guitar's wood body). I don't know if it was already stripped or if I did it, but the screws were the same diameter. I simply wood glued the screw in place. The screw hole goes all the way thru to the cavity where the battery sits for the Baggs piezos, so I couldn't use a longer screw. Be careful if you replace the strap buttons to avoid this problem.

I am a keyboard player, so this is the only axe coming to a gig. Too early to tell about durability.

No need here.

Been playing guitar for about 10 years. This is the perfect axe for someone looking to buy a single guitar for as much versatility as possible (lead playing, power chords, acoustic work, synth). I don't have the dough to buy a bunch of guitars to cover all these bases (spent too much on keyboards). If you are like me, and want to buy ONE axe and be done with it, this is the one to consider. Almost bought a Parker Fly of a Power Tele, but both have Fishman piezos and the Baggs sounds better to me. The magnetics on the Fly and Tele are thin compared to the Godin (and the Tele is noisy anyway). I know I could replace the pickups, but the final thing was the neck felt better to me on the Godin (again, personal taste). If it were stolen or lost, I might buy the one without the synth pickup (I thought that if I didn't like the guitar, the synth pickup would increase the chances of selling it quicker, but since I know I love it now, I would opt for the cheaper version without midi to replace it).

This is a 2002 LGX w/Synth Access. Godin says...

"The LGX-SA is a three-voice guitar featuring electric and acoustic guitar sounds, plus the infinite possibilities provided by synth access.

Specs
Mahogany neck
Ebony Fingerboard
16" fingerboard radius
25 1/2" Scale
1 11/16" nut width
Mahogany body
Figured Maple Top
Seymour Duncan Custom Humbuckers
5-Way switch
Guitar volume
Tone
Synth volume
Program up/down
3-Way
Magnetic Output
13-pin Synth Output
Acoustic transducer Output
L.R. Baggs transducer saddles with custom Pre-Amp EQ for: Acoustic Volume, Treble, Mid-Range and Bass controls
Colors: CognacBurst, Trans. Dark Red, Trans. Blue"

(www.godinguitars.com/godinlgxsap.htm. )

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Most istinctive is the multi-voice ability of the guitar. It has three.

The first comes from two Seymour Duncan Humbuckers. The second, which is more acoustic, comes from the L.R. Baggs transducer in the saddle. Finally, it's has a 13 pin synth output which I use to drive a Roland GR33.

I really like the neck a lot, by the way. It's a very moderate profile, and the finish is matte. so it doesn't get sticky.

I use this guitar to play in my band, and we do rock, blues and some jazz. I play through an Evans 150JE, and will occasionally use a tube distortion pedel.

The three voices in this guitar lead to an good variety number of sounds. Obviously the synth access let's you play the guitar as a sax, a choir, an organ... whatever you can program the synth to produce.

You can also mix the outputs from the humbuckers and the Briggs. While the guitar never really sounds acoustic to me (I agree with others on this point), adding the Briggs signal enriches the electric sound, it fattens it without making it boomy or muddy. I like this sound a lot for jazz leads especially, using the very nice Duncan jazz neck pickup. On the other end, combining a more treble Briggs mix (3 way EQ on the Briggs) with the bridge pickup get's you a bright, almost jangling tone.

There is just one tone control that controls the signal from both humbuckers, a departure from the usual "one pickup one tone control" model. I don't mind this, though some others might. I do mind that the tone control seems to have a very narrow sweep. It goes from heavy bass to treble in the first 1/4 turn, and there is very little added variation for the balance of the sweep.

Of course, you can get lost in all the possibilities. There is a learning curve with this guitar. The first time I performed out with it I made some mistakes and got a sound I did not want. I wish that Godin had used different color knobs to distinguish the synth from the electric volume, and had painted a dot on each so I could see how high each was.

I expected this guitar, which I purchased new, to arrive perfect. It didn't. The guitar arrived with a dead tone pot, and the volume pot was noisy. I also note an small area of uneven finish along the edge of the neck, very minor, but not perfect now is it?

Everything else gets fullmarks. Lovely finish. For significantly extra you can get a "highly" flamed top, but this one is just nicely flamed. Fine with me - I don't play the flames.

A rating of six may seem severe here, but the dead tone pot is unforgivable.

I am rough on instruments, I admit it. I will bang a guitar with my fist to get a ringing chord. When I did it to the Godin, the volume cut out, but came right back, I won't do that again I guess.

Everything else seems sturdy enough

Remember the dead tone pot? I got the ax five days before a gig, so I drove it the three hours back to the factory, where they fixed it in 30 seconds.

I've been playing for over 30 years, and own a Heritage jazz box, a Rameriz classical, another Godin... Lots of axes.

I really like the tone of this guitar and the neck. It tracks the synth stuff as well as any other guitar I know, which is to say it does a pretty good job on most things and get's a little strange on a few settings.

I considered a Brian Moore iguitar, but the acoustic sound from that guitar did not compare.
I guess I';d get another if this one was lost or stolen. It solves my synth access propblem, and provides me with a very nice electric.

I've submitted a review earlier, so I will forgo the already mentioned.

Still sounding great I've had more time with it and the only things I find disapointing are

- huge drop off in high end as volume is reduced

- huge jump in volume when switching from single coil mode, position 2 and 4 to Humbucker mode, postion 1 and 5 position 3 is consistent with positions 2 and 4.

- when using the top output, blend of acoustic and electric the tone on the electric is muddy, it just don't have the same bite as the electric only output, it is usefull when blending the two sounds but if you are thinking of using this output as simple way to switch between electric and acoustic sounds I would give it a try before you buy. This is not a big problem for me as I use two amps any way, so I have two cables coming out of my guitar at all times.

I have downgraded my grading here because of these short commings.

In general I still think this guitar is the best sounding best playing guitar for the money. I tried many others but alway came back to the Godin.

See Customer support,

Here is the reason I am submitting another review of this guitar.

First some history,
I had some problems with the acoustic pickup system. The output of each individual string was different, with the G and high E string much to low in output, the dealer changed them and everything is working as it should. Godin was very prompt in sending the new peizo pickups.

When I purchased the guitar I noticed the bridge pickup was looking different than the neck pickup, as a matter of fact the finish was already worn off the cover. At first it didn't bother me to much as I got a great deal on the guitar. But after I had it for a while it started to get to me, why should a brand new guitar look old? I complained at the store where I purchased it and they said it was normal wear. WHAT? after only a couple of months,, you have got to be kidding me... Anyway they said they would contact Godin and see what they said. Well a couple of weeks later they just restated the same saying it was not covered under warranty. Now I thinking did they really contact Godin?

I then took it upon myself to email Godin directly, well I didn't get a response so I though I will have to live with it. This all happened back about 6 months ago. The other day I stumbled on the original email and decided to send it again with a bit more attitude.

I GOT A REPLY WITHIN 30min!!!!!

They replace the pickup with no charge to me and apologized for the inconvenience>

NOW THAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!

Thanks Zak!

As I said I still love this guitar, if its not the first one I pickup it is always the one I end with and the one I play the most. It is the most versatile guitar I own.

If you want the vintage strat sound you should look else where, but if you are looking for a great sounding Hybrid this is it. Fat and warm, great neck action and a beautiful instrument to look at.

Well you all know the features from the other reviews. Seymour Duncans, piezo bridge, active and passive electronics, quilted maple top with matching peg head.

This guitar covers everything(except for the lack of a tremolo) I run it through my H&K attax 100 and the MIDI goes into a roland convertor than into a Alessis sound bank QSR i think

Setup needed some work for the MIDI but nothing too difficult. Finish is great, neck is tight and fast. The pick-up selector leaves something to be desired and I have tighted it a couple of times, also it's not something that you can find at the local store to replace.

Plays and sounds great on CD and live, holds up so well that it's the only one I take out these days for gigs. Very, very dependable!

Never tried but thy don't answer emails at al it seems. I'm having a neck built for another guitar and wanted to know the fret size on my Godin. It's been two weeks and they haven't gotten back to me

I've been playing for 12 years, if it was stolen i would probably replace it for the price and quaility it's a great deal. I looked at the Brian Moore model plus some custom guitars and for features this was the best.