Godin LGX-SA

I bought this guitar in 1998 in Virginia Beach. Like other Godins', it's Canadian made. It has the Seymore Duncan pickups along with the other pickup systems found on all the LGX-SA models. This guitar has a beautiful black pearl paint job, but I think I would've prefered a more natural finish. It has a mahogany neck with an ebony fretboard, bolt on style. I'm uncertain as to the type wood that the body is made from. It doesn't seem to weigh as much as a Les Paul Standard though it does sustain well. It uses a 'string-thru body over a tune-o-matic style bridge system. So far, I've experienced no problems with it breaking strings. Tuners are excellent and stable. The neck is rather thin with a low radius fret board; very fast and comfortable.

I play alot of contemporary jazz and top 40 style music. I also use it almost exclusively for live gigs. The Seymore Duncan pickup system found on the LGX-SA is nothing short of excellent. What can you say? I can achieve warm jazzy tones or bright courtry sounds. And this guitar can rock. I find the un-modified acoustic pickup sound to be a little too bright for my taste. I'm used to using a real acoustic guitar if I want that sound. But with just a little outboard processing, (eq, a touch of delay and chorus) it is more than acceptable. The advantage of not having to carry another guitar and to be able to change sounds fast in a live situation is great. I've used it with a roland GR-30 and it works fine. The sounds possibilities are of the scale.

The action on this guitar is still as I got it from the store. It was just fine the way it was. The only gripe I've experienced with it in this regard is that some of the fret finishing could have been a little smoother. Mine does have some sharp fret edges which can catch a finger going by.

No problems with it, and it's been used live extensively.

I've never needed it....

I've been playing a long time (32 years), and have and do own some high end guitars (Les Paul standard, ES 335, ES 170, Fender Stratocaster, Guild D-35, Ovation Elite). The LGX-SA holds its' own with these guitars and then some. I would cry like a baby if it got stolen and then go get another. The versitility of this instrument is its' biggest feature. It doesn't have as good of an acoustic sound as a real acoustic, but it is a useable sound. I think the Godin is my favorite guitar.

I'd like to clarify something for those who believe the LGX-SA uses the RMC pickup. I emailed rmcpickup.com to confirm whether or not the LGX-SA uses their pickup since I'm trying to decide between the LGX-SA or the Multiac Jazz. Their response was:

"We do make the Jazz pickup system, but we don't make the pickup system in the LGX series instruments."

I hope this clarifies any confusion for those of you who want a guitar with the RMC pickup...

Have at look at the reviews below. I think you get the idea.

Everything anyone could ever want. As a matter of fact that in it self may be a problem,,,,how am I going to justfy buying another guitar???

Clear, rich, full, mellow, twangy, in other words. This guitar has an amazing complement of sounds. You can go from the thick HB sound to the twangy single coil sound (not quite Fender,,,,but hey everyone has a fender, me included, and we all sound alike, get you own sound!). Jazzy to Rock to blues, of course it dosn't quite have the hollow body sound. If variety of sound is what you are looking for STOP here! Your search is over.

This guitar can cut through the mix or if you like you can blend (who wants to blend?) anyway I think you get the idea. I love the bridge sound, wait I love all the sounds. This guitar will suit my musical need what ever my mood is!

One of the problems I had with this guitar at first was the variety. I had a hard time chosing what sound to play on what song. Only time with this ax has resolved that issue!

Believe me, before I purchased this guitar I spent a year looking at amost every guitar out there, I kept coming back to the Godin. I really wanted a Gibson, but the Godin just kept me coming back I just fell in love with the sounds of this guitar.

I didn't go the vintage route mainly due to cost, I know there are some amazing vintage axes out there if you have the $$$$. Howerver one thing you should relize is that technology in guitars have come a long way. The number of good sounding guitars out there at resonable prices is absoulutly amazing. This one is definitely a GREAT sounding guitar at a reasonable price.

I being generous here. I did have some problems, the nut for one needed work (fixed), two there was a volume difference on indivudual strings for the accoustic pickups (fixed) three the tone control is not working as it should (not fixed).

Setup is such a personal thing that it is hard to get it right for everyone, so I will not comment, only to say that you will likely have to have it set up for your individual playing style(duhh)!

So far so good.

This guitar looks solid and play solid

The store where I purchased it does most of the warrantee work and they have been great. This rating is for the Arts in Newmarket!

Love this guitar, It is absolutly beautiful. Its sunset colour maple top looks 3 dimentinal.

The only thing I wished it had was a transparent pick guard, but then that would take away the beauty! Forget it I just talked myself out of that one.

I have been playing for over 25years, last 12+ years seriously. I have had this guitar for about 8 months, I am not disapointed.

You will not find a guitar out there that sounds, looks and plays as good as this does with the variety of sounds the LGX has for this type of price. NO WAY!

This is essentially a midi-guitar with a 13-pin Roland compatible output. It has two Seymour Duncan pickups, one of which was custom designed by Seymour for this particular guitar. See the Godin site for exact specs at www.godinguitars.com. The guitars are built to order in Canada. I ordered mine with the figured maple AA body in deep red. The neck is made of rosewood with an ebony fingerboard for better sustain. It definitely has great sustain. This model has no whammy bar but there is a sister model that does. The body is a single cut away but has a pretty cool shape.

All I can say is WOW! Great variety of sounds. The saddle pickups in the bridge are phenomenal and sound just like an acoustic. The sound of this pickup is sparkling through my stereo PA. Layered with the Duncans many sound combinations are possible. Also, the pickup selector switch was unique in that the 5 positions allow the player to select single or double coil operation.

The action was a bit buzzy from the factory. Comes with .009 strings. While a tad buzzy, I've not adjusted the action because the buzz does not manifest too much in the amplified sound. Intonation was perfect.

The finish on this guitar is nothing short of gorgeous. In place of a binding, they mask the natural wood and let the blonde wood show through the lacquer. Elegant. I have found no flaws at this time.

I confess that I've just had the guitar a week, but I've been playing over 30 years and know a good guitar when I see one. I think this instrument is very solid. I've replaced the strap buttons with strap locks as I do on all my guitars.

The factory case is very nice and tightly form fits to the guitar.

OK, here's a fly in the ointment. I ordered this guitar in June and got it in September. Got quite the runaround while waiting for it. I called the factory and the rep. I kept getting stories like "it's shipping this week!" "The factory is on vacation for two weeks..." VERY frustrating. A guy at the plant told me that there were none of these in "stock." They are made to order. Great guitar, but if your store doesn't have one, be prepared to pay your down payment and wait and wait and wait.

Been playing over 30 years. Just retired my Casio midi guitar in favor of this one. The tracking is much improved. I also bought a Roland GR-33 which has some very nice features and some impressive sounds - although the factory patches are largely useless to me. I had guessed that the guitar sounds would be better than the Casio, but I was really blown away.

I play old standards, light jazz, a bit of folk, and quite a bit of Merle Travis style finger picking. This guitar seems to handle just about everything I can throw at it. I would definitely get another one of these if it were ever stolen. This guitar beats ANYTHING with a big name label on it at prices considerably higher. It's a great value.

If you are reading this, you probably know what an LGX-SA is by now, but briefly: a solid body electric with an acoustic preamp and synth access built in. First of all, the guitar looks stunning. This is a 2001 model with a cognac burst finish, ebony fingerboard, Seymour Duncan pickups, etc., etc.as stated above. I like having a 5 way switch instead of a coil tap, but the single coil sounds are softer than the double coil sounds. Usually I only require two things in a guitar, and that is good tone, and a good neck, but the LGX-SA is even beautiful to look at to boot!

MAN! An amazing array of tones, especially if you blend the acoustic and electric,and especially if you separate the outputs of each into two amps. The Duncans sound very clean and clear, but not thin. In the two weeks I've owned this guitar I've used it on a jazz job, an acoustic job, a rock job, and a blues job, and it sounds great for ALL occasions. I would suggest raising the front pickup, though, and putting on at least 11's for real jazz playing though. I have 10 guage strings on it now, and the sound is a little light, and the strings are a little bendy. Aside from that, if your going for a Santana tone, or a country tone, or anything in between, you will get a great sound from this guitar. It SINGS.

The acoustic output to a P.A. is excellent. Much better than I thought it would be, actually, I played with an actual acoustic player, and the blend was amazing. The acoustic sounds much better through a P.A. than through a guitar amp, but it sounds great through a guitar amp also.

I'm still having a little problem with the tracking, as the GR pickup seems to be set very hot and possibly overdrives my GR 33 (if that is possible) even with the sensitivity settings turned down to 1!
This only happens on the piano and classical guitar patches that I built, though, and only in the low notes. I wish there were a sensitivity setting for the RMC pickup. That is the only thing this guitar is lacking. BTW, it tracks like a maniac, and you can't play faster than it. It tracks much better than the GK pickup.

When I first got this guitar, it needed some adjustment. I had a professional guitar-fixer-upper adjust the neck and intonation, and did a little tweaking on the action myself,and now the action is truly amazing. The ebony neck is smooth and fast, and the fret job is nice.

The only complaint I have is that I wish they would make these things with a 24 1/2 " scale and a 12" radius, which is what I really feel at home with. Still, with the bolt on neck, who knows what the future holds?

I haven't had this guitar long enough to know about durability. Still, it seems like a very reliable guitar right now (for 2 weeks).

I have no idea. My registration card even came back because I didn't know postage to Canada was $.50 . Hey what ever happened to Nafta?

I've been playing guitar for over 35 years, play every style of music imaginable (except rap,metal, and opera) and have a tendancy to torture my guitars. This one will be an exception,though, because I love it so much. I also own a Cort Triggs I, which I use for my main jazz box (the best jazz guitar I've ever owned, and that is comparing it to a '58 ES-175), a Gibson Blues Hawk for rocking out, although I will not be needing it anymore thanks to Godin, and a Gibson Epiphone acoustic which has great tone because I use silk and steel strings on it. Still, it sure would be nice to have a Multiac, and a Multiac-jazz! Hmm...if I didn't play music for a living, I could probably afford all the music equipment I ever wanted.

Before getting this guitar I did about 6 months of research because I am very persnickity about guitars. I believe I made the correct choice here!

What year was it made? Where was is made? (Japan, Mexico, USA, etc...)

98 canada

Solid-Top? Laminated top?

maple capped mahogany body with mahogany neck

Make and model of pickups?

SD jazz in neck custom custom in bridge piezo in bridge and synth... see http://charliemb.home.mindspring.com/lgxbrig/ for info on important bridge mod.

Finish (Satin, transparent, quilted top, flamed top, etc...)

Beautiful quilt!!!

Bridge style (Tune-O-Matic, Floyd Rose, Wilkinson, Tele-style, String-thru body,
stop tailpiece, etc...)

String thru body recessed tune o matic

Neck/Scale (Fat, Thin, Jumbo Frets, Rosewood, Maple, etc...)

Thin and FAST!!! Maybe too thin for my string guage (flat 11's) ... I hope not

I believe that the jazz neck pickup with tone all the way off and the volume all the way up plus the piezo pickup with treble all the way down, mid and bass all the way up, volume at mid will give me a great tone... can't tell on this instrument.

I believe that there is a problem with this particular instrument. There are some horrible noises associated with single notes sounded on the guitar. All single notes to one degree or another produce a "leslie" like effect. It makes the guitar sound out of tune no matter if it is really in tune or not. I think that there is a fundamental problem. I postulate that there is an inherent disharmony between the wood of the neck and the wood of the body. I think that their resonant peaks are not complimentary. This of course really can't speak poorly of Godin. In this price range it would be impossible to employ people that are skilled enough to discern these types of conditions before the instrument is constructed. I couldn't tell this when I bought it because the guitar wasn't properly set up.

I had a professional luthier set the guitar up for the first time. After being set up this is the fastest guitar that I've ever played. The only real complaint about the build quality is that in the routing where the strings go into the body there is lots and lots of compound... it looks kinda crappy.

I always hate it when people say...

"well I've only had it for a day, but I'm absolutely sure it will outlast humanity"

Who knows yet.

NA

How long have you been playing?

7 years

What other gear do you own?

Gibson nighthawk (backup) ibanex pat metheney mesa dc 2 pod

Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?

I wish that I'd had the opportunity to eval the guitar set up by a pro luthier rather than ordering it off ebay, but I;m sure the guy will help me out.

Moreal of this story... not all lgx-sa's (or tele's or strats etc) are built the same. This is why you can get an american standard that is a dog, but a mexican that is a good instrument.

1997 presumably Canadian made amber-top LGX-SA with Seymour Duncans,
LR Baggs piezos and RMC sytn-Roland 13 pin output.
Bought it on the eBay as mint yet it was played probably in some
shop - cleaned it a bit (the neck) replaced the 13-pin plug that
was shorting ($30.-) and fixed even the contact of that plug
with the electronics inside with some scotch :-)
Sounds 'funny' yet I like to have everything 100% reliable.
It is standard oGX-SA = as other Duncan-equipped described below.

I note that some 5 years ago I discussed a design of a guitar like this one (on the synth guitar forum) and even had an offer from a French
luthier Patrice Blanc to build me one for FF25'000 which was $4000
at that time - this one is 3 times cheaper and has it ALL, read on ...

My band plays jazz ( Herbie Hanckok, Miles Davis ...) as well as Santana and fusion (our own progressive funky-bongos-rock) so
I needed a guitar that will play like a Les Paul, Strat Plus as well as run the GR-33 synth. I have also the VG-88 but do not use it live.

With Duncans this guitar sunds fabulous when I plug it to my
Prosonic Combo tube amp or to my custom made Cornford Class A ...

In short it is brighter than my Les Paul Studio so I always use
minor EQ correction for the jazz sounds but Duncans are very
clear sounding and sing even when I take the treble off.
I use mostly the neck Duncan and ocasionally mix the piezos for the
suble effect (through the Roland KC-100 keyboard amp ! that I
also use for the GR-33) ... In position 2 and 4 it has good
Strat imitation for the live work or dense mixes. Actually
I can use it with my Prosonic and really have NIRVANA heavenly
sounds that all true guitarists dream of (I play since 1960!) ...

I have owned since 1960 all archetypes guitars excpet for the Parker
and I can say that this is THE guitar for a serious professional that needes verastility: in the process I sold my DeLuxe Strat Plus
yet kept my Les Paul (with RMC & synth modification as a back up) as well as one Strat Plus with GK-2 : with LGX-SA I have all sounds I
need but with Strat and LP I have all also for recording and keep it
for emotional reasons and the feeling ... namely my favorite neck
length is LP's 24 and LGX- has like Strat 25 neck but that's negligible
as the neck is FABULOUS - fine and easy to play; only some very best Parkers may have even better or faster necks ...

Piezo sound is adequate and I run it through Zoom 504 or 504 II
and it0s great for live. For recording I have my Martin D-42,
Gibson J-200 and Taylor 714 as well as Yamaha 12 string so who cares ...

In summary, if you need this versatility - and love the
range of sounds - well, just go and buy one !

Action is medium and good enough for me.
Pickups were well adjusted yet I did the finetuning.
Godin is great luthier so there's nothing to be said.
Ma guitar had that electronic contacts flaw and I
easily fixed that: ask me if you need help.
The wood and hardware are great, maybe the tuners
made by Schaller could be changed with something even better
yet I doubt it's necessary.
The headstock and maple top are roughly matched so it looks great.

THis guitar is fine for live playing but needs care and attention
as 13 pin plug is fragile and I fix it also with a safety loop around the strap. You need a back-up for this type of gear if you gig a lot
and you cannot play LGX-SA in a bar full of drunken people ...

I give it only 9 as the Roland plug could be replaced with some
special designs to ensure 100% reliabilty yet I won't do that.

I had to order the replacement 13pin plug from Godin dealer
in Switzerland and he was great and I am sure that most
problems can be solved through him, hence 10
(note mine is 1997 and still impeccable guitar - mint!)

I play since 1960 and I am probably one of the most qualified
non-biased people around who can and does buy the very best gear:
If you need the versatility and synth LGX-SA is great.

Actually, already as a kind of versatile PRS - this one beats
it for the price: I surely have any blues or Santana or Garry
Moore tone you can imagine. It doesn't give you vintage Strat
but all type of PAF humbucker and nice feeling single coil can
be obtained from this baby. However, it doesn't do the aggressive
quack like Tele or aggressive Rickenbacker 12 string :-)

I dislike VG-88 for live work and use TUBES everywhere and analog
everywhere so for that this is fabulous. If I had to keep 2
guitars only I would keep the LGX-SA and Strat (Plus or similar top Strat). For acoustic you will need an acoustic (try Godin Seagulls!).

I recommend that you buy new Godin directly from Canada for about $1100.- plus shipment and taxes (ask for the best case even if it costs $100) or from www.musicians-gear.com where they ask roughly $1332.-
plus shipment. On the eBay there are good deals but ask all details
in advance, year, finish and make sure that you pay through an
inter,ediate agency as this guitar can arrive with loose contacts
or some other problems as they ship them in $50.- cases ...

I had to spend additional $120 for shipment and $100.- import
tax and $30 for the replacement jack yet even to pay a total of
US$1350.- for the mint 1997 LGX-SA in 2001 is a good deal as
I have exactly the finish I wanted and the guitar is great.

To conclude I am longing every day to go home and play my Godin LGX-SA
through my Fender all tube Prosonic combo and Roland LC-100:
and that comes from the guy who has it all and who plays since 1960
and has bagun by playing Duan Edy or the Elvis Presley stuff
when even the Beatles were not around.

Summary: if you read this you will buy Godin LGX-SA or possibly
Brian Moore 2.13 midi or perhaps Parker 1-1-2 midi : that I cannot deicde for you, but surely Godin is one of the top 3 guitars in
the world when it comes to versatility. And the sound is as good
as ome PRS or Les Pauls in humbucker mode and can do the Strat
as long as you don't need exact vintage Strat-sound in which case:
well, surely, you have one Strat already anayway ...

... to the memory of Leo Fender (and congratulations to Robert Godin).

Great set of features humbucker guitar with synth access and transducer (LR Baggs) pickups in the bridge. Eq and volume controls for the transducer, tone and volume for the magnetics (Seymour Duncans), volume and up/down selector for the synth.

Magogany body with a beautiful maple cap (mine is AA but looks like AAA), ebony finger board, see other reviews for the details.

All I can say is wow!! This is a most amazing sounding guitar. Very warm sounds from the neck and number 2 position(SC), full and rich sounds from the 3rd position, bright but not to bright sound from the 4th position, very fenderish, but not totally so, and very honky sound from the bridge position.

This guitar has so many sound combinations that you really need to work on a few at a time with your gear and perfect them individually. I love to play lead in both the neck and bridge positions. Both of these positons add a bit of level to really cut through.

I compared this guitar to all the usual suspects and the LGX was the clear winner. I really wanted a killer clean sound, that could also cut it when I cranked up the OD, this guitar did it for me.

With the LGX you have three outputs one for magnetics only one for synt and one for magnetics/transducers. When using the combo position you can get some really interesting tones for rythym plyaing .

Again the real strengh to this guitar is the varity of sounds, beautiful textures when playing clean or with effects on. Unbelievable sustain. Great neck, what more could one want a price that is affordable.

No bad overall, but like any guitar you are going to buy you will need some minor tweeking to individual preference.

To early to tell, there are a lot of electroinics in this guitar. But I'm not worried, I'm in the electronics industry and the reliability of componence is very high these days.

Haven used them

I love to play this guitar. With the great sound and looks what more could one want. Over all this is by far the best deal going. No other guitar maker is coming close. Hand crafted parts on a great looking/sounding ax.

wow!!!!

Lots and lots of features as a matter of fact this may be one of the problems with the guitar. It has so may features and sounds how is one to justify buying more guitars? Anyway here they are ;
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

BTW the case is included, it comes from the factory in the case. This is not a great one but hey its included. It has the Godin logo on it and its made in Canada.

I love to play this guitar. The sounds from the magnetics are sweet, up there with the best of them (see below). The sustain is very good. Excelent resonance from the mahogany body. I a/b this guitar with a varity of Les Pauls and although the LP's are great guitars I could not justify the cost for a one trick pony. The LGX was the best of the bunch. It has more sound variety and a neck that is thin and fast. Great to look at and great to play.

The pickups are seymor Duncan's, the neck is a 'Jazz' humbucker and the bridge is a modified Custom Custom. Position 1 is the neck in humbucker mode great for clean or distorted leads, 2 is the neck in single coil mode I don't use this position to much, three is both pickups in humbucker mode I like this for the rhythm, 4 is the bridge pickup in single coil mode, great for just about anything, nice and bright, I use it for clean rhythm when I want to cut through the mix, and 5 is the bridge pickup in humbucker mode, high gain and very cutting, there are times when only this sound will do great for leads.

The single coils do a resonable job of mimicking a Strat but if you want the strat sound you may want to consider a Strat in addition this guitar. I alreay own a Strat so this was not a concern for me.

The accoustic sound is good for a solid body guitar but I would have to agree with others that have commented on the fact that this will not be replacing your dreadnought for those occasions when only an authentic accoustic sound will do. This is not a bad thing in my opinion, this guitar has a great acoustic sound, the fact that I have all of these sound from one guitar is amazing. Also consider that I also own a very nice accoustic (Martin D35) with a Fender Acoustasonic amp, so the comparison is not really fair. Your opinion may varry depending on the equipment you own.

Ok here is where thing get a little tough. I played this guitar in the store before I bought it, every thing seemed great. As a matter of fact I played it on may occasions, as I said earlier I a/b it with other guitars, including other Godins. However after I got it home I noticed that the acoustic sound was a little thin,,hummm, this is the one feature I really didn't spend to much time evaluating in the store on this particular guitar, mainly because other that the godins and the parkers there was nothing to mesure it agains. And on the other Godin LGX's that I played the acoustic sounded great.

What I discovered is the following. On the LGX-SA there are three outputs, one for magnetics only, one for syth, and one for magnetics and peizo. When I went back to the store and compaired the acoustic sound of my guitar (LGX-SA) to a LGX I noticed there was a volume jump on the LGX when using the peizo only output (other uses of the LGX have commented on this also), since the LGX-SA does not have a peizo only output you are left with the combo output. I also discovered that there was a very noticeable volume drop on the G and high E strings when comparing it to the output of the other strings on my guitar. This made the acoustic sound very thin and quiet.

The guys at the music store where I bought it were great. They replaced the G and then the high E pickups. With no questions asked. They also replaced the strings with 10's the guitar came with 9's. I would highly recommend this to anyone using this guitar.

The nut is not cut properly on the Godins this will requrie some attention at the factory. I got the guys at the store to fix it for me. The G string would not slide properly in the guide, a small file and a few minutes and it was fine.

One last thing and it is a little thing but I feel it goes towards quality control. The mounting plate for the outputs was missing a screw, and althought this did not cause any problems it does may one wonder what else was forgotten??

Over all the fit and finish were good on the guitar. The action is about right for me. The neck is fitted very nicely. The quality of the switches is good.

I'm only giving Godin a 6 here as I feel a guitar at this price should be given more attention to detail. They claim that these guitars are hand made, so where is the benifit if I need to take it back and have all these adjustments made. This reminds me of buy a new north american car. Come on Godin!

I haven't had this guitar long enough to really judge but lt feels like it will last for a long time.

I was please at how fast Godin go the parts to the store. I was a coulple of days. They also sent more parts than were needed, which to me is a sight of a company that really want to make things right.

I have been playing for over 20 years. Without question I am very pleased with this guitar. The quality problems I mentioned above are nothing in comparison to some of the problems other people experience with some of the BIG guitar manufactures. Godin responded quickly to my concerns. Even the guys at the music store were impressed, leading me to believe that they do not get this type of responsivnes from manufactures.

Godin produces a excelent guitar that looks great and plays as good as it looks. This is without question one of the great deal out there. My wife and I were in a music store last weekend looking at some PRS's. These guitars cost over 5K, thats more than 3x what I payed. They don't sound 3x better, not even 2x better, IMHO they don't sound any better at all, different maybe but not better. Anyway sound and feel is a subjective thing, you should trust your ears not other peoples opinions of what sounds good. Futhermore the PRS's sure don't look any better that my guitar, which by the way has a beautiful maple top with the sunrise finish.

I would definitely buy a Godin again!

Lost? what fool loses their guitar? Stolen? thats what insurance is for.

The 9 is only because I had to bring it back twice for the above mentioned problems.

Play on!

My LGX-SA is, I believe, a 2000 model, as I had to wait or four months after ordering in January for Godin to make a production run. It was purchased From Long and McQuade music in Windsor Ontario for $1850 Canadian. The case issue, as stated in other reviews, raised its ugly head here as well. When I ordered the guitar, I was assured the case was included. When it arrived, Long and McQuade attempted to charge me $80.00 for it- and the salesman who sold it to me had since moved on. After refusing to accept the guitar without case and demanding my deposit back, they reluctantly threw the case in for free. If you are ordering one of these guitars, get the case question IN WRITING before forking over any dough. But getting back to Features, it has all the regulars- maple top, piezo and magnetic pickups, that are outlined in the other reviews, and don't need to be mentioned here. For this, I'll give it the highest rating.

The one thing this guitar really has going for it is the amount of sounds available from all three outputs. The Seymour Duncan Custom in the neck position is clean and warm, but I found
I had to raise it a bit in order to balance the output with the bridge pickup. I suppose this was intentional to remain clarity, but I found the output wasn't high enough with my rig to get an authentic "Woman", "Brown" or Santana tone the way it came from the factory. It does give a fairly decent approximation of the SRV-Hendrix thing in single coil mode. The bridge pickup is nice and hot, and cleans up appreciably in single coil mode.No adjustments needed here- with the brightness of the maple cap and a litle compression, you may not be in Nashville, but you can sure see it from here! Although the documentation doesn't mention it, the middle pickup position seems to wired put-of-phase, and gives a nice cluck for skankin'. Much has been made of the piezo acoustic saddles in previous reviews, and I have to agree with most that the acoustic tone, while it may not replace a vintage dreadnought, is simply wonderful substitute in a gigging situation. I run this output through the normal channel of my Fender 65 Twin reissue, and as long as I don't have to turn up past about 5, it works relatively well (I'm currently looking at keyboard rigs to run the acoustic and synth outputs into, as well as saving dough for such a purchase). The synth ouput tracks much better on my GR-30 than the GK-2a ever did on my Stratocaster, and it doesn't look like the Borg got a hold of my guitar either! Blending sounds is a lot of fun -dry acoustic with wet single coil electric makes a great jangly concoction, or acoustic with an electric bass makes a credible baritone-6 string bass tone. The mind reels.

The guitar came reasonably well set up, but I did have to make slight intonation adjustments as well as the forementioned neck pickup height. One flaw was that the output plate was not tightened properly, so the jacks slid around (Like on of those old Gibson "sliding pickup" basses) until tightened.
Also unfortunately, the first night I brought it to my gig, the five-way switch shed a solder connection twenty minutes into the first set, and buzzed and crackled embarrasingly- I had to drive home and get my strat to finish the night. The guitar tech at Long and McQuade fixed it promptly the next day, but the five way switch still crackles and goes dead if you don"t finesse it just right. I am still awaiting a replacement from Godin (Two of the wrong switches were sent, and one of the right ones sent to the Winnepeg rather than Windsor) As much as I love the guitar, an instrument in this price range should be subject to much better quality control when shipped from the factory. The finish is gorgeous- deep mahogany ovr highly figured tiger maple, and the wide satin finished neck very comfortable. Right after I ordered mine however, Godin finally got rid of the ugle headstock logo and is now putting a more tasteful one. I wish I had waited another month. I have to give the lowest mark in this category, as my face is still red from coming to the club to show of my fancy new axe, and having it sound like a SETI search when the pickup selector failed. (Through a full double TurboSound PA rig to boot)

I toured around Canada this summer playing in a Shania Twain tribute act, and the guitar held up well under the rigors of the road. Sound men aroung the country were fooled, then knocked out by the acoustic sound I was getting. For a few fly-in shows, I took my strat because I have an SKB flight case for it. I haven't been able to find an off-the -shelf one that will fit the Godin, and will probably have to order one special. (anybody who knows where to get one, please email me ) Except for the aforementioned 5-way switch, the guitar has performed flawlessly. I am now gigging without a backup as I am confident enough with this guitar. I'll give it the top mark.

For customer support, I'd have to give Long and McQuade a ten, as they promptly fixed the pickup selector, gave the case for free without too much haggling, and are in constant touch with Godin trying to get a replacement switch. For Godin itself, they seem a little mixed up in their service department, but are trying. I'll give a combined score of seven in this category.

I would give this guitar a ten except for the early problems, so I'll generously give it a nine. I have been playing guitar for 32 years, and this is the most versatile guitar I have owned, even if it doesn't have the snob panache of, say, a dot neck 335 (one of which I also own). I use a guitar synth on quite a lot of the top forty gigs that I play, so I didn't really have another choice, except for maybe a Brian Moore midi guitar, which I haven't seen in the Windsor-Detroit area yet. It does three times as many things, looks and plays as good as, and costs half what a PRS does- with a comparible figured top. I only wish Godin made this guitar with a hybrid 1 humbucking, 2 single coil configuration- to me the most versatile set up for a gigging pro.If stolen, I would definitely order another one.