Godin Montreal

Purchased the Montreal back in 2005. The finish of the body is Natural High Gloss Finish made up of carved solid mahogany. The locking tuners look like the german shaller type with the Godin logo stamped onto the gear-casing, these work very well and hold the guitar in tune throughout the Gig. It's a 24.3/4" scale with 22-frets and rosewood finger-board. The electronics are consisting of 2X Kent Armstrong humbuckers complimented with the LR-Baggs transducer saddle type bridge. #2 X input jacks on the heal of the guitar; #1 for normal humbucker use and #2 which allows for blending hum and trans together via the two volume pots on upper part of body. Humbuckers are controlled via a five-way selector switch with a standard treble pot on lower part of body. Considering the price of this guitar, it should include a hard shell case; but was only supplied with the standard Godin gig bag. I didn't like the gig bag at first, but it's great to just sling it across your back like a ruck-sack after a gig, freeing up your hands to carry your amp and leads-bag in one journey to the car.

Sound quality is what makes this guitar worth the money. It will reproduce with almost pin-point accuracy the sound of any very expensive Jazz Box. I play jazz in a quartet and an eighteen piece big band which makes this guitar completely versatile. The guitar is supposedly a semi-accoustic, but to be quite honest it's not very audible once unplugged. The 'F' holes are real enough, but there is a substantial sound-block inside the guitar which adds for that deep dark wes-montgomery tone you would expect from an L5 plugged-in. I use a George dennis Blue Beetle valve amp and also a Polytone mini brute; both amps sound brilliant with this guitar.

The guitar came out of the shop in a mess. I could only purchase a ex-demo model as the music shop didn't actually trade Godin at that time. I was able to get their Rep to get me one from another part of the country, unfortunately it came with a ding on the heal with a set of dreadful light gauge strings badly set-up; got a few quid knocked-off for the ding though. After a new set of 11s flat-wounds and a bit of action and intonation tweaking the guitar came to life. The nut of the guitar has not been cut to well, the ends of the nut seem to be slightly recessed and not flush to the surface of the neck. This issue is not detrimental to the playability and overall performance of the guitar. The black plastic twin jack-socket panel had been poorly drilled-out at the factory (holes too big), this caused movement of the P.C.B inside the body of the guitar which could have resulted in damage to the electronics/solder-joints during plugging-in and un-plugging. To render this issue I had a new jack-panel manufactered out of 10swg alu with the correct hole tolerance and spacing; this cured the problem once and for all. I can't say that all guitars manufactured by Godin have this problem, but mine certainly did! Everything else of the guitar is extremely well made.

This guitar will withstand any amount of gigging, and all hardware apart from the cheap black plastic inspection panels is manufactured to a high specification. Godin should take a look at this issue! The transducer pre-amp is powered by a #9 volt battery with a life cycle of approx 300 hours. There is no indication to warn you that the battery is low or empty, it just conks-out usually when you are in the middle of a gig; it doesn't render the guitar unusable, it just makes the transducer sound heavily distorted. You have to unplug the trans-jack and just use the humbucker mode of the guitar. Maybe Godin could affix some sort of L.E.D on the access panel at the rear to warn you of battery failure? More cost I suppose??

Emailed a couple of times regarding hard shell case. Godin were always very helpful and gave serial number of correct size case.
Would be great if one could purchase one of these cases over here in sunny England? but one can't??

This guitar is one of the best guitars I've ever owned. The playing action and sound is everything you could want in a guitar.
Compared it with many other very expensive models, but the Montreal beat them all!
Fairly expensive for what it is, but great value for money.

I recently purchased my brand new Motreal from Guitar Gallery Of New England (NH) at price lower than other on-line/local dealers. The on-line photos and catalogue do not do justice to how beautiful this guitar is in its appearance. It came with a gig bag but I wish Godin charged the difference to the price to include a hardshell case instead. I tried the Parker Hybrid before purchasing the Godwin (which I did not get to play before it arrived a few days after I order it). The 2 Godwin Humbuckers offer great sounds with a 5 pick-up selector, and the blend control to add in the LL Braggs Piezo offers a ton of sounds and opportunites. It was also a delight to use the 2 jacks on the guitar to run the Hums into a Super Reverb amp and a accoustic amp for the bridge pickup. I currently own a Gretsch Country Classic, Reissue Hagstrom Viking Deluxe and an Ibanez ARC500NT and this new Godin an excellent addition to my family of guitars. The feel reminds me of one of my former guitars (which I should have kept) Gibson Chet Atkins CEC Nylon Classical - the body shape is somewhat similar and the accoustic qualities are fantastic. Although I wish there were other stain color options the natural mahogany is beautiful in its own right. I was considering a new Jazz box from D'Angelico direct but am very pleased with this veratile guitar. Play one and you will be hooked.

The sounds on this guitar are great for blues and jazz just like Godwin claimed in their website. Blending in the bridge acoustic pick-up adds such a new dimension that it cannot be put into words, you need to try one and play it for your self. I own a Line 6 flextone 3 and with a setting on the Vox AC30 with reverb at the 1:00 position it sounds soooo heavenly. There are some many options with the blend and 4 controls for the LR Baggs pickup you can get caught up with just tweaking your sound levels. That said, the sounds are crystal clear, and you get obtain a nice deep jazz sound with the Hummers tone control in a bassy setting.

The set-up from the factory was fine with the exception that the action could have been a little lower. Also since it was set up with Godin "10's" I generally prefer 11's and 12's on my guitars. I will have the strings changed soon to a heavier gauage and action set lower. I find for jazz the heavier strings give a guitar a much richer tone. My Viking Delux has flatwound 12's and it sounds super rich in tone quality. I suspect that one I have my Montreal adjusted it will also hit a home run in the jazzier side of life.

Although I have only owned this guitar for a few weeks, in my opinion it can handle any type of live situation. I have owned more than 25+ guitars during my life time (how I wish I had them all back, but that's another story), this Montreal is as solid as any Gibson and PRS I have owned. It is made out of solid mahogony and is almost has heavy has by Ibanez Les Paul Style 500NT (mahogony/quilt maple top. The headstock tuners remind me of the simple approach to stringing has my from PRS Custom 24 had back in 1986. Very simple design and easy locking of the strings without tons of winding.

I have e-mailed Godin 3 times and have always received a response within 24 hours or sooner, 2 times within an hour!

I have been playing guitar on and off since 1965 (more off than on) and have owned some beautiful guitars and great amps during those "on" periods. I have owned Gibson - 335 TDC Stereo back in 1966, 335, BB King, Melody Maker, Chet Atkins classicals and Chet Atkins Country Gent; Epi-Emperor, Fender - Strats, Tele's, Coronado; Harmony H75, PRS Custom, Shecters, Kent, Hagstroms; Ibanez;
Gretsch and now Godin. This guitar reminds me of a offspring bewteen a 335 and the Chet Atkins classical. It has all the making of being a great guitar which I will NEVER sell, it offers such versatiltiy and great looks and feel, how could I? Try one then buy one. You won't regret it.

The Montreal covers a lot of sounds and music types: country, blues, rock, and jazz. The pickups aren't high enough output to do the metal thing. Also I suspect it would feedback out of control with that much gain. It is pretty feedback resistant: actually better than my Les Paul Special with humbuckers.

I use it exclusively with a Deluxe Reverb Issue. With the right knob twiddling and pickup selection you can get pretty much what you want.

The guitar is a two humbucker (tapped or splittable, not sure which) with a five way switch. It offers neck humbucker, tapped neck humbucker, neck and bridge, tapped bridge, and bridge humbucker. It also has a blendable bridge pieze with separate eq. The guitar has two outputs: mag pickups and a blend of acoustic and mag pickups. The blend output is a little lower than the mag only output.

The neck humbucker makes a pretty good jazz sound - probably better with heavier strings. I'm using 10 - 46s. The tapped neck does a credible Strat neck pickup sound. The middle pickup selection, with both on, sounds very close to a 335. The tapped bridge sounds like a Tele thin line and the full on bridge humbucker sounds like a 335/PAF combination. Lots of variety. The piezo suffers with the lighter strings. I don't use it often.

All of the sounds are moderated by the all mahogany construction (except for the rosewood board). All the sounds are a little darker than equivalent maple topped semi acoustics. A tweak of the treble on the amp can bring the sounds forward a bit more.

Generally I'm pleased with the sounds - a dream would be to have a more Strat, out-of-phase sound. Oh well.

The guitar was well setup from the wall at the shop. I doubt it was untouched from the factory. I have other Godins, all of which have the odd finish flaw but this one is immaculate.

I feel there are two shortcomings with Godin guitars: there jumbo frets are a little low for my taste and the bridges don't match the fretboard radius. The bridge is a standard 12" radius type with the fretboard being 16". Because the bridge has piezo saddles you can't notch the saddles to solve the problem. The result is that the high and low E strings buzz out if you try to bring the action down. If you set up the E's to work properly then the middle strings are a bit high. A quibble but a problem if you like Gibson or Ibanez low action.

I had the guitar re-fretted with 6105's and it is much improved. Bending is much easier. I can comfortably bend double stops up a whole tone (a trick that Amos Garrett showed me: check out the lesson at www.learnrootsmusic.com). I'm still researching a solution for the bridge issue. I may actually dump the pieze saddles and put in plain ones and notch them to the right radius.

I've played out with the guitar a few times. It seems very solid - the finish is bullet proof. I expect it will last.

Typical of Godin's: the volume control is scratchy after less than a month's use. I do a lot of pinky swells so I'm to find a better aftermarket pot. It will be a lot easier to replace than a Gibson semi as it has a hatch to the electronics on the back.

I've emailed Godin a few times and received prompt replies. I haven't had to call on them for warranty work.

I've been playing thirty years now. I'm more of a teacher than a performer so I look for a guitar that compliments the others I already have. I've had the requisite Strats, Teles, and Gibsons. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm pretty keen on Godin guitars now as they seem to offer features and build quality that best match my needs. As a result I have the Montreal, a Multiac Jazz, Multiac Duet (nylon string), xtSA, A5 fretless bass. I'm a fan of the electronics, solid wood construction and flatter radius fingerboards.

I strongly recommend the Montreal for someone looking for a guitar for tuxedo gigs. ;-) When I first played out with the guitar a friend dubbed it the Lexus guitar. A good analogy.

2004 Canadian/USA Montreal. You know the rest.

Gig bag is inadequate for this guitar. Not meant for shipping as I will explain below. The Guitar is beautiful.

Excellent sound.

Only complaint are the F holes which has a sloppy lacquer finish. Action is great.

Not sure this guitar would stand up to much of anything!

BUYER BEWARE!
1) NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT FROM MANUFACTURER!
2) DEALER SUPPORT IS VERY WEAK!
3) REPAIRS ARE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE AND TIME CONSUMING!
4) YOU CANNOT BUY SPARE PARTS FOR THESE GUITARS ON THE OPEN MARKET!
5) MOST AUTHORIZED DEALERS ARE MOM & POP SHOPS WHO WILL TRY TO RIP YOU OFF IF YOU TRY TO GET THIS THING REPAIRED!
6) DOCUMENTATION IS NON-EXISTANT!

Great guitar but, there is absolutely no support from the manufacturer and dealers are unreliable! This is the reason why most people go with Gibson, Fender or Ibanez...sad but, true!

For features and picture, please visit Godin website: http://www.godinguitars.com/godinmontrealp.htm

Ok, so this is the most important thing for me : the sound.

This guitar sounds great!!!

More precisely, i would say it is a rich,mellow,deep,precise,bassy dark round sound. Possibly an effect of the extensive use of mahogany, even for the top(in semi-hollow (335 like), the top are often of brighther sounding maple). I love that. No cheezy,all over your face high frequency, but a pleasant, well felt warm presence.

I find it to sound good for 'jazzy' sounds(this ain't a full hollow), fusion sound(clean and overdrived), and with some help from the 'bright switch' on my amp, i get rock and blues sound perfectly. For metal, and other high gain music, while usable,this may not be the weapon of choice.

There is many way to use this guitar, thanks to his dual output system: the separate ouputs for magnetics pick-up and piezo, and a mix output.

The magnetics are of medium output,coil splitable, and each of the 5 selection possible give usable sounds, although when you split a humbucker, there is some output loss.

The piezo sound ok by itself,i would say it sound like a real acoustic with extra-light strings(i have elctric 10 on it), so i would use it by-itself in a band situation, but it ain't convincing enough to use it alone. Maybe with bigger,real acoustic string it would be better? I was suprised that there were a minimum a piezo'quackiness', it sounds natural, but when i stop playing, there is a high frequency resonnance, while not much noticable, still it annoy me. I don't know if this is normal.

You can use the mix output, and blend the two way together for interesting sounds.But then, the magnetics lose some output.

I prefer to run the two output separatly. The magnetic go to effects and guit amp, and the piezo to a separate clean channel of my amp, or better when available, to the P.A.

I always(or most) keep the piezo at like 20% of the magnetics volume, and this way i get even a richer clean sound, and when i put the magnetics in overdrive, i get more precise attack sounds, and well defined chords.

When i received this guitar(i had to order it from the store, and there were a 3 month waiting!), the action was pretty high, so i ask the seller to get it lower. The repairman at the store lowered a little and, said it was the best he could do.

The top is really pleasant to the eye.

There was two really minor tool mark on the fretboard.

Two or three days after i got the guitar, the volume became scratchy.

So i decide to go to a professional luthier.

He said to me the neck had a little 's' in it. He had to do a fret job to correct it, replace the volume knob(couldn't be cleaned), and do another set-up. It cost me $180can. For now , the guit plays well, has medium action. The neck is a little bigger than what i'm used to,not a fast neck, but it feels good, give good control for bending, and is confortable for chording. Again, this ain't a shredder guitar.

As i have it from only one month, i can't say if it is reliable.

Every time i send an email to Godin, they answerd fast, and personnaly. I didn't told them about the volume knob things, and the 's' in the neck, as i was affraid they say to get it repaired at the music store, and they have a bad reputation(maybe false) for warranty workmanship, and i am of the anxious type so...Prefered to pay to get it done once and for all and be sure it was.

I am playing for near 20 years. My other guitars worth od mention are a Ibanez Les Paul cutom 1975,a Signature Oracle and a Yamaha Grand Concert GD-10.

I presently play through Mesa Boogie Bottle Rocket overdrive, Boss OS-2 dist/overdrive, Boss CE-2 chorus, and Zoom 508 delay, to my precious Garnet SessionMan.

For now, i would probably rebuy it if it were stolen.

I love the overall sound of it, the number of good sounds of it,the feeling of playing it, like it want to be played, and the look of it.

I dislike the fact that it was not perfectly working out of the case. I have been told that it can happened with every brand, than even with extreme quality control, they can't predict how the wood will react, and if knobs will get faulty after it is being send from the factory.

Also, there were strap lock on the guit, but Godin didn't give the parts that goes to the strap, at the price of the guit, they should give it with the guit.Ok, it's not expensive for me to buy them, but there is something stupid about this.

While the gig bag being of realy good quality, i prefer to get hard case for my guitar for when i have to put my guit into a van,now i have to find one that fit it.

So, although of some trouble to get rid first(and i hope this is the end of them), this guit has the one thing i find the most important in a guit: the sound is really pleasant to the ear.

I'm no expert,but i thinks Godin may have conceive a winner here. Only time will tell.

At the time of writng this review, i put some sound clips at

http://pages.videotron.com/kazzijaz/

My Godin Montreal is a 2004 model made in Canada and assembled in the U.S. It has a solid mohagony top, Two Godin Humbucker pickups as well as a bridge pickup with active electronics for an acoustic sound. The controls are split into the electric humbucker controls with one tone knob and one volume control, and the acoustic bridge pickup control with three graphic eq sliders and a volume slider. You then have one knob to 'mix' the two sounds together. The neck is wide and 'beefy' with a rosewood fretboard. The body is a single cutaway semi hollowbody with two fholes. The strings are strung through the body like a Fender Strat. The tuners are locking. The guitar came stock with a padded gig bag. The main reason I bought this guitar was for the features and this guitar did not dissapoint in this category.

I play Blues, Jazz, and Classic Rock. This guitar shines with the blues style that I play. One of my other main guitars is a Fender American deluxe Fat Stratocaster so I was not sure if this semi hollow body would measure up to the punch of that guitar. I found that this guitar is like two separate instruments depending on which pickups you use (the humbuckers or the acoustic pickups). If you want a nice warm Jazz sound you use the neck Humbucker with a little mix of the acoustic pickups to give it a small abount of bite. If you want a fat acoustic sound, you mix in a little neck humbucker with the acoustic pickups. If you want more of a biting santana sound, use the humbucker neck pickup with overdrive. The real amazing thing is using the acoustic pickup with overdrive. You can get some amazing dirty, gritty blues sounds. I think this is the best and most unique sound this guitar can make. I use a Fender Twin Amp pretty much exclusively. When I want a warm jazz sound with this guitar, I turn the treble down to 1 and turn on the bright switch. The guitar electronics is pretty quiet unless the 9 volt battery starts going dead (Which lasts only 300 hours) Then, even the humbuckers go crazy and start making crackling noises. This is my only problem with the sound on this guitar. At least the humbuckers should sound good without the batter power. One thing I need to mention is the separate outputs for the humbuckers and acoustic pickups. That's a cool feature but not one I use much.

The action is pretty good. The neck is REALLY wide compared to my Strat, so it took a bit of getting used to. I used to play a 1950 L5 and I'd say the neck is more like that guitar. I like to bend the lower strings and I noticed that if I wasn't careful, sometimes the lower e string would go off the edge of the neck. I think this can be a problem. Beside that, the neck is very nice. The action isn't super low, but average. The finish is beautiful. My kids ask me why I bought a guitar that looks like a voilin?!

I've been playing this guitar for about a month now and don't have too many complaints. I was playing the other night though and hit the five way pickup switch while soloing and the little plastic piece popped off the metal bar. I had to super glue it back on because it would keep falling off. I'd say they need to watch that stuff closely when putting these together. My Start has the same type of switch and never had that problem. The rest of the guitar is really heavy and strong. Come-on! this thing is built out of Mohogony!!

I've never had to deal with them before so don't know.

I've been playing for about 25 years and have had lots of guitars. Some cheap and some really nice. This is my favorite for what I do. If this was stolen, I'd get another one.

I tried other guitars such as the Gretsch full hollowbody and a Gibson ES 135. I think the Jazz sound was better on those guitars but this Guitar is more versatile. I'm selling my Guild acoustic because this takes care of that sound for me. I think the jazz sound on this guitar is marginal when compared to a full hollowbody, but it wasn't designed just for that genre. I think getting the gig bag with this guitar is a joke. I've had a busted neck on an Ibanez I had because it only had a gig bag. What's up with that? They need to add 75.00 to the price and give the customer a hardshell case. I'm still going to give this guitar a good rating because in all fairness, this is an awesome guitar, built in the U.S., with awsome features and great sound for under 2000.00!! If you only have one guitar, get this one.

This model was introduced at the 2004 Montreal Jazz Festival. Made in Canada, it is a single cutaway, routed mahogany body with a carved solid mahogany top c/w 'F' holes. Same body as the 'Flat Five' model but two less frets which allow the p/ups to be spaced a little farther apart. Creme coloured single binding around top. Bolt on 22 fret mahogany neck with a rosewood fingerboard. String thru body bridge design with locking tuners. Two Godin humbucking p/ups and piezo bridge p/ups for acoustic sound. Volume, tone, blend knobs and acoustic preamp c/w high, mid, bass and volume sliders. Five way switch: Bridge humbucker, Bridge spilt coil, Both p/ups, Neck split coil, neck humbucker. Two outputs for electric & acoustic feeds or one output blending both. Transparent finish. Beautiful wood and gold hardware. Came with well designed gig bag.

Tone quality is extremely personal depending on the listener/player, type of music and certainly depends on the situation. The following is only my opinion. Free and worth every penny!

I chose this guitar for it's acoustic/jazz abilities and I loved the look. Playing thru a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL50 head and 1936 2-12 cabinet (of all things!) on the clean channel,with a 7 band EQ, this guitar can be adjusted to give some lovely jazzy/acoustic tones. With a bit of tweaking and some gain it can give a nice bluesy bite. The tones can be varied quite a bit. I also use it thru a Korg PXR4 Recorder. Same deal. The combination of electric/acoustic/hollow body is a nice recipe for tone and versatility. Separating the outputs - one to a proper amp and the other to a PA or acoustic amp will really let it shine.
I'm extremely happy with the sound. As a comparison, I tried a Godin 'Flat-Five' a couple of years ago and while I really liked the look of the guitar, I thought it sounded completely bland - no character at all.

Beautiful looking, glossy, natural dark mahogany top, with gold & black hardware. Neck has a satiny finish which is preferrable to me. Compared to the ES335 I was also looking at, I thought the Montreal was as nice of a guitar to play, more versatile soundwise and every bit as classy to look at. Better value for less money. Does not have the resale value or the pedigree of the Gibson which is good thing in my particular case as the guitar was a gift. I want no temptation to trade/sell in the years to come. Neck to body joint very tight, good action etc.
Would like to see this as a set neck instrument, as a guitar of this caliber should be. Also, the F holes should be bound. Just touches that a classy Jazz guitar should have. Electrics work well and are very quiet.

A profesional level instrument that seems well built. Godin is a reputable builder that uses good quality materials in its guitars. Should hold up as a working musicians instrument if used as intended.
The gold on the pickups may not last too long.
Have not played out with it but would gig without a backup.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for many, many years - semi-pro/hobbyist. I like music and guitars of all styles. Have gigged playing everything from folk, classical, country, blues to metal. Like everyone, always searching for the elusive perfect tone. I own pro level quality gear, each item chosen as a tool for a particular job - a good amp, a good rock (humbucking) guitar, country/blues (single coil) guitar, pedal effects and now what I perceive to be a good hybrid, acoustic/jazz/blues guitar. I choose gear for quality of build, sound, look and feel and I'm usually not swayed by popular opinion or flavour of the month. On a gig you need equipment that will hold up. This was a gift and I wanted something a bit different & versatile that I would keep for a long time.

All of these reviews are personal opinions and everyone has their own needs/wants, likes and dislikes. I'm very happy with this guitar. It should have come with a hardshell case but that would've added to the price.