Godin Radiator

Let me preface this by saying that I like simple guitars. I?m not at all interested in aesthetics and gizmos. I?ve heard some criticism about the fact that it has no pickup selector but for me this is an asset for it means less potential for breakdown. Two single coil pickups do the job admirably and the tone selector gives you enough sound variety to play with. This guitar has adjustable action, neck and harmonics so you can really settle in with it. The tuning pegs are great and stay in tune even when the strings take a beating. The fret board (24) is great and gives the guitar a real sparkle up high, particularly when you?re distorted.

When I intially played it I found it to be a little too bright. However, when I got it home I replaced th .09's with .10's and the sound fattened up and took away any concerns I had to its brightness. I really enjoy the sound because it is quite unique. It?s similar to a telecaster but is a little less twangy. The pickups do a great job and produce a bright sound that is perfect for solo and lead. I originally wanted a telecaster copy but found this to be superior is the variety of the sounds it can produce. This guitar would be suited to everything except possibly blues and heavy metal where a humbucker meight be wanted. For a guitar under $200 US this sounds fantastic!

The greatest asset this guitar has it the action. The neck and fret board feel so nice that you really feel like soloing. I played a number of guitars around the Radiator?s price range and this was far and wide the easiest playing. I chose the racecar blue with the maple neck. This guitar definitely needs 0.10?s instead of the factory strings it comes with.

I must admit that this guitar does feel a little light compared to other guitars. I don't know if this is something that detracts from its durability. However, this guitar is a true solid body, not a cheap plywood frame like the Dan Electros. The neck seems fairly strong and I think that the lack of extras will contribute to its durability in the future.

I think that this guitar is a fabulous buy for the price. The feel and action is superb and it lends itself to many different styles. It is not really a thrash guitar or a blues machine but with a good amp you can coax out a number of great sounds. (I'm using a Marshall Valvestate). My heart was originally set on a telecaster copy for around the $200 US mark. However, this guitar really out shines the competition. If you can buy one for around $200 US get one!

The usual ones, mine has a maple fretboard. I like the simplicity, though I'd prefer a selector switch.

Sounds great. Funky. I mostly play clean or with a little overdrive, and this guitar does it beautifully. I wanted a maple fretboard guitar, for the extra sparkle, and that's what this guitar does best. I didn't expect much low end from this guitar, but it's got plenty of bottom without being too boomy. You can make it sound pretty fat. It has plenty of useable sounds.

Well, the finish on the body - "pace car blue" on mine - is gorgeous, really well done. However, I found when I got the guitar home from the shop that the finish on underside the neck was actually flaking. It looks very thin, and has come off in a couple of places. I don't really mind, but I would have expected slightly better quality there.

The action was a little higher than it needed to be. I fixed that as soon as I ditched the factory-installed .009s and put some .010s on it. The new strings improved the sound, too. The intonation was perfect. Being curious about the "sound chambers" under the giant pickguard, I took it off while I changed the strings. Underneath, it's solid wood except for the big rout under the strings, same as they do on Fenders now, I believe - it's all hollow there so if you wanted to put in 3 full humbuckers or whatever, you could. Don't, though. There's a pretty standard rout for the 3 pots, too. I wouldn't really call these "sound chambers" or whatever Godin are calling them, they're the same routs that are standard on many guitars.

I also took off the neck to make it easier to remove the scratchplate, and I was pretty unimpressed to find a shim in the slot which consisted of a folded piece of sandpaper. Is this the wonderful US craftsmanship I've heard so much about?

Oh yes, one of the little bits of plastic that top the knobs had vanished in the store.

Still, having said that, the guitar sounds great and feels great, so for me the faults are not a big issue.

I'm pretty confident that it will stand up to plenty of use - though I may have to do a little maintainence to correct the faults. I'm pretty good at that, so it's not an issue for me. The neck finish is a bit worrying, but I'll see how it goes with more use. On the actual fretboard, it seems fine. I threw away the strap buttons and put locking ones on - I do that to all my guitars. I intend to use it at gigs with no backup.

I live in Australia, so I learned to fix my guitars myself. I'd never bother to even try to get any after-sales support from most local guitar stores. I learned that the hard way.

I've been playing for 20 years. I like this guitar a lot. If it were stolen I'd get another. For what it is, it's the best value available. It isn't perfect, but it does what it does very well indeed. I tried out a few Radiators in the store, and they all felt/sounded good. I chose this one because it seemed best out of the selection they had. I'd recommend this guitar to anyone who wanted a really nice cheap guitar, and I'd buy Godin products again with confidence. With the price at below $400 AUD, it's excellent value - though the list is supposedly $900 which is far less attractive.

canadian parts, put together in new hampshire, 2 single coils, no reverse wound to elimate hum when to P.U are used,no pickup selector.
24.scale with a staight string pull. 3 knobs one for p.u, one for rear p.u and a master tone.Very cool looking

This is a blues machine for me handle clean and light grind great. It also can do some heavy distortion but seems limited to one sound there but sounds good. The rhythm pick up overpowers the lead a little bit but the result is a great clean tone and light grind sound using the knobs can give a good variety of sounds. This guitar sounds excellent alone too with out any band. I also used it with an acoustic guitar player and had excellent results real warm. This ax loves vintage tube amps fender tweeds, marshals, a portable battery powered pignose and even a modeling amp. I think a street player would love this thing and sit in blues jams this ax is excellent choice. It won?t be my ax for a full band gig but it does fill a niche. The sustain is ok but not super, I heard some comparisons in reviews against a telecaster. I wouldn?t give up a good Tele
(solid body or thinline)for this, but this is an excellent ax for the money.There is single coil noise but nothing over excessive.

I have the maple board and plays great, the guitar is manufactered excellent, Superb frets. And the crazy plastic top is bookmatched I guess.My only gripe is I with the neck finish had a little more satin feel to it, Like the new fenders.

just be carefull of that plastic top and hopefully godin has a good supply of plastic tops,other than this this ax is solid.

They really suck they take forever to anwser my emails, And you never can find their reps(dallas,TX). But they make excellent guitars.

325.00 for a very well made blues guitar and case is to good to pass up. Hats off to godin design here ey did there own thing and it sounds great. I would also like to thank Jim at texas guitar and sound for they great set up on this. I been playing for a while owned a number of guitars and I give this thing a 10 for sure

Price paid: new $ 300
Same specs as below. Built in the USA, parts are handcrafted in Canada. Mine is black with a maple neck. I'll buy another wit a roosewood neck. Two Single coils, sound chambers, locked bridge.
Its a cool looking Retro Guitar.
I was lookimg for a guitar with these features so i give it a 10.

Amazing sound. It really fits for every style eccept Metal. I own a Heritage H 575 (ES 175 style) Jazz Guitar (great), a 62 reissue Stratocaster, a 62 reissue Custom Telecaster, a PRS Santana SE, but i really like the Radiator most.....its the cheapest of all my guitars, but its a great one. The neck was adjustet perfectly, the PUs have less noise and the guitar has a hole range of sounds. I'm playing rock, funk, pop, alternative, soul , a litle bit bleus orientated stuff and jazz. The guitar suits all these styles perfect. It has a twangy sound, thats between a strat and a tele, but it sounds warmer than fenders and it has a good sustain. I play the guitar throu an original 64 fender super reverb, a 65 deluxe reverb reissue, an engl classic tube 50 and a hughes & kettner edition tube (check this 20 watt amp, guys !!!!), it always sounds sweet crispy and wide open. I couldnt believe these reviews before, but u guys are right, it also sounds wonderful at distorted settings. Buy one !!

Its to new to say something about it, but it seems like a good guitar, thats builded out of good stuff.

dont need, because my dealer takes care for that.

I've been playing for about 20 years and i used a lot off stuff before. This guitar gave me answers on questions i never had :-).
If it would be stolen, i would buy another next day.I didnt compare the guitar to others before i bought it. Now im comparing and it has its place in my ears and in my heart. In the moment its my favorite guitar. I wish, this guitar would have a good status. Its a very cheap guitar, that looks a little bit like a toy, but its a professional instrument, that influences me.

Bought January 2001, probably a left over 2000. It's Canadian made, but manufactured in the U.S.A. I think. Single cut-away (mix between a Telecaster and a Les Paul Jr.), chambered silver leaf maple body (finished in blue with a "mine's bigger than yours" pickguard) with a hand finished rock maple neck (it looks like it might be birdseye maple though). Two volumes, a tone, no pickup selector (like a J-Bass), with two low-noise Godin single coil pickups (they do have some humbucker-like qualities). The bridge is kind of like a hard-tail Strat's, fully adjustable. The tuners are die-cast with pearl buttons to compliment the pickguard. The neck is fairly thin, but not uncomfortable at all (24.75" scale). No gig bag. I'm giving a 10 because it's a cheap, custom instrument. It's stripped down and hardcore, this isn't for people who love to dive bomb or have a super-flashy top to make up for making new designs.

This fits my style pretty well. Blues rock, blues, metal (Metallica and Sabbath, not Limp Bizkit and Korn), punk, funk, ska/reggae/dub, jazz, and everything else under the sun...this guitar covers the bases. I used it with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and it had a very jazzy Les Paul-esque sound clean with both pickups wide open. It gave a thick, bluesy sound with the neck pick-up only used. The bridge pickup can twang like a Gretsch or a Tele, but can scream if needed. The sound is rich, but fairly bright. This sucker sustains too. In short, it sounds like a lot of things, but in the end, sounds like itself. It's not like an amp modeled after something else...it's a custom instrument.

The intonation on the low E string is a bit sharp. The action was fairly low, but I decided to wear out the .09's before I throw my usual .10's on (which will thicken up the sound a bit too). The neck pickup is a little louder than the bridge, so it needs to be lowered a little. The neck pocket was tight, but there were some areas it could have been tighter. Also, the heel is sculpted, with recessed washers and bolts, and the finish was botched a little passed the bolts, but that's hardly noticable. Watch out with the pickup and tone knobs, they're not loose, but if you bear down on them you can easily pull them off. Overall, it was a good factory set-up, but I would have liked a little more attention to detail.

This isn't a strat, but it will survive live playing easily. The hardware is solid, and the finish is thick enough to not be worn though. The pickguard takes up most of the top anyways, so you aren't going to wear the finish down too much no matter how hard you try. The strap buttons are solid, and so is the jack. I would gig without a backup with this, but this isn't something you can pitch around and play Pete Townshend with. The body is chambered under the pickguard, so it's light weight to begin with, and also thin. It's durable, but not something a guy who throws .14's on and uses the guitar as a mallet will enjoy.

I've dealt with Seagull (I have an S6+Folk), and they were friendly and prompt. Since they are basically the same company, I'll give a thumbs up to Godin. No warranty papers came with it, but there's not much to fix on this spartan guitar anyways.

I've been playing going on 7 years. I own 2 Strats (one I co-built), a Peavey Wolfgang Special, a 70's LP copy, a '72 re-issue Tele Thinline, and a Dillion Tele Thinline, a Fender Duo-Sonic, and a Tacoma DM-18 acoustic, Seagull S6+Folk acoustic, and a Takamine/Jasmine nylon string cutaway. I only wish the Radiator had a 25.5" scale. I would definately buy one of these again, and I probably will, to get the one with the white pearl on white finish. I love the simple and pure nature of the guitar, and the ease of tailoring your own custom tones.

I've been looking for a custom instrument that wasn't a regular run of the mill super hot-rodded Strat or Les Paul. I wanted something completely different. The Godin is so different from a run of the mill instrument, that I've found what I'm looking for. It has its own personality. The store price was $278. You can't ask for more really. Well, you can, but you'll end up paying $2,780. Playing a guitar like this forces you to become an individual with your own tone.

First, before anything else, I want to thank all of the other guys and gals who took the time here to review this guitar. You heavily influenced my decision to purchase it, and I am glad you did. Second, I don't know about everyone else, but I had a heck of a time finding one of these guitars online. So, I want to thank Juniors Music (www.juniorsmusic.com) for offering Godin guitars for sell, and for providing such a quick, smooth transaction. Third, I purchased (and returned after trying) three other guitars to big online retailers. I wanted to give an overall rating to those guitars for other readers: Danelectro U3 - 5; ESP H-300 - 2; Fender US Fat Telecaster - 8.

I will not waste your time reiteratng previous reviews here. Mine is a year 2000 model (according to the serial number), with a mirror black finish. I am going to give the guitar a 9 here for two reasons: 1. I like simple guitars and amps. I don't want to fiddles with knobs; I want to play. 2. Wish the guitar came with a pickup selector switch, or you had an option of choosing the configuraton of the three selector knobs, i.e. volume, volume, master volume or master volume, tone, tone, etc., but I guess that is what they call a custom made guitar. 3. Wish you could get this guitar with different pickup options, i.e., humbuckers only, humbuckers/singles, etc. Ditto about custom guitars. I would give the guitar a 5 on features if I were a knob freak.

Sound is perfect. Fits blues and rock perfectly. I agree with the reviewer who mentioned that under distortion it sounds like Alex Lifeson of Rush. No hum at all; amazing. Has a full sound that is on the bright side due to the single coils; like that too. It has a lot of variety from pretty fat (neck), to stinging, but not shrill (bridge). In summary, rich sounding with very good variety.

Came set up from Juniors in excellent shape, ready to play out of the box. Did tweak the pickup height and string height, but that is just personal preference stuff.

No flaws at all. Looks like a guitar costing 2-3 times what I paid. Beautiful.

Strap buttons were solid, but did a upgrade to Schaler Strap Locks. Guitar appears to be well bit. Every bit as solid looking and feeling as the Fender US Fat Tele I owned (shortly), and you probably know Fender's quality reputation. Believe this guitar will last a lifetime of playing if taken proper case of, which I intend to do.

Have not dealt with Godin. Believe it or not, I don't know how long the warranty lasts. At this point, I am not concerned. Have not dealt with customer support through Juniors Music, but I would think it would be excellent, given their rating on eBay and my experience during buying this guitar.

This is the first 10 guitar I have played. You know how you pick a guitar up, and you just have a feeling that it is something special; I get that with this guitar. I had that same feeling with the Fender US Fat Tele (which cost three times as much as this guitar), but it came with a messed up neck; unacceptable Fender (are you listening Fender?).

Only thing I wish it had were the selector swich, knob customization, pick up customizaton, but those are all things that are fairly easy to do yourself after the purchase. I plan to purchase another Radiator as a Frankenstein (ala Eddie Van Halen) project to try some different things on. I will be keeping this one, though, as is.

If it were lost or stolen I would replace it with the same guitar via Juniors Music.

That's about it; you owe it to yourself to take a serious look at this guitar. Good luck. Keep rocking!

I bought my Radiator on December 3rd, 2000. I thought it was a 2k model, but at closer inspection (serial number starting with "99...") I had bought the 1999 model. D'oh !

Godin guitars are made from wood available in the Province of Quebec. The Radiator is a hand finished guitar. I believe Godin has 3 factories in Quebec (HQ in the Montreal suburb Baie D'Urfe' ) and their assembly plant is in Berlin, New Hampshire.

The Radiator has a 24-fret Rock Maple neck (mine is "birdseye" maple).
The neck's Radius is 12". The Radiator features two Godin-Designed low-noise single coil pickups.

It has a volume control for each pick-up and one Tone control. The body is made from Silver-Leaf Maple and contains resonance chambers (which explains the all encompassing pick-guard).

My fretboard is Rosewood (also available in Maple).

This is a fairly "simplistic" guitar, which is what I was looking for. So the features (or lack of) satisfied my playing style.

I play Blues, some Rock and Surf music. I find the Radiator quite versitile for all my styles. It has the feel of a Tele and the twang of one...if you need it, yet it seems to offer a wider range of sounds.

I play through some pretty basic (small) amps. Electar Tube 10, Peavey 158, and that tiny Danelectro Honey-Tone (when cruising around).

I find the sounds from the Radiator are very true to its design. The neck pickup offers good rhythm and the bridge pickup gives you the twang... then there's the blending of both, which gives you some diversity in tone.

I believe this is where the Radiator shines. For a relatively low price it's extremely well made. I'm very careful in purchasing anything. I take a fair amount of time researching things and in the case of the Radiator, playing it and carefully examing every inch. No flaws. All the parts are solidly integrated and precise.

It is finished well... just slide your fingers down the edge of the neck... nice and smooth. Don't try this with other low priced guitars or you'll have to get the first aid kit.

I've been playing on this baby for 1 - 2 hours each day since Dec 3rd 2K. It stays in tune, gives consistent sounds and seems quite solid. Even with its tone chambers it has enough weight to give you confidence in dangerous places. I've banged mine a few times on ceilings and hallways, yet it plays on.

D'oh ! Here's where their score heads South a bit. I have emailed the company a couple of times (once in early Dec. and mid Dec) but haven't received a reply since. They really have to improve in this area.

When I compare the Radiator with my American Series Strat. It stands up to be its equal. I actually enjoy playing the Radiator more. I find its neck is more playable. Plus, I like it's funky-retro look.

I highly recommend this guitar for those looking for a quality guitar under the $500 range. I actually wanted to buy an American Series Tele (which I might do down the road), but didn't have the budget for it this year. When I tried the Radiator, I was pleasently surprised, especially with the price.

It also got very favorable reviews at www.guitarworld.com and at www.guitaronemag.com

Fixed bridge (tele style), two single-coil pickups. One pickup blender control (as opposed to switch), one volume, one tone. Very basic, serviceable guitar.

Full face pickguard hides a fairly hollow cavity. Mine was maple fretboard/neck, but rosewood is also available.

Gets a 9 for this, IMHO, because of the blender. Pretty cool. Also, I was looking for a beater guitar for taking to lessons, etc., and this fit the bill perfectly.

Sounds like a cross between a hollowbody tele and a strat. Twangy (but could be the new strings and the maple neck). Sounds killer, though. Pretty good "quack" for strat-like blues. Neck pickup is smooth, too. Pull down the tone a bit and the rhythm is great.

Fits my blues noodling perfectly. For jazz a warm humbucker sound is sometimes called for, but this will handle my modest playing with no trouble.


I haven't tried it heavily distorted, though.

I bought it used from a shop, but whoever had it did a great job on setup. I replaced the strings with .11s (D'Addario EXL115), as the ones on there already were too light for me. When I did, the nut came off (bone, or fake bone, material). I just glued it back on and restrung.

Basic tuners (so a pain to string, but I'm spoiled by locking tuners on my other electric).

I replaced the strap pegs with the Schaller locking kind to match my strap, took about 30 seconds.

The tele style saddles would pull out a bit sometimes with the original lighter strings. Doesn't seem to be an issue now. Perhaps I need new springs for the saddles.

One of the knobs (on the tone control) didn't match the others (slight different size, and no screw tightener), but that's what happens when you buy used....

Looks very solid to me, but I haven't really had the chance to beat on it yet. There's no whacky trem system, it's very solid maple neck that's well bolted onto the body, so it looks bulletproof to me.

Used, so doesn't really apply. I have another Godin, though (Artisan ST Signature.. yowsah) and the quality level seems to be consistently high. Never had to call for support of any kind.

I'd compare this guitar favourably to a Pacifica: solid, serviceable, no BS. I was set on a Pacifica until I tried this one.

It's so playable it's spooky. Godin necks are incredible, as are their pickups. Tremendous value for the money.

Damn.
All I have to say
It kicks the shit out of my old Washburn BT2

The quality of the tone is amazing
This thing is a god among guitars
The sound is good clean or otherwise
Perfect for anything from punk to metal

Damn
All I have to say
This thing is beautiful
It stole my heart with it's racecar blue finish
And full body face pickguard

Never broke yet
Not gonna break hopefully

Never had to deal with them, but any problem I've had has been sorted out fine, and I've heard only good things about them

Amazing
Perfect guitar for me

This guitar has two single coil pickups and two smooth volume knobs to control each. It also has a tone knob. There is 24 frets. Very good playability.

Great clean sound. Distortion lacks a bit on most amps because its a single coil pickup and doesn't have a strong enough single. Being a single coiled guitar the feedback is terrible when playing at high volumes (but sometimes its very nice to have). I use my volume pedal to combat that problem between songs.

Its a great guitar. My friend knocked it over once when I has it leaning on my amp. I picked it up and beat him (just kidding) but when I picked it up there wasn't a thing wrong and it played just a good.

Godin rocks for support. I bought another godin guitar and it had a defect. I brought it back to the music store and they sent it back to get fixed. They didn't bother fixing it, they just sent me a brand new godin A6 with better components. A sweet deal.

Amazing great to play with. Gives a great sound (especially on clean sound!). Watch the feedback. I would not hesitate to buy it again but it I had the money, I'd just buy a better godin guitar.