Godin SD

The headstock says it's assembled in the U.S. with parts made in Canada. H/S/S passive pick ups, black pearl color and it came with a really cool gig bag. The neck is just right for me. Its slim and fast but you'd have to give a little more effort to reach the higher frets(you'll get used to it). The tuners keep in tune well. Now the bridge is a trem style bridge like the standard one on a fender strat. The low E string goes out of tune every time I use it(im thinking about replacing it when i get the money)

This guitar is very versatile. The pickups give me a variety of tones that would fit my style. I play some blues, Hard rock(G'n'R, Velvet REvolver), metal and some acoustic as well. I use it with a line6 spiderIII and an EHX metal muff. I would probably replace the entire pickup set for some seymour duncans later but for now they would just do. It has a very bright sound though and could easily be compared with a fender strat(MIM or american) which is way more expensive. The only thing i dont like is the bridge. A floyd rose or a tune'o'matic fixed bridge would be a couple of options. But ,like i said, it would do for now. Overall this guitar sounds really GREAT!

The action is nice and the finish is great because i love the color(pearl black). It was flawless when i bought it. It tends to look boring as time passes by, but you'll learn to love it.

It's a pretty solid guitar. You can depend on it. I've gigged with it a couple of times without backup, i just make sure I'm prepared with what i need(new strings, good straps ETC.)About the bridge AGAIN, the screws on the saddle for the low E string started to rust(after 6-7mos) due to the sweat on my palm when playing. Other than that its fine.

I don't need it.

I've been playing for awhile and this guitar is my 2nd electric. I really make sure that I'm happy with what i pay for and this guitar is not expensive considering its quality. The one thing i lovge most about it is the feel of the neck. Once i played it in the store i knew it was the one! It fits perfectly in my hand and it has improved my playing a lot. I just wish it came with a better bridge and better pickups. But then again, it would do for now.

Bought it used. HB/S/S - but the HB had been changed out for a Seymour Duncan

I had had an LGX a few years ago and rated it highly. Bought this one cheap on EB

Play all sorts of things. SRV, Dire Straits, bit of fingerpicking.
The SD humbucker pickup is good - no idea what the Godin original was like. The single coils are OK.
To be honest - I have not seen much difference between single coil pickups anywhere. My 78 Strat ones aren't that good.

Godin certainly finish their guitars well.
Action is OK. Certainly not low, but OK.
One thing I'd say is that compared to my strat - the distance between the strings and the body is quite small - I find myself hitting the pickups with my pic sometimes. Probably my crummy technique but an annoyance.
Machine heads v good.
Hate the tremelo - but immediatly took it off like I have on my strat.

Very solidly made. If you go to a gig with only 1 guitar - you better be able to do acapella

GOod S/H buy for sure.
New - there's a lot out there in this sort of bracket - but you probably wouldn't go far wrong.
Really I'd say it's a decent 1st guitar - but it's not a professional standard.
I bought it cheap for an experiment and I'll probably move it on soon.
I currently have a US Strat which is decent (although not as good as a previous strat I had). A Taylor T5 - which is the best guitar I've ever played - and is the closest to a genuinely multi-purpose guitar I've seen. I had a Gibson Les Paul - which was great - but sold it to get the T5.
I had a Godin LGX - which I thought was really good.

Canadian built guitar, bought new but may have been used as a display. Probably recent manufacture. 24 fret, short scale neck. Body maple-poplar, quilted maple top with a tobacco stain. S/S/H Godin pick ups with strat style 5 way selector. Single volume and tone controls, positioned like strat but with tele style metal knobs. Rosewood fretboard. Bridge and trem similar to standard strat. Nut and tuners also std strat-like. Locking strap buttons factory fitted. No coil tap.

Body shape is the signature Godin style, used on most of their electrics. Obvious elements of strat (eg contouring), tele (top horn) and LP. Distinctive. Came with a good quality rectangular case, which is very sturdy (and therefore heavy).

I play mainly blues and country at a high energy level, plus some jazz. I use a 1968 Vox AC 30 or an Orange Tiny Terror. I don't use a huge amount of gain (Tiny Terror set on full vol, gain on 4), and light with effects (all Boss): mid boost or Overdrive set to 2-3 for solos, slap back and tremelo. I gig 2 to 3 times a month. I also use a US std strat, a tele (open G, set for slide) and a Hagstrom Swede Reissue.

The two single coils are quite powerful, whilst the neck humbucker is relatively quiet. This makes for very well balanced pick ups. Sound cleans up by rolling off volume, but the lack of coil tap reduces versatility. Sound is good. Mainly use bridge pick up, and its a great blues tone, far from blues-shredding; responses well to variation in strength of pick action. Sound is kind of a tele/LP hybrid. Drives but cuts through, with good note definition, even at higher drive levels. Sounds very like Wilko's early Dr Feelgood stuff (which was a Tele with Humbuckers-a Deluxe) Could use it for a whole gig, in all of our various styles, without problem.

Can do a decent twang or jangle, but will do a dense rock scream as well. Wouldn't suit a metal player. In an ideal world, totally happy with humbucker, single coils a bit too powerful for my taste.

I took this off the wall because its such an nice looking guitar. It is flawlessly finished, high quality workmanship, astonishing in a cheap guitar. Much better finish and preparation than the average Gibson, for example. However, what made me buy it was that plays so well. The neck is incredibly comfortable, everything is easy to reach, awkward positions (eg high barre chords) are easy to maintain. Short scale neck makes bends easy, 24th fret usable (if that's your thing...not me). Controls are easy to find without looking. Body not too heavy (similar to strat), guitar well balanced.

This is a fine player's instrument BUT...Spiderman Dave told me he had to set it up before putting it on the wall because the action was set unplayably high. Consequently, when I bought it, it was beautifully set up. Can't understand how they sent it out with a bad set up: everything else is done so well. Point off for this.

Finish is hard and good quality, tuners work well. Not sure about the tone pots and the selector switch. A bit crackly on receipt, had to clean them, ok since. Cheaper guitar rarely have good quality pots and switches, but time will tell. Holds in tune in the case, generally a good sign, average for holding in tune at gigs (my old tele is the only instrument that I've ever owned that is really reliable for staying in tune, which is mainly due to lack of trem and well positioned string trees).

As above, general quality of instrument is excellent, and this usually translates into durability. However, there is a significant design fault. The trem system is generally ok, but the arm neither clicks in place, nor screws in. It slides in and is loosely held by a tiny screw at the side. This arrangement works well after adjustment in so far as the arm goes in and out easily, and doesn't fall out when you throw the guitar around (as I'd feared). But its a fiddly, miniscule and awkward screw, and I'm pretty certain that a sharp blow at the wrong angle would pop the screw and cause real problems.

At a push I would gig this without a back up, but only a fool gigs without a back up.

No idea, I never contact manufacturers. Generally buy guitars from Frailers in Runcorn, who are good as gold for after sales service, even when problems arise years later.

I have never liked Godins, although I've always known that they are nice instruments. What's put me off is the multiple pick up systems, synth capability, too many controls, all too prog rock to me. This guitar is nothing like that. It is a well made, simple, ergonomically thought through work horse.

Despite misgivings over the electrics, the trem and no coil tap, this guitar scores heavily for being comfortable to play, sounding good and for looking good. Does anything else really count? I don't think so. I got this at a price set by the old exchange rate, helped by the fact that it hadn't shifted for a few weeks (it was originally on the wall for ??500). I like this guitar a lot. Money well spent!

i think that mine is a 2003 mod. sweet 24 frets. has the original PU's, everything is godin. it came as a gift w/ gig bag. it plays pretty good, better than most strats i've played, but not like a ibanez wizard 2. has maple body w/ pop wings. looks soooo sexy, has orange flamed finish. neck and fretboard are maple, really nice guitar, i need a back-up, i gig all the time, if i could get it in the blue, i'd buy it!! bridge is strat-style, the nut pinches too bad for me to use it very much, as well as the screw on the side for the trem bar blew out of its hole on one of my gigs, and i've not found a replacement yet, turns out, its a custom piece.

i play metal, rock, blues, and i play in church, it mostly suits me needs, it does not like to be played metal on for long hours, slight hum on single-coils, not bad, nice full tone, all the electronics are sooo good. i use a pod xt live and a digitech rp150, as well as a bunch of other REALLY nice mod-ed pedals, sounds great through them all. the only thing i dislike is that i cannot replace the PU's, b/c every other humbucker in the world has 1 set screw on each side, godin has 2! i've not found a PU com that does that yet!

i had to get the action re-adjusted , and i got the PU's re-adjusted, they were just too low, everything else is fine, except the nut, like i said before, is too tight to use the trem.

everything on this guitar is solid, is gig w/ it, and w/o a back-up, its tough, real tough, everything holds up real well.

don't know

this is the only electric guitar i own, but my friends have gibson', prs', fender' , agile' just to name a few, and i play all of my friends guitars. i've only been playing guitar for a few years, but i know what makes a good guitar a good guitar. i would get it again, if i could get it w/ 24 frets and a finish like the one that is on it. compared to my friends guitars, i give mine a 9-1/2. the only thing that i wish it had is a floyd rose, but i'm getting over the fact that it does not have one, or is getting one. it does not have the output of a lp, but is getter than a strat, not as thick as a lp, but thicker than a strar, or prs. just right for me.

If you ask for a guitar with a five-way selector on a reasonable budget you get a Mexican Strat. Ask for a Humbucker instead of a single coil at the bridge and that it be made in North America AND be sculpted into a beautiful shape not before seen and you will be spending over a grand.Or you can buy a Godin SD. Nothing more special to be said so if you are expecting a cure for Cancer (I think there are too many Star Signs anyway) you won't find it here.

This is where you tell NOONE what you have because you will find yourself writing Feature Introductions full of Superlatives and Hyperbole. Ergo: BLUES-above average, ROCK-instead of buying expensive PRS guitars to play songs through the ages in piss stained pubs buy ten of these.ALTERNATIVE/CREATIVE-stop reading and start buying.OBOE RECREATION-you MAY have to buy into the woodwind market.

Action needed adjusting...Now this is the first guitar that I have spent money on adjusting, not due its action being bad (although it wasn't perfect) but because if it sounds this good I should realy Percy Veer. Has the original serial number for those that really want to know how old my guitar is. Here's Aspel...

As I am in a music project that cares more about the reliablity of sound during its creation/output than its aesthetics. [. . .] then this is my Sherman Tank..................

As I have never dealt with this company i'm going to assume that they are average if not poor with occasional outpourings of good.

like all godins it was made in Canada/U.S. It has 24 frets. one volume one tune and a five way selector for its s/s/h/. i got this used so i really don't know more than by observation. bat it seems to be labled as the SD Lacwood Hazel RN. Its got a strat style tremolo.
it came with a gig bag.

the sound is amazing, the singles are a bit buzzy but if its clean they produce sound of the gods.

every thing was set up good except that the tightener for the push tremolo was at an odd angel so its extremely hard to tighten.

the only problem i've had is the tremolo getting loose and swinging every which way but i would trust it for live playing if i was to put higher gauge strings.

this guitar is my baby if it was stolen or lost id just use my epephon but i would get another one of thees.

It's a flame maple top finished in a gorgeous trans blue. I think it's a 2004 model, since it has the cream pickups and pickguard and 24 fret neck. Made in USA from part handmade in Canada. Still have original Godin pickups (H/S/S) in there, and they have sounded great. Godin's rock maple neck is awesome! I've played other Godins and they all feel great in your hand. 5-way pickup selector, volume, and tone controls are responsive, but set a little too close to the strings.

This guitar can handle anything. Rock, metal, jazz, blues, classical...wow. I use it through a Fender Frontman 25R most of the time, but have tried it through a Digitech multiple effects pedal and a Fender FM 25 DSP. It doesn't matter, though, since it sounds great no matter what setup you have. Crazy variety. However, it is a little noisy when set to my neck single coil and middle single coil.

Everything came perfect on this guitar, and you don't see a lot of better finished guitars out there. This guitar is beautiful.

Everything has been solid for the last 3 years. The only problem I have had was with the tremolo. It caused the strings to be in tune at the lower frets, but as you played up the neck, the strings were out of tune. A couple of trips to the local music store fixed that and I haven't had any problems since. This is my only guitar (soon to get a Godin Freeway Classic), so I kind of have to rely on it. I would use it without a backup.

No problems other than the tremolo, mentioned above.

This guitar is an absolute steal for it's price. I wish they still made it with a 24 fret neck, however, because the Trans blue with a black pickguard and pickups with a rosewood neck looks sharp. So does this, however, so I am content. If this guitar was lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another SD or Godin...I think they are truly an incredible company!

Specs as noted elsewhere. Mine's a 2002, the body's solid maple. (The later versions are, I think, maple with "polar wings" to lighten 'er up.) Minor quibble: the 5-way switch and volume control are set a little too close up and can interfere with agressive strumming. You get used to it, though....

R & B, soul, classic rock, some jazz. I play through a Vox Cambridge 15: great clean sounds! Lots of depth and range, slinky to punchy to biting depending on how you dial it in. To dirty things up beyond what overdrive might deliver at low volumes, I move it through a cheap-o distortion pedal. Suits my needs: I play at home or with friends. (Recently got an Ernie Ball SUB 1 and am liking the crunch and heat I'm getting from that bridge pickup --so I might later swap the Godin bridge PU for something a little more agressive.)

Great guit., especially at $138.00 USD! Can't comment on the factory set-up as I got it used, but this thing is cleanly/solidly put together and finished. The neck is sooooo smooth and comfortable (C-shape), fretwork meticulous. No problems with tuners and hardware (don't use the whammy though, so hard to say how that might affect the tuning.) Overall, a pleasure to play. (The rating below here, considers the price point, even for a new one at... what... 350.00?)

Everything feels solid. I've had it for two years and no problems.(I don't gig...)

Have e-mailed Godin a few times for general info, specs, and so on. They've always gotten back to me within two days; their people are helpful and friendly.

I've been playing for 35 years, did some minor gigging in highschool and university. Playing now for fun and soul. Other instruments on hand: an Ibanez AF75 hollowobdy, an old but fine sounding Yamaha acoustic and the fairly recently acquired Musicman SUB 1. (Had a no-model Samick solid-body strat-type that was great value....) The Sd's still my main player. I love the neck on this thing!

If it were stolen I'd buy another Godin, no question. Probably not an SD, just to try something new -- but, yes, yes, definitely another Godin.

Finish - metallic blue
Tuners - upgraded to Godin locking tuners for ~$40 USD
Neck - Maple
Made in 2006

This guitar takes the best features from Strat (bridge & 5 way), Tele (shape & small head), & LP (short scale & humbucker bridge) and puts them into a nice looking inexpensive guitar. Kudos!

Sounds great - stock pickups are hot & capable of lots of different tones.

Plays like a dream - great neck. Finish great from the company. Intonation was right on. I usually prefer to see the wood, but the blue finish is nice & resilient.

I own several Godin products & they are built very well.

Here's where Godin REALLY shines. They always anser their email, they are friendly on the phone, and they have always worked with me for my guitar upgrades.

I LOVE locking tuners (somewhat because of tuning stability - mostly because I'm lazy and it makes putting on strings so much easier!), and have replaced all of the standard Godin tuners with their locking tuners - even on my Seagulls - they ship them to me for ~$4 USD each direct from Canada. That's support!

I would certainly buy this guitar again. I've been playing since the early 80's, and have owned many guitars from various manufacturers (Gibson, Carvin, Steinberger, Rickenbacker, Cort, Ovation, Martin, etc.) - I've settled on the Godin family as my guitars of choice. They sounds great, are built well, are reasonably priced, have great features, and the company is easy to work with.

Silver leaf maple body, with hard rock maple neck and a maple fretboard. 22 frets, 1 volume 1 tone control with 5 way selector. Has the S/S/H pickup configuration. Pickups are stock Godin.
Mine came with Schaller locking tuners (same as on the American Strat) and not only look sharp but perform wonderfully. Keeps tune very well! Also came with Schaller straplock on the guitar, but you need the part that goes on your strap.
Came with the best gig bag you can get! More like a case.

Rock - AC/DC, Tom Petty, Pink Floyd. It is suitable for rocking out and for the quiet ballads. The single coils are excellent in my opinion. Through a Fender Princeton Chorus the tones just shimmer, are well defined through the first 3 pickup selections, and give a real varied sound between them. Better than my Godin LG with sp90 p/u's...(IMHO...)
I didn't like the bridge h/b at first, because I was used to the sp90's. After playing for awhile, I realize that while it doesn't have the bite and growl I was used to, it has a more clear sounding classic rock sound. And when the volume is turned up, it starts to growl but without the fuzziness. Very clear.
I am not an authority on p/u's, but I may switch it out with a DiMarzio Fred yet!

I wanted to give a 10 because this is a fabulous guitar and is very fine quality. I give it a 9 because when I bought it I felt it could use a setup as the action was high. Still very playable!
For the price, you can't beat the quality and the quality control on these guitars. The midnite blue paired with a black pickguard (3 ply black white black) and the maple fretboard makes it look dead sexy! And in the sunlight you can see the metallic paint come out! And it is flawless.
Everything is tight, with top quality wood. The neck to body joint is as good as in my LG, which is perfect. I believe the saddles and the nut are from Graphtech(?)

This guitar is real nice maple and is also REAL heavy! But I like that. Lets you know it's quality. The knobs are silver metal and are solid. Turn very well and don't seem like they'd come off easily. Fit and finish is awesome, and very durable.
I would gig without a backup, even though you never should! It is very reliable. Just simply an all around solid guitar.

Never had to send my Godin's in. I know that they are top notch because I have a friend who had 2 of their guitars and he got excellent service. And I have heard good things from other people about them.

Been playing for 12 years, mostly just a Hobbyist. Was a worship leader in our church for 3 years, and have played a few small gigs over the last 5 years.
I doesn't need to be lost or stolen, I want to buy another one!!! I love it! But only in this color, don't care for the creme pickguards on the other colors...maybe a leaftop next time.
I love the color, the overall look, the headstock which is inbetween a tele and a strat (nice) and the overall feel of the unit. I have tried other guitars including an Ibanez that was $600 CDN, and my guitar plays nicer.

Maple body in tobacco sunburst with maple neck/fretboard. 24 frets and 24 3/4 scale. S/S/H stock Godin pickups. Strat style tremolo.

Classic rock and 80's new wave. Has a variety of sounds but the stock humbucker just lacks tone. Single coils are fine though. Swap out the humbucker to a high end versatile HB like a SD JB and will be a 10 (I put a JB trembucker in mine and now it's a 10-WOW)

Bought it used so worked on the action, but everything else looks great. I believe it was made in 1998 and I bought it used a few months ago and looked like it was hardly played. Practically new.

Heavy little critter. I had thought highly of Godin when I tried a few at a store a couple of years ago. They just don't have the big name recognition in the USA, but are really well built guitars. Was really shocked at the weight of it, as I don't remember them being that heavy.

No idea, but had to order a trem bar from local dealer and got it within 10 days from Canada.

Been playing 23 years and really wanted something with a Maple fretboard that was versatile. Extremely happy with this guitar. Look on ebay and you can get them for $175-$225. Really one of the best values for a guitar that is so well built. I think they boast Canadian parts assembled in the USA. Set up with DR Red Devils in 9's. Even though this was part of Godin's entry level line, it's as good as anyone's mid-level guitars in the $400-$600 range. I really have started looking beyond names into manufacturers that aren't as popular and can find some real gems like this one.

has really nice pick ups and nice color

it has a nice rich sound for 300$ its not the best,but for something made in america, you got to have it

didint come with wammy bar, and the channel switcher black piece came of easy

it gets scratched and dented easy, i found a gash on the back of it and i dont know how it got their

havent got it repaired yet

i have had it for 2 yers this month through a marsahl mg 15 series amp and it has a nice clean sound-to a country twang

it was assembled in USA with parts from Canada in 2000 , it has a 5 way pick up selector, Volume, Tone, 2 choils + 1 bucker, the frets are cool, I like the way it was made and I also like the clip on tremolo, I'm sure my Godin SD is worth $900 CAN, because I have a friend investigating on it and so far he told me prices for Godin SD made in 2000 are $625CAN to $900CAN, the only thing is it's quite standard on features but I like it because I like it like that because at least it can give me the sounds I want

I love it, I mean it sounds great on any sound or effect that you put it on, it also able to give me six string samurai's guitar sound which is my favourite and all other sounds and effects

My Godin SD is unique of it's kind, I tried loiking for the exact same and it's impossible to find it. It has 24 frets, 2 single choils + 1 Humbucker, maroon body, rosewood fretboard, beige pick guard it's a heck of a combination, you won't find another one exactly like it. even my teacher likes it

up until now it has naver given me trouble, though I treat it with care, but until now it's perfect

Thank God so far it's never broken on me so there I wouldn't know, I got it for $300 at pawn shop looks like they didn't know what they had so I took advantage and just when I had paid for it I told the guy the guitar was worth $900CAN he was surprised

I've been playing for 4 years and it's the only guitar I can play with because it has that special touch that not even a strat feels as confortable like my Godin SD (I think Godin wanted to make a super SD) because there is no other like it.

2005 model, 22 frets, 24.75" scale. Made in America from Canadian parts and woods. It sports a "midnight blue" finish over a silverleaf maple body, and I opted for the maple fretboard over rosewood. It has Godin branded passive pickups and a 5-way switch. Volume and tone knobs, nothing fancy like coil taps or phase switches. It has a fender-esque tremolo bridge with what appears to be graphite string saddles and a drop-in whammy bar. The tuners are standard sealed tuners. It came with a very nice gig bag, so there's no need for me to buy a hard case until I start touring.

I play rock. Alternative, classic, progressive etc... I'm using a Traynor YCV40 and a Boss super phaser. It sounds quite nice, and it's clear even with heavy distortion. The single coils are a little noisy with distortion, but that's easily fixed with a noise gate, and they sound quite good clean. The overall tone is sort of a mix of an SG and a Stratocaster. It's a little on the dark side, but not excessively so, and the maple fretboard evens it out. It sounds great overall. It leans towards the vintage side of things, but it sound great with more modern tones as well.

In a word? Perfect. The finish looks great and everything feels nice and tight and there's no noticable flaws in anything. Inonation sounds pretty close to right, and the action is right where I want it off the shelf (low, but not very low)

It feels solid and it stays in tune with normal whammy bar use. It does slip a little with dive-bombs, but that's the nature of a non-locking tremolo system without locking tuners. I only use the bar for a really wide or quick vibrato, so it's not an issue with my style of playing.

I use Dunlops plastic strap locks, so my strap is never in any danger.

The finish is great, and I doubt it'll show wear and tear anytime soon

Excellent guitar. Much better than the Fender Fat Strats in the same price range, and I'd buy another one if anything were to happen to it.

The only thing I'd change would be the stock pickups. I can see this guitar sounding great with something like a JB/Vintage Rails setup, or a Custom Custom in the bridge (Godin uses a modified Custom Custom in their high-end models). But other than that, I have no complaints. It feels solid and sounds great

Bought 2nd hand in 2006, 2000 model, in mint condition. Cream finished Silverleaf maple body with 24 fret rock maple neck, rosewood board. 2 Godin (Duncan) s/c and Seymour Duncan h/b. 5 way switch, 1 vol, 1 tone control, trem style bridge.

I play mainly blues/country/jazz for which this guitar fits pretty well. There is a fair range of sounds available - my favourite is pos 4 - mid & h/b which produces quite a snappy country quack. I run it through a Zoom 1010 board and Ross 50W amp which gives me all the poke I want as an enthusiastic amateur.

AS I bought it 2nd hand, I can't comment on factory setup, however when I got it the truss rod was backed almost right off allowing a bit of up-bow in the neck. A quick tweak soon fixed that. Of 30 odd guitars that have passed through my hands this was the first with a properly fitted nut. All I had to do was lower the string height, reset the intonation and she sounds sweet all the way to the 24th.
The fit & finish is what I expected from a Godin, - perfect.

AS a non professional I can't give a qualified opinion, but the guitar looks and feels pretty substantial.

Emailed the company with serial no. etc to try to pin down age, materials etc. Received a reply with all information within 24 hours.
Pretty damn good in my book.

Been playing long enough to be embarassed round good players. I currently have a Standard Strat, a Valley Arts Tele, an Epi SG, an Epi Joe Pass, and a few "homegrowns" plus a couple of acoustics. I rate the Godin above my Strat in terms of comfort snd playability.
I wouldn't commit murder if it was stolen but would probably replace it with another Godin, I like the man's style.

It's amazing how many suckers bought this guitar, and... gee, I am one of them. (Well, just wanted to see what the fuss was about.) Anyway, mine is a 22-fret Black Pearl with a maple neck and fretboard. SSH, short scale, great gig bag, blah-blah, you know the rest from the 64 reviews below. Features are basic, nothing out of the ordinary. Had I gotten a 24-fret version of this guitar, I'd probably have given it a "9" here; with 22 frets, "8" will really suffice.

OK, the sound is actually nice. I second some others' observations that it sounds quite sweet unplugged (compared to other unplugged electrics) and you can actually feel the wood of the neck vibrate in your hands. However, I'd probably say that, unplugged, it promises more than it delivers plugged. It produces very-good-to-excellent clean, semi-clean, and light crunch tones, so it is a decent instrument for bluesy and jazzy things (plus, bending strings is a breeze with the short scale). It's also OK for some classic rock things, although heavy crunch on the maple model that I've got is not as good as it was on the rosewood one that I tested. The HB is a bit tame and won't produce very convincing distortion sounds. (On the rosewood model, again, it was a tad better, but my general feeling is that classic distorted sounds aren't one of the strong points of this guitar). The stock SC's, incidentally, are also a bit tame and not as bright sounding as generic strat's coils. I don't think this guitar will work for hard rock or metal, nor will it probably satisfy country players. All in all, it's a decent instrument; and the judgment I agree with most is that it is a well-behaved guitar with a well-mannered tone, as some of the reviewers down the road put it. It lacks character somewhat, but it is a diligent performer that would get a solid "B" in school.

Mine came in an excellent shape overall, with nicely adjusted pickups and comfortably set strings. (On the rosewood model that I tested and also considered at first, strings were set so ridiculously low without any buzzing that I was amazed.) What I like most in this guitar is certainly the neck. It is one surprising example of workmanship, indeed. It is very smooth, extremely playable, and has a great feel. (Mine, like someone else's here, has also some nice wood figure on it -- it's kind of pleasing to
watch.) Normally you find necks like this in guitars priced much higher. The neck gets a "10". However, I agree with another reviewer who mentioned that the general ergonomics of this guitar could be better. There is something not right with the proportional distribution of weight in the guitar body, so it does tend to fall forwards or backwards when on your lap (strats or LP's are just much easier to balance). It's also kind of heavy for its size, as noted by many, but this is a minor gripe, I don't care that much. All in all, a well crafted instrument. A surprise at this price tag.

I've had it for a year by now, and although this is not my gig guitar, I think it is dependable. (If I gigged with it, I would probably consider installing higher quality tuners, but I am not sure.)

Have not dealt with them yet, but I hear they are good guys, so I'll take it for granted in the meantime. (I also own a Godin-made acoustic, and I haven't had to resort to the customer service assistance on that one either.)

Well, to contest some extreme opinions here, I can't agree with the reviewer who has said the SD is not capable of producing any professional sounds. It seems like the SD doesn't produce those particular sounds he was looking for (he just got a wrong guitar), but the statement about *any professional sounds* is surely an overkill. At the same time, I can't agree with the person saying this is "the most awesome guitar under $1500 you can get" (just as much of an overkill). Come on, people, get serious, in the $1500 range there are many other options and more interesting instruments, including those in the very same Godin line alone.

So what this is and what this isn't. First of all, this is *not* a strat, nor is it a replacement for a strat (so if you want a strat, then get one). Obviously, this is not a replacement for an LP either. So if you think it's an inexpensive solution to the problem of getting the best of both worlds, that is not it -- you'd be getting, let's put it this way, not the best of either world. What you'd be getting, however, is a very decent guitar in its own right. If you are after a strat and look for a budget solution, it would be better, IMHO, to get the cheapest available Mex strat with a clean neck and good action (these things exist) and put in some quality pickups. (True, I've yet to find a Mex strat with a neck and action that would come close to those in my particular SD, but that is beside the point; no matter how great the neck in my SD is, it is not going to sound like a strat.) So make your own choices.

Would I buy it again? Hmm... difficult to say, I don't know. Now that I've satisfied my curiosity, I think I probably wouldn't. I'd probably want to try something different, as there are still quite a few intriguing things around. But, since I have got it already, I think I'll keep it for the neck alone and experiment with different pickups. Been playing for 20+ years, so listing other stuff I've tried or had is kinda tedious. I'd wholeheartedly recommend this guitar to a beginner; I think it may be pretty good as a backup gig unit, provided it suits your style; and it may (or may not) be interesting to those looking for something different. (To those latter, I think, it would still lack some zest -- but try getting your hands on one of Godin's older Artisans, these are indeed very special guitars...)

My sd was made in 2003 i think, in the USA from parts made in canada, as with all sds. It has a s/s/h pickup set up, a whamy bar, 5 way switch and tone and volume control (a knob for each). Rosewood fretboard, maple neck, forgot what the bodies made of nothing to exotic tho. Non locking tuners. Gibson style neck scale. Comes with high quality gig bag. My one has a light starburst finish blending from yellow to orange, with a cream pickguard. It looks quite good, always impresses.

I usually play metal, the likes of black sabbath, metallica and nirvana spring to mind, but i mainly just play freely all over the fretboard. The humbucker has alot of distorsion and sometimes gets very flustered with all the sounds going on. I dont often use the middle pickup but i have good experiences with it. I use the neck pickup often as it delivers a nice santana-ish sound. I have played this guitar for 3 years and 90% of the time i use the humbucker for what i play.

I use a zoom amp, which isnt a great amp, but occasionally get to plug it in to something better, such as a marshall and it comes alive. I am looking for some dimarzio pickups for it as ive heard good things. The sound is rather bluesy, but can make all sorts of sounds from very heavy to very bright and airy. Its good for metal to blues and everything in between.

Sounds good when playing van halen, pink floyd, black sabbath, alice cooper, you name it you could use it for it.

Well im not very experienced at customising and it was my first electric so i kinda adapted to the guitar. Ive been meaning to try a different set up but havent been bothered, as there are no problems with it now. All very good quality, only one complaint - a few weeks ago the tone knob mustve had something come loose as it now no longer stops turning. While it stills works its just a bit loose and its annoying. Looking at getting it fixed. Also, the screws have rusted in places but i live on the water so salt is a bit of a problem

This guitar will withstand, and has withstood, live playing, but always do it with a backup of course... Hardware seems durable anough, no problems yet, after 3 years been flawless. The finish is very strong, only have one ding from an unknown source on the front, and thats literally all there is. The strap buttons are a bit small and MIGHT come out if your jumping up and down so be careful. You can definately depend on it.

never dealt with them, its a testament to its reliability. I play hard and nothings gone wrong. Although ive heard good htings...

Ive been playing about 4 years, owned this guitar 3 years. I own an Ibanez acoustic and a 5 string bass. I use a ZOOM fire 15 amp, which is ok, has alot of effects but isnt exactly a great amp. I wish (since i got this guitar as a present) i couldve got the quilt finish on it as it looks awesome. I would probably buy another one if i got a good deal, as its a very good guitar, ive played everything from strats to sgs to dobros, and it is one of the nicest around, expecially for what you pay. I dont like how at the higher frets, it gets really tight, making it a bit of an operation to play compared with a squier strat. The whamy is great.

This is a great guitar, best you can get for the money. Brilliant for a first timer.

22 frets, 24.75 inch scale, maple neck and fretboard, S-S-H with trem, 5-way switch, solid red, good gig bag

ok through a good amp, I have a Maz 18 Junior, pickups are pretty weak, I tried putting in a Dimarzio PAF Pro at bridge and a couple of Seymour Duncan humbuckers. Improved the sound but I still didn't like it. I think I just don't want a S-S-H guitar...

very well made, nicely setup from the factory, very nice neck for the money

I didn't keep it long, a few months, I think it would withstand normal use as well as any other guitar

the switch broke right away, bad plastic inside, replace without a hastle

overall somewhat "light", stock pickups are a little weak. However, an excellent starter guitar. Excellent quality for the price.

Made late 2004 or early 2005 Parts made in canada Assembled in USA
24 frets 24.75 inch scale Maple neck rosewood fingerboard Maple and poplar body Shh five way switch solid red finish. Strat style 6 screw trem. Non locking tuners. Gig bag included (a good one). Nice features but i keep the 10 rating for the Godin XTSA that i have

It really suit my style when i play trough my amps. the middle single coil is the single coil sound i was searching for. Note that the fact that it as a gibson scale lengh i find the neck single coil to be a bit too dark for my taste. I think the midle S/C on the godin is a bit like a neck on on a strat. The fact that those single coils have flat polepieces is a blessing it give you a more balenced tone, and your pick do not get caught in the g string polepiece (like it happened with my blue velvet pickup on an anothere guitar). The humbucker is very well mixed with the single coils. medium high output i think. I is very eighties sounding, Bon jovi type sound are easy to get. You can also do some death metal if you use the right amp/pedals. If you really like quack you have to put more highs on your amp cos the shorter scale and wood choice make the guitar fatter and darker than the standard strat style guitar. Overall i really like those pickups maybe i would change them just to fine tune the guitar to my taste but the quality of the godin unit is so good i would buy another SD to do such modification to make sure i still have the original sound.

I bought a guitar with a cosmetic defect to save money. The usual quality of godin is great, I personnally asked the dealer to find one with a finish flaw to save. There where black markings on the back of the guitars, the salesman buffed them now the guitar look like a perfect one. The high e string was kinked (the salesman putted new ones) and adjusted the guitar for free !!!! Remember i asked for a second! Once those little adjustment done the guitar was perfect, IT was so amazingly good that i sold my Gibson SG standard to buy A godin XTSA. The neck is a dream to play for me The best neck i have ever played it seem to be a slim D profile (like a wizard a bit) The trussrod is very responsive and easy to adjust (it is the first guitar that i do trussrod adjustment myself cos it is so easy to adjust). The jack like on a LOT !!!! of guitar get loose once in a while easy to tighten The neck joint is great, I like the tension on the trem a lot.

It is a very well made guitar!!! i love it! The weight and comfort are great too!

This is a very well made instrument! Everything is solid. At first i was affraid of the tuner but they are far better than they look like! the strap button is of the straplock kind but you have to buy the matching part! It is a very solid instrument you can depend on it! Just be careful with the Gig Bag the metal ring that hold the strap can damage the guitar finish if you knock it hard. I mean really hard! This is something i saw just onced most people will not drop the gig bag that way.

Costumer support is good with godin they always answer your questions. Much better than ibanez i can tell you that. I wrote them to say that they should put graphite nuts on their XTSA guitars cos it really help tuning stability. The wrote back one day later to say they like costumer feedback and if enough people ask for graphite nut it would be considered.

I started playing in 1988 I owned 2 Strats MIM and MIJ. 1 gibson SG standard. Aria Bass and FL20. Epiphone LES PAUL. Yamaha AES BBN and RGX. Ibanez Studio and SDR BASS. Godin SD XTSA and LG and then some. That godin is a wonderfull piece of work I did not gave pricing cos i bought a defective one so the pricing was reduced according to the finish flaw. But the guitar is a keeper it is one of the best guitar i played . All godin guitars that i own are of the higest quality! my dream is to have one of each model in the performance series ! it is that good! Play it with your ears not your misconception!

The features have all been mentioned before. Mine has a transparant blue finish, rosewood fretboard. A pretty babe she is to me, like almost any Godin (I also own a Radiator in black pearl finish, and a LG in semi gloss natural). What can I say, S-S-H setup gives me plenty of tonal options. I'm not a fanatic tremolo divebomber, so the stratlike tremolo does it for me.

Right now, I use the SD mainly for blues, rock and anything in between. Most of the time running it through a Mesa Boogie Mk4 top into a 2 x 12" Brunnetti Cab armed with 2 Celestion Vintage 30-s. For FX I have a Boss RBF-10 flanger and a RDD-10 digital delay chained in my FX-Loop. I also own a Mesa Boogie .50 caliber+ combo and a Crate G120C XL transistor combo 2 x 12". The SD sounds good on all three. The humbucker isn't compact-sounding enough for real tight metalsounds though, I have to tweak the leadchannel on my Mesa to extremes and still I only pull off as much as a not really convincing 80's-like distortion sound. Slayer is (sort of) possible but you won't get any punchy NU-metal out of this one. Not that I intend to. Anyway, I have a EMG-HZ passive humbucker laying in wait here for installment so even that will be possible soon. All in all a good sounding instrument with a lot of directions to go for.

I bought it second hand so I don't know how it was presented when bought. Still, the ones I've inspected in stores were well set-up. The action is a bit big for my taste. Maybe I got a bit to much adjusted to playing my LG.
The only flaw I know on my SD is the tendency to detune on one string when I apply some tremolo. This was mentioned before I believe, the tip to adjust the bridge, taking out one spring and letting the bridge float, I will definitely try that. For the rest it's a well build and nicely finished instrument. It's a Godin. Quality.

It's durable all right. A backup? Yes of course, a string might snap.

Never dealt with them. Most I hear and read leaves the impression they are friendly and dedicated.

I've been playing for about 14 years now. I already mentioned the rest of my gear. If it were stolen or lost....I don't know....may I'd try the Godin Exit22 first, and if not satisfying....I'd buy another SD, sure. For spiritual reasons I rather don't compare anything with anything, but let's say it's a good deal for the money. Affordable quality in sound and finish.

I fell in love with this guitar. I like the shape of the instrument that look like a les paul who fucked with a telecaster. The nech is better playing then a telecaster and much thinner then a lp. The pick up of origin rocks for the two single coil but the humbucker could have been more torkee so I change it up for a gibson burstbucker pro and now it is a freaking rocking axe. It got personality. The tuner may be better but just change it and you will keep your axe in tune.

Single coil rocks but not the humbucker so change it

It so simple, it can`t go wrong. So easy to repair nd customize

Let me start off by saying I'm a very picky player. In terms of guitars I usually only play strats, and due to the current quality of strats be it california or mexican I only play exceptional stratocasters. Yeah I've owned some other guitars, notably an SG and an Ibanez Jem, and this guitar is comparable in tone and capability to those instruments.

It's got 22 Frets, 23 and 1/4" scale, H/S/S pickups that are Godin designed and Seymour Duncan built. My model has the Quilted maple finish, and an Indian Rosewood neck. This is the tightest neck pocket I have ever seen on a bolt on guitar, I seriously didn't even know it was bolt on until I saw the screws on the back. It has a vintage style tremolo, which is fine by me, and Godin tuners. The tuners, despite what some people have said seem to hold the tuning very well for me. I'm betting there actually made by some other company and then Godin puts there name on them, Schaller perhaps?

The Neck is made out of Hard maple, the body is made out of a blend of woods and of course a silver leaf maple top. By the way there is a reason they advertise all these woods as being tone woods but we'll get to that later.

It comes with a deluxe bag probably worth 50-75 bucks.

Honestly my only qualm in the features department is that it doesn't have locking tuners. Despite the trem staying in tune quite a bit I will probably replace them with locking tuners just to give it that little "push over the cliff" into the abyss of tuning stability.

I play alot of different music. These days it's mostly classic rock tones though that I'm after. It works great for almost anything I can throw at it, and oddly enough even heavy metal. The noise is minimal in comparison to a stratocaster that hasn't been shielded. I'll probably be using a gate most of the time though simply for the fact that I don't like any noise when I'm not playing.

It's got a very harmonic rich sound, I really wouldn't say it's bright, it is in the bridge position, but not nearly enough upper mids to call it a bright guitar. Think SG through a later marshall. Very usable tone from a stock humbucker.

The single coils are excellent, I have had tex mex, texas specials and Seymour Duncan pickups in my strats and these sound every bit as good as the seymour Duncans.

I was skeptical of the woods because I knew I liked one piece maple necks but they seem to be very smooth and mid-heavy, almost muddy at times. The rosewood neck works great though, took a bit of getting used to, but it tames some frequencies that really annoy me and brings out a really lively snap thats great for country, blues, hardrock and jazz.

The body reaffirms my belief that wood selection is critical to an instrument, this guitar sounds fantastic. It is as clear as any production model Paul Reed Smith that you can buy, I was almost disturbed when I plugged it in. The Bridge pickup compliments the body nicely bringing out those rich harmonics even through digital amplifiers.

I would even say that this guitar is very versatile simply because by varying your playing style you can coax everything from mayhem to softly finger picked ballads.

The only knock it gets in the tone department is that the trem block is one of those tiny little zinc pieces of crap. That will rob any tone from any guitar you put it on. In fact, I see alot of people blocking stratocaster trems not realizng that you can leave them alone if you simply add a better string-block to the guitar. Overall though, this doesn't really add to much against the Godin SD, in fact, I'm considering leaving it stock just because I might screw up a good thing.

From the factory the action was a bit high for my taste, on a short scale guitar you can get by with some rediculously low action without buzzing through an amplifier so I had the action adjusted while I was giving the guitar a run through. Plays fantastically. The shorter scale really adds some tone in it.

The frets were flawless.

The pickups were a tad bit out of kilter, the pole pieces on the bridge pickup were missaligned and the pickup it self was to high to be in balance with the neck and middle pickups. Nothing a screwdriver wouldn't fix though.

The bridge is fairly good, Graphtech didn't just make the nuts on these guitars, they also made the saddles. I have to say that as a trem abuser this guitar holds it's tuning well as a result of the bridge, nut and excellent string trees.

The nut was seated properly but there was one slight flaw there, I could see a little glue on the side of the nut. Nothing major, in fact when most guitars these days have nuts that stick out a bit this one was perfect so the glue was a marginal thing.

THe Schaller strap lock pins have got to go. Had them on two strats, absolutely did not like the design, half the time the guitar would fall off because it wasn't just so so. I've already bought some dunlop straplocks to replace them with.

The electronics are fairly good quality parts, and I've had good experiences with graphtech regarding burs and other string breakage related problems. I don't really forsee having to replace any of that stuff for a long time.

General rule of thumb for professionals... DON'T EVER GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP, just don't do it, it's stupid and it's wrong.

Godin is a small company, they've been having trouble keeping up with demand here in the U.S. as well as there customer service department. This all being said I can always, and I mean ALWAYS expect a reply from there customer service department. They are really nice there, and I've asked them a lot of questions regarding the guitar. My hat is off to them for being able to respond and deal with the crazy requests of guitar players with a relatively small staff.

I really love this guitar, perhaps not more than my custom Stratocaster, but I am actually beginning to wonder. The biggest problem I have with Godin is it is extremely hard to find a dealer which stocks the Performance series. I got lucky with Naperville music as they only had about 12 guitars and only 2 were performance series models. They had one other Godin and a bunch of Gibsons.

When I initially saw this guitar the Quilted maple made me miss it completely I thought it was a Gibson in fact. I saw it a second time and grabbed it to try it out.

I had been to 5 stores that day and played all sorts of Godin guitars, namely the multiple output system solid bodies they have put together, and in all honesty I was wondering if Godin had not discontinued the Performance series. I was later told that Godin has indeed been cutting back features, and certain models from the Performance series. Initially the SD was supposed to have 24 frets, and that they are now even going to discontinue the flame and quilted tops.

My guess is that Godin is competing against squire, and fender as well as epiphone and all those little copy companies for a market share in the lower midrange guitar category. Frankly, this instrument is far superior to any knockoff guitar, mexican made fender or epiphone.

I've owned lots of guitars as I've said earlier, and have diminshed my collection down to a select few for space sake. Amplifier wise I have a Marshall Silver Jubilee with a 1960A cabinet, Bogner extacy[bogner v-30 cab], and a Vox Ac-30 with celestion blue bells. Each of these amplifiers makes the guitar sound great and adds a different quality to the sound. Classic amplifiers I guess? Guitar wise this thing is replacing a Fender American Series Deluxe stratocaster that I've had for a little while. All kinds of mods were done to that guitar but it just wasn't really what I was after.

As for the Gig bag that this guitar comes with, it's a really good quality bag, I don't really like Gig Bags because they don't protect the instrument that well, but for travelling around town this thing is excellent.

This guitar is a steal at only 250-500 bucks in fact I'm already planning on getting another, even if I have to buy off EBAY or locally through the paper.

Mine is a 2004 model, made in Canada and the USA. Black Pearl.
Solid Maple w/ Maple neck. Short scale.HSS.These have excellent tuners,
solid bridge, o.k. pups, and solid electronics. Gig bag is as good as one can expect, but theese soft cases mean you have to tune up every
time you transport your axe. No problems with a hard case.

I'm a no talent hack on the Guitar,play (or try to)classic Rock and Blues. I'm currently using a Yorkville 50 watt Bass amp. Actually sounds quite good. My previous amp. was a Hot Rod Dlx. I've owned a Mex Strat.,Jackson ?, Gibson LP Standard. Strat. HR American Texas Spec.
I love the Bridge Hum on this axe. Nicer than the Tex. Spec. Not quite as warm and hot as the L.P. Great near bell like tones but can distort nicely without that schrill sound the Strat produced. The neck PUP has a nice warm Jazz like quality. All I really need are the 2 pups. The shorter LP like scale makes this an excellent guitar for bending. I paid more than double for my HR Strat. I loved the Strat bye the way, but its not any better than the SD. I like the versatility more on the SD. Even better range of tones. I may someday replace the neck pu for a mini Hum.

I had to tweek the action a bit, but I changed the 9-42 to 9-46 right away. Action was fairly low, but with a minor neck adjustment I was able to lower it even more. Pups were adjusted perfectly. I'm a bit anal, so I really went over this axe before purchasing it. It wasn't a rental unit but I was able to rent it for 3 Mos. before finally deciding to purchase it. This has a neck equal to the Am. Strat. and both are better-finished than my LP Stand. Paint was excellent, fretwork very good,hardware equal to any Am. Strat. Not a peep from any pots or the switch. No binding at the nut and the tuners are A+.
I have to add the Black Pearl, w/ Black over Wht. 2 ply pickguard
look fantastic. Paint is very close to the Am. Strat and better than my Gibson.

No question this axe will stand up.
Hardware is far better than anything in its class.
Finish is first rate.
Comes with Schaler Strap lock studs.
As dependable as any Axe can be.
Foolish to gig w/o a backup.

Haven't dealt with them.
Don't know what the Warranty is.
I'm not concerned.

I've been playing about 3 yrs.
If stolen I might opt for the similar Godan Freeway Classic with
dual Hum. Pups.
I love the fit and finish, but most important the sound range is awsome!
This is certainly the best built axe under $900. U.S.

2004 22 frets short scale. Canadian hard rock maple in the center with Poplar wings. Maple neck, rosewood fretboard.Volume, tone, 5-way selector, S/S/H). Godin passive pickups (I hear they are made by Seymour Duncan). Vintage style trem. Godin tuners (needed to be replaced). Fairly thin neck profile. Gig bag.

Sounds great for almost any style. Running through Fender Pro Reverb with minimal effects. Sounds really full with excellent sustain. Very flexible. I am blown away by the sound and playability of this guitar. Short scale takes a little getting used to. I play 10 gauge strings, so the tension drop (from a shorter neck) was not a problem. I imagine 9's could get a little slinky. Tuners needed to be replaced as they did not hold tune. Put a set of planet waves auto-trim locking tuners on and put a wood block in the tremelo (to stabilize). Now it stays in tune great. This guitar now easily compares to anything under $900. As a matter of fact, I think it's pretty damn close to my US Strat Ultra (with lace sensors).

Plays great. Had to raise the action a bit and put on locking tuners. Intonation was right on. For a $310 total investment, I got a guitar that feels, plays (with the slightest adjustment), and sounds well over $500.

Feels solid. Parts manufactured in Canada, assembled in US. No problems.

Never used customer support, but they appear to care about their instruments and customers.

I've been playing over 15 years. Was looking for a back-up and was close to buying a MIM strat. Thank God I ran across this. Blows away any mexican strat. I like strats alot, and this compares to my Fender Strat Ultra (S/S/H), but it is the best value guitar I've ever seen or played. I won't be using this solely as a backup as I expected. Instead I'll probably be using it half the night along with my strat. Fullest sounding guitar with at least as good sustain as my strat (if not better). I couldn't be happier.

Made in Canada. This is the newer 22 fret model, HSS pickup config,1 volume 1 tone control 5 way selector switch Blue burst finish, beautiful tigerstripe maple "leaf" top, Body is Maple with poplar wings, This one has a maple fingerboard. The body shape is in between a les paul and telecaster. Non locking tuners but feel very solid and hold tuning. Vintage strat style trem bridge. Best gig bag included, has lots of storage, and great neck support! Another thing, is the neck body joint. There is no air anywhere, it's tight, precise, and has a great feel. I'm partial to set necks, and this feels just as good as any set neck guitar I've played.

I play through mostly a marshall TSL and a peavey JSX, am able to get the best of both worlds really, the neck and/or middle strat sound, and a great humbucker sound. The humbucker has about the same tone as a gibson 498T on my SG, the neck and middle balance well volume wise, sound warm and open, and aren't noisy at all. The guitar has more natural sustain of any guitar I've ever played, with or without an amp. All notes in a chord are clear, and with the JSX can do some serious metal chugs.

My wife got this for me as a Christmas present, she got it in UPS, hid it under the bed in our spare bedroom (no case, gigbag only, shipped in gigbag/in box). Came out PERFECTLY set up, intonated, and IN TUNE. Amazing. I've had custom shop Gibsons that I had to work with for days before they were right.

Haven't had it long enough to tell. Let's hope...

no issues so far. They are in canada, and the dealer was in Minnesota (I'm in GA), so let's hope I don't need them.

Here we go: Been playing at least semi-pro since 1980, I'm normally a 1 guitar man (SG), but I play this guitar at least half the night anymore, and it gets all the play time at home. I like this better than the Deluxe Strat I was GASing for, The pickups are great, neck is awesome, fret work is top notch. Finish is extraordinary! I would get another in a heartbeat, actually, I have another on the way (good deal on ebay!), should be here in a couple days!

an update on my previous review. Godin has there tremolos set stock to be cranked down to the wood, this makes it go out of tune if you use it. If you take out 1 spring and make it "float" so that the back of the bridge is off the body, it stays in tune perfectly. (so no complanning about going out of tune because thers a way to fix it.

MIne is a new model (2005) with the blue transparant finish, and what a finish!! it has the most amazing peice of flamed AND spalted maple iv'e ever seen on ANY guitar PRS, gibson, ETC ETC... so the finish is ausome and im very happy with the looks. It has the black pickguard black bickups and rosewood neck (killer looks). It has a short scale 24 fret neck, and the neck has some ausome figure on it. Over all i think im very lucky that i got this perticular one, the figure in the wood not to mention the tone is jsut amazing, better than others SD's ive seen and they were excellent too!!!!

It is mostly a classic rock kinda guitar, it holds very well to a vintage tube like overdrive. The first thing i noticed when playin this guitar is how amazingly vintage it sounded, the single coils sounded really good, and im not gonna say "well it sounds almost like a fender"
that may be true for an older fender (pre 90's) but recently fender has gone down the drain, i played this guitar heads up aganist a amarican series fender, now forget price lets say they both were the same, the godin played better sounded brighter yet you can get a really warm overdrivin sound out of it, the fender sounded really steril and played like junk. the fender's hardware was junk and the build quality seemed bad altogether, the godin on the other hand had very tight tolerences and sounded and played amazing. So over all this guitar will cover almost any style of music and cover them very well too. move over fender godin is here to stay!

It was the best built guitar under 1,500 and no im not exadurating, i know your like uh huh sure, but seriously it was better action finish wood grain and part fit of any guitar under 1,500 dollars ive ever played. the neck felt perfect and had an ausome satin finish that ou just glide over.

Ok i think ive said enough about this guitars ausome durabibity already, I could see this guitar goin many years without breakin.

This is the most ausome guitar under 1,500 you can get, i highly encourage the first timer or intermideate player to pick one up and give it a try youll like it for sure. ITs just amazing and I can see me using it for many years now. I think this is the only guitar ive ever givin a 10.

I believe I purchased my Godin SD in 1998, I could be off a year in either direction. Its my favorite guitar, I have owned many and played many, and nothing yet comes close to my godin. 24 fret short scale neck, (which happens to be maple all around fret board and neck, the neck is actually birds eye maple, but godin never made a birds eye maple neck for the sd, but the serial numbers match, I have a misprinted neck, meaning my neck was ment for something higher on the godin ladder) The contoured body, fits to me perfect. They do tend to be a bit heavy, but i like the weight, and if they used less dense wood, you wouldn't have the killer sustain. It is a S-S-H configuration, single volume and tone and switch by a 5-way, Stock pickups, body is also maple. She has a pearloid pickguard and a cream body(no longer available on the SD.) My head stock logo is also different, (they changed logo following year)It is a cross between a tele and a les paul, vaugely Carvin appearance in body shape. floyd rose's(ish) tremelo/bridge. non locking standard godin tuners( i do however have the head tapped for some custom tuners i own( but did not like them on the godin) and a Godin Hardshell case.

This guitar matched with the right amp(s) will and has suited many styles of playing. I play alot of blues and rock and she was made for it, but i have used it to play nashille style pcik to metal and still it rocked hard and never waivered. I am getting some minor crackle when i turn the pots or switch..but it is 6 or so years old, and she has been played hard all her life, so they just need to be cleaned/replaced. Also contributing to some background electric hiss on certain settings..that and my amp is kinda of half blown( hehe )
A rathered full bodied sound, due to the maple all around..it has a great crisp high end, and to the density of the body and construction of the body, it has full rich melting lows. (with the right amp) she can handle what ever she is thrown. I like her all.

When my intonation is right, she purrs, i recently switched up a gauge using 11's and my sound is slight off, just needs to be reset. From the factory it was perfect, set like it was custom set for me. pickups were great, all body routing was amazing (i check as soon as I purchase any guitar) the meck mounting was picture perfect. the only thing i noticed was that it had a slight ding in the back body edge straight from factory(big deal) that and the birds eye maple neck that it should not have had.. :) lucky me free neck upgrade!

This guitar is soild as a rock, it can take live playing but also makes a great studio guitar, the hardware is A+, and its 6 years old. With the abuse this guitar has recieved over the last six years(not from me, from people using without asking) its amazing that it has only 2 or 3 minor dings(one from factory) and a handful of skratches i can probably count on one hand., Strap buttons are soild I would take it to a gig with no back up and not have to worry. I can totaly depend on her.

not sure on the warranty thing, I have had it for 6 years, and it is just needing tuneups now..I am not complaing. As for dealing with the company, yes I have and they are amazing, I dealt directly with the Daughter of Robert Godin. I am having my godin shipped to Robert godins home office to have it autographed(and probably tuned up whiles its there) and its not costing me anything, I just emailed the contact address on their webpage and asked if i was ever in town could i get my godin signed, they said sure..and then offered to have it shipped up when they found out i wouldn't be making it on my trip. Straight from the big mans daughter. Now that is amazing customer service

I have been playing for 12 or 13 years, I have at the moment a squier tele(its only a squier but it sounds great, strange)and some obscure jackson, not sure what it is. Never bothered to look it up, it sounds good so i play it. Various amps. I would have to buy another one is lost or stolen. I love everything about her and hate nothing. If I were to comapre it to anything, well appearance, a tele/les paul cross breed. Sound wise, it reminds me off a PRS, ya folks that good.

2002 model. Black Pearl. HSS setup. 24-fret. 5-way switch. All Godin material. Tremelo (don't use). LP shape with a carved back to fit the body when playing. Very comfortable. Rosewood fret Maple neck. Very smooth neck, but not as smooth as my LP Studio.

Decent tones. Some major fret buzz. Had it checked a few times, but still buzzes. I was told my style is "rough". Nevertheless, the guitar is acceptable for the price paid.

Action had to be adjusted for my use. I always replace the strings when buying a new guitar. Using D'Addarios 10's-4?. I have it set very low which could explain the major fret buzzes. Fit and Finish however, is great.

All Godin guitars are built very well. This is my fourth one, albeit not my favorite. I've owned a LG, LGX, and Radiator. The LG was by far the best damn guitar I ever had. I regret selling it.

N/A

I plan on giving this guitar to one of my nephews (maybe my second God son). I gave my first God son my Radiator. Would probably buy something else. Recently purchased a beautiful new Carvin CT4M guitar.

Guitars I've had - Carvin CT4M, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Godin SD, Radiator, LGX, and LG, Fender Am Std Dlx, Fender Sqr, Ibanez RG, Fender Bass (how did I get this mixed with my guitars?), and Celebrity Applause.

This Godin SD is made in USA from parts manufactured in Canada.
- 24 frets, short-scale neck
- solid Canadian Rock Maple body and neck with Rosewood finger-board. The shape is kind of like the bastard offspring of a Telecaster and a Les Paul. For a guitar of it's size it's very heavy.
- pickup configuration S/S/H.
- comes with good quality multi-pocketed gig-bag and necessary tools

I am a novice guitarist, although surrounded by experienced players as I sing with a semi-pro rock band. Our band style is classic 70s and 80s rock which I love (Free, Bad Company, Thin Lizzy, etc). I'm also into learning to play blues guitar.

The bridge humbucker seems strong with very good low end response. Our lead guitarist who plays a PRS Custom 24 and an Ibanez Steve Vai JEM was quite impressed. The single coils are a less little response, but can handle a decent enough "stratalike" sound. All in all much better sound than I would have got buying a Squier Strat or even a Mexican Strat.

Action was not really set up well. The neck was a little too flat which caused some mid-neck fret buzz. The fitted strings were also a little tired ( I suspect that this guitar had been sitting around at the retailer for a while,perhaps used infrequently as a demo unit - even though the rest of the guitar was in immaculate condition). Intonnation was a little off. However with a little attention from our band's prefered guitar technician (including fitting some new strings Ernie Ball 10s) all these issues were quickly solved.

Generally the quality of finish,materials and hardware on this guitar cannot be criticised. The guitar body has a beautiful and striking transparent "amber burst" finish with lovely wood-grain showing through. The control knobs are soldi high-chromed steel (much better than found on any Fender guitar), I don't use the trem-arm, so no comment there. The neck (rosewood on rock maple) seems quick and well fitted. All in all, for the money the finish is fantastic, and certainly this guitar offers far better quality than other potential first time guitars.

As previously described, this guitar is a solid, if not a little heavy piece of kit. I am sure that it would stand the physical rigours of live playing. I would be keen to buy a hard case, so if anyone has any suggestions as to what I can get and where from, I'd be grateful. If I ever get good enough to play at our gigs, then I'd probably consider upgrading the neck pick up. The guitar was supplied with Schaller locking strap buttons, but not the locking pieces, that go on the strap - so I had to buy another complete Schaller set (small moan here!). Can I depend on the guitar? - YES, no reason to think otherwise.

- I sent back the warranty card to Godin but haven't heard anything back from them. There seems to be no customer support link or email link on their web-site either, which makes direct contact a little difficult.
- I've only had the guitar for a few months, so no need so far for any warranty repairs. I understand that the warranty is for 2 years. I bought the guitar from a music dealer in Manchester, UK from their ebay site. Service was friendly, and the product arrived next day securely packaged.

- I did a lot of research before buying this guitar, and I believe I made the right choice. As far as build quality is concerned, I don't think I could have done much better at the price (or indeed at twice the price).

As a beginner, I play mostly through a small Marshall amp, however, I do get to play through the amps owned by my fellow band members - Mesa Boogie combos, Fender Cybertwin, Carvin valve pre-amp head / Marshall valve amp / Marshall cabs. The Godin makes a lovely noisy rock sound in the mid position and particularly with the HB selected.

I looked at Squier Strats, Mexican Strats, Epiphone SG310/400s and the Godin was the one I chose (also I think sometimes it's nice to have something different - i.e. that's not a cheap Strat copy). I love Strats though, and will eventually purchase a "real" Strat (Texas Special?) and perhaps a Les Paul (would seriously consider a Tokai Love Rock MIJ as an alternative to a Gibson LP Standard), but will always have affection for the Godin. I think this guitar offers fantastic quality (at any price) and thus exceptional value for money.

This SD is a blue flame (laminated, I believe) top with creme pickguard and pickups. Not sure of the year of manufacture. This is a 24.75" scale maple neck and fretboard. Bridge humbucker and a single coil in the middle and neck positions. Has a strat style 5 way pickup selector. The body is maple (based on their website). Overall body weight is quite light. The body style is a single cut with a softer horn. Neck is a bolt on, and with four stagged bolts which feel pretty darn solid. 12" radius finger board. This has a factory strat style trem, but I doubt I'll ever use it, since I'm not a big trem fan. The frets are fairly low and small. This is a short scale strat set up with a bridge humbucker. Has one volume and one tone. Would have been neat if it came with a series/parallel/single selector for the bridge pickup. I am really considering making this mod.

The bridge pickup has two adjustment screws (for height) on each side of the pickup. Nice little feature.

It has twenty four frets, but upper fret access is kind of difficult.

I've got a Les Paul style guitar already, and put Rio Grande Bastard/Fat Bastards in my old Ibanez, so I wanted to get a Strat to round it out. I was looking at various strats when I came across the Godins. I liked the shorter scale length, and for the price, I think Godin has a nice product here. It gets very close to the strat tone, and I prefer the humbucker in the bridge. I also tried their Exit 22, but thought the SD was closer to the strat sound. This guitar is fairly bright tonewise. I don't have another guitar with a maple fretboard. The maple board probably contributes to the brightness, but the lightweight maple body is probably the biggest reason for the brightness. I like the 2 and 4 positions for clean playing, and when the volume is rolled back, it cleans up well. The pickups aren't high output, but for factory, they sound pretty good. I will eventually change the bridge bucker out for one with four wires to make the Series/Parallel/Coil tap mod.

I play this guitar though a Marshall JMP master volume (50 watt) and a THD BiValve. It does classic rock, blues, and if I wanted to, some country as well.

The action was high on the Low E thru D, and that was corrected. Adjusted the pickup height slightly. The finish, fit, and function are really nice for a guitar in the price range. I would have liked a pickup ring around the bridge humbucker for a cleaner look. I may add that later. The intonnation was about spot on.

I am a little suspicious of the string trees. They look kind flimsy. I hope they hold up.

I haven't has this guitar too long, so I can't comment too much about it yet. It appears well built, and should survive. The finish doesn't appear exceptionally thick, and would probably succumb to road wear.

I bought this off of Ebay, so I don't believe I could get any warranty support. I can't seem to find an email link off of their website. It would require some work to get a hold of them. Hopefully this won't be necessary.

For the money I paid, I think I got a great deal. This guitar should be pretty versitile and I especially like the clean tones it produces. I am a sucker for blue guitars, and this one sure looks nice.

I am liking the feel of a maple fretboard the more I play this.

I think Godin has a nice value here. I got it for less than the price of a new one (which is around $450, I think). I wouldn't hesitate to replace this one if something happened to it.

2002 Godin Preformance Series SD.
Parts made in Canada, guitar assembeled in the United States.
24 Frets.
Solid Top.
Volume and Tone knobs, 5-way selector.
S/S/H pickup configurations.
Pickups are made by Godin.
Passive Electronics.
Body is made of Maple. Neck is made of Rock Maple.
Transparent Finish.
Body is reminiscent of a telecaster.
The bridge is a vintage tremolo type.
The tuners are made by Godin, but are reminiscent of Gotoh tuners.
24 3/4" scale, maple fingerboard..
Comes with a Godin gigbag, allen wrenches and a tremolo bar.

I mainly play indie rock and some classic rock.
I use a Behringer GX212 Amplifier, EH-Big Muff, Digitech Whammy, Crybaby Wah, Boss BF-2 Flanger.
The guitar has a 5 way selector so you can get great sound out of it, no matter what your looking for.
I really like this guitar, it sounds amazing for a guitar in it's price range.

This guitar was put together well and I haven't found any flaws yet.

Godin SDs are built sturdy and they can take a beating. I have a few guitars, but when i play my Godin I dont need a backup.

This is a great guitar and I recommend it to anyone who's looking for a low-priced guitar with high-priced features.

This is a update of the review I submitted on 1/28/04. I continue to be amazed by this guitar! Im' still trying to figure out how Godin can sell such an excellent instrument so cheap!

My guitar just sounds incredible! I've been playing for 14 years---and have owned a number of electrics--and nothing compares to this for the money, or even two or three times the price! I've already had a couple of folks try and buy it off me! I was concerned back in January about the selector switich making noise--turns out it was just some dust that needed to be blown out. I know this may be hard to believe--but there's nothing about the guitar that I don't like!

I continue to be amazed how good the action is! A guitar tech/pro friend of mine said it was even better than his $2,500 PRS! He works on--and builds guitars for a living so he would know. Godin has done a superb job in quality control with the SD--and for that matter--all of their guitars.

I've been using this guitar for a few months now and I'm even more impressed than when I first bought it! I sold my other two electrics because this is so good! The music store where I bought it can't keep them in stock for very long!

I received a very nice e-mail back from Godin after I wrote them a letter thanking them for their product! I was very impressed!!!!! I plan on purchasing future Godin products in the future.

I've never given anything I have purchased a 10 rating---but I will with this! It is beyond me how Godin can sell this guitar for less than $500.00 dollars! I would rather have this than a $2,000 dollar PRS! I've had other musician friends look at this and all of them to a person are amazed at the quality for the price. If you want a professional quality instrument at a modest price buy the SD--you won't be dissapointed!

This is the 2003 model, finished in Midnight Blue - which is a very attractive and suttle dark blue sparkle finish, in my opinion far better than the ever so slighty overdone flame tops on the 2004 models.

This one has 24 medium sides frets mounted on a maple neck with rosewood fretboard, bolted directly into the thin tele-esque body with 4 inset bolts <no plate>. The solid body is apparently of Canadian silver maple, for such a small bodied guitar, very heavy!

All the hardware is made in-house by Godin themselves, with generic tuners, strat-style tremelo, and electronics, the pickups set in a S/S/H configuration, with a 5 way selector and single tone and volume controls. Everything you need! It comes supplied with one of the nicest gig bags i`ve had come with a guitar, lots of little pockets and quite attractive in a desert tweed kind of way.

Even before that moment when jack plug meets Marshall JCM, it`s quite apparent that there is something quite different with this wee fella. The small scale and small body would suggest that it would sound puny unplugged, that the electronics would have to do a lot of work... I found myself strumming along at a fair old volume without even hitting the standby switch!

Starting off with the clean channel, the Godin exceeded my expectations plugged in too, with the neck pickup providing a whole manner of sweet blues tones, wholesome rhythm sounds, and everything inbetween. Switching to the humbucker, there`s a bit more of a volume shift than I expected, and there`s a very bright, rugged sound there, not even politely asking the clean channel of my Marshall to crunch. The in-between positions are very strat-like, maybe lacking in power a TOUCH, but all in all, not bad. The fun starts when you start to dial in a little gain, maybe about two fifths of the overdrive channel. The neck pickup suddenly turns to liquid, the guitar coming alive, blues licks just appearing from underneath my finger tips. The bridge and middle give a very `country-fried` tone, with no shortage of mid-range honk. Neck and middle is twangy and bright, certainly a nice choice for live use at volume, cutting through most mixes without bursting too many ear drums. At this stage there`s lots to satisfy the Sonic Youth/post-rock crowd, with plenty of crunch while still being able to hear the snappy attack, sustain and dynamics of every string.

Getting silly with the gain, everything turned up to full, gives the whole gamut of solo tones. In fact, despite the bright nature of the guitar, with it`s Canadian maple body, it doesn`t make a half bad run at a full-on rock guitar, the humbucker absolutely capable of any rock sound you might want to try. Theres even a decent attempt at a scooped metal tone, through any amp worth it`s salt. And the neck is quick enough to make tapping runs and sweep picking seem sensible. In fact, it might even be quicker than the Wizard III neck on my Ibanez, which is absolutely insane.

Well, you know about the neck. Straight from the shop I actually had to RAISE the action a little, mostly for the benefit of the bass strings, which had been set optimistically close to the body. Everything else is absolutely fine, the fit is miles ahead of what you would generally expect for a guitar for this price. I have never EVER played a Mexican Fender that has felt quite as nice as this. And the Mexican Fender`s are more expensive.

The finish is lovely and entirely without flaws <and believe me, I HAVE looked!>, the neck is set at a slightly odd angle - maybe i`ve been playing acoustics for too long - but it plays excellently so no complaints here, people.

I`m more than happy to take this on the road, although maybe a hard case is in order, like with any guitar worth its beans. The hardware seems durable enough, dust gets everywhere and you can expect to have to clean it up every few years, but this is common with any guitar with a Fender-style selector.

The finish seems thick enough to withstand most of the stuff that would scratch my Strat, obviously thin enough to allow the wood inside it to be resonant. Strap buttons are tiny, seemingly made like that so you do go out and buy those strap locks for them, instead of just thinking about it. Top marks for this, Godin! This guitar is made to be gigged, and at the price you can afford two, so that answers the backup question quite convincingly.

It seems quite difficult to get into contact with Godin themselves - i`ve yet to see a telephone number for them, or an email address for that matter. I`ve sent off the warranty form. You get 2 years. Not that ANYONE except maybe pete townshend is going to need it.

I`ve got a few guitars, i`ve had a few which have since been passed on. This is by far the best, and nowhere near the most expensive. With the right distribution Godin could sell TONS more of these, you`re basically getting a US built guitar, of a genuine design, that has been excellently crafted, well set-up, with a beautiful short-scale design perfect for a guitarist with smaller hands, like myself. Okay so maybe the pickups could be louder, with the exception of the Humbucker, which is louder than something that is extremely loud indeed. I love the neck pickup too, it`s got a character sadly lacking in most manufacturers generic pickups. I might swap the middle pickup eventually for a lipstick pickup off a tele, that would be interesting.

My advice for anyone even thinking about buying any of Fender`s budget range would be to try this first, and do the maths. Like this.

Godin SD Fender Mexican <strat or tele>

price #299 #379ish
built in... US Mexico/US parts <the dodgier ones>
gig bag yep nope
body maple alder. if you`re lucky.
tone lots of it not much of it
looks original classic <boring>

i guess you could also compare it to the Music Man Axis Sport, similar looks, similar pickup configuration, maybe the Axis gets the nudge in terms of balls-to-the-wall sounds, but the neck is much clubbier. Oh, and it`s about #1000.

My only opinion is try one, buy one. In fact, walk right away from that prs mccarty and get 10 of these instead. You`ll feel MUCH better. Trust Me.

Made in 2003 and purchased early 2004. 24 fret/volume and tone controls/SSH configuration. These are Godin designed pcikups. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Body is I believe maple...Red finish. Body style is unique. Tremelo/Godin tuners.

This is the best sounding (and playing) guitar under a $1,000 dollars! I like it much better than my American Fender and my Custom Fender Tele FMT! The sound is just amazing and it plays like a dream! A tiny bit of noise is selector switch.

Superb fit and finish. Even better than my American Fender! It was set-up very well from the factory. I had it set-up again because I changed the strings from 9's to 10's. The guitar speaks of quality! The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is a tiny bit of noise in the selector switch. I just bought the guitar--so if I noitice any addtional noise I'll have it looked at.

This guitar is built very well! It is built to last a lifetime
I'm sure! Everything just looks great! I would use it on a gig
and already have! I plan on selling my other two electrics because this is so good!

Haven't dealth with the company but I have heard good things. Good website but they need to update it to 2004!

I've been playing guitar for 14 years, but I quit playing for about 5 years. I own two other guitars and a couple of amps. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another SD in a heartbeat! This is just a great guitar! I compared it to everything I could get my hands on in the under a #1,000 dollars price range---and this won hands down! I've owned (and sold) a number of electrics the last 2 years and have dissatisfied with the quality except the American Fender. My favorite feature is how it sounds and then the quality of build! My advice to anyone looking for a quality instrument without paying a fortune is to look at this!

Features have been covered in the numerous reviews.
Mine was a quilted flame burst finish.
It has all the features I was looking for except looking tuners which I replaced I think they cost me $40 or $50 for the upgrade.

The guitar sounds sweet. When I first bought the guitar I was sure I was going to change the bridge pickup, but could not happier now. You can cover a wide range of music and get almost any sound from the stock pickups. I am using it with a peavey classic 30 or a pod xt.

The action and set up was near perfect. One slight adjustment of the truss rod and it was set. I only think it needed that because of the string change. Finish was flawlwss. My only complaint was the trem was super stiff and the strings would bind in the nut when using.After some use the trem loosened a little, and the string binding was because of the thicker strings. It was easy fix and with the locking tuners it just doesn't come out of tune. The locking tuners were more for my preference than a needed upgrade.

I have had this guitar for a year now and love it. It is a tank. My children 4 and 9mths (beat on) play the guitar all the time I use it hours a day. The guitar just is very well made. If I didn't have another guitar I wouldn't be uncomfortable useing it to gig without a backup, but I do have one.

I don't know I have not needed to call

I,ve been playing for about 15 years. I have had numerous different guitars over the years, American fenders, gibsons, to name the higher end scale, but this has been the finest quality for the money.
I don't consider this a cheap backup which is what it was purchased for it is now one of my main guitars. The guitar is just sweet.

Used cream color that I got on EBAY. I know that the creme color was discontinued a few years back so I'm guessing it is circa 1996 to 2000. I really don't know.

I got this guitar because I was so impressed (and still am) with a Godin LG I also own. When I first got the SD the previous owner had installed an EMG 81 in the bridge. It was MUCH more powerful than the other stock single coils so I found an original Godin HB on Ebay and installed it in place of the EMG. I was really disapointed with the sound. Dark, dull, low output etc. Because of this I rarely played the SD. One day I decided to purchase and install a complete EMG S/S/H set to see if I could 'revive' the SD. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! If anyone is contemplating getting rid of their SD because of the dull sound try putting EMG's into it. It is now my favorite guitar. It sounds lively, articulate, agressive, smooth...words fail me. My rating for this category is a six because stock it sucks (3) but with the EMG's it is near perfect (10).

I received the guitar used. The previous owner had not set it up well after he/she had installed the EMG 81 in the bridge. After I installed the EMG set I then spent the time to set the string height and intonation. It plays really nice now.

It is a very solid guitar. No complaints....well one. Like a lot of other reviewers my SD goes out of tune whenever I use the vibrato bar. I will eventually put a wood block there and lock it down.

Never tried.

Been playing since 1975.
If it were stolen I would get another one, maybe a little flashier.
I chose the Godin SD because I also love my Godin LG, but I didn't have to mess with the LG at all. It was perfect as is.

2003 model, 2 piece rock maple as I remember. 24-frets which is a great plus considering it has the Les-Paul body (I love Les-Paul's but they almost never have 24 frets). H-S-S combination, 5 way selector switch, and a volume and tone (which actually CHANGES the sound of the guitar). I got the black pearl finish which is just a beautiful guitar, I only wish that the pickguard was more a Les Paul style rather than a strat shape. A nice die-cast bridge, holds tune very well as long as you don't use the tremolo. It comes out of tune immediately if you do more than just a quiver with it. But for the price, you really can't complain. Finally it came with some nice non-locking tuners that keep tune very well.

This guitar can fit almost any type of music, except country. Although the stock pickups are pretty darn good, I do plan on changing them soon. The single coils are great, but I don't think they're sensitive enought to play lead. The humbucker is one the deepest darkest sounding I've heard, it picks up the low end sound NO problem. I play with a cheap 65-watt Kustom amp, it even makes this amp sound good and the sounds I can get are pretty good.

The guitar was near perfect from the second I got it. The only problem I have is that the strings that came with it were very light. Although it increases the playability (which is already pretty high on this guitar) it doesn't do the pickups justice. The action was perfect, though there was a little string buzz if you don't plug it in and hit a chord hard, but who cares. I love the way the guitar looks, but I don't like that they have Godin printed on everything (the pickguard, the tuners, the pickups, the bridge, and of course on the headstock).

I've only had it a few months so really can't comment here, except I've banged the headstock a couple of times by accident, and there isn't a scratch on it.

I haven't dealt with the Godin company directly, but their represenatives here are some of the best people I've talked to. They're very helpful with anything I would need concerning their product.

Although I've only been playing for about a year now, I have researched a lot of things before I decided (in the store suprisingly) that this was the guitar for me. If it were stolen, I might get it again, or I might get a different kind of guitar, just to experiment, but I' not saying that this isn't a great guitar. If you're a beginner I highly recommend this guitar because it is very easy and a joy to play.

This has already been covered. Mine is transparent red and has a maple fingerboard. I'm not really missing any features, so...

I play a lot of heavy metal, hard rock, grunge, blues and such music. I haven't changed the pickups and I like the sond very much. I use Dean Markley Blue Steel strings, gauge: 0.10-0.52. and all of the pickups have a sound I can do with! The single coils don't produce that much noise, but sound kind of Strat-like, yet unique. The humbucker really screams! When I play the neck pickup and the middle pickup together, I get very juicy sound.

As I said before, I put in heavier strings. This made the action a bit higher, but that can be fixed. The 23. fret was a bit too high from the beginning, causing a bit of a buzz on the 22nd, but the store is going to take care of it for me.

Otherwise the guitar looks very solid. I've played it live several times, and it stays in tune very well. I think I can depend on it as well as any serious guitar. Though, I ALWAYS break a string during a gig,(my style is rather rough)so I always have a backup:-( The Volume knob and the plug-in seem a bit weak though.

I contacted Godin some days ago, with some general questions. But, since it was only days ago, I don't expect them to answer right away! The store though, have been very professional in answering my questiones!

I am 22, and I've been playing for about 10 years. I play it through a Peavey Duel 212 amp. I use a Big Muff (russian), a Marhall chorus, Cry Baby and an Equalizer from Boss.

If I would loose it, I would definetly replace it. I obviously love the sound, the feel of the slim short-scale neck (I have short fingers)and, perhaps most importantly, the 24 frets! You may call me eccentric, but I really need 24 frets on a guitar! That's why I don't usually play Strats, Teles, SG's or Les Pauls. This guitar is really what has been missing from my life;-)

My Godin SD was "Assembled in the U.S from parts hand crafted in Canada" - at least that's what it says on the headstock and came with a lower-end gig bag. The single cutaway body is made of solid, dense maple and has a beautiful Sunrise finish, while the short scale neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard and is extremely comfortable to fret.
The S/S/H Godin pickup configuration is controlled by a 5-way selector and single volume and tone controls which both have an excellent range. The guitar has a tremelo as standard, but I have never used it. The tuners have Godin stamped on them and appear to keep the guitar in tune very well.
The guitar was strap-lock ready and included accessories were allen keys for the truss rod and bridge saddles.

I like a lot of 70/80's blues and rock, particularly Rory Gallagher, and find that the range of Godin sounds suit this particular style from the beautiful warm tones and Strat-style bright and in-between sounds of the single coils to piercing bridge humbucker solos. I don't find the single coils as noisy as some Fender Stratocasters I have played.

The action was a bit high when I received the guitar as a gift, and the factory fitted strings (9's) were too light for my liking. The intonation was perfect. I don't know if the action was the Godin setup or if the store had set it up this way, however they were happy to work on it for me and restring it with 10's which really improve the guitar's overall sound. The Sunrise finish on the body looks terrific and has only one small flaw in the lacquer. The chrome selector switch screwheads look a bit mashed. Overall, though, the guitar is beautifully finished and looks far more expensive than the list price.

I don't often play live but I play a lot - I don't doubt it would stand up to live playing. It stays in tune well, and the locking strap buttons look solid.
I would always have a backup at a gig - you never know what might happen...

The guitar came with a two-year warranty, but I don't think I will need it since the guitar is solidly built and shows no signs of needing attention.
I did email Godin about a hard shell case and some other questions and received a reply in two days.

I love this guitar - I hadn't played for years until a friend let me borrow a Fender tele and a Strat as well as a Gibson ES335 and I considered buying a solid body guitar again. The Godin is, in my opinion, a great buy for the price - it sounds great, has a great neck, and looks amazing - and I preferred it to the Squiers and lower end Fenders I compared it to.
I would definitely replace it with another SD - probably with the quilted maple top - if this one was to get lost or stolen...

it's all covered in previous reviews. It's a nice, simple guitar for a very nice price considering its construction and the fact that it's made in North America. Plus. Gig bag cost me 40 bucks more.
Tuners are no-name, non-locking. They hold well.
Came with strap locks installed.

Great sound. Suits me very well. I play a wide range of music from classic rock to alt and indie to punk and ska. Some blues, etc.
i can get a broad variety of noises out of it. I play it straight through a roland GC405 (practice amp). The single coils are a little noisy. No big problem, I can just turn off my computer monitor.
I like the fact that I can get strat sounds and sg/lp sounds out of it.
I Dislike the extra-light strings it ships with.

Came with nice fast action. Intonation is near perfect. Beautiful transparent red finish, no flaws.

Looks and feels solid. Should withstand live playing, though i mostly play bass when jamming, etc. This guitar will probably remain in my basement.
I'd never gig without a backup.

never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for six years. This guitar replaces the El Degas I learned on. I've played my dad's Framus acoustic mostly. Also play an Epiphone Thunderbird bass.
If stolen I would definitely buy another. And kill whoever absconded with it. I love the comfortable neck, the simplicity, the excellent construction. Wish the SD came sans tremolo (i'll never use it).
Played the SDxt, an Epiphone SG and a couple mexi-strats and teles. For the money, i think the Godin was the best choice.

My godin SD is from the year 2000 I think. It has 24 frets with a 5 way switch and two knobs (volume tone). My version of the sd was a bit more expensive because of special hardware and finish (metallic knobs and special ''marble'' sunburst) A ''strat'' style tremolo bridge. Non-locking tuners. The switch makes a scratchy sound when used and the knobs too! what a shit! I really HATE the way the bridges reacts with the tremolo...

I think the sound of the SD gives absolutely no professional sounds. In reality, it's a cheap mix of a strat and a les paul, you can make anything with, but it will sound like anything! The humbucker sounded too weak, so I made it change for a Seymour Duncan Alnico 1 to make it sound more warm and with more sustain. I think the single coils doesn't sound that bad, but in comparison with my strat plus, it's so poor. The only reason why I keep it is to sometimes get the humbucker sound for hard rock and more heavier stuff wich sounds pretty good with the Seymour duncan. I use to have a bluesy style of playing, gilmour, you know. This guitar is just not the REAL THING. IT's only a package deal for people that are not ready to invest for a Strat and a LP. But for the price, not that bad for a advanced beginner.

the action vas pretty high whan it came out of the factory. as I said, the humbucker was pretty weak. I made a big tune-up by a friend and the switch and knobs re-became scratchy after...
and the neck is going like a snake! it makes some notes sound unprecise, wich is pretty bad in solos.

With the time, this guitar may die! something great: it's equipped with strat-lock buttons. I would use It for a 2nd guitar and not depend on it... for a back-up, its not that bad but not professionnal.

didn't have to deal with godin, but I would trust them, a quebecer company!

I think it is a great guitar for someone who wants to get in something more that a Squier and that doesn't want to pay the price of a professionnal instrument. I would definetely say to a person that wants the same style of instrument to buy a american strat with a humbucker (even If i don't really like this option, the humbucker on a strat)

My Godin SD has a maple neck and the quilted top (actually it's a veneer". The quilted top gives the illusion that it is a two piece body when it is actually a 3 piece body. The body is made from hard maple.

The strings this guitar are setup and shipped with are not a standard set of .009's. It is a hybrid or "heavy bottom" set of strings .009-.046 not the typical .009-.042s.

This guitar IS heavy. The ergonomics of this guitar are really quite poor. The bulk of the wood is on the top half of the guitar so the guitar costantly wants to fall forwards or backwards when on your lap. The cutout for your leg when in the sitting position is quite narrow and disproportionally deep. Such a tiny balance point makes it annoying to balance it out horizontally after a long playing session. The bulk of this guitar makes it impractical to play while sitting back casually on a sofa. Too much of the guitar's weight is on the fretting hand, making it difficult to play and will flex the neck out of tune.

This is a short scale guitar made of a hard, dense wood. A stratocaster is a longer scale guitar made of a less dense wood. It cannot sound like or take the place of a stratocaster.

The face of the guitar isn't perfectly flat, but is slightly convex. The guitar's shape almost reminds me of a pendelum. Strat's look cheaply made in comparison with their flat faces. It is really quite a beautiful guitar. But sadly the artistry does interfere with it's functionality, especially when it's an entry level guitar.

The pickups are quite weak. At first I was impressed by the ability of the single coils to reject electrical noise, but then I finally realized they just aren't sensitive enough to pick it up. The magnets in the pole pieces are weaker in comparison to what you'd find in an american strat. Raising or lowering the pickups doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. There just isn't enough gain in them to get the classic single coil sound. The change in tone between the mid and neck pickups is only subtle, not huge in the case of a strat. The only pickup with adequate gain is the humbucker.
Only when you fret the guitar after the 7th fret does the tone start to shine brightly, especially in the in-between switch positions, but it's a bit of a one trick pony. Overall the bottom strings always seem to sound muddy/dead and it takes a raspy set like GHS boomers to get enough tone into the pickups.

I like to play the guitar clean and the weaker string harmonic overtones that a sensitive set of pickups can transfer to the amp is essential for a good sound. Maybe the existing pickups will work well with distortion, but not clean.

The tone and volume controls don't suck the tone to unusable levels if they are anything less than fully open as is the case with a strat. I just hope they aren't responisble for the weak pickups!

BTW an American Standard Strat does blow this guitar out in the tone department, at least for clean rhythem playing. The with it's humbucker and short scale a godin can nail peircingly loud and bright leads better than strat.

I don't know how much better this guitar would sound with a good set of pickups. The guitar does have a very solid foundation for something to upgrades. Maybe I'll try it someday, but the point of doing reviews is to review it in stock condition.

I wish Fender's quality control was this good. The pots, jacks and pickup switch actually feel like they are of HIGHER quality than fender. I'm undecided on the trem. I don't use it. The default setup worked well. After a guitar tech set it up and tweaked it a bit, it became even better. It does stay in tune well.

The finish quality is excellent, but I think there is a bit too much laquer on it.

It does say Godin on it a few too many places. I'm not thrilled they had to write a sentence on the headstock explaining it was made in the USA from imported parts, but it's not too noticable from afar.. The newer godins have a different style logo on the headstock.

With a maple fingerboard be resigned to the fact the finish will eventually wear off in some places and turn the wood grey. I think this is already starting on the sharpest portion of the bottom edge of the fretboard.

Never had to deal with Godin.

It's not exactly the miracle guitar that can emulate both a strat and a les paul. Physically it's closer to a les paul. This is Godin's own design for better or worse. You can't complain at all about the build quality.

I bought this new at a discount due to being in the store for some time.I am not sure of the year.It is see thru red with HSS set up.

The sound in the humbucker position is a little brite and backing off the volume kills the tone.I have played the SD through several of my tube amps.It is not very inspiring to my ears.Maybe I have gone tone death.This guitar is not a pro guitar.It looks good but it is just not in line with how it is promoted.Thats just my opinion.Others seem to love it.

I guess I must be very unlucky.It seems that most others have good things to say about the SD.I have a feeling that the store had this guitar around for a while.It does not stay in tune and the set up was horrible.The 5 way switch makes scratchy sounds.The intonation was way off and even a tech could get it perfect.Now for the really scary part.The bridge pick up set so high that you cannot adjust the string height any way other than high.The tech took the pickguard off and found that the adjustment screws were to short.They had to be replaced.The string trees catch and throw it out of tune.The neck was way out of wack.I would return it but it was scratched during the repair.I now have a $350 piece of junk.I have talked to others who have had this problem.Maybe Godin sent a bunch of junkers to Dallas.Who knows?Could be that McBride Music screwed it up and I was the unlucky bozo that bought it.Yes I played it in the store,but I trusted then to not sell junk.Godin guitars,in my opinion are close to Squier Bullets in quality.I have never had so many issues with a guitar.I have had about 20 different guitars to date.I guess the odds of getting burned finally hit.Check these Canadian junkers very close before you buy one.Sorry,just my opinion.

It just will not stay in tune or hold intonation.Would never use live.But hey,Guitar Center offered me $85 for it.

Do not know.

Looks good and I wish I had one that everyone else seems to love.

Sunburst finish, 24 frets, 2 single coils and a hummer. 5 way selector switch.

This guitar sounds awesome! I like to play Guns n' Roses, Pantera, Zeppelin. Lots of music is well suited to this guitar. When playing sufrfin with the alien by Joe Satriani on the tapping part the hummer makes the guitar scream! It rocks!

The only problem i have had is that the strings were too far apart away from the top end frets so i had them lowered.

This guitar has never had any problems in the year and 1/2 i have owned it. Its a solid performer and is good for beginners and the experienced player.

I brought from Hinckley Music store and the warranty lasted for 1 year on it. When i had the strings done it took only a saturday afternoon.

This is the first electric guitar i have ever owned and within a year and 1/2 i can play songs that i never thought i would be able too. Sweet Child o Mine is a plessure to play and the intro to Back Off Bitch sounds sweet. All i need to do now is get my Vox Cambridge 30 RT!

canadian wood, made in the USA...
has the S/S/H pickup config.. all godin designed.. and a 5way selector..
has two knobs.. one volume and one tone (which makes a HUGE difference)
came with a gigbag
pretty sure its all maple

sounds amazing!
esp because i like to play alot of different styles of music and i can get that with this guitar

came in mint condition.. no flaws at all!
and sounded great as soon as i brought it home

the body itself seems very durable

but i have broken 3 strings in less than 2 months..
so i would suggest getting better strings

no experience with customer support

i've had this guitar for about 2 months now and i am very happy with my choice...
i tried some of the other godins along with some strats and epiphones.. and some others that i didnt like at all...

but the godin seemed to feel the best.. and although its not a big name like fender or gibson... i still think its an amazing guitar..
and for the price you cant beat it

Made in Canada. Nothing really special. S/S/H configuration, all Godin designed pickups. Lightburst quilted top, the body is all maple, so is the neck. No nonsense setup.

Rock music is my style. I plugged this straight into a Marshall Valvestate amplifier. Bridge humbucker produced no noise, and as most single coils do, the neck and mid coils produced noise. It was expected, and it's no big deal. A nice solid sound. It was a bit on the brighter side, kind of reminds me of a Stratocaster sound. The bridge pickup is great for leads (I find it better than most stock pups) and the neck, well, rhythm. The guitar suits me very well, hands down one of the best sounds I've ever heard.

Everything perfect, except for a little string buzz (and this was when I was not hitting the strings hard).

Nice, solid. Doesn't look like anything is prone to fail unless you use it for a yo-yo.

Why is this axe so great? It's built very good, comparable to most American Stratocasters, in my opinion. It gets you a good sound, also comparable to the Strats. But the best part is that it's very affordable. All you need to do it get a proper setup, and this will be one of the best guitars you can possibly get.

Canadian made/USA assembled guitar. Great maple neck/fretboard on mine, Humbucker in Bridge & 2 single coils (all pickups look to be Godin made), 5-way selector,great Strat style trem bridge that stays in tune well once setup, great tuners by Godin. This guitar came with a gig bag and a truss rod tool (never seen that included before :-) These guitars come with plain tops (mine), flame or quilted tops. The latter two tops will cost more.

I love this guitars sound. It'll handle the strat in between sound very well and the humbucker get's close to that Les Paul sound (close enough anyway).

The action/intonation was very good from the factory as was the pickup heights. I didn't care for the factory strings as they were too light for me (felt like 9's). I do have one major beef about the factory trem setup. Of the 5 SD's I tried, they all dive bombed but there was ZERO upward travel on the trem. This was because the trem was jammed against the forward side of the trem cavity. I set the trem up and it's great now, stays in tune as well (or better) than any trem I've used. Now Godin may do this intentionally for shipping...but at least 2 dealers do not correct it! The neck is beautiful right from the factory, great fretwork & feel on all 5 I tried...no flaws found anywhere...although the plastic on the pickguard was a real pain in the a@@ to remove (jammed under all the screws and pots).

This guitar looks solid and looks like it will last forever. The body finsh seems thin, but it looks great. Get strap locks! Comes with very skinny strap buttons.

Pretty decent web site. Not to impressed with email support. I emailed some concerns about factory setup about a week ago and have not heard back from them :-( Guess there busy building great guitars :-)

I've been playing for nearly 30 years. I currently play all my guitars through a Fender Super Champ. I've got a couple of vintage Electra's, an Ibanez, Silvertone (junk), Applause acoustic. This Godin was my first new guitar in 21 years (bought vintage for years) and this guitar blew me away the first time I played one. I really feel that this is the best value in the history of guitars :-) Seriously though, were else are you going to find a guitar this versitaile and that's so much fun to play for under 400 bucks Canadian!

Nice sounding pickups, great range of tone. This is my first elecric and I'm glad I bought it. I play my friend's LGX, and this sounds much better for electric type stuff. The tone knob does so much more then a fender strat, it's like night-and-day. The knobs in general and not 'loaded' at the top end, where the adjustment is in the first 1/8th of the turn, and the rest is filler. Good adjustment all the way through the knob's rotation...perfect. Nice bridge, nice everything. A good deal. I'm thinking of putting in a few new pickups perhaps, but I'll have to see.

So good, I'm buying a second Godin guitar.

Wide range of sounds, similar to a strat. It has the same pickup config as a Fat-strat. I find it has little noise, and sounds great with or without distortion. Can get that strat sound no problem. Very bright and nice.

Action was amazing straight-a-way. Very smooth neck, smooth frets, nice playability. Built very strongly. I own a seagull acoustic, and I understand they are built by the same company as Godin. Both guitars are built very well, and play beautifully. My SD is blue silverleaf maple, and it's gorgeous. Looks like a very expensive guitar, plays like one too, but it's not expensive.

I would say this guitar could handle anything you dish out. The finish is very nice, and scratches seem to "wipe off". The hardware is strong, strap buttons rock solid. I definately can depend on this guitar.

I haven't had any experience with the customer support.

This is one nice guitar. Although it is my first electric, and I didn't know a lot about electrics in general when I was looking to buy, I'm happy with how I made out. I played mexican strats, even american strats, and this guitar played as nice or nicer, and sounds as good. Pick one up! Amazing value, can't be beat.

A quick update of a review I submitted on 10/19/02:

In that review, I rated my SD an overall "10" in value,
but noted that the guitar lacked "snap". I attributed
this to the voicing of the pickups, but I don't think
the pickups were entirely to blame.

I recently changed the stock .009 strings out for .010/.046's,
and the sound of the guitar came right into focus.
I usually play Strats, so I guess the SD's shorter scale
length, combined with the lighter strings, added up to
a slightly "rubbery" response to pick attack.

The slight increase in tension brought about by the .010
set is enough to give the guitar a nice, crisp feel, while
retaining the good characteristics of the shorter scale
length (such as ease of bending, shorter left-hand reaches
on the fretboard, etc.)

I stand by my earlier remark that the humbucker is in
fact stronger in the bass than I would like, and I'll
still probably swap it out for something a little hotter
and more balanced at some point.

The step-up in string gauge, however, seems to have
improved the feel to the point where I'd have to retract
about half of the bitching I did in my full review about
"lack of bite". A little egg on my face, perhaps. But
I did rate the guitar a "10" even with my carping, so
I submit this mainly as a suggestion for prospective
or current SD owners who might want to try the guitar
with heavier-gauge strings than those installed at the
factory. In my opinion, this simple change improves what
is already a very good guitar.

(Covered above)

(Covered 10/19/02)

(Covered 10/19/02)

(Covered 10/19/02)

(Covered above, and on 10/19/02)