Godin xtSA

2008 model,assembled in u.s.a., Black-trans finish, slab body unlike my
black LGXT which has the nice contoured front.This has the better RMC system fitted, neck more chunky than the LGx, I definitely do not rate
the p/ups as fitted, though the tuners are fine,standard of build also.
one output jack socket has gone faulty so the mix-out only gives piezo.
E-mailed RMC and Godin for spare, NO REPLY!! what is it with them?
I mailed Brian Moore with a small prob and they were on it in a flash.

As said,the p/ups fitted do not live up to the guitar,I spoke with a Godin guy who said as much, so I swapped them for a matched-set of Seymour-Dunc's, sh-2n and jb'hot rodded , Thats more like it! now it sounds like it should do for the money. I do miss the mid-position sound of two HB's though ,for the classic Gibson/Tele' sound if you get me. Tracks like a B***H on synth,piezo sound ok.

Action and build,spot on,Trem, never a problem,don't get these guy's who rant' about not staying in tune etc.It aint rocket science to sort out bits of wood and metal,J.F.D.it

you could go to war with a Godin and club the enemy into the ground,I alway's take two along cause I am a flash old sod and I can!

Pretty poor on the help side,I am a builder and repairer,yet they will not supply me bits ? and the import guy's are a joke,don't even know what a guitar is made of when you ask for help.PLEASE, use pro's not 'accountants.

I own two Godins as w/horse synth guitars,several of my own ANGELLO_CLASSIX's (the best) used through t/lab se.-Atomic set up,and soon a Fractal AXE-FX unit (gotta have one guy's).Mainly I like the
Godin's for their solid build,features,playability and quality.I swapped this for another guitar so as to have two similar ones to alternate, works great.

I have a 2009 version of the xtSA. I run the synth out to a Roland GR-20 synth. The electric guitar out goes to a Zoom G7.1ut Multi-effect and the acoustic out is plugged into a Digitech Vocalist Live 4. All of these are plugged into 2 keyboard amps. Many of the sounds generated by the synth cannot be handled by a conventional guitar amp. I also play dobro, mandolin, and some keyboards.

In terms of guitars, I now play almost exclusively the xtSA and a Godin Multiac. I leave my Les Paul, SG, Stratocaster, and Peavy at home and seldom use them.

The synth out is only as good as the synth you will be plugging into. The Roland GR-20 is adequate but other options exist.

The Humbucker-Singlecoil-Humbucker setup is great and you can dial in any sound an electric guitar can generate.

The acoustic pickup is something of a gimmick. It does not sound like an acoustic guitar, in fact I can make it sound more like a Telecaster. It is nice to have the extra output and you can shape the sound to your taste.

I bought this on E-Bay from a Vancouver dealer. The guitar arrived in 2 days. It was in tune. The action, fit, finish, look and features are impeccable.

The guitar is durable and reliable. The 13 pin out is a bit loose. I play without a backup.

I have not had the need for support. The Godin has a lifetime warranty.

I still have several acoustic guitars but I think that I will be selling the balance of my electric guitars and keeping just the 2 Godin electrics I have.

I won't list the features...I think xtSA owners and fans know this info. I bought mine in 2006 online (American Musical Supply) and paid $899, the same guitar lists for $998, mine is the tranparent black model.

I love the variety of sounds I can get from this guitar. I've play for 40 years and have owned many guitars from Fender, Gibson, Kramer, Aria Knight Warrior II, (an unknown favorite that was stolen),etc. This guitar is versatile and plays well. I use Crate D212, Fender Cyber-Twin and Behringer ACX 1000 amps and various effects. This guitar can get sounds ranging from a strat, LP Gibson, Jazzbox timbres ...anything you'd need. Love the acoustic voice and synth capabilities. I use a Roland GI-20 MIDI interface and hook it to an Korg Triton Le keyboard and a Roland D-110 module. Tracking is sweet and I'm spoiled because this my first synth capable guitar.

The factory set up was ok...I did a slight adjustment lowering the action to suit my tastes...Love the results. I think the look of the guitar is tight. I am not a purist when it come to the woods and such...It looks great to me. I also reset the pickup height levels ...works for me. Not bookmatched, but still beautiful. The workmanship is top notch in my book no flaws, the ebony fretboard is sweet and easy to play

This guitar is well built and I haven't had any problems with it for two years. I travels well and I like the gigbag, but I have purchased a hard case for future use. This guitar is reliable as well as versatile. I would only use a backup for broken strings...this very quickly became my #1 axe!

I haven't had to deal with Godin...so... no comment.

Once again I've played for 40 years and have performed and recorded for years. This is my all-time favorite guitar. I love the whole pacl, I read other reviews critical of the pickups...works great for me. I don't know if I can compare this to other guitars because it does so much more. I belive if more people knew about this guitar more would want it. I think Godin should advertise this instrument more

French Canadian made Guitar. This is a 3 sound guitar comprising standard electric, synth 13 pin, and accoustic. The pickups are Seymore Duncan Design.. 2 humbuckers and a single coil with a trem bridge

I use it with a Roland GR-20 synth and a Mesa Boogie MK 2 I also run a GT-6 Boss processor, freq maximizer, and the great WireX system which sounds better than a cord. Not sure why.

The guitar was sent to me by mail order because nobody seems to sell them anywhere near me. I live in NE PA and work in the NJ/NYC area. The guitar was shipped to me in horrible condition. Altho the signed slip said all these people had checked it out before shipping it..nevertheless it arrived in a condition I have never seen before. The Guitar was un-freakin-tunable. Couldn't bring it up to tune...not possible. Why? the trem bridge was not correctly setup at the factory. There was a spring missing from the trem mechanism. Everytime I would tighten the tuner the bridge would arc up and the action got horrendis. Since it was mailed from Indiana I could not send it back for the "free 1 year adjustment". (More below) The pickups were also in like condition. The neck pickup was hitting the strings when played and the other two were low. Easy to adjust myself because I have played 51 years. Wondered how a novice player would react.

Since I haven't gotten it back from my own Luthier who is fixing it at my expense.. I can't say. I do/did intend to use this guitar with the synth along with my PRS Custom 22 which "really" screams.

Customer support doesn't exist with this company. I emailed them to ask what they would recommend I do and to tell them what I experienced upon delivery of their Guitar....i.e. untunable, bridge issue, etc. I also told them that there was NO Maual with the guitar to tell me what the dials did or HOW TO access the accoustic sounds or how to blend the sounds together or how they would suggest I start out trying some settings> NOTHING. They told me about their free adjustment for a year warranty. I just would have to ship it somewhere. They told me they don't send manuals with the guitars anymore and gave me a website to download one after I download "Adobe". My computer can't get past the download for some unknown reason. I will try a friends later. No, you can't read it online... you must download the thing first. Make sure you can fix this guitar yourself or know somebody who can because this company IS NOT GOING TO HELP YOU. Now I know WHY not many dealers sell them. Evidently, the company sucks for them to deal with...... my guess. The lowest rating is not low enough.

I have been playing 51 years this year. (I am 59) I own some really nice guitars. I bought a custom built for me Mesa Boogie Mark 2 around 1980-81. I have a Gibson ES335TD 1963 I bought new in tobacco burst color. Really nice instrument. And I sold more great Guitars than I want to remember... early Hagstroms, Melody-makers, Les Paul Juniors, Gretch country gentleman, etc. I wish I could have purchased this guitar from a reputable dealer close by so I could try it first and have them work on it if needed. Fortunately my good friend is also a very good Luthier so I am OK. But I caution you. I like the flat 16" radius on this neck. I know Fender makes a Strat with the 13 pin setup but their necks have too much curve. In the 1960's a Fender Strat was considered to be a crap guitar and now they are popular. Nobody wanted them then. I think some have a 9" neck radius. Crazy to try to bend the strings. The Godin guitar seems OK if you get one with a straight neck. My PRS is my favorite and my friend put a compound radius on the neck for me. A 12 to 14" compound. I wish it was flatter but it's good and low now. I am hoping another guitar maker begins putting synth features on their guitars and also I would like the manufacturers to listen to players more than they do now. Flatten the necks, lower the actions, make everything adjustable and put some freakin hi-tech in them. The old players are dead, get with the program a**holes. Thanks

The specs for the xtSA have been covered more than adequately in previous reviews. That said, I'd like to make a few comments on the construction techniques used rather than restate the features. I think any guitarist who's a gearhead, at some point, designs his ultimate guitar either in his head or on paper even if he can't afford to buy it. In my case, I would have had to win the lottery and have my dream axe built for me by a luthier had I not run across the Godin xtSA in a buyers' guide. Although it lacks the fancy wood I would have used and the features and construction vary a little here and there, I was amazed at how close the xtSA came to my requirements, especially for such a reasonable price. Three outputs and versatile hybrid design aside, the basic construction of this guitar is cutting edge and we will no doubt see more use of such innovations in the future.

I wanted to combine the benefits of a Les Paul's sustain with the resonant tone of a Fender. A Les Paul requires that thick top of expensive maple to brighten up the dark tone of it's predominantly mahogany composition, but the mass of the mahogany and the set neck gives the Paul its sustain. A Strat or Tele has a much brighter sound mainly because lighter, more resonant woods are used, usually alder or poplar. Other similarly-designed guitars are made from basswood which also has a bright tone.

I reasoned that sustain can be had in two ways: either by using a massive, heavy wood in conjunction with a set neck or by making the neck and the central portion of the body from a single piece of lighter weight but more rigid wood, like maple. I came up with the idea of "neck-thru-bridge" construction only to discover that the technique is already used in some of Gibson's more high-end guitars and in custom-made instruments. It's called a "deep neck tenon". The xtSA compromises by having a massive mahogany neck bolted to a hard maple body block rather than a maple neck bolted to a soft resonant tone wood. I would never claim my xtSA has as much sustain as a Les Paul but it definitely has more than your typical Fender.

The body is filled out with "wings" made of poplar. Poplar is used on Fender's imports and is considered a less desirable wood because it has a complete lack of grain (it's plain vanilla) and is inexpensive because it's so common. I have two strats, an older Tex-Mex made of poplar and a Deluxe Plus made of alder. The cheap strat has a brighter, more complex, livelier tone. I consider poplar to be a very underrated tonewood. Godin makes the best use of it by using another idea I came up with independently: a thin veneer top of fancy wood and a single-color sunburst that's opague by the time it gets to the edges so you can't see where the two woods meet. Who cares what the sides and back of the guitar look like anyway?

The xtSA's construction gives you the best of both worlds, and in a way that reduces cost. Extra sustain and superb tone. And where else will you find an ebony fingerboard on a guitar costing under a grand?

I'm an original progressive rock artist, which is much different from playing cover. I needed a guitar sound so unique that people would know it was me from hearing one note. That's a tall order so I did a great deal of homework into what makes an electric guitar sound the way it does from the wood and the electronics to the shape of the body. I also had to have a very clear idea of what I wanted my guitar to sound like. I don't have a lot of money so I had to get it right the first time.

One of my favorite guitarists is Allan Holdsworth. He has a gimmick and I figured it out. I played sax in the school band from 5th grade through High School and one day I realized that Holdsworth plays his guitar exactly like a mainstream jazz alto sax player. He lays down patterns on the fingerboard then shifts them around chromatically. He also has one of those distinctive guitar sounds, which I thought was kind of nasal. Again, one day it clicked and I realized it wasn't nasal but "reedy". His sound and playing style are no accident. He makes his guitar sound like a sax, too. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. I decided I could use the same method to find my own sound and it would be much different from his since jazz isn't one of my main influences. I could choose a different instrument and make my guitar sound reminiscent of that.

It turned out to be a trumpet. I like classical music with a bright, clear trumpet sound, like Aaron Copeland's compositions. I always did like bright, open guitar sounds too, like that little bridge in the Hollies, "The Air That I Breathe". I decided I wanted a traditional mid-gain, "singing" sound as is typical in prog and fusion, but with a tight peak in the upper-midrange that's very pure, without too many harmonic overtones.

The shape of the guitar is the key factor. Symmetry at the "waist" between the upper and lower bouts gives a Gibson it's clear, open sound. The left-side, upper-bout "lobe" of the xtSA (or a telecaster) provides that upper-midrange peak, and the more wood you have in the upper bout "horn"(s) determines the amount of treble. The right-side upper bout horn on the xtSA is larger and thicker than the tiny little horn on a Les Paul and makes the sound brighter and much better balanced. BTW, it's very important that the lobe of the left-side upper bout be cut away, even a little. It allows that whole mass of wood to vibrate more freely. A Les Paul isn't cut away at all, resulting in a more subdued, mellow upper-midrange. I wanted it more brassy.

xtSA for the win, though the pickups had to go. The stock pickups on mine were the Godins, which have hot ceramic magnets and are wound hot AND in PAF fashion so that they generate a ton of harmonics. They freakin' scream. If you play modern rock/hard rock/metal, they're gorgeous. Better than any others I've heard, in fact. But for the kind of music I play they were totally wrong.

Can't slight Godin for not reading my mind. The guitar is otherwise perfect for my purposes.

The guitar was nicely set up from the factory and the fit is solid. I got my first ding in it and it does seem as if the finish is just a tiny bit delicate. No big deal. The maple veneer top is not bookmatched but they do seem to have made an honest effort to line up the grain of the two sides. I got the black one because I already have a red strat. It's prettier than I expected. It's not the usual jet-black. It's actually more of a dark, charcoal gray. The maple has a very subtle gold cast to it, so when they put the black sunburst finish over it, the center of the top almost has a hint of tobacco color.

I would have liked a more detail owners' manual. I did something boneheaded. I pushed the trem bar into the synthetic bushing (I have the pre-screw in model) and adjusted the tension with the little screw. I didn't know you had to loosen that screw to take the trem bar off and the first time I did it, I tore the bushing and scraped the chrome off the trem bar. I almost puked. It's like buying a new car and having a rock come up and give it a ding 5 minutes after you drive it off the lot. All the damage was below the surface and didn't affect the function of the trem but still. I knew it was there.

Everything else seems good and I got the damage repaired (see below). As for playing it at a gig without a backup, I don't have a choice since it's my main guitar, but I'll only be using it on the songs where I need the synth access and I'll be sitting down because my feet are going to be awfully busy.

This is a retraction of some comments I made in a previous review. Time to eat some crow. I'm sure someone here has mentioned that Godin is a manufacturer and it's not their normal policy to deal directly with customers; that they prefer you deal with them through your authorized dealer. Well, when I damaged the trem I went to my friendly authorized Godin deal where I ordered the guitar to try and order the parts to repair it.

What the salesman at the store gave me was a real crock. He told me there was a $100 minimum on special orders, including parts (and since you only need $20 worth of parts you'll have to come up with $80 worth of other stuff to buy). He also told me that Godin was a pain in the *** to deal with and that they're all French and nobody there even speaks decent English.

I'm afraid I echoed these horrible sentiments in my previous review. When I emailed them, they immediately gave me the phone number of their customer service department. I called them and the very polite fellow who answered the phone spoke perfect English with only a slight Canadian accent even though French is his first language. He even offered to call me back to save me the cost of the phone call.

We had quite a nice chat, during which he gave me some good advice, stearing me away from laptops and softsynths because "zero latency" only applies to monitoring of the input signal and the term is just a marketing gimmick. He steered me instead toward AXON's AX100MkII, which looks a lot better than the Rolands.

Godin isn't set up to accept orders from customers but they worked with me to find a solution and advised me of the difficulties of shipping things across the border due to National Security restrictions. All the problems were surmountable and dealing with Godin's personal was a pleasant experience all around.

I'm glad things worked out as they did since my "friendly" authorized Godin dealer is now out of business. I can't imagine why... Godin gets a 10 in this catagory because they went above and beyond to help me despite their policy.

My parts arrived UPS this afternoon.

I'd like my xtSA better if it was made of black limba and had a spalted maple top but you can't have everything. Maybe when I hit the lottery. Until then this is as close as I can imagine coming to my dream axe.

Features as described in other reviews: Midi output, piezo output, and conventional HSH output, with five-way selector for neck bucker, single coil from neck plus middle single coil, middle alone, middle and single coil from bridge, bridge humbucker alone. Master vol, master tone. Active piezo preamp with vol, bass, mid, treble. Vol control for midi output, Selector for piezo plus mag output, piezo plus mag plus midi, midi only. Midi control switch for changing mode and patch bank on guitar synth. Locking machine heads.
Sort of a hybrid tele/paul body shape. Not the most vibe-y look, but smart nonetheless. Very attractive transparent finish over good flame maple top. Supplied only with gig bag, but a good quality one. Hard case required really for a guitar like this. Overall, loaded with features, making it a stunningly versatile instrument. If there's something I'd like to add it would be an out-of-phase switch, but I can't begin to imagine the complications of wiring that into this circuitry.

The versatility of sound you can get with this guitar is exceptional. Starting with the conventional pickups (Godin's own, though I think they are designed in conjunction with Duncan), the humbuckers cover a lot of the expected territory, from bluesy, jazzy tones to edgy classic rock attack. The basic sonic character of the body/neck is important here. The neck is quite wide and the fingerboard is pretty flat for me anyway (takes a little getting used to, but great feel). The ebony board is unusually warm and smooth feeling, and I think combined with the mass of the neck and the very good nut (Tusq-type material?), it contributes to a big, buttery fatness to the basic 'shape' of each note. The response under your fingers is the same: rich and full of goodness! You get big, piano-like chords that sustain beautifully, especially for a guitar with a bolt-on neck and trem bridge/tailpiece. So that brings me to the single coil sounds: can they emulate Strat/Tele type sounds, given a rather different acoustic basis of this guitar? I think the answer depends on what kind/vintage of Strat or Tele you have in mind. To my ears the basic full-bodied tone out of this instrument puts it more into fat-neck fifties/sixties rosewood Fender sounds, rather than the lighter, flutier sounds you'd get from a maple-necked Strat or Tele. Anyway, they are good sounds, and it's great to be able to switch between them and the humbucker tones on the same guitar. At first acquaintance, the pickups seem a little 'civilised', and not too endowed with top-end, but with a little judicious tone-shaping (from an overdrive or treble-booster for example) you can get some great snappy, cutting spank out them. For me, this guitar covers Strat/Tele territory pretty well, even if it isn't exactly the same sound.
So now, the piezo output. Great! I can't get over the convenience of having a pretty convincing acoustic sound, AND a raunchy lead tone out of the same guitar, with just a half-turn of the master volume knob. That is SO useful in a gig. You can put the piezo output out separately from the mag output if you want, to send the acoustic sound to the PA, or combine them into one output. That can work better than you might expect, with a bit of care over the settings. I just did a gig using a Fender Blues DeVille and got a clean-enough acoustic sound with overdriven mag sound on the same amp settings (using an overdrive to give the input signal a big clean boost into the preamp stage). Like this, with the mag vol on zero and the piezo output on 1 out of 10, you are not getting distortion on the acoustic sound, but a very usable level (the piezo output is pretty big), and then you can wind up the vol on the mag pickups and overdrive the input valves for a nice singing lead or rhythm crunch. I just think that's amazing out of one guitar.
There's another aspect to the piezo/mag mix. By mixing in some toppy piezo sound over an overdriven mag sound, you can give a rich, dirty sound some real edge and bite. You could probably go on tinkering this for a long time, finding new combinations and sounds.
Midi output: you know what midi sounds are like. If you want your guitar to sound like a Hammond or a didgeridoo, this is one way to go about it. It's never going to be a convincing imitation because you don't play a keyboard the same way as a guitar, but that's sort of beside the point. Again, judicious mixing of the sounds is probably more rewarding in the long run. A subtle mixing-in of a midi sound can really give the basic guitar tones something extra, without necessarily being identifiable as synth sound. If you've seen the 3 DVD set by John McLaughlin (This Is The Way I Do It), he's using a Godin and has a very full synth-enhanced sound on some of the sections.
I'm not sure I'd ever want to use the synth output live, but I've enjoyed laying down tracks into the computer with midi sounds to fill out an arrangement - saves me having to expose my keyboard incompetenc

Can't fault it. Arrived perfectly set up. Feels great - really good neck, once you get used to the width and the flatness. Action superb. A joy to play. Slight reservation if I can be bothered, about the pickups 'floating' and not being located in a fixed position relative to the strings. I don't think the XTSA is really a work of art - but from a playing point of view, the build quality on this one is superb.

It feels very solid and well-built. No qualms about gigging it. I suppose in the back of my mind I'm thinking there's a lot to go wrong on a guitar loaded with this much technology. Are the piezos going to be fragile if mistreated? I don't know, but I suppose I'll try not to mistreat it, so maybe that means I'll look after it more than, say, my old Les Paul. That means it's got to have a hard case - carting it about in the supplied gig bag is asking for trouble.
I'd never use a guitar with a floating trem without a backup. Tuning hell if you break a string.

No experience, other than that I asked a few questions about setting up the trem, via email. Response was prompt and helpful. Local dealer (Rose-Morris, London) seems helpful too. So a 9 so far.

I've been playing since the 1970s. I own a few other guitars including 61 Gibson SG Custom VOS reissue, 72 Les Paul Deluxe (a delight), 94 Fender Robben Ford Ultra (sublime), various jazz boxes, an oud and a saz both made in Turkey. Must get a ukelele sometime! I use a little Fender Blues Jr and a Fuchs ODS. So the Godin covers a lot of ground not covered by the other guitars I have, and as I said, I'm knocked out by the versatility, which has already meant being able to tackle gigs with two guitars instead of four (and if I didn't play open tunings for some numbers I could get that down to just one). I'm not really crazy about floating trems and all the tuning hassle they give you, so I suppose I could do without that (I looked at the fixed-bridge Godin LGSA but decided the HSH layout of this one was what I needed). But I get a lot more enjoyment out of playing this than at least one of my other guitars that cost more than double the price. That, combined with the midi possibilities (I use it to drive a bit of sight-reading software, for example) make it very good value in my book. It does take a bit of adjusting from the width of the neck on this to, say, the Fender, which has a superb but quite slim neck, and I'm just keeping an eye on tendonitis, which I think I might need to be wary of - possibly a slightly more correct technique is needed for a neck like the Godin's. But - well what can I give it but 10? I'm verging on elated with it.

Already covered by other reviews.

The 3 voice system is very versatile.
Ebony fretboard plays wells.

I use the guitar as my main axe along with a variax. The variax has more tonal range due to its modeling, but the godin is a much nicer playing guitar, the finest I have. I play mainly fusion/prog rock and use the Godin's magnetic output into an xt live straight into a PA. I run the piezo output directly into an old yamaha fx500 for processing and then to a PA. Additionally I use the midi output to go into a gr33. That adds up to a very big sound if desired.

H-S-H Stock pickups cover a nice range, close to an LP sound.
The piezo output coupled with built in pre-amp and eq is perfect. Can quickly dial in a very nice ovation-like acoustic sound.

Give the piezo a 9.
The magnetics a 7.

The build quality is very nice. Action with some adjustment is the best on any of my guitars.
I really like the feel of the neck, its slightly wider than your standard guitar, which I prefer.

The guitar seems very solid. I had a straplock pop off (!!!) with no warning and the neck hit the ground. Held up very well. No noticeable damage.

I replaced the strap lock and button and havent had a problem since.
The locking tuners seem sturdy, tuning has not been an issue, and it holds a tune rather well with moderate tremolo bar usage.

I would not use this without a backup, as I cant imagine any situation where I wouldnt bring a backup. This has nothing to do with the guitar, simply you never know what some joker may do at a gig.

None needed.

Overall I give this a 9. Its my favorite guitar to play hands down.
I have about 15 guitars, including strats, variax, agiles, carvin.

If it were stolen or lost I would replace it.
In terms of versatility, its not as versatile tonally as a variax, but is superior in terms of playability.

The ultimate would be a godin with variax electronics.

Transparent black or red finish on a flamed top
SIngle cutaway body style.
Locking Godin Tuners
Neck is a little thicker than a typical Strat with a Strat scale length. Fretboard is ebony.
COmes with a Gig Bag.
Made in Canada.
22 Frets.
Controls: Volume, Tone, 5-way pick up selectory, Acooustic Volume and EQ (sliders on the left shoulder of the guitar) and output and mini toggles for controlling the Roland GI-20.
Pickup:H/S/H, Piezo, Synth. Pickups are branded Godin but I am pretty sure they are made by Seymour Duncan.

I have been using the guitar to record on Pro-Tools, and have not actually played through an amplifier yet. The guitar is very versatile. In on instrument you have 2 humbuckers in the bridge and neck position, a center single coil, a piezo pick up for acoustic tone and a synth pick up. All of these can be accessed at the saome time via three output jacks. The humbucker are quiet and have a tone that tends towards midrange that I like. It cut through a mix well and is not muddy at all. Adding in the center single coil (using a 5 position switch) gives you more high end and harmonics but does ad some hum. Synth tracking is superb. The acoustic tone is bright and quite nice. It woun't sound like your favorite Martin but sounds better than a lot of Ovation's I have played. It can be mixed in to the electric outpu and gives you some high more open tones. I used for rythm on one track and it worked well.

Factory set up was a bit high. The guitar was more comfortable after I lowered the action. THe scale of the guitar is the same as a Strat so if you are comfortable on a strat you will enjoy the Godin. Pick ups were adjusted well and the tremolo bridge weoks well and stays in tune. Tuning machines are locking Godins and work well. The guitar comes with Schaller locking strap peg so you need to get Schaller strap locks or replace the peg. Finish is quite nice - I got the transparent black overe a veneered flame maple top. Not a spectacular Les Paul type of flame finish but very good looking (sort of understated and classy) in its own right. Neck is bolt on. No production flaws.

I haven't played it live but I feel it would be a great instrument for that application. It is very solidly built and can give you a variety of tones without having to change guitars. It has it's own buitl in back up - if the electric guitar fails you could always plug it in to the acoustic jack or the synth if you have the gear and keep going!

Have not dealt with the company.

I bought this guitar because of it's versatility and workmanship with an affordable price tag. I have been playing about 20 years. I also own a custom built Strat with active EMG pick ups and an Epiphone Sheraton. I would definately buy this guitar again.

2006 xtsa - features on Godin's website. I bought this primarily for use as a midi guitar in a home studio. It has a great number of features - would have gotten a 10 if it had active PUPs.

I play/write mostly acoustic and alternative music. Most of my stuff has a strong acoustic component, but I'll use this axe primarily for driving a Roland Guitar Synth and for its electric sounds. Here's my grading of the various sounds:

Acoustic - very good for a solid body guitar, but I use a Line 6 Variax for most recording and Ovations for performance - both sound better for acoustic.

Electric - I also have a 10 year old Carvin AE185. The Godin's PUPs are passive with a 5 way switch. The sounds are very good, but I find them a bit more mellow than my Carvin which has coil splitters. You can blend the electric and acoustic signals for a huge variety - but the electric sounds through the 2 HB and one SC P/U is fairly limited...good, but I found most of the PUPs sounded very similar with a fair dose of micro-phonics (some noise).

Synth - Great tracking - MUCH BETTER than using a Roland GK p/u as I had done in the past.

From the factory the set-up needed a lot of work. I like a fairly high action from an electric guitar stand point. I don't like buzzing when I'm doing agressive rhythm work. The guitar arrived with no relief in the neck - possibly a result of shipping. This was corrected in about 10 minutes.

A larger problem was that the saddle was poorly set-up. The fretboard has a 10 or 12" radius (I believe) - the saddle had a curve for a 4" radius.... The 2 E strings were fine, all the rest were several millimeters too high. This took about 15 mins to correct and wouldn't have been good for anyone's playing style.

After the adjustments the guitar plays great, is well balanced both in terms of sound and on a strap around your neck.

The finish, woods, neck, fretwork and everything else was absolutely outstanding. A great value !

The guitar seems very solid and durable.... The electronics (internal) are all neatly installed... Looks reliable.

I did send a few emails prior to purchase. Got one response, other went unanswered. There was no user manual included with the guitar. Don't really know about this.....

I've been playing for the past 20 years and have owned many, many guitars in that time. After fixing the factory set-up I'd have to say this guitar is an absolute steal for the $$$$. It rivals my Carvin for playability and surpasses it in woods, finish and materials.

The guitar probably weighs in at 8+ pounds.... Not a problem, but their website makes it sound like their woods produce a light instrument - not so (my AE185's 6-1/4 lbs)! Also, the acoustic preamp has 4 sliders for control. From L to R you have volume, bass, mid, treble. Backwards from every other guitar I've ever owned or played. When I first plugged it in I thought the pre wasn't working.

Because of these 2 minor gripes, plus the factory set-up, I'll rate it a "9" overall.

If you have further questions you can contact me through http://dogbitemusic.net

Features have been well covered by others. Well made relatively inexpensive guitar for a 3 voice electric and locking tuners

As noted in a previous review the pickups in this guitar take some getting used to... I was playing a Godin SD and wanted the added versitility of an accoustic sound from the piezo. Once I got my EQ sorted out (and that took some time) I was quite happy with the sound. The bridge pickup really kicks and both the bridge and neck pups allow awesome sustain with I pressume is helped by the additional weight of this guitar and the mahogany neck which is kind of a cool option

Excellent fit and finish on my initial inspection however I did notice the covers on the rear of the guitar did not fit well and that the paint finish around the edge of the cavities was poor and in some instances missing

This is where the rubber meets the road. As noted by a previous reviewer... I also went through 2 of these guitars where the "accoustic" side died completely. Basically the jack for the blended output got very distorted and or stopped working altogether... first thought was the battery for the piezo was dead but when replaced it got no better. The sad thing was that this not only happened with 2 Xtsa's but also with a 3rd older model (cant recall the model number off the top of my head) that I tested at the same store. I initially thought it may have been equipment related but after trying various cords, and bypassing effects and using a different amp its definitely a fatal flaw for this guitar. I gig every weekend and rely heavily on the versatility of the accoustic section of this guitar... at least I wanted to rely on it.

I always deal with my local store and they are exceptional! I have only emailed Godin once and they responded in 3 days so I cant really say anything too bad about them

I really do like Godin's. there fit and finish is usually exceptional for the price and the overall value is usually excellent however they seem to have some serious electronics issues with these dual and 3 voice guitars. I need to be able to rely on the accoustic section nearly as much as the electric and I just cant do that. I gig every weekend and I dont have an accoustic right now so it looks like I am going to have to purchase a seperate accoustic and find a new electric as I cannot rely on the Godin 3 voice systems.... unfortunate.

This is another addition to my rather long-winded review below. The purpose here is to supply specific information about the Godin designed pickups that come stock on the xtSA. As their reply this time was much more helpful than the first time I contacted them, I'll be nice and kick up the Customer Service rating that cost the overall rating 1/10 of a point. This is the information supplied to me by Godin regarding the stock pickups:

"Hi,

Here are some specs on the xtSA's pickups :

GS1 M single-coil : impedance 5.75K, inductance 3.62H, AWG 42 coil gauge, Ferrite magnet.
GHN1 neck humbucker : impedance 8.85K, inductance 4.68H, AWG 42 coil gauge, Ferrite magnet.
GHB1 bridge humbucker : impedance 10.30K, inductance 4.33H, AWG 44 coil gauge, Ferrite magnet.

Ferrite magnets are ceramic. They have more output and a brighter tone than Alnico magnets.

Regards, *not signed but the "hi" was friendly*"

This explains a lot. It explains why some reviewers liked the stock pups while others thought they were dull-sounding, and also why I can't get the sound I want out of them.

It all has to do with the ceramic magnets. As Godin's reply stated, ceramic magnets have higher output and brighter tone than Alnico. From experience with other guitars like my old Charvel, I know that pickups with ceramic mags have a somewhat harsh high end and lack warmth at lower gain settings but sound blisteringly excellent through a high-gain amp. They are significantly louder and will drive your amp harder.

I'm a low-gain player. My brand of progressive rock is influenced more by classic rock than by metal. I put a compressor at my front end, set the gain somewhere in the vicinity of "British", add some neat processing and end up with something like Allan Holdsworth's tone (only not). I don't need much output since I use an amp modeling preamp/processor, so if I *do* want a harder sound I don't need hot pickups to get it.

But if you're a hard rock/metal player, you should like these pickups more than I do. They have ample output and the harmonics *scream*.

I intend to replace all the pickups on my xtSA. I'm always searching for something a little different, a trademark tone. Also, I'm going to set the guitar up to be an even more effective synth controller. I'll use a DiMarzio "Air Norton" for a bridge pickup so I have a tweaked PAF tone with vintage output, more sustain, and more mids and bass than JS's "FRED". The dynamics and harmonics of the Air Norton are supposed to be exceptional.

I have it on good authority that having a single-coil between two humbuckers plays hell with the humbuckers' magnetic fields, having a subtle but adverse effect on the tone. Don't know if that's true; you can't believe everything you read, but why chance it when you don't have to? I'm putting a Lace "Chrome Dome" in the middle. It's a "hot gold" Lace Sensor with a chrome-plated nickle cover. Lace Sensors work on a different principle than regular single-coils and have very little string-pull. Quiet, too. We'll see how that sounds.

In the neck position, I'm going to install a Sustainiac. It's an electromagnetic driver that provides infinite sustain. This makes perfect sense if the guitar is to be a synth controller, and the "harmonic" switch should make some very cool things happen with a synth. The Sustainiac takes up one single-coil space and I'd rather choose my own neck pickup tone than use theirs, so I'll pair it with a DiMarzio "Pro Track", which I have on one of my other guitars and really does have that PAF midrange. Pro Tracks have ceramic mags but you don't hear it.

A wealth of information on guitar design and woods, as well as a diverse offering of custom hand-built guitars, can be found on Ed Roman's website if you can get past his obvious dislike of Paul Reed Smiths (I'm not crazy about them either). Go here and read the whole thing. It's a fun site: http://www.edromanguitars.com/

They were very nice, prompt, and helpful this time. But "incredibly" is too strong an adjective. Still, this should offset that "3" I gave them before.

H-S-H mag pickups with coil split, acoustic pickup, synth access -- it does everything but make coffee. Other reviews have covered theses details.

The mag pickups were OK sounding: not great, not awful. The humbuckers were a bit mid-rangey and muddy through my 65 Twin RI, but not so much so that they'd have to be replaced right away. The single coil and the two coil-split positions sounded really good. Acoustic pickup tone was better than average for that type of pickup, but that system had other problems (see below).

I twice tried and twice failed to buy a working XTSA. There are
some serious quality problems with these guitars.

The first one I received had nice fretwork and a good setup, but the electronics did not work correctly. Specifically, the 2B string did not work at all on the acoustic pickup, and when the acoustic pickup was turned up it caused some kind of ground problem that also affected the mag pickups on the mix output.

I returned that XTSA and ordered another one. On the second guitar, the fretwork was terrible. The fret ends were rough and sharp, with visible tool marks. Also, the setup was for crap; the guitar buzzed all over the neck on almost every string.

The acoustic pickup did not work correctly in the second guitar either. The 6E 5A 4D and 2B strings were all about the same volume, but the 3G string was twice as loud as the others and the 1E string volume was so low as to be almost non-existent.

The setup issues were obviously easy enough to fix, but the fret job
and electronic problems were much more serious.

This was not what I expected from Godin at all. I have a MultiAc Nylon SA that is excellent in every aspect of tone, quality and onstruction. I gave it a superb review here on Harmony Central, and I still feel the same way several years later. The XTSA, not so much.

No opinion, because I didn't keep either guitar for more than 24 hours; but the 100% out-of-the-box electronic problem rate does not bode well.

No opinion, because I didn't contact them. Musician's Friend was great about taking back the guitars.

Godin's "Contact Us" page basically says that they don't answer their e-mail; that probably doesn't bode well either.

The XTSA has the potential to be a great guitar, especially if you play in a band that covers a range of styles. I play in a praise band at my church, and it would have been ideal for that application. I already have a Roland GR-30 synth that I use with my Godin classical, and I was hoping to use the XTSA to get a broader range of guitar tones in conjunction with the synth.

That said -- it's all just potential, at least based on my experience. These two guitars were a huge disappointment, especially the second one with the lousy fretwork. I bought the XTSA after reading the other reviews on this forum, and my experience could not have been more different.

Ironically, before the XTSA I tried the Brian Moore i88.13. It was total garbage, and it went back too (see my HC review for that sorry tale). I don't think I'm excessively critical or picky. I guess I'm just not meant to have another synth guitar.

I bought these guitars online because there are no Godin or Brian Moore dealers in my area. Moral of the story: if you're going to buy a guitar online, get it from a vendor with a good return policy.

The Godin xtSA combines the best features and aspects of a Les Paul, an Ibanez RG or JEM, and a '72 Fender Telecaster Thinline. That's weird and not at all how the guitarists below have described it, but I can explain...

I'll go into more detail about the features listed in previous posts and why these details are important. Like all Godins, my 2005 xtSA is assembled in New Hampshire, USA from parts made in Quebec, Canada. Godin made parts for major guitar makers before they made their own guitars. More about the company can be found on their website.

The body consists of a central block of silverleaf maple. Poplar wings are attached to the sides of the central block and a thin "leaftop" veneer of figured maple is applied for purely cosmetic purposes. The bolt-on neck is satin-finished honduras mahogany with a fingerboard of ebony. The scale length is 25 1/2".

The instrument has three outputs: a standard electric guitar voice with passive pickups (HSH configuration with 5-way switch a la Ibanez RG/JEM, master volume and tone), an acoustic sound which features its own active preamp and 3-band EQ, and 13-pin Roland-compatible hex output synth access jack. The acoustic voice and synth outputs are derived from individual saddle transducers. The electric and acoustic voices can be mixed through a single output if desired to add richness or brightness.

Other features include locking tuners (interesting, with the locking mechanisms on the front of the headstock), a GraphTech TUSQ nut, and a 2-point trem bridge with a blank post on the arm that just pushes into the hole. Mine rattled a bit when I got it but I tightened the little screw and now it's snug and perfect. I've always preferred non-locking fulcrum trems. Ibanez was putting them on their student guitars 20 years ago. I think we are witnessing the end of the Floyd Rose era. I hate those things. The neck, pickups and bridge are all recessed into the body.

My rating regarding the features of the Godin xtSA is an honest, sincere:

I might not be so generous if this guitar had cost two or three times as much as it did, but considering the price and common woods it's made from it deserves every point I'm giving it.

I did my homework before I bought this guitar because I don't have a lot of money and I only had one shot to buy a main soloing guitar which has to last me indefinitely. For me, the acoustic voice and synth access are just side perks (I'll use the synth access some day). I bought it on its merits soley as an electric guitar and I knew precisely what sound I was looking for. I play original progressive rock and I need a particularly sweet, "singing" quality with good sustain. The effects of various woods and construction techniques are well-known. However, while most guitarists would agree that the *body shape* of a solid-body guitar affects its tone, I'd had yet to hear anyone quantify that effect so I went out and discovered it myself. Consequently, my assessment of the xtSA's tone is much more specific than those provided previously. Future reviewers are free to debunk it, of course.

I play through the cheap, compact-yet-versatile guitar rig of the 21st Century: a ten-year-old BOSS GX-700 "Orange Face" COSM preamp/processor that works as well as the day I bought it, an Alesis stereo 31-band EQ (to correct the cabs), a Peavey PV900 power amp (which doesn't even work up a sweat set at 2/3 input sensitivity so the speakers don't blow), and a pair of Peavey 112TLS P.A. cabinets (120W/rms@8ohms). FC-200 midi foot controller. It does everything I need it to do and I change amp/FX settings half a dozen times or more in a single song.

I'll analyze the body shape first. The xtSA is symmetrical at the "waist" (the indentation between the upper and lower bouts) like a Les Paul rather than "offset" like a Stratocaster (with a wider indentation on the left-side, making that "horn" overhang the right one). This causes the guitar to "speak" from the lower-midrange like a Paul instead of having a twangy, trebly voice like a Strat. It has the same deep, ballsy grind a Paul has. A voice that says, "aw". There are some important differences, however. The left-side upper bout is, in fact, cut away slightly. It's not "complete" and locked to the neck like a Les Paul. It forms a "lobe" that's free to vibrate more and it does so in the upper-midrange, providing the guitar with some lively brassiness. Taking a second look at a Tele, you'll notice it's not really a "single-cutaway" guitar either. It has that same slight, inward curve. Now go listen to Steve Morse and you'll hear what I mean by "brassiness". His is custom but the '72 Thinline had humbuckers. The xtSA has that tone characteristic. Finally, the xtSA has a thicker right-side horn. This is where the treble resonates, so the XT is brighter-sounding than a Paul. As a general rule, the greater the mass an isolated region of the body has, the lower its resonant frequency. Turn the body of a Flying V around so the two halves of the "V" become horns and you'll understand why all it has is trashy, low-frequency treble. But then, if you *want* a wall of noise, pump up the gain on your BOOGIE Rectifier and it's perfect. That's almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the tone I was looking for, though. I believe the shape of the xtSA's body gives it a superbly balanced tone throughout it's frequency range.

Now, for the woods. The xtSA has ample sustain despite its bolt-on neck. The reason is twofold. First, the neck is mahogany instead of maple, giving it more mass. Second, instead of bolting a maple neck to something soft like alder, poplar or basswood, the mahogany neck bolts to maple. Maple is lighter but stiffer than mahogany. Using these woods in this way (the reverse of other guitars, which typically have a maple neck and a mahogany body) causes less vibration to be lost at the neck joint. I can find no flaw in fit of the neck and the guitar has a very solid feel. The pickups are hot and squeeze out every day's worth of sustain. Can you hear it? ...well you could if it was playing... Anyway, poplar is an underrated tonewood. It may not be much to look at but the tone is brighter and "airier" than alder and more complex than basswood. And since they put that attractive maple veneer over it, you can't even look at it.

This guitar *is* a bit heavy, but not overly so, unless you're a young girl.

The pickups, as I mentioned, are plenty hot - hotter even than the DiMarzio MegaDrive on my Ibanez. Some previous reviewers found these stock pickups dull-sounding, others thought they were quite good. From me, they get a *very good* but not an *excellent*. Still, they certainly blow Ibanez's stock pickups off the face of the Earth. In particular, the middle pickup actually has punch and character, nice for clean rhythms or Blackmore/Trower/Gilmore-esque solos. Middle pups are often lackluster. The neck and bridge pups positively scream with harmonics but the highs are a touch harsh for my tastes. This might not bother you. Again, I'm looking for something smoother and warmer. Also, high gain is not a consideration for me since I'm using an amp modeler. Just have to light that LED. I find DiMarzios always deliver what they promise, have the modern tone I want, and have tons of personality. I'll probably replace the bridge pup with an Air Norton. No hurry though. I can tame the stock humbuckers with the tone control and even re-brighten them with the acoustic voice if I need to. Maybe I'll add a .045mF "woman" tone cap. I did it to my Ibanez and it makes that thrashy MegaDrive sound sweet.

The 5-pos selector is cool because, in positions 2 & 4, it splits the humbuckers and gives you two single-coils like a Strat. Very nifty. Good tones, clean or distorted.

The acoustic voice is exceptional. It actually gives you more than you need. I find I have to cut the treble to get the delicate, mellow acoustic sounds I use. But if your clean electric sounds aren't quite bright enough for you, you can add some sparkle with the saddle transducers. Super-nifty!

I shall deduct 1 point because they didn't read my mind and give me a smooth-sounding bridge humbucker. Cranked up, this guitar will sound as raw as AC/DC, but to be perfect it needs a little more "character", however you define that.

The action (and everything else) came perfectly set-up straight from the factory, as others have said before me. Unless you implicitely trust the guitar technician at your local music store, ask to play it right from the box. They put 10's on mine and I like 9's, but I don't foresee that making much of a difference in my rating. When I say *perfect*, I mean *perfect*. I was like, "wow." The action was a happy compromise. It could go lower or higher depending on your tastes. I didn't feel the need to change it. Solid feel.

The top is *not* bookmatched, but they do make a noticable effort to line up the flames in the maple. It looks "good enough" for a guitar in this price range. The transparent black finish on mine darkens to solid black at the edges (i.e. sunburst) so that it blends with the solid black finish on the sides and back. I like it. I would have liked it *more* if the xtSA came in a broader selection of colors. I'm sick of "any color you want as long as it's red or black".

The knobs are a little stiff and hard to turn. Just a little. They might need to break in.

One point off for limited color selection and lack of bookmatching. I've seen bookmatched office doors. They can do it to a guitar.

I've only had it a few days but so far it gives me the impression of being ruggedly built. The hardware is solid and well-plated. The 2-point fulcrum trem bridge is a thing of beauty. It's recessed, has these cool little tips on the saddles that the strings rest on (probably brass and probably associated with the saddle transducers) and an arm that just presses into its nylon-lined hole. One person said a strap button fell off his because the screw was inadequate. I'm not pulling the buttons off to see so I won't know until it happens and I'm not going to lose sleep over it. These posts go back to when the model was released and who knows? Maybe Godin reads Harmony-Central and fixes deficiencies as they are reported.

The guitar seems well-finished. It should last.

I think this guitar is dependable. I don't do much live performance these days, just home recording. But if I did, I'd never gig without a backup guitar (assuming you have more than one). Strings do break, after all. It's one of Life's perennial surprises. I can't give it a 10 because I haven't had it long enough for shortcomings to crop up. Okay, I am a little concerned about that strap button thing.

This is where the Godin loses the most points. A lot of them, actually. In the first place, if a music store is going to be your authorized dealer, they should be required to keep samples of your line in stock so the customer can play and examine one, even if it's not the exact model he wants to buy.

I didn't have that option. The only dealer within lightyears of me only displayed Seagull acoustic guitars (made by Godin's parent company, LaSido). I had to buy mine sight-unseen, paying in full up front and waiting 9 weeks for it to arrive, all the while worrying over whether I'd be stuck with a piece of crap. Making that leap of faith was my choice, of course, but it ruined the happy, self-indulgent experience of buying a new guitar. I felt cheated and even though I'm basically happy with the guitar, it was an anticlimax when it arrived. The salesman better hope nothing goes wrong with it because I won't be in a good mood when I take it back.

When I emailed Godin about a hardshell case and questions about the bookmatching and finish (which I've read here can look brownish), I did get a reply, albeit a curt one. (No, you get a gig bag. Go to this link to see a picture. ~fin~). I got the impression Godin wants as little contact as possible with their customers, the Great Unwashed.

In terms of sound, features and form, the Godin is a "hybrid" design in the manner of a PRS CE22 except that the Godin combines these concepts more seemlessly than a PRS and results in a guitar with a more well-defined character. It has exactly the features and characteristics that I wanted (sans bridge pup), which was the only reason I put up with both Godin and their authorized dealer. Godin is certainly good at making guitars, though. They managed to create a superb instrument at an affordable price, then added two additional voices in addition.

All things considered, I'm glad I bought this guitar. I feel I got my money's worth. I will deduct one point for poor customer service and another because I think 800 bucks worth of guitar warrants a hard shell case ...the cheap @#$%^&'s.

First off, this is one classy instrument and I am quite pleased with it!! The fit, finish and craftsmanship are top-shelf. Without a doubt,I would put the XTSA in the same category as my Les Paul Custom. The locking tuners work well and are easily adjusted. The tremelo is functional and feels much like a stock Fender Strat tremolo. Please be aware that the XTSA's tremelo will not perform (and practically speaking), CAN NOT be used like a Floyd Rose. No dive-bombing or pulling up on it, it just won't stay in tune. Actually, I rarely even attach the bar to mine.

.

Regarding the electronics, the humbucker-single-humbucker configuration is quite versatile. The pickups themselves tend be a bit on the mellow side in terms of output, but not to the extreme. If they were steaks, I would call them "medium to medium-well". The piezo pickup sounds fabulous and has a mildly hotter output than the humbuckers, at least to my ears. Blending the piezo and electric pickups just gives an amazing sound, especially with a stereo chorus and a delay going. The electric pickups perform well with a cranked amp and give good performance in a rock context, but just don't expect to be playing "nu-metal" with them. The 13 pin pickup interfaced flawlessly with my Roland GR-20 and XV2020 module,with the tracking being somewhat better than the Roland GK2a/GK3 pickups, but again not to the extreme. I've had no problems using the guitar and its assorted features live within both a band context and in a semi-acoustic duo.

Action, fit and finish overall were great. The body is well-balanced and the weight does not induce neck/shoulder fatigue. The ebony fingerboard is smooth and easy to play, with the neck feeling closer to a Fender-style neck than a Gibson neck. Frets were uniform and well finished. Mine was shipped with a minor chip on the back of the headstock. The Godin folks were first class and offered to ship me a new guitar or take off $100. I took the cash and purchased the hardshell case. The only critisim is that the nut slots needed some minor attention in order to promote good tuning, which I understand is very common with Godin instruments. My local Godin dealer (Yale's Music, Sayre PA) did it for me gratis. No biggie.

So far it has withstood live playing (over the past two months) with a problem. Quite dependable and I have used it on a gig without a back-up.

My guitar came with a minor small nick on the back ot the headstock (UPS gorillas). The Godin folks were first class and offered to ship me a new guitar or take off $100. I took the cash and purchased the hardshell case. Their email customer service is equally good (at least the 3 times I have contacted them).

I've been playing for close to 30 years, have played lots of guitars, and have lots of toys (Les Paul Custom, a Taylor 355CE 12 String, a Martin DCE ,the XTSA, a Tech 21 Tradmark 60,GR-20 gtr synth, a Roland XV2020 yadda, yadda, yadda...). The Godin is a great instrument that nicely compliments my other guitars. Suffice to say, I am very, very, very happy with this guitar!!! I would characterize it as a "Swiss Army Knife instrument" - well worth the $850 I paid for it(new) and
definitely worth the two guitars I sold to partially finance it.I would not hesitate to buy another in a heartbeat if it were stolen, lost or broken.

In terms of wish list features, I would like to see Godin start offering coil splitters for the humbuckers or at least
start using pickups with three conductor wires, so it can be done
later if desired.

H-S-H pickups (more on them later) with 5-way selector; piezo transducers with pre-amp and EQ and synth access. Exactly what I was looking for. Plus a string through body floating tremelo unit and a a gig bag.

Love the ebony fretboard.

Had it about 6 or 7 months now so feel familar enough with it to comment

I'd recently got into guitar synths and was playing a Crafter acoustic retro fitted with a Roland synth pickup, plus a strat copy similarly synth-equipped. It just seemed entirely logical to go for a single guitar that could provide all of those sounds without the need to change.

I play in a 4 piece band (still developing our material) Music is all original, generally quite gentle with a lot of synth pads but occasionally breaking into full-blown distortion and power.

I use separate effects paths for the electric and acoustic outputs.

Likes- the acoustic sound from the bridge transducers. All I do with the sound there is a bit of compression, chorus and delay

Love- the synth tracking is just great. I use it to drive a Roland GR-33, which in turn has a Novation A Station running off the MIDI out

Not so keen on the mag pickups. I fund them a little lacking in power and clarity. The setting that suits me best is just using the single coil but even that seemed to lack the sparkle I wanted so I put a graphic equaliser and tube pre-amp in the effects chain along with a Zoom 707 II. All that's about to change though as I'm swicthing to a Boss GT-8 pedal and planning on getting rid of the Zoom, the graphic and tube pre-amp. FOr this reason I'll knock the marks down in this category.

Also I do tend to play in a couple of different tunings. The floating trem can make it a real pain to retune. Maybe I need another one permanently detuned

No problems. Played nicely straight out of the box, though I have since lowered the action just a bit.

Bookmatching on the leaves not perfect but that doesn't bother me at all. I like the effect. I'd have gone for the trans black but the red was available sooner and again, it doesn't bother me.

Like the feel of the neck and the ergocut ebony fingerboard. Suits my playing syle down to the ground. A solid feel all round and plenty of sustain

OK- BIG problem. I was recently setting up for rehearsal when the guiar fell from around my neck. The upper bout strap had pulled clean out. It seemed that the screws used were too small and the point where the upper bout button is fixed is very close to the acoustic pre-amp cavity. Have since read one or two other reports of Godins having this problem.

On the up side, no serious damage done and the repair job appears solid. Got to mark it way down for that though. Guitars should not just fall off, particularly when you're using locking straps!

I'd be confident using this without backup in a gig. In fact my whole rig is now designed around it. The only thing I'd like is another one of these.

No dealings with Godin. Repair was carried out by guitar tech at Godin distributor arranged by the online retailer at no cost to me. Quick and efficient but not sure that was anything to do with Godin

Despite marking it down in a couple of areas I really love this guitar. It does exactly what I wanted. When I've got both synths, the electric and acoustic all playing together it is an unbelievably full sound.

I use stereo effects on both guitar outputs and both synths are stereo so I DI into a 4 bus submixer then into our main PA (basically just to leave some spare channels for the rest of the band!)

Other guitars are now redundant. Wish I had the spare cash to get another of these or maybe the higher spec LGXT.

I did consider a few alternatives, such as Brian Moore, Fender etc, but everything I read seemed to lead me to Godin. Glad I did

This has been well covered already. H-S-H pickup config (Godin), 5 way switch, volume and tone as well as 6 saddle piezo pickup system with vol and eq on the top bout. You can combine mag pickups with piezo. Also has 13 pin connector out to guitar synth. Trem. 16" radius ebony board on mahogany neck. "Silver leaf maple centre with poplar wings". Maple cap. Single cutaway. Locking tuners. 22 med jumbo frets. Gig bag.

Someday I'll find my style. Jazz-ish, I guess. Generally clean, lots of notes, not a lot of bending. I'm running this through a small Traynor tube amp. Lots of sounds. Pretty much covers all the major food groups - certainly Strat, Les Paul. Combining humbucker and piezo gets into 335 territory. Going into guitar synthesizer gets you everything from banjo to bagpipes.

The action was set perfectly (I don't know how much of this is due to the shop, however) if just a tad on the high side (for my taste). Fit and finish is great. This was marked down 5%. The sales guy wasn't sure why. We couldn't find any blemishes. Who knows? Beautiful guitar. "Trans red". Sure the maple cap isn't exactly bookend. Cough up another $1K for the PRS so you can get the grain to match. The fret board features Godin's "ergocut". Whatever.

Seems pretty solid. The maple cap is a "thin, figured maple veneer" which sounds a little delicate. Otherwise, the guitar feels solid.

1 year warranty on materials and workmanship. I haven't needed any support.

I've been playing for 40 years. Still suck. I've had most of the usuals: Les Paul, ES-175, Tele (Customs). Right now I've got a MIM Strat and an Epi jazzbox through the aforementioned Traynor. My new Godin just feels perfect. For the past few years, I've been very much a Fender guy but, hasn't Fender been making the same guitar(s) for about 50 years? I had some time to kill in music stores recently and I played a lot of the Fender offerings (and a new Les Paul). My slightly modified Strat (Callahm trem, upgraded pups, fret dressing)plays as well if not better than anything I tried recently including a number of up market Strats (E Johnson, J Beck). But this Godin really caught my attention. It certainly feels so much more "modern" than the Fenders I've played recently. The fit and finish are great, the neck is perfect and the variety of sounds is intriguing. The Epi is on the block already. I can see my Strat becoming No. 2.

I wont go into this because it is done so well in reviews belwo. Mine was the Black model which looks brown with the flame cap. Very nuce. Locking tuners..nice gig bag included (would like to have had the option of a hardshell).

I love this thing. I had a used Solidac that was beat up, but I loved it as well. I traded it for the xtSa. It covers all realms of the music I play from Classic rock to Contemporary Christian Music (my main type..rock oreinted). Into my Peavey Classic 30 it will cover any rock, blues tone I need. Straight intot he PA it is a very realistic acoustic tone. With the onboard eq and a little compression it sounds better than a couple of my bandmates true acoustics. HSH pup config is great and it will get an LP tone and a real close to, a Strat tone. Stock pups were very nice. No need to swap them at this point. I did try it with w Roland GR 33 and it worked real well. I am not into the sythn tone at this time, but I might pick one up in the future. It tracked nicely.

This is where it shined. The factory setup was quite low and really did not need any adjustment. The pickups and intonation were dead on. The neck is awesome. It is like like a custom shop. It is gorgeous in appearance and feel. High end quality for a fraction of the price. This is like a custom shop in all areas except that the tops are not exactly bookmatched. They are still nice looking, but I knocked t down one point for this (and it is minor...). You cant go wrong here.

Everything seems top notch and from their reputation I can not imagine any problems. They say the stap locks it comes with are Schaller but dunlop worked for me. I have yet to see a Schaller push pin so maybe one makes the other. I would depend on it with out a doubt. Never go without a back up, but I doubt I will need one.

I wont rate this, but I will say they have answered every e-mail I have sent. It takes a day or tow, but they do come. I have been old this is a family business so it I imagine they do not have the staff of other companies.

I have been playing a couple of years now. I was originally looking for a new Solidac, but the onboard EQ for the acoustic setup on this pulled me in. Plus they had it marked down to only a few dollars more than a Solidac with a flame top. If it were stolen or lost I would cry since I might not be able to afford another right away. I love the acoustic and electric tones. it makes it a great all around Praise and Worship guitar. I can play a whole set on not switch guitars.

Features just like the others listed below.
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I can't imagine more features - maybe a Floyd, but I wouldn't want one anyway.

I use this guitar in two dissimilar settings. It's my main synth guitar for writing and recording and now my main live guitar for just plain, plugging into the Fender Deluxe re-issue. For both purposes it's excellent. I'm actually looking at selling a few guitars as the xtSA covers them so well: Les Paul, Strat and Tele!
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I use the guitar with a Mesa Mark IV which provides great high headroom squeaky cleans through super high gain tones. I also use it with the Deluxe re-issue - straight in with no effects. With the five-way switch it yields up every tone I need. To get super bright, almost stratty tones, I mix in a little bit of the piezos.
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I use the guitar with a VG-88 and a GR-20 and it tracks much better than the hex mag pickup supplied with the GR. (One of the problems with the Roland pickup is that it really is more fitted for Strat radius fingerboards - not the Les Paul I mounted it on.)

Faultless! The only quibble I might point out is that the top is not book matched at all. Intonation was spot on and the action was actually right out of the box.
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I'd like taller, Gibson-style frets and will play the hell out of the guitar so I can justify a fret job sooner.

Seems solid. I have several other Godins that have never had any problems.

I've had a few emails go missing and some received prompt replies. They're kind of hit or miss. I think pretty much in La Patrie, Quebec works for LaSido (the parent company). It's a small town and as a result they're understaffed!

This is a desert island electric - I'm assuming there's electricity...
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Anyway, I've been at the guitar for nearly thirty years: I'm always looking for the "right" guitar. I'm pretty close with this one. Bigger frets and I'd be completely happy.

2005 / Canadian / 22 /Solid body Laminated top
1 Mag vol, 1 mag tone, 1 Synth vol, 1 piezo vol, 3 band eq sliders(piezo)/ 5 way mag selector, synth controls, guitar/both/synth switch.
H/S/H & Piezo(RMC) Mags's are Godin house brands, hybrid active piezo /synth & passive mag's.
Body is shaped similar to a Les Paul, constructed of Maple with Poplar wings, Neck is mahogany, 4 offset bolt config. Godin floating trem, similar to strat.
Unique top locking tuners (godin gears).
Neck 22 fret called an "ergonomic", feels larger than a C not quite a D neck, 16 inch radius make string bending extra smooth with no dead spots like a 12 inch can. mahogany with ebony fingerboard, medium jumbo frets. very nicely padded gig bag with multiple compartments and backpack straps.

jazz, funk, r&b -Christian music!
amps- Roland JC's 2-55, 1-77, 1-120, Peavey Standard & 4x12 cab, GK ML250, combo of any 2 at a time. Roland GR 30 synth
Very quite on most settings (except the piezo acoustic) when set to full blast, if you thump on the body you can hear it clunking loudly in the amp. electronics are solid.
Sounds, (mag pickups) Hums's - from a beefy Les Paul, to a faux strat (not quite but it can do it with a little trickery). Synth, you name it! 1000's of sounds if you can handle it, Piezo on accoustic, with eq settings, from a weak nylon to a jumbo steel string... well close.. Back to making it sound like a strat, using the synth output that can do all three voices simultaneously, blend the neck Hum and the mid single, along with the piezo, high end eq 3/4, mid flat, and low flat. "bing"! get that crisp full body twang with a lower end punch. (sweet!)
likes - finish is very nice, for the price I'd buy another one 'cept I'm broke now... :-b

set up. little high on the action, truss rod adjustment was perfect. pickups were a little low, but I left em as is, I'll get around to adjusting it all sooner or later, basically prefernces could be adjusted to match my other guitars, but it is not bad "as is". bookmatched top, very nice lamination, which is actually my first ever laminated top guitar. no visible flaws. one finishing issue, mag tone knob could be easily pulled off, used a dime to seperate the pot shaft a teenie amount, now snug as a bug. but the way. all knobs are metal cross knurled chrome, nice except without the visible numbers, you have to check vol by ear rather than the quick visual.

very solidly made, you can feel it in the construction, also the resonance of the body allows for extra long sustaining notes. finish is thick, only have had it about a month, should last years and years. strap buttons are Schaller straplok's which can be used with a normal strap, I will buy the strap end soon as an extra safety measure. Gig without a backup? already did it. but.... as with any guitar with a floating trem bridge, I'd recommend against it, if you break a string, the whole thing will be de-tuned. drag having folks watch as you do "repairs" on stage.

N/A however, the web site does say emails dont get responded to in any short order, ?! gee thats comforting. Every link sends you off the rabbit trail to an "authorized dealer", no direct telephone or contact. Back to email... which they up front say might not get a response. soooo.. repair, I doubt it, except through one of their "agents". customer service? "whaaaa??? I dont think so!" Warranty - 1 year, afraid it might take that long to break through their shield!

player since 74' first paying gig 77'. dances, parties, expo's, concerts, studio work, 5 nite a week club gigs. now only play Christian modern to oldies at church, events, or recording.
Equip: Les Paul 77 standard, Kramer Tneck dmz2000, Fender Strat MIJ 84, Fender MIM Roland Ready, Fender Super Strat, Fender custom strat, Brian Moore 88.13, Godin SD, 2 gk2a'currently on super strat and custom strat. (amps) Roland Jazz Chorus amps, 2 jc55, 1 jc77, 1 jc 120, 1 GK ML250II, 1, Peavey standard head, 1 Peavey Musician, 1 Peavey Bass. Roland GR30 synth, Roland rack reverse gate reverb,Alesis rack effects, & oodles of foot pedals I dont use at all.
Again, very solid and smooth feel to playing it. compares like a hybrid of all the guitars I have, the synth pickups "very good tracking" night and day over the gk 2a, or the roland ready, makes synth playing feel like a regular guitar rather than having to drastically change playing action with the synth hex setups. Was going to buy the LGX-SA model, but Joe talked me into a fantastic deal, cheaper, little more versatile, not quite as snazzy looking, but sharp enough! I'm still contemplating the LGX-SA. that is a sweet looking baby! last thought, its kinda heavy. my Brian Moore is so light, you almost forget you have it on, the strats are so-so, this one is weighty. nice balance, but weighty.

Made in Canada.

23 frets. Solid, Laminated top.

One volume control for Electric pickups. One volume control on the acoustic EQ control. 5-way selector switch. One tone control for all three electric pickups. Tone control also is functional for the bridge/lead pickup.

Pickup configuration is: Neck and bridge have super humbuckers. Middle pickup is a single coil. Pickups in the XTSA are manufactured by Godin. Active electronics. The 5 was switch selects neck as #1, neck and mid as #2, single coil middle pickup as #3, Mid single coil plus bridge pickup as #4, and bridge pickup as #5. The guitar also has a built in acoustic pickup. There are two outputs on the guitar. One for electric output. If you plug into this jack you get only the electric portion of the guitar. The second output is called the acoustic output. When you plug into this output you use the acoustic EQ and its volume control. While using the acoutic section you turn down the main electric volume pot. However, if the turn up the electric volume pot it blends in with the acoustic giving a variety of tones. The acoustic quality is excellent. You can obtain a full bass tone or by increasing the high eq you can get a brilliant acoustic string sound.

Body is made of Silver Maple center with popular wings. Fretboard -Ebony. Neck: mahogany.

Finish has a unique, hard glossy finish with a sort of zebra pattern in black and grey mix. Not gauddy - looks very nice.

Body style very much resembles the Fender Stratocaster in design with cutaway to easily play high on the neck.

Bridge style resembles the typical Fender bridge which allows string height and attonation adjustment. This guitar also has the equivalent of a Fender Tremolo.

Tuners are locking type. Brand unknown.

Neck/scale: 25 1/2. Jumbo frets.

Accessories included a gig bag case with two straps and an ajustment tool kit.

This guitar is so unique it fits all my styles. I play all types. Rock, Blues, Country, hard rock and have presently converted primarily to finger styler and a lot of classical selections.

I am presently using a Roland 30 amp cube amp using the clear sound selection.

The guitar is quiet. No noise.

The sound is the best I have ever heard in a guitar. I have an original 1958 Stratocaster a 1962 Gretsch Country Classic, a Gibson and this guitar outperforms all of them. I would classify the sound as full and rich. Extremely well blend of the sounds throughout the guitar. The lead or bridge pickup can produce a good cutting rock sound but not a bright, shallow, or tinny sounding as the Fender.

This guitar seems to have no end to the sounds you can produce. Since it has 3 electric pickups, the mid being a single coil, and an acoustic pickup the choices are many. As mentioned above, the guitar is equipped with an acoustic pickup with a 3 band eualizer with its own volume control. Upon using the acoustic output you can blend in the electric if wanted simply by turning up the electric pot.

I can best describe the electric tone as a mix between a Gibson, Gretsch, and Fender. The neck pickup is full and rich. The lead pickup gives a good strong lead output but not as bright and brittle as the Fender sound. To me this is a much richer, fuller sound with plenty of cut and punch. The guitar/pickup combination has plenty of output but remains quiet. Upon using the single electric tone control I noticed as it adds more base it is subtle. I does not give a muddy tone with full base on the tone. The tone control makes several revolutions so base adjustment can be very fine tuned. The acoustic resemble a true acoustic guitar with the option of changing the tone to almost any acoustic sound you require. No Dislikes.

I had the opportunity to open the guitar out of the original box it was shipped in. Everything was set optimum. everything is well built. No flimsy controls or deficiencies noted.

The action was set to normal playing, about 2/64. I set the action lower right at the store. I set each string to a low action so each string is only 1 millimenter from the neck to the bottom of the string. What amazed me totally is when I played the guitar there was no buzzing of strings at that low action. Further amazement was the fact that no matter what note or chord structure I played through the entire region of the neck, all tones remained true with high quality. The attonation was perfect as tested by an electronic tuner at open string and at fret #12 - second guitar.

By far, the best action on a guitar I have ever experienced. The neck is so smooth and easy to play. Little finger fatigue. I compare the neck action to my 58 strat except I believe this neck outperforms the fender. The jumbo frets also makes for a smooth clear playing. The frets and neck are designed so you don't feel the frets catching your hands from the side, nor a bumpy playing ride as your play over the neck by experiencing high, cutting frets.

The pickups were set optimum. I have not adjusted them or feel they need any further adjustment.

Both bridges were set optimum. The nut bridge was very professionally adjusted to a clearance of 1 to 1.5 millimeters.

Absolutely no flaws at all. Top condition.

The guitar resembles the construction of a Fender Strat. However this guitar is built like a tank. Very dense wood. A lot of sustain in the notes. Excellent hardware used. The finish appears heavy and durable. Strap buttons were attached solid.

I no longer play on live stage but if I did I would for sure purchase another for a backup.

Customer support was excellent. They DO respond to E-mail. IT takes them a little time but they do respond with answers and polite. I requested a lot of information about the pickup construction and specifications and they sent the whole works. construction, winding, resistance specs. etc.

I have been playing since age 18. Lead player for the Reveliers in Northern,MN. Cut several records. We were the backup band for the BeachBoys in 1965. We also have backed up Freddie cannon, Troy Shondel, Johnny Burnette, Ral Donner, and played with Bobbie Vee, the Fendermen, Trashmen, and many others popular in the late 50's and 60's. I own an original Strat 1958 but have replace the pickups for better tone, I just got rid of my Gretsch 1962 Country Gentleman because it was killing my fingers to play. I have an original Fender twin Amp. I susually play through a Roland Cube 30.

I researched the Godin XTSA in detail before I purchased it so I missed nothing in asking about it before bying.

What do I love about it? Everything. To me it is the Holy Grail of guitars. Great tone, variety of tones, fantastic action and neck construction, two guitars built into one. I like the tone because it is not that bright, ringing, tinny, cheap sound. This is rich, full, tasteful. Build like a Fender. Solid, great sustain and tone blend. Great price range. Good customer support. I only wish I heard about the Godin many years prior so I could have used it more. So far there is nothing I dislike about the guitar.

How do I compare it to other guitars? To me it out performs all Fender, Gretsch, and Gibons that I have either owned or played.

Anything else I wish it had? Well - you have to unplug the output chord from the acoustic after playing to preserve the battery. It would be nice if Godin would consider a kill switch. Also charge more and include a hard case for the guitar.

Anything else to share? Probably this guitar will not impress those who just want a loud, biting sounding guitar or the unique Fender Tone. The tones comewhat resmeble a mix or hybrid of a Gibson/Gretsch combination. It has a smoother richer tone that I like. Remember I am now into fingerstyle and require this tone and acoustic sound. However I think it would please anyone who plays a variety of music. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to play this on stage under loud conditions to see how it blends with the rest of the instruments or how it performs under live stage condition.

2004 model xtSA, 22 frets, trans black (smokey sunburst), 5-selector allows for H/SS/S/SS/H pickup settings. Piezo tremlo bridge. Active electronics, mahogany neck and body with maple top. Finish is slick, very nice. Body kind of like a Les Paul. Locking tuners. Med jumbo frets with ebony board.
Comes with soft case.

This thing will do everything. I play through a VG-88 and POD, so I can get most everything I need acoustic, clean Twin, Crunchy Marshall, roaring rectifier, etc. The piezo controls are nice, but with the VG-88 doing the acoustic modeling, I don't use them much.
Although it's not a Les Paul and not a Strat, it comes close to both,
plus acoustic simulation. I love it so far. I plan on getting a GR-33 in the near future.

The guitar came set up from the factory very well. The tech at the store said he could lower the action a bit, but I haven't taken it back to him yet. Finish is very nice. Quality guitar for the money.

So far the guitar seems very solid. I have had no problems with it yet, but have gigged with it only a few times. Strap locks were an extra bonus because I already had the strap for it from my Les Paul.
I'll give a nine here since it's new.

Haven't needed support yet. I did email the company before I bought the guitar and they did promptly answer my question.

I have been playing for over 35 years. I own a 76 strat, 78 Les Paul, a Taylor 414CE, VG-88, POD, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I had the chance to play a friends xtSA before buying this, so I knew a little about them. I have been using my strat and les paul with GK-2A pickups into the VG-88, but this thing knocks the socks off the GK-2A. If this guitar were stolen, I would definately buy another. I can't keep my hands off of it. At first I thought the frets were too high and neck too thick, but I've grown used to it very quickly. In fact, I've not played my other guitars since I bought this thing in December. I love it!

Just bought it so it's an 04 model. It has the same features as all the other xtSA's rated below. If you need more features, you're going to need more than one guitar.

I play classic rock, blues, country and pop - cover type tunes in several bands. I use it with a Mesa-Boogie Subway , Fender Vibrolux and a Badcat Cub, which is my main amp. I use a basic pedalboard with volume, tremolo, wah, sparkle drive, and chorus/echo unit. It covers all the humbucker electric sounds, including a sort-of single coil, notch position Strat emulation. The stock Godin pickups sound good to me. As one of the other reviewers said, maybe some well matched Duncans or similar pu's might sound a little better. I'm happy with the Godin pu's and will keep them. The acoustic voice is ok, but it's not going to fool too many people into thinking you're playing a D-28. It's fine at a club gig, though, to fake an acoustic tone. The piezo output sounds great to add a touch of sizzle or edge to the magnetic sound when blended.

Basically the mag and piezo tones sound good by themselves. More importantly in a gig instrument, they cut through a band mix - not too muddy, especially from a humbucker equipped guitar. Anyone who gigs will know what I'm talking about.

It came with 9's, which I changed to 10's. I didn't have to adjust anything. The intonation was spot on, and the tremolo didn't even need to be tightened up any. I haven't found any defects on my guitar. It came beautifully setup - the only guitar I've bought that I haven't needed to tweak some. The only thing I'm fussing with is the tremolo arm - can't get it to seat solidly. I just haven't adjusted the set screw properly, at least, that's my guess at this point.

This is my second Godin, so I'm expecting no problems. I've gigged it twice, and did recently noticed a loose front strap button. I repaired the slightly too large screw hole, so I don't anticipate any other problems. Just mentioned it in the interest of full disclosure. Otherwise, it seems very solidly built, with good components. I'll downgrade it a bit because of the strap button.

Oh yeah, speaking of strap buttons. It comes with strap lock buttons, but did not include the "female" portion that you attach to the strap. You have to buy them, or negotiate with the dealer to have them thrown in when you buy the guitar. I went through the same thing with my other Godin. This time, I knew better, and had the dealer include them in the deal. I'm going to complain to Godin about that little ommision - fat chance it'll do any good, though.

Don't know. I did go on line and found a fairly informative manual. That was cool. I had an issue with my other Godin, and got reasonable help from the company when I called them. So, I'll use that to base my opinon.

I've been playing for over 35 years, gigging actively off and on during that time. I have too much equipment to even begin to list. My main electric guitars are a Gibson ES345, a Hamer US Strat, and the Godin. I have a Godin Multiac Grand Concert SA (nlyon string 2-voice), which I also use to run a Rolan GR-33 synth. I've only owned it for a month, yet the Godin has beaten out the others as my main gig guitar. (Hopefully, by gigging with it, I should have uncovered anything to detract from my initial "honeymoon" opinion of the guitar). It is not too expensive to use in a club setting, but still looks cool and like a much more expensive instrument. It covers most of the sounds I need when playing out, and with a minimum amount of fuss. The synth tracking is very good. I've read Godin's are the best in the business. Both of mine track great - faster than I can play, unless my playing gets sloppy.

You could do much worse than this guitar - and of course, that will ultimately depend on what you want to do with it. I was initially going to pop for the more expensive LGX-SA, but after playing the xtSA, decided to save the extra $500-600. If you need a well built, easy playing ax with a bunch of tone options, give it a try.

My xtSA is a brand new 2004 flame-top. It's a 22-fretter (I wanted a 24 but caved because of all the other greaet features). They are all made in Montreal, Canada. It has tons of electronic features. The pickup configuration is H/S/H with a coil tap. I still have the stcok Godin pickups in, but plan to change the humbuckers for DiMarzio ones as I find the Godin's a little dull. The neck is Mahogany and the fretboard is ebony which I find gives it a great playing feel and also enhances the tracking for the on-board synth pickup. The acoustic system isn't the LR Baggs one like on the performance series but it still sound great. I have even started recording with it. It is also a floating bridge with locking mechanisms on the machine heads. It's partially shaped like a Les Paul body solid body which definately gives it more of a rock sound. Also there is threee band EQ for acoustic and blend and program change for the synth. However I generally find th synth useless as it is 13 pin and only works with the one Korg guitar synth. But you can buy a G-20 to convert it to MIDI.

As I said the stock pickups are dull but the acoustic quality of the instrument is great. Quality woods and craftsmanship went in to this and it shows. It is very quiet and full so I can't wait to get some better pickups in it.

Action is great, perfect right off the shelf. Works best with 10 guage strings. I didn't bother adjusting pickups because i'm going to replace them. But the actual guitar itself is flawless. Pity about the pickups.

This guitar is solid, and comes directly from the factory with straplocks installed. I use it for gigs all the time without back-up. It is very dependable, always stays in tunes and feels great. Finish appears solid and I expect it to last.

I emailed the company once but they never emailed me back.

Great guitar. Wish I had a fleat of them to go on the road with. If you want versatility without compromising tone, buy this guitar!

New Godin xtSA (just shipped to shop) Setup by "A sharp" Music in Renton WA (outstanding ownership, staff, product lines. Can't say enough about using a good local shop vice online purchase). Visit Godin website for details on guitar specifications. General single cut solid body (mahogany) with maple veneer top, set in neck with ebony finger board, 1 11/16th nut width. "3 voice" Guitar with H/S/H 5way switch volume/tone for electric "voice" RMC piezo electric saddle for acoustic/electric "voice" with volume, treble, mid, bass, slider switches (think EQ setup), and Synth Access thru the RMC setup for the 3rd "voice" also provided with volume control and micro switch for changing "Synth voice". All three of the outputs can be blended, paired, or singled depending on the players selection on the excellently place controls. Has tremolo. Pickups on "Godin" based on Semour Duncan. Again check out the Godin website for details. I am a home recording "sound" freak and this guitar is just what the doctored ordered.

I run the guitar through the following set up; electric output thru Korg AX100 processor, acoustic output thru Korg G2 Acoustic Guitar processor, Synth output thru Roland GR-20. These processors are patched into a Beringer 602 mini-mixer and then routed to a Boss BR-532 digital recorder. The sound(s) are amazing. Clear, consise, distinctive. No matter whether I'm blending all 3 "voices" or any of the three in dual or single mode. I can influence the sound via the guitar controls, processor controls, mixer or recorder. I play blues, jazz, rock, and world music. This guitar with this set up lets me get any sound I desire with almost no effort. When mixing all three voices there is a requirement to "tune" the sound with a combination of mixer, processors, and instrument to "highlight" and "separate" the distinctive sounds within the overall sound being produced or sought. For me this is line fine tuning a good acoustic instrument when using alternative tunings. You have to "listen" closely and experiment to find the most effective "tuning" mechanism between the mixer, processors, and guitar. All in all the guitar performs flawlessly throughout this evolution.

The Action is superb as delivered to me by "A sharp" Music store. Don't know if it came right out of the box that way or if the shop set it up. I believe the shop checked it and did some basic tweaking to get it just right. I haven't touched the basic pickup adjustment. Like it just the way it is. The fit and finish appear excellent. I really like the satin finish on the neck. Painted finish seem to cause my hand to "stick" to the neck. It took me a day or two to get use to the ebony fretboard and the 16 inch fretboard radius (vice 9.5 inch radius on my Fender American Deluxe Strat) The ebony fretboard "feels" very hard and "slick" after playing rosewood fretboards although my Fender was not so different with it's maple fretboard. I'm now getting use to the Godin's ebony fretboard and I'm really starting to like it for its speed and it clarity of sound when doing "lefthand" techniques like bend, trems, and vibs. Very sweet although it does seem to require a high degree of accuracy and technique from the left hand. In addition when using the Synth Voice I have be somewhat surprised by its ability to pick up both nuances and mistakes. It requires more precision in picking and fingering technique. But on the other hand I have quickly discovered some unique voicing capabilities/opportunities that will require some fun "additional researching". The only real fit issue I have so far is getting the guitar to "sit" and stay "still" in my lap while I'm playing. I usually sit down in front of my homemade board while playing/recording and don't usually use a guitar strap. In this position the guitar has a tendency to slide off my lap when playing for long periods of time. I will probably start using a strap to preclude this.

The guitar appears very solid and well put together. Although I don't currently gig I have in the past and I think this guitar would hold up well. If I was to gigg with this instrument I would definitely add strap locks and would be very concerned with keeping an eye out for "fowling" of the three cords (electric, acoustic, Synth) and would probably have a setup to hang the guitar vice putting it in a stand.

Nothing to report here regarding Godin support. I would trust the shop (A sharp Music) where I bought it to "take care" of any issues.

I have been playing over 30 years. I currently own a Fender Deluxe American Fat Strat. I have owned Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, ES-335, J-200, Taylor 810, Ovation electric acoustic twelve string, Martin 12 string, Kawai solid body electric, Epiphone SG double-neck, Fender 12 string...to name a few. I researched this guitar very carefully and had considered Gibson LP, Brian Moore i2.13 or i3.13, other Godins, PRS SE series, Ibanez Artist series, and a few others. If this guitar was lost or stolen I would be PISSED!! I would attempt to ide and remove thief from reality with extreme prejudice and immediately order another one via A Sharp Music. I love this guitar for it's versatility, playability, sound, workmanship and the way it works with my home recording setup. If you are into experimenting with sound and music but don't play keyboards or other instruments, this is the guitar/instrument for you. Right now I feel like the possibilities are endless. I'm now enjoying actually playing the music at the time I'm playing vice reaching/searching to the "end of the rainbow". For those guitarist that are still searching...I highly encourage you to get a "3 voice" guitar like a Godin or Brian Moore, or hook up you favorite axe with a quality Synth (GR-20, GR-33, whatever) and "open your head up". Reality IS. Not what YOU want it to be...enjoy the moment. Every moment of every day, rain or shine, is a blessing. Ciao.

This is a follow up to my previous review. Through extensive research spanning 4 continents, conducted in obscure archives and sound chambers, I have since learned more about this particular guitar.

A little background first. I have trained for many years under great masters who taught me first to purify myself that I might be worthy to undertake a Quest. At last I was deemed ready and began my search for the Grail of Guitars.

For decades I wandered the nation, visiting every guitar shop I came across, large and small. I purchased many guitars, always wondering, Is this it? Is this the grail? The Ibanez Jem wasn't. The Buddy Guy Strat was sacred, but it was not the Grail. The Brain Moore, the Nashville Custom Tele, the Parker Fly Mojo...all false promises, misleading imitations designed to baffle and discourage the faithful.

Thus I wandered long through dark forests of confusing shapes and sounds. Then...

I came upon the Godin. It bore strange markings, runes that my training enabled me to recognize disguised within the beautiful Maple flames of its surface. An ancient linguist with whom I consulted interpreted them as a series of mathematical equations; an raving genius lunatic transposed these into a map. Thus I found the archives in which I unlocked the mystery.

My Godin xtSA is The Grail.

It was carved from the wood of the table at which our Lord dined with his disciples on the eve of his betrayal (interesting avenue for future research: how was it that the table was made of Canadian Maple? The Lord worketh in strange ways). St. John hewed the body during his long years of exile on Patmos. Athanasius laboriously crafted the electronics from within his cloister. It was played by the early popes (not the rock band of that name, but the actual popes), who further refined the setup that it's action might draw even nearer to Godly perfection.

Then, about 545 AD, the guitar disappeared from sight. For several centuries it is referenced in rarely read documents, and alchemists of the 17th century speculated as to its actual existence, many insisting that it was a myth, while others held to the belief that it was in fact the philosopher's stone.

Thus it disappeared from the record. However I was able to detect a pattern of oblique predictions and vague prophecies among the archives. I fasted and prayed and ate prodigious quantities of mushrooms--and the meaning of the prophecies became clear.

Following the insights I had gained from my long struggle, I journeyed south to the fabled land of Roseville, where at last I discovered the Grail hanging on the wall of NorthRidge Music. I fell to my knees and worshipped in the light that softly emanated from it, while angelic music wafted through the air (strangely, it sounded like some kid shredding over there in the amp room, but who can explain the ways of angels)?

To my surprise, no feat of combat was required to gain possession--or rather, stewardship--of this holy relic. I just had to dish out some cash and they threw it into one of those crappy Godin Gig Bags, and it was mine.

I am so blessed. And glad I had a good Brian Moore gig bag at home.

Oh oh---Governator 3, rise of the machines just came on the tube, gotta go...

Excellent selection of features, exactly my wish-list: h-s-h pickup configuration, black hardware, flamed maple top, excellent piezo with great eq available, simple whammy, great machines, neck just right, and synth-ready. Wow. This is an incredible mix... but wait, there's more...

Talk about rich array of sounds. I am amazed by the variety I can get. Besides the mag pups, which are great (I normally play duncans, and these sound a little different but totally satisfying), the piezo is very good. I'm comparing to a Brian Moore I had before, this Godin kicks serious ass over the Brian Moore. It's so nice to be able to tweak the sound by fading the piezo into the mag and fiddling with the eq sliders. Great design. Plus! SUSTAIN... I mean, this baby's got it... amazing for a trem bridge...the neck joint is set very well so the notes just ring and ring. And this makes for some very rich harmonics in cords and double-stops. I love this axe!

About the synth, in the store I tried it with the Roland GR-20 and it tracked very well, much better than my Brian Moore with the Roland GR-33. It feels like a whole generation of improvement in the technology.

The guitar appears to be well made and the finish is good. I'm giving it a point off because the pots feel a little wiggly, like they're mounted as tightly as they might otherwise be. The action was acceptable off the shelf, but I lowered it a tad with the supplied tools and it's even better now. A fast neck, has a finger-style feel to it (spacious). Frets are just a hair larger than I like, I may have my tech file them down a bit.

I'll take it to its first gig tomorrow, and I feel totally confident about it. But time will tell. I will have a backup at the gig, but don't expect to have to use it... just something to switch to if a string breaks. In fact, I definitely don't want to switch because the sustain of this Godin works so well for the volume swells that I use in a couple of songs...like it was built for my style of playing. All that said, I'm going to pass on rating this because as I said, time will tell.

No experience yet; I emailed a request for a manual or some kind of instructions (although I've already figured it all out, not that difficult). They don't have a manual posted on their website, which seems a bit anachronistic.

I've been playing 35 years; I don't own a lot of gear, but I've gone through many types and brands of guitars. This is my favorite of them all--fender, gibson, washburn, parker, epiphone. Before buying this I went to several stores and tried a lot of guitars, but none had the right mix of features... I knew what I wanted. And when I picked up this Godin I played about three notes and thought, this might be the one... I went through my checklist with it...and fell in love.

I keep a trusty low-end cort that I've moded somewhat as a backup. I play through a POD XT directly into a PA, no guitar amp. My gigs are as lead player for singer-songwriter acts, and with my acoustic guitar solo progressive folk acts.

I would play this guitar with any style of music.

I've been looking for this guitar for years. all the sounds I need and playable!

Compare to a "popular" brand, much quieter. Sounds have my fellow band members admiring it (and they don't even play). This axe plays EVERYTHING.

3 Guitars.
Electric 2 Humbucker settings 2 Single coils (low noise) and 1 razor sharp split.
Acoustic with adjustable 3 band equalizer
Synth - Midi with any sound your module can produce
Mixer - to combine all three any way you want!

Played GOOD to start, need some adjustment now for my string guage,
Pickups are great.
Top is fine!
Bridge is great
No Flaws. Well assembled.

Oh yeah. It will be fine, already has.
It can fly on its own.

Extremely helpful, very responsive.
About to try to get it adjusted, we'll see.

Playing 30 years +
Didn't have to ask much, staff was excellent.
Not only would I, I AM buying another one just in case.
1) Sound, 2) Playbility, 3) Quality of construction
Compare to PRS (all models up to 513), Fender Strats (all models), G&L all models, Gibson all models, Epiphone all models.
Chose this one because it played right off the rack and had the versatility to reproduce (or so close that only a real player would notice) ALL of the sounds from the above mentioned instruments.
All it needs is a manual and a patch cable designed to carry all three signals away elegantly. I would definitely buy a higher end version of this guitar (like the LGSA with this sound, I tried them all and none could do what this guitar can do).
It will take upwards of 3-4 months to learn all of what this axe can do.

New 2004 model.. Canadian made Solid Body, Silver Leaf Maple center with Poplar wings. Ebony Fingerboard, Mahogany bolt on Neck. It has an H-S-H Godin pickup configuration with synth access optimized for the Roland GR synths. Medium Jumbo frets, locking tuners, RMC transducer pickups and on board 3 band EQ for acoustic sound and the 13 pin synth connector. It's like having three guitars in one.

The sound is exceptionally good, the pickups have a good balance between clean and warm, the pickup configuration is well executed. I find that you can make this guitar wail even with the ebony fretboard compared to a maple one that usually makes a guitar sound a little more on the treble side. I also own a US made fender strat deluxe with a maple fretboard. The xtSA sounds different than my Strat, but it?s ardent and energetic and I was nicely surprised with the sound. You have to hear it, it?s hard to describe. Ample sustain for a bolted on neck. The synth tracking is outstanding and much better than with my GK-2A pickup.

Off the rack there was a slight buzz at the 12th fret, low E string. The store technician fixed that easily and adjusted the action to my exact liking and it?s now a real marvel to play. Aside from that everything else was top notch right off the rack. From open strings to the 22nd fret every string is and stays accurately in tune. The finish of the guitar is excellent, there are NO imperfections. Every part fits flawlessly and I?m amazed at the precision that went into the building of this guitar considering the price. I?ve owned a lot of guitars in my lifetime and many times I was dissatisfied with the construction of guitars 3 times the price of this one.

The way this guitar was put together it should last a lifetime. I don?t think I could play this guitar into the ground even if I spent all my time trying. It feels solid and built to last; since it?s a fairly new model it?s still too early to tell.

Here I have to say that I never dealt with Godin directly. On their web site they stress the fact that they don?t sell direct and to that effect they transact business through their retailers and not the end user per say. Well I have to give them a 10 on the training they give to their retailers. I can?t say enough on the level of service I received from the store staff throughout the sale process, from beginning to end. They answered all my questions and since the guitar didn?t come with documents I was given a detailed explanation of the product?s functions and pick up configurations. The staff was superbly educated on the Godin product. The warranty is handled by the retailer. When it came to the adjustment of the neck to get rid of the buzzing string I was even formally introduced to the technician that did the work on my guitar and he asked me specific questions on what I was expecting of the fret action and went to work on what I wanted.

I?ve been playing for 32 years. I already own a US made Fender Strat Plus (1994). The xtSA is not to replace my strat. I?ve been playing US made Fender products since 1975. I was initially looking for a guitar with a synth access because I wasn?t satisfied with the tracking of the GK-2A pick up in my setup. In the xtSA I found a lot more than great tracking. I actually got an instrument that feels plays and sounds as good as any worth twice what I paid for it. Obviously this instrument is not as visually striking as other more high end models I?ve looked at but what matters to me is when I pick up this guitar I get a superb playing experience and it feels good in my hands. In that area the xtSA exceeded my expectations. If it was lost or stolen I?d certainly replace it.

Trans black, 3-tone ( mix,electric,13 pin ), ebony neck, amazing H-S-H config, this guitar really are fascinating, nice finish and cool shape.....nice medium fretboard...uh..suitable for Asian finger

Cristal clean sound i can easily get from the mixed output, this is cool, i don't have to switch to another guitar on stage...at least i dont have to bring 2 guitars which always makes me asked by neigbour.." hey man...moving from this town..??" hehe...

Excellent finish....good playability, low noise pickup.....no hissing or humming when I get my distortion box on...

Seems to be tough enough....well lets see...i just bought it 3 days ago after waiting the gear shipped fron canada 32 days ago....??

COME ON.....No Warranty letter....no manual book...no wiring diagram...even i couldnt find the manual in the web....ugh...

Yeah...i think i must get GR-33 soon unless i will only look at the 13pin and murmuring....hmmmm

Brand new, 2004. Solid Body, contoured Silver Leaf Maple center with Poplar wings. In a beautiful flamed top with black striping awsome fit and finish like most godens. I was really looking for a three voice guitar with the Roland thirteen pin output.

H-S-H pickup setup with synth access from Godin. has a awsome natyral accoustic sound from the piezo style pickups

great abilty to place all three at one and sound like your own band all alone.

this is what I was waiting for a top of the line three voice with great sound and ease of use the H-S-H gives a almost unlimited sound options very quiet pickups with strong low end and a sharp bright mids and highs more than I was expecting from a guitar in this price range.

beautiful guitar with well matched top overall, this is the only downfallo on godins they don't always match the grain on the tops as well as PRS and others do. Luckily I had several to choose from and got a very tight good looking grain.

seems tough but it's only two months old so durability is still a unknown

N/A heard the nightmares but always been good to deal with i asked for a wiring and control diagram and I had it by e-mail within 24 hours

fourth Godin and everything I expected and then some. Wont replace My multiac Jazz as my favorite but it's a solid second behind a custom PRS i play everynight

Brand new, 2004. Solid Body, contoured Silver Leaf Maple center with Poplar wings. See Mfg desc: http://www.godinguitars.com/godinxtsap.htm
I was anxious to get a H-S-H pickup setup with synth access from Godin. This is it. Medium frets, locking tuners, piezo RMC pickups for acoustic and 13 pin to go to my GR-30. That what I was waiting for.

I play al kind of stuff and have a American TELE, a RG-550, a baby Taylor. This godin is a good mix of them all, it sound great as a normal electric, very good accoustic rendition and superb tracking for synth access, I use to have a Multiac Steel SA and it tracks better. I have a Custom Shop Fender Blues Junior, a Digi101 and a PA, so I can have the sound I want. I also get the MIDI out of the GR-30 to a EMU HALO Key (64 voice) and a Mophatt (128 voice synth). The synth/waves are incredible.

Came perfectly adjusted, The finish is good but you can guess the wings from the center of the body. Mine is Trans-Black. The frets are a little small to my taste (Medium) I'm use to jumbo, it probably has to dbe like that for better tracking. The neck is perfect and since I love ebony fretboard, i'm in heaven. This guitar is priced lower than their LGxt-SA and LG-SA (signature series).

I would think this guitar will last a long time, all the parts looks to be very good quality. I would rely on this one if I had to carry only one guitar, that's for sure!

I ordered my guitar the day they anouced it, I think, I had to wait 16 weeks, I was told 4-6. I contacted my reseller several time, anxious customer..., who answered well. I then email Godin and, as it is stated in their introduction page, I got an answer from an informed tech guy. He explained the delays without any BS and I was very pleased. After the guitar came I had a question and ,again I received an answer 2 days later, as stated.

If it was stolen I would definitly get another one. I wanted a solid body 2 Humbucker 1 single coil in the middle, an ebony fretboard, synth access and a great play feel on the neck. Godin just made my dream guitar... I don't give a 10 for the lack of docs that came with the guitar, even if I pretty much knew what all the swith, pots, Slider were supose to do I would have like to get real specs. I did not even found it on the Godin web site.