Simon & Patrick SC RW

Manufactured about 2004. It's a new model which is said to be the creme de la creme. Solid spruce top, solid rosewood back and laminate sides. This one is the Folk model which is about the size of an OM. It has 14 frets clear and 1.72 inch nut. Has a wood rosette and markers that are located on the bass e string side. Comes with a very different case which gives the guitar plenty of protection but is a little fragile itself. The scale is 24.75.

The sound if really fine. Not a great basstone but very clear mid tones and bell like highs. Works well fingerstyle or picked.

The factory setup was very good. The woods especially the top wood are exceptional. Maple binding nice rosewood body. This guitar has a nice understated elegance.

Everything about the guitar is classy. I can see me playing this one on Social Security.

I've been playing 3 years and have gone through a bunch of guitars. This one is a keeper. I have three right now, this one a Martin 000 and a custom Joel. The Martin and Joel are 12frets and sound great, but this one is right there too. I really like everything about this guitar. The exterior of the case could be stronger somehow.

This is my second review for this guitar - I'm writing it because I've learned a lot more about the guitar by now, and more importantly I've learned a lot more about high-end acoustic guitars in general. Read this review - don't bother with my earlier one.
Short-scale (24.75") rosewood dreadnought. Average-sized body... maybe a hair smaller than a Taylor or a Martin, but then maybe I'm just on crack. The nut-width is Taylor, though with the strings spaced more closely together (which makes it more playable, in my opinion).
Solid Adirondack spruce top (apparently Adirondack is much prized), solid rosewood back, 3-way laminate rosewood sides, inlaid wood rosette, wood binding of some sort, gloss finish, gold tuners w. ceramic keys, ceramic bridge pins w. abalone (I'm not usually a big fan of glitter, but these really do look nice - they add colour to an otherwise very brown & yellow guitar), B-band 2-way pickup (top of the industry sound), compensated saddle, saddle & nut both tusq, hard-shell bike-helmet material hardshell case w. canvas overcover -can be worn on your back, which is really nice. The only disappointment is rosewood fretboard and bridge - I reduce the score to 8 because of this, since ebony would have been so much nicer.

Excellent. I've spent countless hours playing this against a range of other high-end guitars since I've bought it - Taylors of all sorts, a Martin D-28, Garrison rosewood, etc., etc.. It sounds as good as the best of anything I've compared it to. To my mind it resembles most a Martin D-28, or perhaps a Taylor 814 but with that Taylor boxiness totally removed. The sound is both extremely rich (especially with the right strings - Elixir nanoweb lights I have on right now) and extremely well-balanced - suitably bassy but not boomy at all. It takes well to anywhere from light to heavy picking without compressing - fingerpicking tends not to be so good, though -difficult to get it to respond sharply enough for it. The nut sounds exactly like a fret.
The pickup sounds great. The B-Band two-way combo is consistently rated as one of the best sounding on the market.
The sound is definitely the best feature of this guitar.

With the sound being the best feature, the general appearance is a close second. The design is to me the most beautiful except for some of the more elegant Taylors. It is very natural looking, but with just enough ornamentation to make it interesting.
Still, I really wish it had an ebony fretboard & bridge - my only complaint appearance-wise is that it needs some black to balance out the pervading brown & yellow of the spruce & rosewood.
I have the action set up to a medium height (2.5 mm) and there are no bzuzing frets. Could probably go as low you would want without dealing with appreciable buzzing. Factory action was good - you wouldn't want to raise it, but you're left free to lower it.
The guitar has been hand-made so the purfling on the back (which is very pretty, BTW - and I usually hate purfling) actually doesn't line up perfectly with the neck. That's okay, though - it makes it look very organic and doesn't affect it at all. The finish is very nice.
The saddle piece fits well, but could be tighter. It is firm, but can easily be removed by hand.
My only other complaint here - aside from the lack of ebony - is that the frets are poorly done. Not insofar as it affects playability - they don't buzz. But they are poorly inlaid in more than one instance, with an edge sticking up or the fret on a slight angle in various places. All part of the cost-saving, and it doesn't affect tone or playability - put your money where it counts and save the rest, I guess.

I've had no problems. I've heard stories about B-Band pickups being very unreliable, and indeed the undersaddle pickup that originally came with this guitar was faulty, but a call to B-band and they mailed me a new one without even asking for the receipt, and I haven't had a problem since. Haven't used it too much, though.
Also, there was a bad solder joint on the jack when I first bought it. Cost $10 to repair. Quality-checking is only mediocre for these guitars.

You can't reach them by phone, but Godin have never failed to reply to all my e-mails, and they've been very helpful each time. Just don't expect a 1-800 number.

For the price paid, I have never seen a guitar that delivers more bang for buck. In fact, I still find it hard to believe. The sound is literally top-notch, the look is beautiful, abd the playability nothing to complain about. The pickup is excellent, though I might be eating my words if it breaks on me. Customer service is basic but present and knowledgeable. The case is awesome.
Still, for that price, some corners will be cut. However, I think the choice of cut corners that has been made by Simon & Patrick has been outstanding - they deliver an excellent guitar that isn't even no frills - it has frills (it's gorgeous), but they're very carefully chosen.
Again, my only two major complaints are no ebony (I would have totally paid extra for that), which would really have made it stunning, and the dodgy fretwork. But again, the dodgy fretwork doesn't ever actually affect *playability* - it's just cosmetically dodgy when you look close (took me a few months to notice).
Overall, I love this guitar, and am proud to own it.

First off, it's Simon and Patrick.
Made 2004. Solid spruce top, solid rosewood back, 3-way rosewood laminate sides, wood rosette, goss finish, ceramic bridge pegs, abalone headstock logo, gold tuners w. ceramic knobbies, B-Band pickup with both undersaddle and soundboard transducer. Mahogany neck and rosewood fretboard. Godin-style fret markings (abalone, but very small). Companesated bridge, though it looks plastic. Made in Quebec - *the* top of the line acustic from the family of Quebec acoustic guitar company owned under the umbrella of Godin.

This particular guitar sounds wonderful. It's rich, woody, warm, and has fantastic dynamic range - it can be driven hard to picked softly. It's too woody and tough to be fingerpicked well, though - you don't get much sound out of it when you try that. Overall, rich and meaty - Martin-esque. I sold a Taylor 414 because it was too bright and jangly, ad "upgraded" to this.
But here's the catch: I've played no less than four SC RW's, and each one has sounded different. They're remarkably inconsistent, from what I can tell. One sounded outright bad (just middy and muffled), two other sounded mediocre, and this one sounded the best. You take what you find. I guess consistency is what you pay for the unusually low price for these features. But if you find a good one, it's a fantastic deal. (I would give this specific guitar a 9, but I'll drop it to an 8 because of this problem.)
By the way, I like the idea of a laminate side to save cost. The impact on sound should be negligible - the soundboard vibrates the most, then the back. The sides act more as nodes, and while they do impact the sound very slightly, unless you're on an infinite budget, or you're a purist, it's debatable whether it's worth doubling the price of the guitar for.

Excellent. Good playability, though not quite as good as a Taylor. That might be part of the sound, though. The *look* of the guitar is staggering - it is ridiculously elegant and beautiful. imple, but beautiful. To to the Simon & Patrick website - right now it's the opening picture.

Seems built to last - the construction inside looks heavy, though I'm no expert.

For that price (that's about $7-800 US) this guitar is unreal value, both in look, construction, and sound. The electronics are great too. There's really no downside, *except* for the consistency factor - you might have to get lucky to find a good one!