Godin (Guitar Manufacturer)

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Godin is a Canadian guitar manufacturer. It is owned by Robert Godin.

1 History
2 Current Products
3 External links

[edit] History

Godin started building Robert Godin's guitars in 1982 in La Patrie, Quebec.

Godin Guitars' head office is located in Montreal, and they build their instruments in six factories in four different locations, three in Quebec and one in New Hampshire.

Godin Guitars makes instruments under several different labels. Norman makes mid to entry level acoustic guitars. The Simon and Patrick brand make mid to high range steel-string acoustics. La Patrie manufactures classical guitars. Seagull known for manufacturing solid wood high quality acoustic guitars. Guitars under the Godin brand are primarily mid-range to top of the line electrics that are made of high quality wood from the northeastern part of North America. They have many models that feature synth pick ups and some with piezo pick up equipped bridges. Godin are notable for their use of synthesizer pickups as a standard feature in their high end models, and many of their electric models use a piezo acoustic pick ups integrated with the bridge assembly. Aside from their technical innovations, Godin have a strong reputation among guitarists for their product quality. Most Godin guitars have the same distinctive, yet traditional, body shape, which has been described as a hybrid of the Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Telecaster bodies.

Godin's guitars have won several awards, including a Guitar Player Magazine's Editors Pick for the LG, Exit 22, and Freeway Classic.

Notable Godin players include John McLaughlin, Steve Stevens, and Vinnie Moore. They are also very common among session players and sidemen. Robert Godin was also mentor to Master luthier Mauro Liberatore

[edit] Current Products

[edit] Performance Series

Radiator - A unique Godin design with a pickguard over the entire body and Godin designed single-coil pickups
SD - Somewhat of a cross between a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul. This model has the pickguard, bolt on neck, and single coil pickup configuration of the "Strat", While bearing the Bridge hummbucker and Scale Length of a Les Paul. This yields a tone that is most similar to a Les Paul, despite the guitar's mostly "strat-like" appearance.
Detour - A dual-cutaway design with a fixed bridge and two humbuckers. Some models have active EMG humbuckers and is aimed at modern metal and heavy rock players.
Exit 22 - Similar to the SD, but with a fixed bridge and solid mahogany body.
Freeway series - A recent addition to the Performance line, it is a Dual cutaway body with options such as MIDI and Acoustic pickups, Locking and Non-Locking treemolo systems, and flamed maple finishes.
LG - The LG is a fixed-bridge, mahogany solid body with p-90 pickups or Humbuckers. Like the Detour, it is also avilable with EMG pickups.
Solidac/XTSA - The Solidac and XTSA are solid-bodied electrics with conventional pickups as well as acoustic pickups on the Solidac and both Acoustic pickups and MIDI pickups on the XTSA. Both feature non-locking tremolo bridges.
Freeway bass - Aviliable in four and five-string configurations, and active electronics.

[edit] Signature series

LG Signature - Similar to the Performance series LG, but with a Flamed maple top and Seymour Duncan humbuckers.
LGXSA/LGXT - Similar to the LG signature, but with Acoustic and MIDI pickups. The LGXT comes with a non-locking tremolo.
Montreal - Semi-hollow electric with optional Acoustic pickups. Aimed more at Jazz and Blues players than hard rock players like other Godins.
Multiac Jazz - Based on the Multiac acoustics with acoustic and MIDI options, but with a Mini-humbucker in the neck position and flamed maple tops for warm electric sounds.

[edit] Multiac and A series

The Multiac and A series are acoustic/electric guitars with thinner bodies than traditional acoustic guitars (Godin's sister companies produce traditional Acoustic designs). They are offered with MIDI pickups as well as steel or nylon strings. The A series are similar, but offer basses and mandolins and no MIDI options. Godin is the only company that offers MIDI pickups on acoustic guitars as a standrd option.

[edit] Glissentar

The Glissentar is a unique Godin design. It is a fretless nylon 11-string acoustic/electric guitar with the five high strings doubled like a 12-string guitar, and a single low-E string. It is aimed at players who want to incorporate non-western sounds into their music.