Godins

[Sloper]

Hello.. new guy here

I found my way here while scouring the net looking for more info on Godin guitars

 

I'm pretty much a beginner still. After 2 years messing about though, I'm taking it more seriously, and am teaching myself blues with the aid of books and CDs. I'm also a fan of J.J. Cale.

 

I have a MIM Tele, and now I have the urge to try something else/better. I've by no means outgrown the Tele - it's just GAS I suppose. I love nice guitars!

 

After reading so many great reviews, I've more or less decided my next guitar will be a Godin, but I can't decide to go for the Exit 22 or the LG SP90.

 

I was pleased to find Guitarzan's Soundclick site and enjoyed his song, She Moves Me, which I read somewhere that is played on an LG SP90. It sounds great! However I still want to hear more from this Godin model, and also the Exit 22. I've heard just one sample of the Exit 22, on Soundclick, by a player from another forum.

So... I'd be grateful if anyone could point me at any relevant songs? Thanks.

[Bluesape]

I'm GASsing for the Freeway Classic, with a maple board. I have an old Godin Artisan TC, Tele style, and I love it to death. I can't imagine what they were smokin' when they discontinued this model, and it has led me to look long and hard at other Godins. I already have many high end models from Gibson and Fender, but these guitars are very comparable to pieces costing three or more times as much. On here, 'Zan's the man to ask about Godin, but you can't go wrong with any of their line.

[Guitarzan]

i am quite happy with the LGsp90, and i have taken it into tones where p90s are not normally associated.

as far as i am concerned you won't find a price/performance ratio quite like godin.

if you have specific questions on certain specs etc, feel free to fire away. i have massaged a few godins and are familiar with too much of thier info. sort of a hobby/passion of mine.

i am presently horned out for a SG but as far as the Lg is concerned it isn't the guitar but me personally.

[Sloper]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

I imagine the Exit 22 has more variety of tones, but I hear the LGP90 is a little better for bluesy stuff. Would you agree with that, Guitarzan? Also, have you played an Exit 22?

I do like Strat-type sounds though, which I believe the Exit 22 is capable of? I'm sure I'd love that guitar, but I'd prefer a Godin in the painted finishes that the LG P90 comes in. I might like the plain mahogany better when I see one on the flesh, I dunno yet.

 

I wonder to myself if I might bore of the LG if it hasn't much variety in the tones it produces, too. What do you think Zan? Has it enough to keep you happy?

I realise I am probably concerned about nothing, but I get carried away with enthusiasm for stuff! When I eventually get one, whichever model it is, I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with it and will look back at this time and wonder what the hell I was worrying about!

 

The best way to make a decision is to go play them, I know, but its going to be a week or so before I can get to a shop that sells Godins. Besides, I'd like to hear the opinions of people like you guys; people who can make them sing. I'm not at that stage yet! I'm enjoying getting there though.

 

I wondered if you know of any more songs on Soundclick or wherever, that I can hear the Godins on?

[Guitarzan]

the LG does shine on blues, jazz, twangy stuff. but i have pulverized and played perrty stuff with it as well. the volume control helps take it into other realms. it would be even more versatile if it had two volumes for subtle blending.

i will say that the exit 22 is probably more versatile and seeing you love your fender it should get some of those tones.

i prefer the feel of the exits neck as well.

and you can't argue with a six in line headstock when your tuning one up.

maybe that is me but i don't really find a 3x3 headstock much fun to tune up with. like tuning is any fun anyway.

have you thought of the freeway clasic? humbucker single humbucker has to be my fave setup.

actually i played an Exit 22 last week and liked it very much. p90s are an aquired taste. but when it comes to versatility a bridge 'bucker and two single coils hooked to a 5 way switch is major awesome.

i will admit i have even considered trading the LG in for an Exit 22. though i have praised the guitar and p90s so much there is still part of me that has the "strat" thing burned in and it is hard to leave that.

are there any Exits in your neck of the woods to try?

i am betting you will like the Exit 22.

one thing to remember is both of these guitars are 24.75 inch scale like gibson. and your tele is 25.5 inch.

there is considerably less string tension. which may not be to your liking.

you could say the Lg is sort of like your tele on steriods..lots of steroids.

single tone and volume , two single coils and a 3 way switch.

i have no idea if i am answering any of your questions. but you made me think about the exit 22 again..

[Filup]

I am trying to save for the fretless 11 string classical, I already love this brand.

 

And hi, I'm new here too.

[Guitarzan]

Glissentar? those are unique.

i had chance to play a nylon string fretless multiac. very nice but my intonation didn't do it justice. it would have been cool to hear a nice violin synth patch with it.

i just played it accousticaly.

[AeroG33k]

I never played one, but the Godin Radiator is on my wishlist. Personally, it looks like a very neat little cheap guitar. Body is chambared, really cool retro look, hand finished one-piece (!) rock-maple neck, 24 3/4" scale, 24 frets, pickup switching though vol/vol blend control. American assembled/canadian parts. The only bad thing I hear about it is that the pickups could have more output. Looks like a little gem though, you don't usually get those features on an american made guitar for that price!

[dass101]

I am a recent member of the Godin owners family. I have an Exit 22 with the maple fretboard. First of all I am now a total believer in the HSS configuration. All the sounds you will need for clean, classic rock or even heavier stuff.

The Godin pickups don't sound like a strat. They are much more mellow and balanced. No stinging cleans, only sweet and smooth ones. Coming from a Hot rails equiped Tele style guitar I first thought the bridge HB was weak, but then I discovered that it is full of character of its own and can deliver nice crunch tones.

The guitar is beautiful and the neck is extremely confortable. On the bad side, I feel that the neck wood somehow shrinked and the frets are now sticking out pretty much. I really need to get it fixed.

The guitar doesn't resonate very loud on its own, but somehow I feel that this ads to its very smooth and versatile tone.

That's my short review of the Exit 22

Hope it helps

[Dave da Dude]

I have very deep seated GAS for a Godin LG-P90. I played one in a store and loved it!

 

Very well made. Great tone. Great action. Great feel.

 

What more could you wish for?

[MadStrum]

I'm a owner of a LG SP90, Cognac Burst. Beautiful looking guitar and I still love it to bits. It's pretty versatile if you ask me. Especially if you play blues, country, jazz and rock. I recently played an Exit 22, it felt and sounded great, as expected, but I didn't feel that I needed one because it sounded somewhat like my LG. Now I want a Telecaster, but Godin doesn't make them Closest would be a radiator, but I don't really care for the funky whole-body pickguard.

 

Pier.

[MadStrum]

Did a little surfing and realised that Godin released a new guitar called the Triumph. Hmmm.. I wonder whether it sounds like a tele?

http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/001598.html

 

Pier.

[Filup]

I got turned on to this brand by a close friend, and was in talk with their marketing department about a possible sponsorship, but when the band broke up, it became a bad investment for them. Damn my luck!

[Bluesape]

The electronics for the Triumph should be stellar. I've never warmed up to the body shape, but I respect Godin's desire to visually establish its own identity. I still feel it was a bad call to discontinue their Strat & Tele shaped models. They have somewhat corrected this error with the introduction of the Freeway line, and I hope to see the Tele shape back soon. No lesser a visionary than Roger Sadowsky once stated that Leo Fender's designs have withstood the test of time, and he tends to stay close to them in his line, as do Mike Lull, Tom Anderson, Zion, and other boutique builders, and of course, G&L.

 

IMHO, Godin is the ONLY North American firm in a position to tackle Fender at its own game without being priced through the sky, and I'm surprised they haven't persued that challenge. There is nothing wrong with having their own signiature body shape, but not offering traditional styling is gonna cost market share.

[Guitarzan]

i think they have found that out and that is why you see the freeway. now what they need to do is make a signature line freeway with the top of the line woods and pickups.

[Bluesape]

Agreed 'Zan!

[walpow]

I've got three Godins - an LG with humbuckers, a Radiator (with the scarce mirror pickguard rather than the pearl one) and an SD4 bass. They're wonderful instruments; well built, great-sounding, excellent price-performers. The LG has two coil tap positions on its five-way switch, allowing single-coil sounds, though for real jangle I switch to the Radiator. The LG and the Rad have the same basic body style, but it's always a shock to put one down and pick up the other, because the weight difference is so great.

 

I have a Traynor YCV20WR UPSing its way to me, so soon I'll have an all-Canadian setup.

 

Nathan

http://walpow.com

[Sloper]

The Freeway doesn't appeal to me, but the new Triumph looks interesting. If it's available here before I make my purchase, I'll be sure to check it out

 

Thanks for pointing out the differing tuners layout Zan, I can't believe that after ogling these guitars so many times, it hadn't registered that they were diffferent in that respect! It's not really an issue for me though

 

I am leaning towards the LG P90 at the moment... I still want to hear some songs produced with one though. I love its sound on Zan's song She Moves Me. Was that done with effects?

If only I could hear more...

[Sloper]

Originally posted by dass101:

I am a recent member of the Godin owners family. I have an Exit 22 with the maple fretboard. First of all I am now a total believer in the HSS configuration. All the sounds you will need for clean, classic rock or even heavier stuff.

The Godin pickups don't sound like a strat. They are much more mellow and balanced. No stinging cleans, only sweet and smooth ones. Coming from a Hot rails equiped Tele style guitar I first thought the bridge HB was weak, but then I discovered that it is full of character of its own and can deliver nice crunch tones.

The guitar is beautiful and the neck is extremely confortable. On the bad side, I feel that the neck wood somehow shrinked and the frets are now sticking out pretty much. I really need to get it fixed.

The guitar doesn't resonate very loud on its own, but somehow I feel that this ads to its very smooth and versatile tone.

That's my short review of the Exit 22

Hope it helps

That's a shame about the frets I haven't heard of this on a Godin so far; could it be due to the conditions in the room you store the guitar in? Too warm/dry perhaps?

 

You've given me no reason to discount the Exit 22 .. this isn't getting easier!

Thanks dass101

[fogman]

Originally posted by Sloper:

That's a shame about the frets I haven't heard of this on a Godin so far; could it be due to the conditions in the room you store the guitar in? Too warm/dry perhaps?

 

You've given me no reason to discount the Exit 22 .. this isn't getting easier!

Thanks dass101

It's true. I've read this and also experienced it myself. It's not very consistent from guitar to guitar though. If Godin fixes this issue and perfects their pots which sometimes have issues, then they'd have a perfect guitar!!!!

 

.

[caprae]

I'm shocked to see their large advertising campaign. It seems they have made steady inroads without hardly advertising at all. That Triumph looks really nice. I'm wondering if those singles tend toward the tele or the P90 sound? Interesting that it isn't on their web site yet.

[fogman]

You must remember that NAMM was just a short time ago. I am sure it's not into production just yet. They cannot advertise what they cannot provide!

[comacoda]

OOH! Cool! I like the Triumph! I like the Godin radiator single coils and this guitar sounds like a winner. I am not too crazy about the glitter but I'm sure they have something less Vegas. Good for them!

[MadStrum]

Yeah I don't really like the glitter either.

Anyway, what causes a tele to twang?

 

Pier.

[Guitarzan]

i would imagine the triumph uses the radiator pickups to satisfy people who are after a more traditional 5 way three single coil strat tone.

as for the fret ends, that is understandable with wood shrinkage. i believe they even mention it on the site. Godins weak spot is the pots imho. my volume needs a shot every now and then to stay alive. but it is 2.3 years old.

as for "she move me" i didn't write it, i only supplied the crispy rythym and lead for Don who wrote it. after being told the chords all i had to do was play around with some inversions and i managed to play it all in the 5th fret by droppin a finger here and there.

it was tracked direct with a GT6 and minimal effects. i didn't really make note of what patch i was using. believe me it sounds way better through an amp.

the triumph shouldn't be too long away, they had freeways ready shortly after they unveiled them at NAMM.

side note:

i did play around with an exit 22 today when i stopped in for strings. it does sound sweet and plays very nice. they had it strung with 9's and it was very slinky.

funny how almost every guitar i played today was buzzin, must be a humidity thing.

except for the taylor t5.......that is another story

[dass101]

Reg the fret ends. I really think that it developed this in time, I think I would have noticed it when I got it. I live in a pretty hot and dry apartment, considering that it's winter and the heating is on all the time. But 3 months seems to a be a pretty short time for this to happen.

Nu problems with the pots here, actually I think the electronics are top notch, the switch and the pots have a great feel and are very silent.

[DaleH]

dazz101 if you bought the guitar from a Godin dealer why not see if it is still under warranty.

Godin sell their products as quality instruments and I would contact them about it.

If they can't replace the neck they may give you some kind of dicount on a new one?

[dass101]

that would be pretty hard since I bought it from the States and had it shipped to Europe. I will do a setup for it, I'm not really concerned of this.

[bluesy10]

Hi people

 

Ive just joined the forum and Im just in the throws of changing my guitar and was thinking of maybe a Radiator......... they seem to get a good write-up on here anyways.

If I go for a radiator it will probably be bought unplayed as I cant track one locally.

 

Could any owners give me an idea of what I can and cant expect from the guitar.

 

Im not into screaming lead or instrumentals but general light rock and 60s stuff mainly and a bit of country too.

Any info gratefully recieved

 

Ive retired my strat due to arthritic problems,, needing something a bit lighter and with a more user friendly neck

 

thankssssssss

[Gruupi]

Well I was about to say a Strat bluesy10. Have you considered swapping out the neck? Warmoth makes a thin neck replacment. Also, Strats are about the lightest solid body guitars out there, most others will be heavier.

 

Welcome to the forum by the way.