Why Godin Guitars Are a Great Value



As someone who has been playing the guitar for over forty years I’m not an easy sell when it comes to buying a guitar. I’ve owned a large number of what are generally considered classic American guitars, starting with my very first electric guitar, a mid- 60’s Gibson Firebird.

Through the years, in addition to the Firebird, I’ve owned a number of other great Gibson guitars including a late 60’s Les Paul gold-top, a  mid 70’s Les Paul Custom, and a late 70’s Howard Roberts Custom.

I’ve also owned some amazing Fender guitars, my first being a Tele Thinline from the early 70’s. Thinking back on it now, I guess that my favorite Fender was a ‘68 Stratocaster that I purchased for $75. from a farmer outside of Richmond, VA, sometime in the early 80’s. That guitar had literally been sitting in a barn for years and was covered in a thin layer of tractor grease. It wasn’t until I carefully removed all of the grease that I realized what a find it was. One of a kind.

In addition to some of the guitars listed above,  I owned and gigged for years with an Ibanez JSM 100VT John Scofield Signature Model.  I still own a Heritage 575, made in the original Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I discovered Tacoma guitars before they were purchased by Fender and purchased a number of them including an AJF22CE5 archtop jazz box, a C1C Chief with an optional Engelmann Spruce top, a BM6C Thunderhawk Baritone, a Thunderhawk Bass and others.

The point is that I’ve owned and played lots of great guitars over the past forty years and I know the difference between a great guitar and a not so great guitar.

There are a lot of factors at work with any guitar, but ultimately there’s just something about a particular combination of woods, hardware and design that works. It inspires. Maybe the real difference is that you want to keep playing a great guitar. You just don’t want to put it down.

Now, why do I think that Godin guitars are a great value in the guitar world?

Let’s start by briefly looking at the company founded by Robert Godin in 1978. In addition to making their electric guitars under the Godin name, the parent company, LaSiDo, is also the largest manufacturer of acoustic guitars in North America. Their acoustic guitars are sold under five different labels: Seagull, Simon & Patrick, Norman, Art & Lutherie, and La Patrie.

Godin does things differently than most of their competitors. Instead of producing their guitars in one factory, LaSiDo has a different approach. They have essentially decentralized their production by operating four smaller size factories, three in Quebec, Canada and one in Berlin, New Hampshire. Each is responsible for a specific task in the manufacturing process. The New Hampshire factory is the one that is responsible for hand assembling each Godin guitar.

All Godin and Seagull guitars are hand assembled in Berlin, New Hampshire.

LaSiDo has shown that having a limited number of production activities in a group of smaller factories results in fewer errors in production, better worker communication and more efficient production.
This isn’t at all the norm in guitar production today as most guitar manufacturers are mass producing their products in larger factories, with significantly less quality control over each instrument.

The reason that Godin guitars may not have the name recognition of companies like Gibson and Fender is that Godin actually chooses not to sell their guitars to national chain stores, but prefers to deal with smaller dealers. They maintain this approach so they can keep their prices down and maintain their high standard of guitar building.

As Robert Godin has said, “Making a good $2000. guitar is easy, making a good $200. guitar is hard”.

As a dealer, I see Godin’s quality with every guitar delivery. Almost without exception, Godin guitars are meticulously assembled and beautifully set up. The consistency of production from guitar to guitar is outstanding.

The company perspective says it perfectly: ”From the selection of the wood to the final adjustments on the finished instrument, each Godin guitar is designed and built by people who love guitars”. When you play their guitars, you know it’s true. This is a company that cares deeply about the quality of their product.

Hand-assembled instruments, innovative design ideas, and great prices combine to create one of the best guitar values I’ve ever seen.  

It’s like the Gibson or Fender guitars that I mentioned earlier. At the time, all of those guitars were affordable. With Godin and Seagull guitars, you can still purchase a great guitar at a totally affordable price.

So before you put down your hard earned cash at the local guitar megastore, you really owe it to yourself to check out a Godin or Seagull guitar.

Call to make an appointment and you can come to my studio, plug in and spend some quality time with a Godin or Seagull guitar. You’ll be glad you did.  And you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how much guitar your money can actually buy from Godin.  

Don’t spend more money for less guitar!