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Godin 5th Avenue Arch Top

C

Cpt.Beaky

And His Travelling Band
Godin is adding a new acoustic guitar to its lineup, confusingly under the Godin label.
godin-5th-avenue.jpg


It'd be cool if they do a model with an under-bridge pickup and a floating pickup by the neck - with the molded laminate top, I don't expect amazing acoustic tone.

It looks like the list price is 749.99, with street prices under $600.

http://www.godinguitars.com/godinpress5thave.html
 
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Sweet!... good to see that somebody is putting out an archtop in the old classic style ...that is affordable to the masses...

As for the tone... I dont know ..I would have to hear one...(play one):D

The one in the picture looks like my 1950 Harmony Master that I reworked a few years back... I wouldnt part with it for the world ...

well.......:scratch2:maybe ...but it would take a lot...


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If I remember correctly..........
Godin puts out acoustic guitars under the name of....Seagull?
VERY good guitars for the money BTW!!

Cheers!!
Steve
 
Went to the site...a "molded" wild cherry top?

So...basically a laminate?

Meh.

Unless the people at Godin are magicians, it is hard to imagine one of these laminates having anywhere near the tone, volume or presence of a true archtop with a carved solid spruce top. While getting something like that is at least $1000-1200 used (closer to $1500-1700 new...something like a Heritage Eagle or Eastman AR-804 or 805), it is the real deal.

And if you want a laminate, the Epiphone Emporer Regent is a nice guitar that is the same price or even slightly less (and materially less used), and you get a floating humbucking pickup to boot.

Don't get me wrong - Godin makes good stuff...I own a Seagull 6-string and a Simon & Patrick 12-string....it is just hard to believe that an archtop made completely out of laminates (and with no pickup) is going to have any kind of great tone. I hope that I am wrong.
 
Played one today! Inexpensive, and it sounded sweet...dealer says the model with pickup ( picture looks like a p-90) is on the way. It was selling for $595, so I wouldn't expect it to sound like the Heritage, but it sounded way sweeter to my ears than the Epiphone ER. Played well right up the neck, too. Go try one! I understand why all the nice reviews now.
 
It would be interesting to see if the guitar could take on some REALLY heavy strings...that might help its acoustic tone a lot. When I want to play my Heritage Eagle in "acoustic" form (as opposed to "jazz" form), I take the floating humbucker off and throw some bronze 14's on there...the thing really BOOMS!

(quite a workout for the left hand as well)
 
lasminit2 said:
Played one today! Inexpensive, and it sounded sweet...dealer says the model with pickup ( picture looks like a p-90) is on the way. It was selling for $595, so I wouldn't expect it to sound like the Heritage, but it sounded way sweeter to my ears than the Epiphone ER. Played well right up the neck, too. Go try one! I understand why all the nice reviews now.
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My 5th Avenue Kingpin arrived today as a matter of fact.:banana: That's the model with the single P-90. I've only had about 30 minutes of playing time on it, but it is a fun guitar to play for sure. Pics and more detailed thoughts on it to follow. Mine has the cognac burst finish. It looks just like the one in this link. I bought it from The 12th Fret in Toronto.
 
Here's a video of Robert Godin showing off the 5th Avenue Kingpin. If it's good enough for John McLaughlin to enjoy playing, I guess I can have fun with mine too.:D
 
Come to think of it, wasn't the old Harmony Master a ply top? I know that Godin makes their own 3 ply for the backs and sides of their lower end Seagull models (not the SWS or Artist models which are all solid). Also, the Gibson ES-335 and its cousins are all ply construction, although I know those are certainly hollow body electrics rather than acoustic guitars, but the point is that they still sound great. I am very interested in the fact that a North American guitar maker is producing a guitar with a set neck at this price point. If you have seen that Discovery Channel special on "How Guitars Are Made" (not sure that is the exact title), those inside factory shots are all from the Godin factories in Quebec. Tell us how ya like it PS! :thmbsp:
 
Reel 2 Reel said:
Sweet!... good to see that somebody is putting out an archtop in the old classic style ...that is affordable to the masses...

As for the tone... I dont know ..I would have to hear one...(play one):D

The one in the picture looks like my 1950 Harmony Master that I reworked a few years back... I wouldnt part with it for the world ...

well.......:scratch2:maybe ...but it would take a lot...


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Click to expand...

That guitar looks sweet:thmbsp:
 
lasminit2 said:
Tell us how ya like it PS! :thmbsp:
Click to expand...

I like it a lot.:yes: This is the first archtop I've ever played, so I have nothing to compare it to soundwise. My other acoustic is a Seagull Artist Flame Maple CW model, so initially I was surprised at the difference in volume the Kingpin has. It's not that I can't get it loud, it just takes a lot more attack to get it there. I had them string it with flat wound D'Addario 12's, another first for me. I have to say I'm really liking the flat wound strings. It is a lot of fun running up and down the neck with them. I don't have a camera around at the moment, but this is a truly beautiful guitar to look at. It is also very comfortable to play. It is not very deep, and has a pretty thin waist, so it sits really comfortably when I play it. The body of my Seagull is a lot deeper. The 5th Avenue is much more comfortable to play for me. This is a pretty versatile guitar. You can play it quietly with nice tone, or plug it in, and turn it up. I've been having fun playing it through my little Roland Micro Cube. The P-90 sounds killer with the reverb and tremolo turned up on the amp. The Micro Cube's rectifier setting was getting some nice feedback out of the Kingpin too.:guitar:

Here's a nice video on Youtube, of someone playing the 5th Avenue a lot better than I can.:thmbsp:
 
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