When I was in college, I worked a summer job and saved up enough money to buy a nice, new guitar. I was in Joplin, MO, at the time, and I wandered into a local music store.
Little did I know that would be the day I fell in love.
There was a six-string acoustic guitar with a cutaway on display. I walked up and played it, and boy, did it feel good. It had a nice, rich tone as well. The more I played it, the more I didn’t want to put it down. I looked at the headstock and saw a bird on it. The brand was Seagull, a company I’d never heard of before. Nevertheless, I had to have that guitar.
Robert Godin
Seagull was the brainchild of Canadian guitar maker Robert Godin. Godin grew up (and still lives) in Quebec. He began making guitars in 1972 as a way to act on his passion for good music and craftsmanship. Over the next decade, he was able to parlay his small shop in rural Quebec into a solid guitar company, Godin Guitars, which is now one of the largest guitar manufacturers in North America — but one many musicians are still unfamiliar with, unfortunately.
In many ways, Robert Godin might be considered the Canadian Paul Reed Smith. In interviews, Robert’s dedication to and passion about making the absolute best guitars is immediately apparent. Like Paul Reed Smith, he obsesses over every aspect of his guitars and the processes by which they are made. And much like PRS, people who have played or owned a Godin rarely if ever have any complaints.
Godin family brands
In 1982, Godin branched out and started manufacturing acoustic guitars under the Seagull brand. Seagull was started to build affordable, high-quality solid wood acoustics. Mine was the Seagull brand’s flagship, the S6. (I lost that guitar a number of years ago but have since replaced it with an Artist Series, the higher-end counterpart to the S6.)
In the years that followed, Godin has branched out with other brands as well. Norman, Art & Lutherie, and Simon and Patrick are all additional acoustic guitar brands the company has started. (Fun fact: Simon and Patrick are the names of Robert’s sons.) They also make classical guitars under the La Patrie brand. These brands, like Seagull, offer a variety of guitars from entry level to high end.
The company also still sells guitars under the original Godin brand. Godin guitars are mid-to-high-end electrics. I personally have a Godin Progression Plus, a Stratocaster-type guitar, that in my opinion rivals any American-made Fender. And I bought it used for under $600! They have standard electric guitars and also guitars equipped with piezo pickups, MIDI outputs, and more.
Godin features
Godin guitars (and their family brands) generally share some common features.
First of all, as I’ve mentioned, Godin’s quality is excellent across the board. Even their “entry level” guitars have great fretwork, finish, and overall craftsmanship.
Second, their fretboards tend to have a different feel than other brands. Many of their guitars offer a fretboard radius of between 12 and 14 inches, as opposed to a typical Fender radius of 9.5 inches. They also often put a wider nut on their guitars, especially the acoustics. This wider nut (and therefore neck) is designed to help make finger picking easier, but it also helps players like me who have large hands. This combination tends to make the necks much easier to play, at least for me.
Third, and most importantly in my opinion, they simply blow away the competition at their price points. As I mentioned, my Progression Plus feels like a guitar worth two or three times as much. I can say the same for my Artist Series, which I bought used for around $500. I’ve picked up $1000 Martins and Taylors that didn’t sound as good as my guitar. And the same is true for others, based on reviews I’ve seen over the years.
A great brand in so many ways
Robert Godin has truly built a great company and brand over the last 50 years. His guitars offer North American-made quality at a very reasonable price. They’ve also leaned into sustainable business practices — they literally grow and harvest their own wood in their own forest. And, of course, they provide hundreds of jobs to the fine people of Quebec.
There is a lot more you can learn about this great but relatively unknown brand, but my suggestion to you is if you ever get the chance to pick one up, do yourself a favor. But you’d better have your wallet handy!
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