Godin 5th Avenue

The Godin 5th Avenue is an archtop guitar made in the tradition of many of the very simplistic guitars made by Gibson, Epiphone, Harmony, Regal, et al in the forties and fifties. It's extremely no frills, but it sacrifices needless features and excess cosmetics for a vintage and cool tone that's very much at home playing jazz or blues styles. They're built at Godin's factory in Canada and have a pretty basic feature set which includes:

Top: Canadian Wild Cherry
Back & Sides: Canadian Wild cherry with cream binding
Neck: Silver Leaf maple with contoured high-gloss black headstock
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Adjustable Rosewood Bridge
Finish: Custom Polished Finish
Radius: 16" (40,6 cm)
Scale: 24.84" (63 cm)
Nut width: 1.72" (4,6 cm)
Colors: Cognac Burst, Natural & Black

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic considering its purpose. It's not really designed for high octane fast playing, but rather for more laid back blues/jazz type textures. It's a fairly lightweight guitar and doesn't suffer from neck heaviness or any odd order abnormalities. The shape is basically an old school archtop. It looks nearly identical to an old Silvertone that I owned that was built in 1958, so obviously they've got the idea. That being said, it does play better than a lot of these old guitars. The neck is comfortable and it's great for chording work and certain lead lines. The upper fret access isn't stellar due to a lack of a cutaway but that's to be expected.

Getting a good sound of this guitar is easy... just vary your pick attack and/or style to change it up! Because there are no pickups or anything on this guitar, it's up to your hands to determine how it sounds. It's a pretty mellow guitar overall, so you might have to hit it a bit harder to get the volume out of it, but otherwise it sounds great.

SOUNDS

The sound of the guitar as stated is a fairly plain and mellow affair. It works very well for old school blues licks or some jazz comping. Django type lines work really well on this guitar too, due to its understated tone and easy playability. Part of me wishes that it had a bit more volume overall, but that might take away from the really unique and simple voice that this guitar has. It would definitely make a cool addition if you've already got a really loud acoustic in the collection or are just looking for a soft toned guitar to play around on.

OVERALL OPINION

The Godin 5th Avenue is a killer value for money and is a great example of a vintage meets modern archtop. At about $500 new for a non pickup equipped model, it's an awesome deal for someone looking for that downhome sort of voice in an easy to play, great sounding archtop guitar. Godin gear is underrated but built extremely well, so I'd have no concerns buying one myself!

(Originally written by zjulos/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Guitar made in Canada.

Top: Canadian cherry wood

Back and sides: Canadian cherry wood with cream bindings

Neck: silver maple with profiled black glossy headstock

- Rosewood fingerboard

Bridge: adjustable rosewood bridge

Finish: polished finish

Radius: 16"

Scale: 24.8"

Nut: 1.81"

Colors: Cognac burst, natural and black

Also available with a Godin P90 Kingpin single-coil pickup

The version with pickup is bit more expensive

UTILIZATION

Very ergonomic, very comfortable neck,

The guitar could sound a bit louder...

I didn't try it out with an amp...

SOUNDS

Pleasant guitar to play jazz and blues, and also gypsy music

It reminds me too much of a folk guitar

The unplugged sound could be a bit louder

OVERALL OPINION

I tried it out at a store

It's a simple guitar with a good manufacturing quality. Very attractive price.

You can feel it's a good-quality instrument even though it's not expensive

Manufactures in Canada
Adjustable Tusq Bridge by Graphtech
Top: Canadian Cherry
Bottom and fishplates: Canadian Wild Cherry
Neck: Maple argentbr /> Rosewood Fingerboard
Scale: 24.84 "(63 cm)
Micro: 1x Godin Kingpin P90 single coil
1x Volume, 1x Tone

USE

The handle is very pleasant in MATIRE of geometry. However, I find it a drawback that repeats on my other two Godin electric. Is spcifique of a wood treatment? I do not know. The strings are very sensitive to oxidation and the handle (including on his back) loses game after a few moments of his "slippery." One can certainly blame my sweat, but I possde other guitars (Duesenberg, Hagstrm, Gitano) which, with the same strings (same and my hands!), This phenomenon does not prsentent nomne. A retailer Godin besides me even him (without j'voque with him the question) evoked the thing. J'vite my ct the Fastfret but trsrgulirement cleans the strings with the cleaning product for Strings Gibson Luthers Choice (sometimes with Dunlop String Cleaner 65 which, alas, feels the 'antidgrippant the molybdenum used in mechanics!) and the default is ammoindri.

No pan shot this guitar does not allow access to acute ais; This is not to trsgnant genres of music that this guitar seems naturally directs.

Trslgre, one door with a lot of ease for hours and I find the pleasant shape to play sitting down.

As for getting a good sound: one branch (on a good amp prfrence tubes) and sounds on! A single microphone, a volume knob and a tonality (which mriterait perhaps to be more progressive): nothing complicated to draw good sonority.

SONORITS

I rgale me play jazz on this guitar. I go up with the "big boots" Thomastick JS 112 (I tent to mount with 114 GB Thomastick! And I imagine the sound that would come out of a Hot Rod Deluxe!)

In ELECTRIC, I played on a Palmer Fat Combo 50 and a Laney Cube 12R. Excellent on both amps. The sound is warm and rich across the spectrum. Note: this guitar sends lots of bass on Mi strings and the strings Thomastick JS have the advantage of reduce flooding low that we have on this type of guitar strings with other brands. (flat net) of the same drawing.

Overall fawn, there is a beautiful combination of round wood and warmth of P90. The clean sound seems obviously beautiful, very typ "swing" or "bebop" (listen to the recordings of Barney Kessel with Charles Parker) If you push a little gain, we get a nice crunch giving sonority everything that reminds the sound of the Gibson ES300 in bebop recordings of Django Reinhardt. This, however, never gave me guitar desire to be tried with overdrive or fuzz effects! With a gain a little more thrust on the amp, you can (I think) find him sonorits that stick well for Chicago blues.

Do not wait for this instrument against long sustain; but the heat of the sonority than compensates.

Default guitar (inhrent me it seems all P90 "classic"): 1) the feedback happens very quickly medium or high volume, 2) the microphone is very sensitive magntiques the fields of the amp and snores quite easily - to avoid the snoring just find its orientation and remoteness ideals over the amp.

In ACOUSTIC, it is far from projecting as Gibson ES130 (1953) of a friend with whom we livrs comparisons. But the sound is not bad. Thomastick with ropes, she lost in projection with respect to the original strings are round nets.

NOTICE GLOBAL

I have this I Kingpin for over a year. I always take as much fun playing it and I think I will not tire of its sonority.

I have not tried many models before acqurir. At the time of purchase, I simply compar with Gretsch Synchromatic G100CE. I prfr the electric sonority of Godin. Got to deal ...

If we compare with the price of "must" that kind of guitar "spanish electric," the quality money seems excellent. However, if one wants considrer purchase in terms of price / versatility, then do not obviously look to this guitar that seems directed purely jazz "mainstream" and " bebop. "

With my back more than a year, if I recapture, I would choose the same guitar!

Note that I possde another 5th Avenue Kingpin: the model "II" (with two P90) up with a draft infrieur (Thomastick JS 111), with similar qualities, compl you well and widens (for a tighter versatility) the possibilities of sonority of the Kingpin I

I think it's birch plywood, manufactured in Canada.

UTILIZATION

The neck is excellent, all guitarists who are trying my Godin reached agreement. the interface is excellent it really is in the canons of modern guitars. The head does not fall despite the presence of effective mechanical oil bath. The sound is good? But very distinctive. The handle is fair and accurate in all its length.

SOUNDS

This is an acoustic guitar, Godin actually now large variation with microphones. I know that the acoustic model. The sound is old school ties typed. The register of this guitar is very old time blues with rope phosphorus / bronze (to play Robert Johnson is excellent). But it is also very well connected in strings Argentine swing and gypsy. Overall, this is a guitar that excels in the registry blues / jazz from 1920 to 1950. Games with the comfort of a recent guitar and a reasonable price.

OVERALL OPINION

I basically played the gypsy with this guitar, I have long sought a kind selmer gypsy guitar at a reasonable price but the price for the Godin was the gypsy "vintage" broken and unplayable or reproduction of Chinese crap. Also I've never been a fan of gypsy guitars square sleeves. I sold this guitar to finance the purchase of a nylon (Chinese, it is not all crap). I kept it and played four years and I have no complaints to him.