Godin Montreal Premiere Natural

The Godin Montreal Premiere is a classically styled semi-hollow electric that combines high quality hardware and workmanship at a price point that is very attractive for a North American made guitar. Lively, clean, and easy to play, the Godin Montreal is a versatile instrument that brings the virtues of semi-hollow tone within the reach of every player.
Finished in natural cherry, the Godin Montreal Premiere is packed with highly quality features:

• Semi-Hollow Canadian Cherry Body
• Double white binding
• Truss-style carved spruce core
• Mahogany set net, 24-3/4" scale, 22 medium frets
• Rosewood fingerboard
• 2 Godin Humbucker pickups
• 3-way pickup switch
• Volume and tone controls
• Graphtech Resomax bridge and tailpiece
• Schaller strap locks
• Dual action truss rod
• Godin Deluxe padded gig bag
• Made in Canada
• List price $1795

Test gear: Andrews A-22 22-watt EL-84 amplifier, Traynor Darkhorse 15-watt 6V6 amplifier with matching cabinet.

In the world of popular electric guitars, once you've covered the "three basic shapes" the semi-hollow thinline is most likely the next most popular design, although certainly not a pervasive as the three biggies. Godin has jumped into this market with the Montreal Premiere.

While cherry may not qualify as a "classic" tonewood to traditionalists, it turns out to have some very attractive qualities. Cherry is acoustically loud, clean and produces a very clear midrange with nice upper end detail. Sonically it is crisp like maple but with a little stronger bottom end. The grain is pretty nice too, and the fact that it is domestically available in Canada helps to keep the cost down.

The nickel plated Godin humbucking pickups are moderate in output, and are the same ones used in their previous Montreal model, and the 5th Avenue Uptown. These pickups complement the cherry construction, and are naturally clean, with good note separation, a smooth top end, and good low end definition that is not flabby or soft. They are devoid of the sometimes heavy, muddy midrange that afflicts many humbucker guitars and are a good example of how nice humbucking pickups can sound if you don't overcook them trying to get high output. Rolling off the tone control provides a smoother jazzier side, but the Montreal never gets particularly woody or wooly sounding. The boosted and distortion tones are lean with a lot of top end sparkle, a tasty midrange bite, and are well suited to crunchy blues and fusion more so than the chugging low end needed for harder styles of music. The spruce center core effectively manages any feedback issues, so you can crank this guitar without fear of it howling.

As with all Godin guitars, the neck profile is comfortably slim without being wimpy, and the fretwork consists of nicely finished medium frets and a factory setup that affords low action that is virtually buzz-free even when played aggressively. Godin guitars are very consistent out of the box (or gig bag), and require very little -- if any -- adjustment to get them dialed in.

While the Godin Montreal Premiere does not break any barriers in modern guitar design, it's an attractive and nicely crafted instrument that is well suited to pop, rock, fusion and jazz styles of music. Playing it through several different amps and cabinets, we think this guitar will change a lot of minds in regard to just much ground you can cover with a semi-hollow thinline. It's not just for lounge lizards, and the Godin Montreal Premiere is a mind-expanding experience than won't get you arrested.