Godin 5th Ave Jazz

[Bach5G]

I purchased a used Godin 5th Ave Jazz at the LMS this morning. The LMS knocked a bit off the asking price and gave me an attractive trade-in allowance (probably within $40 of what I could get on Marketplace) for an extremely unremarkable Fender Player Strat.

Natural, single mini-humbucker. Acrylic finish - what is that? Very good acoustic sound- that’s what caught my attention first. Very articulate. Quite light. It has some sort of flatwounds on it, Chromes I expect. Maybe a little heavier gauge than I am accustomed to. The Tric case is a bit bulky but quite light. 30-return in the event of buyer’s remorse.

In this time of tariffs, I don’t mind that it’s made in Canada.

[Django Johnson]

Those are nice guitars. A friend of mine has had natural finish one for 11-12 years now and played the heck out of it. He is not a jazz player more of a folk/blues player. He keeps it strung with D'Addario .012 nickel round wounds with a round 3rd string. The P90 pickup has a nice tone. Congrats!

[digger]

My gigging buddy uses one when we go out with archtops instead of acoustics. I think it's a great guitar.

[lammie200]

I had one for a while. I agree that they sound great. Like a Martin acoustic IMHO. I couldn't get used to the very flat fretboard and I sold it. If I could have handled that I would still have it and play it often.

[alpop]

Congrats, these are inexpensive little hidden treasures!

I stumbled upon one in the used section of my local music store and couldn't leave without it.

Here's a short vid of mine that I had made for the Just Melody thread :

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[fabiansey]

Nice Guitar but I also could not adjust to the flat fingerboard.

[alpop]

Nice Guitar but I also could not adjust to the flat fingerboard.

I have spent years playing flattop acoustic guitars with a16" fingerboard radius so this guitar feels quite natural to me.

[Cunamara]

I can't adjust to the Fender 7.5" radius. Much happier with a 10-16" or even actually flat.

[John A.]

Congrats, these are inexpensive little hidden treasures!

I stumbled upon one in the used section of my local music store and couldn't leave without it.

Here's a short vid of mine that I had made for the Just Melody thread :

.

Sounds really nice. A while back when I was last looking for an archtop, I was intrigued by these, but I couldn’t find any to try, and the ones I found online were pretty expensive. So I wound up
looking elsewhere, but I’d still love to try one.

To the point about fingerboard radius, I had a Godin 5th Kingpin (i.e., the non-cut single p90 variant), I could play it, but did notice the difference vs smaller radii, more so than with my acoustics with 16” radii.

But I think there’s more to it than just the FB radius. I think there’s interaction between neck profile, FB radius, FB width, hand, and technique. On one guitar a 16” radius might be OK for a player, and on another guitar it might be not.

[alpop]

Sounds really nice. A while back when I was last looking for an archtop, I was intrigued by these, but I couldn’t find any to try, and the ones I found online were pretty expensive. So I wound up
looking elsewhere, but I’d still love to try one.

To the point about fingerboard radius, I had a Godin 5th Kingpin (i.e., the non-cut single p90 variant), I could play it, but did notice the difference vs smaller radii, more so than with my acoustics with 16” radii.

But I think there’s more to it than just the FB radius. I think there’s interaction between neck profile, FB radius, FB width, hand, and technique. On one guitar a 16” radius might be OK for a player, and on another guitar it might be not.

Your comment about the interactions of various factors affecting playability for different individuals is right on.

I'm lucky I guess, in that I can adjust to pretty much any guitar I have in my hands.

The only guitar that ever defeated me was a Loar LH700. I had bought it online without trying it out, and the extreme v shape neck was actually painful for me to play, and I had to sell it.

[entresz]

I have the 'regular' 5th Avenue, non cutaway acoustic. It has a Pete Biltoft floating CC style pickup on it.

The fingerboard radius doesn't bother me too much, but I'm more at home on 12" radius necks.

They do have very small frets, it would probably be more comfortable to play with slightly larger frets.

It's a cool guitar, and perfect for outdoor gigs, or gigs where you might not want to take something too precious. The acoustic sound is decent for a laminated guitar too.

[58flame]

V shaped necks are instant deal breakers.

[lammie200]

V shaped necks are instant deal breakers.

Thumb pain for me. No more v-shapes in my future.

Sounds really nice. A while back when I was last looking for an archtop, I was intrigued by these, but I couldn’t find any to try, and the ones I found online were pretty expensive. So I wound up
looking elsewhere, but I’d still love to try one.

To the point about fingerboard radius, I had a Godin 5th Kingpin (i.e., the non-cut single p90 variant), I could play it, but did notice the difference vs smaller radii, more so than with my acoustics with 16” radii.

But I think there’s more to it than just the FB radius. I think there’s interaction between neck profile, FB radius, FB width, hand, and technique. On one guitar a 16” radius might be OK for a player, and on another guitar it might be not.

I bought mine through Amazon. Godin must have been clearing inventory because it was at the end of year (a few years ago) and it was less than $1k USD with the Tric case. It was such a deal that it intrigued me. I also wasn't crazy about the neck joint, but as you say it was probably a combination of things that I couldn't adjust to easily. Great sound though. Beautifully built, too.