Godin Montreal Premiere - One of the Best Semis?

[Wildcat]

Maybe a stretch, but with the same smaller bout, 15", does the Supreme give an alternative to the Limited Edition Gibson ES-275?

Liitle Jay wanted more photos.......

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[Doctor Jeff]

Maybe a stretch, but with the same smaller bout, 15", does the Supreme give an alternative to the Limited Edition Gibson ES-275?

It's certainly a cheaper alternative...

I've never played a 275 but have a 135 and have played the Premiere a bit. IMO the Premiere pickups are very nice and versatile but have a bit more bite and grit than the Gibson Classics. Being a semi and having the fixed bridge, the Premiere has more sustain. You can still get a mellow jazz tone out of it, but it IMO has a more modern sound compared to Gibson archies.

The Premiere is a nice-looking guitar but doesn't have the gold appointments and overall bling factor of the 275.

What I think is a worthy and similar competitor to the 275 is the Peerless Sunset. The pickups are Epiphone Classic 57s, but IMO they sound extremely good and mellow on this guitar, which is the same size factor and fully hollow with a floating bridge like the 275. And can be had for less than a quarter of the price of the 275--a real bargain!

[Woody Sound]

What I think is a worthy and similar competitor to the 275 is the Peerless Sunset. The pickups are Epiphone Classic 57s, but IMO they sound extremely good and mellow on this guitar, which is the same size factor and fully hollow with a floating bridge like the 275. And can be had for less than a quarter of the price of the 275--a real bargain!

I'm pretty sure the Sunset is a 16" guitar.

[Al Br.]

Newsense,

What do you think of the Richlite fretboard as compared to rosewood or ebony? Or did yours come with one of the latter? Godin site shows Richlite for the Supreme.

Congratulations DRS - I couldn't agree more - a great purchase.

Your list of cons reads like the inspiration for creating the Montreal Premiere Supreme - like the one in my avatar

Compared to the standard model the Supreme comes with a cloth covered TRIC case (lighter and more shock proof than a standard hard case); it has white bindings on the finger board. It may have the same tuners as the standard, but it has a gorgeous flamed maple veneer on top of the wild cherry laminate. Nevertheless, none of the cosmetics were that important to me; I really like the look of the standard natural finish. However, when I played them both in the shop, the difference in the bridge pickups was what sold the Supreme to me. The SD Jazz II and particularly the SD Custom Custom in the bridge, make a world of difference.

Are these upgrades worth the price difference ? When I factor in the larger discount I got on the Supreme and balance the difference to the standard against buying after-market pickups and a TRIC case, then yes it was worth it.

The Supreme is all round the best sounding guitar I have played. The clarity of the Jazz II at the neck is amazing and works exceptionally well with the tone control to dial in whatever shade of mellow is your taste, without ever becoming muddy or ice-picky, whilst the bridge pickup is rich with overtones and even sounds great clean - i.e. without the overdrive I would normally need to fill out the tone of most bridge pickups.

Would I change anything ? Well, yes - I swapped the cheap looking control knobs for some white-on-black speedknobs and I still think the pickguard is a bit naff (but I think that of most pickguards), plus if I were re-designing it, I would probably have separate volume and tone controls for the two pickups. Despite those minor issues, I can't ever imagine selling this guitar.

[newsense]

As far as I can tell, it is Richlite, just as in the spec. I jokingly reported in a previous thread that I could only tell the difference between Richlite and ebony from the taste whilst pulling my Gene Simmons guitar face.

I have guitars with rosewood and with ebony boards, plus I have a Martin acoustic with a richlite board. I really find no noticeable issues with either playability or tone, although these attributes are difficult to deconvolute from all the other differences between my guitars. i.e. how do a compare the ebony boards on my Taylor acoustic or Yamaha classical with the richlite on my Godin, However, I can appreciate why many would prefer the reassurance of a traditional wooden finger board.

[Doctor Jeff]

I'm pretty sure the Sunset is a 16" guitar.

You are right sir.

Not sure if the Gibson 275 is 15 or 16" bout? In any event, the Peerless is a good match. I didn't notice much difference size-wise between the Peerless and the Godin when I played it.

[Wildcat]

15" bout for both ES 275 and Supreme

You are right sir.

Not sure if the Gibson 275 is 15 or 16" bout? In any event, the Peerless is a good match. I didn't notice much difference size-wise between the Peerless and the Godin when I played it.

[Wildcat]

[avantgarlic]

I have a new Premiere and I have to second your comment. It plays like it was designed by players. It's very nice. I am using it as my main gig axe after having traded my ES 347 that was old and worn out not very stable. Lots of issues.

Surprised I don't see more players playing this semi.

[djelley]

I have one. Very high quality as you would expect from Godin. My only minor complaint is that the pickups are a little weak. Overall, I am a big fan.

[mad dog]

I had one for awhile, first guitar used for practicing jazz. A quite nice instrument in many ways. Mine was light, balanced. Very playable neck, though I generally prefer neck bound instruments. Best part was the centerblock construction. An interesting design that works exactly as promised ... a different kind of resonance, airier sound than you'd get with the heavier, solid block.

The one downside is significant: incredibly bright pickups. So bright as to be unuseable. I chose to explore the full hollowbody type, so sold the MP. A pickup change would have solved that problem for sure had I stuck with it. The P-90 version came out after I had mine. That one probably would have interested me more, though I was not hugely impressed with the P-90s in another Godin I had tried. Once again, the pickup change would be a not terribly expensive or difficult answer.

MD

[Jim Soloway]

I had one for awhile, first guitar used for practicing jazz. A quite nice instrument in many ways. Mine was light, balanced. Very playable neck, though I generally prefer neck bound instruments. Best part was the centerblock construction. An interesting design that works exactly as promised ... a different kind of resonance, airier sound than you'd get with the heavier, solid block.

The one downside is significant: incredibly bright pickups. So bright as to be unuseable. I chose to explore the full hollowbody type, so sold the MP. A pickup change would have solved that problem for sure had I stuck with it. The P-90 version came out after I had mine. That one probably would have interested me more, though I was not hugely impressed with the P-90s in another Godin I had tried. Once again, the pickup change would be a not terribly expensive or difficult answer.

MD

Thanks. Great info about the centre block. I have the same complaint about the hum bucker in my Composer and I had the same complaint about the pickup in the HB version of the Kingpin. On the other hand, I love the neck pickup in my P90 Kingpin.

[mad dog]

Jim:

Love that MP center block. You can see daylight under it looking through the F hole. Looks sort of like the Gretsch trestle bridge design, only with more wood, and positioned the other way, with the scallops facing the back of the guitar.
MD

[Jim Soloway]

Probably the one that I am most interested in is this:

[mr. beaumont]

A lot to like about that guitar right there...I can see why it intrigues you. And I can definitely say (and you know this too) that the Godin P90's are great.

I'm a big Godin fan, but they are the worst at naming models -- only "Seventy Seven" beats them with the "Exrubato" (it used to be rubato) and the "Albatross," (yeah, I want that around my neck)

For example, my Electric Nylon string's full title is the Godin Grand Concert Duet Ambiance. Whaaa?

[Jim Soloway]

My first thought is that it way well be the perfect size for me and from everything I read, it still maintains some of the acoustic properties of the full hollowbodies.

[Frank67]

I have a 2010 or so semi hollow - But I suppose that is not what you are asking for? It Sounds more like a Les Paul ...

[Jim Soloway]

I have a 2010 or so semi hollow - But I suppose that is not what you are asking for? It Sounds more like a Les Paul ...

I'm guessing that yours looks like this? (and if so, no that's not the guitar I'm talking about.
)

[Frank67]

Yeah, that is the one I have ...

[newsense]

I have the Premiere Supreme - the one in my avatar. Its different from the standard Premiere in that it has Seymour Duncan HBs, (a Jazz II and a Custom Custom). I tried both the Premiere and the Supreme side by side and the SD pickups make a huge difference. The other differences are the Richlite board on the Supreme - which is almost indistinguishable from ebony. Yes, the guitar is light and responsive, as others have said, and I get great clean and driven tones. Through a good amp the clean tones are amazing. Mine is a keeper for blues, fusion and rock. Whilst I can get get a passable jazz tone with the treble dialled down on the guitar and mids dialled up on the amp, for my taste, it is not a substitute for an archtop for straight ahead jazz. However, I have only ever played it with round-wound 11s. It may have a better jazz tone with heavier flats, but I am unlikley to try it, (because that's why I have an archtop ).

[Jim Soloway]

I have the Premiere Supreme - the one in my avatar. Its different from the standard Premiere in that it has Seymour Duncan HBs, (a Jazz II and a Custom Custom). I tried both the Premiere and the Supreme side by side and the SD pickups make a huge difference. The other differences are the Richlite board on the Supreme - which is almost indistinguishable from ebony. Yes, the guitar is light and responsive, as others have said, and I get great clean and driven tones. Through a good amp the clean tones are amazing. Mine is a keeper for blues, fusion and rock. Whilst I can get get a passable jazz tone with the treble dialled down on the guitar and mids dialled up on the amp, for my taste, it is not a substitute for an archtop for straight ahead jazz. However, I have only ever played it with round-wound 11s. It may have a better jazz tone with heavier flats, but I am unlikley to try it, (because that's why I have an archtop ).

The Premiere Supreme also comes with the same bridge and trapeze tailpiece as the P90 Premiere whereas the non-Supreme version of the hum bucker model Premiere seems to come with either a solid body style stop tailpiece and bridge or a Bigsby. I wonder how much tons difference that stop tailpiece makes? My expectation would be the the stop tailpiece would add sustain and remove acoustic properties but that not a certainty (although I suspect that the tailpiece would not make enough of a difference for me to want to give up the Godin P90's).

[dconeill]

... I wonder how much tons difference that stop tailpiece makes? ...

I don't know if this is relevant experience (or if I remember correctly, it was a long time ago). But here goes anyway:

My first Gibson ES335 had a trapeze tailpiece (maybe a 1970?), and I used that for several years. I sold it, and eventually acquired a stop-tailpiece ES335 (about 1986), which I still have. What I recall about the feels of the two guitars is that, on the trapeze version, the strings didn't feel as stiff as on the stop-tailpiece version. I think it's because there's a greater length of string behind the bridge for the trapeze. I believe I remember that the sustain on the stop-tailpiece version is greater than on the trapeze version.

What I don't remember is any great tonal difference between the two guitars. I believe the earlier guitar had a maple neck, while the more recent one has a mahogany neck, so I'm probably not remembering that clearly - I would have expected the maple neck to be brighter.

[newsense]

The Premiere Supreme also comes with the same bridge and trapeze tailpiece as the P90 Premiere whereas the non-Supreme version of the hum bucker model Premiere seems to come with either a solid body style stop tailpiece and bridge or a Bigsby. I wonder how much tons difference that stop tailpiece makes? My expectation would be the the stop tailpiece would add sustain and remove acoustic properties but that not a certainty (although I suspect that the tailpiece would not make enough of a difference for me to want to give up the Godin P90's).

From memory (as it was over a year ago), I wasn't aware of any sustain or other dynamic differences that I could attribute to the difference between the stop bar and trapeze tailpieces on the standard Premiere and the Supreme. However, my side by side comparison was 20 minutes at the most and I attributed mst differences to the pickups.

[DRS]

I have a sunburst Godin Montreal Premiere.
Picked it up used here in Vancouver. The overall fit, finish, and playability is excellent. The neck is a perfect size, not too big or small. The pickups are not so bright that they are unusable but they don't have the smokey roundness of a Gibson 57. probably the only thing that isn't a 10/10. I have a set of those Gibson 57s I may stick in. The acoustic sound is really good. You can practice easily without an amp. The guitar is light, under 7 lbs. well balanced. As it is a 14" body. It is not as comfortable in a classical position as my 17" archtop was so I play it conventionally on my right thigh. Cool hardware detail - the aluminum tailpiece has two small magnets so when you take off all the strings, it doesn't fall off.

[Jim Soloway]

I have a sunburst Godin Montreal Premiere ... The acoustic sound is really good. You can practice easily without an amp. The guitar is light, under 7 lbs. well balanced. As it is a 14" body. It is not as comfortable in a classical position as my 17" archtop was so I play it conventionally on my right thigh.

I think this is the info I was really after and it sounds really ideal for what I'm after: a smaller guitar that isn't heavy and for me at least, would be more comfortable than a 16" arch top but still give me a sonic response that I associate with a hollow guitar. I may have found a way to get one after new year and all I really have to do now is make a decision on which version.