Godin Montreal Premiere - One of the Best Semis?

**0zoro** · 04-07-2011, 02:16 PM

Have any of you tried a Godin Montreal?

What did you think, how did it feel? Neck, pick ups, finish, sound plugged in and unplugged?

Does it sit OK in the lap while playing? I understand it has beveled sides.

Was there something else that caught your attention?

Is it a worthy guitar for jazz, or for the price for that matter?

I am extremely interested as it has caught my eye and have not been able to find a dealer in my part of the world, but will travel to the states soon and plan to try one then...

Godin Montreal Premiere - One of the Best Semis?-godin-montreal-premiere-jpg

Godin Montreal Premiere - One of the Best Semis?-godin-montreal-premiere-jpg

**jzucker** · 04-07-2011, 03:01 PM

yep. It's dark sounding but with a funky/bright pickup. There's lots better semi-hollows out there.

**mr. beaumont** · 04-07-2011, 05:12 PM

I actually really liked the tone, thought the neck was okay, but the damn thing wouldn't stay on my lap. Deal breaker.

**nado64** · 04-09-2011, 03:32 AM

**0zoro** · 04-09-2011, 03:43 AM

There are severl things that have attracted my attention. The primary quality is the fact that the Montreal is a small body in comparison to the 335 or 175 models which are 17´´ makes for a better body fit for me. Then there is the split pickup switch which I assume provides a great tone spread that interests me. Again if you who have tried them have any further comments please provide them, like the neck or the acusticsound (sitting at home noodling). I have had the physical advantage of a reasonablly flat belly, but always play seated with a strap after seeing Joe Pass I believe say so in a video. I plan to travel to St Louis later this spring, and prehaps lay over in Chicago and am presently trying to contact Godin dealers though the one in St L is as yet unresponsive. Thnaks Guys thus far for the feedback offered.

**Ranglin01** · 04-14-2011, 10:45 AM

Hi, I had a Godin Montreal for a few years. It is a great versatile guitar !! It works fine for jazz, but does not have the fat dark 335 sound you may have in mind. It is comfortable to play with it, but you should check if the neck suits you. This is not an archtop guitar, so do not think about really playing it acoustically. It is well built and imho a beautiful design. Only a few things were negative :
1) scratchy pots on my guitar purchased new
2) the locking tuner did not allow for any type of string gauge
3) it is sold with a gig bag.
They are a bit pricey in Europe but offer good value for money in the USA

**limjaz** · 04-15-2011, 02:27 AM

I bought my Montreal 5 years ago, now I also have a strat and a solid wood carved archtop... I have to say my Montreal is still my number 1 guitar for jazz and blues.

Playability wise,it is very accommodating as the tone sounds even all across the fretboard. There's also a blend knob where you can mix the sound of the piezo and humbuckers, I love this feature especially when I play fingerstyle. you get that "snap" similar to when you are using a pick. Recently, I bought an Henriksen Jazzamp 112 (with the tweeter) and the combination of my Montreal and the Jazzamp is superb.

Hope this is helpful

**djelley** · 04-15-2011, 09:12 AM

Congrats! I bought a Montreal about a month ago and really love it. I use it more for fusion and stick to archtops for jazz. Having said that, I find it very comfortable and it sounds great. You get a surprising array of sounds from the five-way switch, two pickup combination.

As for sitting on your lap - I can't comment because I always play with a strap.

BTW- One of the coolest parts about the guitar (mine anyway) is the smell. Gotta love mahogany!

**Frank67** · 06-10-2011, 06:41 PM

I happen to own a a Montreal, a Multiac Jazz and a Multiace Nylon. The Montreal is a wonderful, admirable guitar that i love a lot. I would also disagree with the statement that there are lots of better esemi-hollow guitars out there. The Mintreal is just different, but everything in this guitar says "high quality" -woods, craftsmanship, electronics pickups, tuners, it is all just great. If i have one issue with the Montreal that it is a bit complex to use with the many options for the sound and the pots with no markings on them.

So, the Montreal is certainly more leaning towqrds rock and fusion. Yet, i have tried it with flatwounds, half-rounds and rounds and it works in any of these configurations. With flats it has a nice jazz tone, dark and mellow. With rounds it has more of a blues sound and can bite more. But there are so so many options with the five pickup positions *and* the piezo on board. If you are aiming at straight ahead jazz i would probably still prefer the Multiac Jazz but together they cover almost everything.

The Montreal can also produce nice creamy lead sounds when you overdrive it and has no feedback issues. Buildwise it is certainly no inferior than any custom shop ES 335. I would still be reluctant to say that the Montreal is yet another 335 clone. It has a unique voice of its own. It has mellowness, bite, it
can scream and it can be soft and poetic. A really loveable guitar that i will certainly keep.

**korey-craft** · 05-19-2012, 07:54 AM

I have one, I play it every day. I am by no means an actual jazz guitarist (yet) but you can get jazz tones out of it without question. I am learning and it certainly fits. The bridge to my ears sounds very much like a 335 lots of clarity lots of bite, gretsch like with gobs of reverb. The neck pickup I love most. It doesnt have the same hollow body quality that u get from a 335, which I will admit is a little dissappointing. I secretly hope the differnce can be made up with an acoustic amp with all treble dropped. I don't think it will be 100% but I think I can get it close. You can get nice jazz tones out of the neck pickup regardless, with the coils split or not. Combining the bridge and neck together works as well. I especially lime the coil cut bridge, sounds very much like a hollow tele. I think if u wanted a 335 copy you may not be happy. BUT if wanted a 335 alternative you'll love it. Build quality on mine is superb, seemingly better than the 335s I've seen so far.

**korey-craft** · 05-19-2012, 07:58 AM

Godin should upgrade these tho. Since Godin makes set necks now they should have a setneck added to the montreal, add the multiac jazz bridge and accoustic set up, and have individual coil splits in the form of gold finished mini toggles. Also have the body more hollowed out for a more true semihollow tone, it would sound less semi-solid haha. Just my two cents

**Beaubs** · 08-25-2014, 06:51 PM

Just received my new Godin Montreal Premier....natural. Plays like a dream!

**Tom Karol** · 08-25-2014, 07:06 PM

I've had mine for 11 months now. Still love it!

**Beaubs** · 08-26-2014, 06:33 PM

I am no master guitarist, but this one feels good and sounds so very nice. A keeper to be sure...

**Al Br.** · 08-27-2014, 07:20 AM

Photos, must have photos! worth a thousand words, etc. Congrats!

**DanielleOM** · 09-13-2014, 08:12 AM

I have not owned a solid body or semi hollow guitar for many many years. I have been thinking of one of these (Godin Montreal Premiere) but have not been able to find one locally to try. There were a few dimensions that I was not able to find on the manufacturer's web site. I was wondering about the width of these. Can some one advise regarding width across upper and lower bouts and also across the waist? I would appreciate that. (For reference, I normally play and Eastman AR371CE)

A friend of mine left a Telecaster here for a few weeks, but I found I was not able to really comfortable with it from a physical point of view. I usually play with my left leg crossed over the right leg, with the guitar sitting on the left leg. Classical position seemed to work the best but really was not sure if I would want to play in that position for a length of time. It would also take some real adjustment on my part to get used to it.

How do you sit and hold the Godin Premiere?

Thanks

Danielle

**Beaubs** · 09-13-2014, 08:27 AM

Hi,

I'm not sure of the exact procedure for measurement but the body is 15" at its widest and 19" from top to bottom. I usually have played a strat or telecaster and I find this guitar most comfortable, light weight with nice tones.

hope this helps......Mark

**Tom Karol** · 09-13-2014, 08:34 AM

Hi Danielle,

Well, I not only have a Godin Montreal Premiere, but I also have an Eastman AR403CE ... and a Tele, so I guess I'm the guy to answer your questions. I use a classical footrest (right foot) when I play seated - on the lowest notch with the Eastman and on the 2nd notch with the Godin and the Tele. When I perform, I usually sit with the Eastman (see avatar), but I almost always stand with the Godin and the Tele. I find them all comfortable. The Eastman is better seated, the Montreal is better (actually great) standing, and the Tele is for some reason good either way. I'm 5'7" by the way. Oh, and one more thing: by your handle, I'm guessing that you might have an OM; I have a 000-28 as well, and play that the same way as the Eastman. I'll go take your requested measurements and report back.

~ Tom

**Tom Karol** · 09-13-2014, 08:57 AM

Upper bout 15"
Lower bout 10.5"
Waist 9"
Body Length 19"
Body Depth (at side/does not account for arch) 1 7/8"
Total Length 40.5"

**DanielleOM** · 09-13-2014, 10:34 AM

Thank you for taking the measurements.

I just measured the Telecaster (no name parts guitar) that's here. I measure 8 1/2" at the waist. I would think it's wide enough there for me to get comfortable with it. However, I find when I try to play it in my usual playing position, with the neck about 30 to 35 degrees from the horizontal, the whole thing just gets bottom heavy and wants to slide off of my leg. Even when wearing a strap it will slide putting the bulk of the weight on the strap.

I just spent some time trying to balance guitars on my leg trying to find where the neutral angle was from a weight balance point of view. I found with the Telecaster the neck had to be almost horizontal for the guitar to stay balanced on my leg. I kept the whole guitar clear of my body when doing this. I think this explains the difficulty I have with the Telecaster.

I then tried an SCGC OM, an Eastman AR805CE and an AR371CE, and found that all 3 of them seemed to be balance OK on my leg when the neck was approximately 20 degrees from the horizontal. The measurement is a bit of a guess as I do not have a tool here for measuring the angle.

Any chance you can try a similar balance type of test with the Godin guitar and the Eastman you have?

Thanks

Danielle

**mr. beaumont** · 09-13-2014, 10:37 AM

Don't count out sitting with a strap too...solves a lot of problems.

**Patrick2** · 09-13-2014, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

Upper bout 15"
Lower bout 10.5"
Waist 9"
Body Length 19"
Body Depth (at side/does not account for arch) 1 7/8"
Total Length 40.5"

Upper bout 15" . . lower bout 10.5"? That must be a really goofy looking guitar. ;-)

**DanielleOM** · 09-13-2014, 10:47 AM

Thank you for taking the measurements.

I just measured the Telecaster (no name parts guitar) that's here. I measure 8 1/2" at the waist. I would think it's wide enough there for me to get comfortable with it. However, I find when I try to play it in my usual playing position, with the neck about 30 to 35 degrees from the horizontal, the whole thing just gets bottom heavy and wants to slide off of my leg. Even when wearing a strap it will slide putting the bulk of the weight on the strap.

I just spent some time trying to balance guitars on my leg trying to find where the neutral angle was from a weight balance point of view. I found with the Telecaster the neck had to be almost horizontal for the guitar to stay balanced on my leg. I kept the whole guitar clear of my body when doing this. I think this explains the difficulty I have with the Telecaster.

I then tried an SCGC OM, an Eastman AR805CE and an AR371CE, and found that all 3 of them seemed to be balance OK on my leg when the neck was approximately 20 degrees from the horizontal. The measurement is a bit of a guess as I do not have a tool here for measuring the angle.

Any chance you can try a similar balance type of test with the Godin guitar and the Eastman you have?

Thanks

Danielle

**Tom Karol** · 09-13-2014, 11:27 AM

@ Patrick: Not if you're dyslexic! (OK, I guess I botched my bouts! So, strike that; reverse it!)

@ Danielle: Yes, I will try your balance tests and get back to you later. (None of my guitars seem head-heavy.)

**Tom Karol** · 09-13-2014, 12:15 PM

Tried all three. None of them want to stay head up the way I sit using the footrest and no strap. (Sitting using a strap and hanging freely they will.) But with a slight backward tilt and minimal pressure on the body of the guitar with my right arm - which feels natural to me - I can get the neck in a comfortable 20 to 30 degree upward tilt with no discernible effort. So, it's not a problem for me with any of them. Don't know what else to say. Maybe you might want to consider an Eastman T386 for your semi-hollow. HallPass has an AR403 and a T386; perhaps he'll chime in at some point.