Godin Kingpin (II) vs D'Angelico Premier EXL-1

[BlackBird]

Have a wonderful sunday lovely people!

I am in the decision for a Jazz Box. I played yesterday the Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin and compared it with several other Ibanez, Epiphone and Gretsches but this one was one which felt the nicest under my fingers. Sadly the guitar dealer didn't have the Kingpin II Model with CW available so I couldn't try it. I loved the Kingpin but I am a little bit bothered if I might regret the missing access to the upper registers. I did not think about it because my current guitar (a Ibanez Art 320 with active Humbuckers) has a CW. I might not need it but better have than miss?
Today a buddy of me also told me about the D'Angelico Premier EXL-1. From the demos it looks and sounds stunning and also has a CW but the body of the guitar looks rather large.

Can anybody compare the guitars I mentioned and can you tell me if there is a sound difference between the Kingpin and Kingpin II with CW?

Thank you very much and have a lovely day

[Christian Miller]

I think it depends on your playing style. The Godins are a solid choice tho. I know a few pros who play them. The D’Angelicos likewise. I think it boils down to a matter of preference. They are slightly different things.

[BlackBird]

Thank you Christian! I had a little bit the fear of missing something if I don't have a cut away but your message convinced me that my initial thoughts on the guitar where right. It's really a great one and I loved it from the first few tones on

[himself]

Hi, I own Godin and have played EXL1 just in a shop. Godin is smaller and more comfortable to me. I hardly miss upper registers so I preffer "old traditional look of ES125" over the playing on 18th fret. I play acousticaly a lot (more than 50:50) and I love the woodier tone of thirties on Godin. EXL1 sounded much more "sheetmetal" to me. Amplified you can find similar tones on both. For me an easy choice.
Regards!

[BlackBird]

Thanks a lot

Well ok now I am waiting a little bit. The guitar costs currently around 10xx Euros. It had an offer here in germany for aroung 700. I am not willing to pay 300 to 400 extra

[Doctor Jeff]

The D’Angelicos look the part that’s for sure—like a Mel Bay cover. They are made in Indonesia. The one’s I’ve played have been fine. With the floating pickup it’s kind of a one-trick pony though.

I have had a couple of 5th Avenues, and for me they are perfect guitars. Made in Canada—pickups from Korea I think. Quality is great, and very comfortable for me.

If I wanted one guitar to achieve a wide variety of tones, I’d pick the Godin. Easily available on the used market, in fact there are one or 2 KP2s near me for $750 right now. Hard to resist...

I haven’t had the 2-PU model, but rarely felt inhibited by the lack of a cutaway. (Starting out playing a nylon string I was used to not having one.) I don’t play chords in the upper registers much. For the few songs with chords above the 12th fret I usually found a workaround.

[himself]

Yes, both my 5th avenues are/were secondhand.
Greetings from Czech rep.

[BlackBird]

Thank that convinces me even more

[BlackBird]

Yeh I have my eyes wide open

[John A.]

The way neck on the Kingpin is mounted leaves the fingerboard unusually high about the body of the guitar compared to most other archtops. This makes access to the upper frets almost as easy as with a cutaway. I had a single-pickup Kingpin for a few years, and I didn't really miss the cutaway on it.

The EXL-1 is a larger body, and it has a floating mini humbucker, so this is a pretty different sound from the Kingpin. I've only played the "Deluxe"and "Excel" versions (not the Premier, FWIW), but I found those to be somewhat louder unplugged than the Kingpin (especially the Deluxe). The plugged-in sound is a matter of taste and I can't say one is better than the other, just different. I prefer the D'Angelico neck (I have an EX DC) to the Godins because I prefer a slightly rounder fingerboard radius and larger frets. Neck profiles are similar, though.

I've played the Kingpin II CW quite a bit. Compared to the single-pickup Kingpin, the neck pickup sound is the same, playability/neck are the same. The CW makes a slight difference, but it's not dramatic. the bridge pickup sounds good. I'd say that if you have the money and can use the bridge pickup, the II/CW is worth it. But if you don't need the bridge pickup, you won't really miss the cutaway otherwise.

[Christian Miller]

Yes, the non-CW Godins are pretty acoustically quiet IIRC, despite looking like acoustic arch tops.

I did really like playing my friends D'Angelico, which is one of the cheaper ones I think... A resonant, fat sounding guitar that has a good plugged tone. I can't remember what their different ranges are called. With them, you can get similar guitars at different price points (a bit like Fender), presumably manufactured in different places? No idea where. Probbaly some in China, but maybe some in Korea?

IIRC all the Godin's are made in Canada from native woods.

[BlackBird]

Thanks a lot

there is also this version of the D'Angelico Just a moment... which is currently available around me. It looks totally stunning but I didn't have the change to play it yet. It is pretty cheap, around 800 Euros or so. But the demos that I had looked up online didn't blow me away. Well I think it is a total different beast that the Godin and also made for a different style. I think I will still look out for a Godin, it felt so good and I am totally in love with it

[John A.]

Yes, the non-CW Godins are pretty acoustically quiet IIRC, despite looking like acoustic arch tops.

Actually, they're quite loud for what they are (laminated top with a mounted pickup). A bit louder than, say, an ES-125, but not as loud as something like a pressed-top L48.

I did really like playing my friends D'Angelico, which is one of the cheaper ones I think... A resonant, fat sounding guitar that has a good plugged tone. I can't remember what their different ranges are called. With them, you can get similar guitars at different price points (a bit like Fender), presumably manufactured in different places? No idea where. Probbaly some in China, but maybe some in Korea?

Excel and Deluxe are MIK; Premier is made in Indonesia. They've also cycled in and out some other names (e.g., "Throwback") for MIK models. Exactly what the differences are vary from model to model. For a while there was a Deluxe EXL-1 that came in these odd matte Blue, Red, or Green finishes. They looked terrible, but they sounded great. Unplugged, they came close to acoustic archtop volume and had a better sounding pickup than the Excel. You can still find them NOS cheaper than a Premier, and they're better guitars.

IIRC all the Godin's are made in Canada from native woods.

Yup.

Thanks a lot
there is also this version of the D'Angelico Just a moment... which is currently available around me. It looks totally stunning but I didn't have the change to play it yet. It is pretty cheap, around 800 Euros or so. But the demos that I had looked up online didn't blow me away. Well I think it is a total different beast that the Godin and also made for a different style. I think I will still look out for a Godin, it felt so good and I am totally in love with it

I have one of those (an early version with slightly different specs). Great guitar. You can find them used for a lot less than 1600 Euros. They're semi-hollow (like a ES-335), so a different sound and feel from the hollow-bodies you're looking at, but very usable for jazz.

[BlackBird]

Thanks a lot for that very useful response! I think, I should give it a try. The owner said its an older version with Kent-Armstrong Pickups in almost mint condition for around 800 Euro. Seems pretty legit to me. In the end I can always decline and not buy it