Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin Archtop Hollowbody Electric Guitar With P-90 Pickup Cognac Burst

Surprisingly good sounding, and easy to play. Unplugged it sounds better than a Taylor 214 and almost as good as a Taylor 314. The bass notes are very strong, especially considering the relatively slim body. The high notes are very crisp and clear, but not quite as dominant than the bass notes. I would almost consider it an accoustic guitar, but when plugged in, it really shines. It sounds far better than a Gibson ES-125, and is easier to play. The response level is even from the lowest notes to the highest. The signal is strong enough that the volume control near the halfway point drives the amp nicely. The tone control is pretty average. The build quality is very good. It looks very impressively nice, without a lot of unnecessary imbellishments that only add the the price. It feels quite light to hold. The tuning pegs are slow, so it is easy to hone in precisely on each note. Overall I am far more impressed than I expected to be.

Must have gotten a bad unit. Proud and sharp frets two stiff tuners Strip stripped screw on one tuner. Poor fit and finish. Had to reset action and intonation not much help from Godin service department spent 2+ hours resetting

Made in Canada! I bought mine new in 2022. I have a dozen acoustics and five electrics including several Gibson and Martin customs. This Godin plays as nice as anything. You may need a setup out of the box, mine was nearly perfect. It's loud played acoustic and electric and does great with pedals!

Bought the kingpin around 2018, and impressed from the get-go. Smooth playing, nice unplugged, but that mid-rangy archtop sound is awesome on some vintage solid state amps. I play it thru an ancient Roland orange cube, 40watt with a red back in the box, back removed. Sounds great. I use chromes for that extra bit of vibe. And sounds better with agreed strings. Check it out, and buy the recommended trimold case, I have taken this guitar as far as Japan from conus.

Pretty sure I got an open box return based on the flimsy, cheap, non-factory (actually insulting) packaging job.. not good business for GC/MF saying it's new and charging full price.. but on close inspection, this guitar is in like new condition so GC gets away with one there. Bridge ht was easily thumbscrew adjusted to give .04" action.. nice! Straight, flat neck, fairly thin contour with satin finish - nice! The strings were tuned up months ago by whoever returned it and have gone dead... think they're 12's, might be better with 10's. The P90 is clear and bright, got some depth to the tones .. more nice! Not crazy about the tuners "uneveness" in pitch change vs peg turns but they all seem to be holding tune once you get them there. Big dot inlays - more nice! Haven't found a reasonably priced HSC for it yet - it's a special sort of oddball bridge ht. Will be using it in my home studio on recordings and general jamming. All in all this is a 5 star guitar based on excellent Canadian (not Chinese) construction, super playability, vibrant sounds and great looks at under $700.

I found a used one and thought for the price, I'd give it a try. The initial set-up was good and I haven't messed with the truss rod but the original strings were 9's or 10's with a solid 3rd string. For my taste, hollow body electrics need at least 11's with a wound 3rd string, so that's what I changed to. The 11's and a little adjustment to the bridge really woke up the tone of this guitar. It seems Godin is trying to re-create the vibe of a Gibson ES-125 with this model and with the bigger strings it works quite well. I play mostly through a low wattage tube amp and Godin's P-90 has a really good dynamic in that finger picking and light flat picking can be nice and clean but when you hit the strings harder, it gets loud with a nice, progressive distortion. I like this guitar more than I thought I would and the more I play it and get used to it, the more I like it. If you're looking for the 40's and 50's blues / rock sound, this guitar delivers surprisingly well, especially for the price. I can't find any flaws with the build or finish, it's light and easy to play. Buy one and get your vintage vibe on.