The History of Godin Guitars

Godin Guitars was started by Robert Godin in 1982 in a small village in Quebec, Canada. Today, Godin Guitars is known as a premier guitar designer, but when they were first getting started, the company didn’t design their own instruments. Instead, they built bodies and necks for other companies. Many famous brands had components produced by Godin.

Robert Godin will tell you he learned a great deal from subcontracting work from larger guitar companies—he had to build necks and bodies under strict specifications. However, he felt that the subcontracting business didn’t allow him to work in the most interesting area of guitar manufacturing: that of designing new instruments.

There are two different types of guitar design. The first is aesthetic design, and that can be extremely important for a band’s image. The second and most important, however, is design that serves musical sound. Godin wanted to combine aesthetic value with stunning sound to create truly unforgettable guitars.

Today, Godin Guitars is divided into electric and acoustic branches. The electric branch, under the Godin name, assembles in Berlin, New Hampshire and attaches necks and bodies in the original factory in Quebec. Godin also makes acoustic guitars under names including Seagull, Norman, Simon & Patrick, Art & Lutherie, and LaPatrie.

Godin’s electric guitars use solid tops made from rock maple grown in Northern Canada.  The cold climate causes the grain of the maple to grow in dense formations.  This type of wood ensures excellent sustain, the flexibility to amplify the vibration of the strings, and the stiffness to withstand the pressure of the strings. 

While Godin guitars are no longer completely handmade—most famous guitar brands are machine-built nowadays—they’re more hands-on than most.  The necks are hand-finished, and their production process is hands-on from fretting to sanding.  This allows for individual variation, making each instrument one of a kind.

Godin Guitars takes pride in its signature instruments, its small factories, and the creativity of its employees.  It’s one of the few guitar brands that has hit the big time—without losing the handmade quality of a much smaller company.