Review - Godin G Tour acoustic-electric guitar

Canadian company Godin has, for some years, been at the forefront of producing guitars that challenge the traditional model, such as the extraordinary 11-string fretless ‘Glissentar’, which gives the guitar player the possibility of playing microtonal music.

The G Tour is in many ways a much more traditional instrument. It marries the acoustic nylon strung guitar with the more compact electric instrument. With the now ubiquitous ‘Strat-style' design, the shallow, chambered semi-hollow silver leaf maple body comes with an oval sound hole in the solid cedar top, white binding with a single black tram line and a comfort contoured rear upper rim.

The one-piece, hard rock maple bolt-on on neck comes in a traditional ‘C’, with an Indian rosewood board, circular white position markers and twenty two medium frets. The 41.9mm nut precedes the straight pull Fender style headstock carries six workmanlike individual tuners, which are complemented by string spacers.

Down at the sharp end, the traditional nylon tie bridge has a fixed set in saddle. Under the rear lower bout are the volume and tone control knobs, with a jack socket set beneath them on the lower rear rim. The battery compartment serving the pickup sits beneath the bridge set flush to the back of the body, while buttons to the top horn and to the bottom of the instrument complete the picture.

Slung over the shoulder, it’s a nicely balanced instrument and immediately feels very comfortable to the body.

The narrow neck with nylon strings does take some getting used to (and won’t suit everybody), but it is perfectly possible to play finger style, as the string spacing is, given the nut width, surprisingly easy to work with.

The unplugged volume is remarkable, while the acoustic tone is what you might expect from a shallow bodied instrument.

Plugged in to the house SR acoustic amp, the EPM Q-Discrete bridge pickup works well, and with a tweak of the tone knob you can take the G Tour from a soft mellow setting to a relatively hard, edgy attack.

And it can certainly add another dimension to your sonic palette by adding some reverb or echo for a very dreamy, romantic feel.

Shipped in a black denier covered semi-rigid gig bag with a 3/4 zip, it has two large zippered front face pockets and one large zippered pocket to the rear, where there is also a useful clear plastic card pocket. Other carriage options come in the shape of the customary grab handle (very comfortable) and a back harness.

This is definitely a 'horses for courses' instrument and will doubtless have it’s devotees.

We enjoyed the sonic possibilities that the G Tour offers, but feel that the narrow neck may limit its appeal. And with a street price of around £1.500, you need to be convinced that this is the guitar for you before committing your cash. www.jhs.co.uk