Family Matters

After four decades of guitar making, Godin still seems like a ‘new’ brand. Why is that and who exactly is Robert Godin? We catch up with the enigma in Québec

A casual question recently posed, “so is Godin about the size of PRS Guitars?” made this writer again wonder why it is that after all these years of guitar making – 46, to be precise – Godin seems to be the perennial new kid on the block in the perception of so many players. When we speak to company founder Robert Godin in Canada and suggest that after all this time Godin still seems to be somehow underground, he laughs before adding: “Godin sells everything he makes. That’s the difference.”

Within the musical instrument industry, of course, Godin has long been recognised as a very major player. Robert Godin’s empire spans a number of brands, Godin, obviously, along with five acoustic guitar lines: Seagull, Norman, La Patrie, Simon & Patrick, and Art & Lutherie, not to mention the unique TRIC guitar cases. “The Godin Guitar Company operates six guitar factories: five in the Canadian province of Québec and one in the US state of New Hampshire,” states the company’s business profile. “With the head office based in Montréal, Québec, Godin Guitars is the largest manufacturer of guitars in North America, employing 600 people.” In addition, the company exports to over 65 countries and has always placed innovation as key to both its instruments and the way they are made.