Godin Montreal Premiere Pro Aztek Red Duncan P-Rail SF w/Gig Bag

The Godin Montreal Premiere has been around for several years as Godin's uniquely Canadian take on the classic thinline semi-hollow guitar. Their Premiere Pro model takes the kitchen sink approach and outfits the guitar with both their active Revoicer preamp, and three-mode Seymour Duncan P-Rail pickups. With more combinations than we can count on both hands, the Premiere Pro offers something for everyone in the market for a high quality semi-hollow guitar.

This Godin Montreal Premiere Pro is packed with highly quality features:

• Semi-Hollow Canadian Cherry Body, 6.4 pounds
• Double white binding
• Truss-style carved spruce core
• Maple set net, 24-3/4" scale, 22 medium frets
• Maple fretboard
• Seymour Duncan P-Rail pickups
• 3-way selector switch for each pickup
• Standard 3-way pickup switch
• Global volume and tone controls
• Godin Active Revoicer built-in presence boost
• Graphtech Resomax bridge and tailpiece
• Schaller strap locks
• Dual action truss rod
• Godin Deluxe padded gig bag
• Made in Canada

While cherry may not qualify as a "classic" tonewood to traditionalists, it turns out to have some very attractive qualities. Cherry is acoustically loud, clean and produces a very clear midrange with nice upper end detail. Sonically it is crisp like maple but with a little more harmonic complexity and stronger bottom end. It's also a domestically (Canada) sourced and sustainable wood, which never hurts.

For those not familiar with them, the Duncan P-Rails combine a P90, a Hot Rails single Coil, and with both together a Humbucker in the same assembly, all accessible via a three-way toggle. We've sampled Duncan P-Rails in other Godin models and our own shop work, and while do-it-all pickups can be a compromise, the P-Rails really deliver. The P90 setting is exactly that, and the punchy, clear tone of a good P90 is easily one of our favorite things. The single coil Hot Rail does not have the scooped chime of a vintage Strat pickup, but sounded leagues better than most split humbuckers. The humbucker setting also does a great job of dishing out beefy blues and rock tones that fit stylistically in the mold of a '59/JB pairing. When you factor in the traditional 3-way pickup switch, there is an eye-popping range of options. At minimum it's both a real P90 and real humbucker guitar, which is pretty cool at that. We also really like the P90 neck, Humbucker bridge setup, and short of sounding like a Strat, there is something for just about everyone.

And what about the "Active Revoicer" option? The Revoicer is best thought of a presence boost and is activated by pressing the little black push button near the tone control. It gives a boost to both low and high frequencies making the guitar sound more vibrant and present without being significantly louder. You can use it as needed to punch through the mix for a solo, or leave it on all the time. The circuit runs off a 9V battery and like most active systems is "on" whenever the guitar is plugged in.

The Montreal neck profile is somewhere between a late 50's "Kalamazoo" profile and a Slim 60's. We measure about .860 at the first fret, and .915 at the 12th. It's reasonably chunky down low, with a very mild taper. The fretwork consists of nicely finished medium frets and a factory setup that affords low action that is virtually buzz-free even when played aggressively. Godin guitars are very consistent out of the box (or gig bag), and require very little -- if any -- adjustment to get them dialed in.

While the Godin Montreal Premiere Pro does not break any barriers in modern guitar design, it's array of features and flexibility puts it a cut above the rest. If you've always yearned for a semi-hollow but felt they could not cover all the bases, the Premiere Pro presents a solid option.

We are an authorized Godin dealer and this is a new guitar with all tags, tools, paperwork and certificates. We have a good selection Godin-family guitars stock at all times, and please feel free to browse our other listings, or contact us for delivery time and availability on other Godin models