Godin Guitars has added yet another line to its family. At the recent Musikmesse 2008 show in Frankfurt, Germany, the Montreal-based guitar maker announced the creation of Richmond Guitars Canada.
Two electric guitars make up the Richmond line at present: the Belmont and the Dorchester. Both models are made in Richmond, Quebec, by a team of craftsmen dedicated to the new brand.
“Vintage” is the word that best describes the look of the new models. Both recall classic models from the Sixties, although their playability is decidedly modern.
The Belmont (shown here) has a solid mahogany body and a 24 3/4–inch-scale mahogany neck with rosewood Ergocut fingerboard. Electronics consist of two single-coil lipstick pickups in the neck and middle positions, a bridge-position Seymour Duncan ’59 humbucker, a five-way pickup selector and volume and tone controls.
The Dorchester has a chambered silver-leaf maple body with poplar wings and a 25 1/2–inch-scale rock maple neck with rosewood or maple Ergocut fingerboard. Its electronics include two Lace Alumitone humbuckers and volume and tone controls. In addition, the four-position pickup selector has what the company calls a “beefy” first-position setting that places both pickups in series for more output and fatter tone.
Both models have a chrome roller bridge with fixed tailpiece, chrome Kluson tuning machines, and a Nordic white pickguard and truss rod cover.
The Belmont has a list price of $1,195 and a street price of $995. The Dorchester lists for $1,250 and has a street price of $1,049.
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The Godin family also includes the Seagull, Simon & Patrick, Norman, and Art & Lutherie acoustic lines and LaPatrie nylon-stringed classical guitars. Godin Guitars is also the manufacturer of the TRIC acoustic guitar case.
Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.
