Hello everyone, the title says it all but…
Can anyone suggest a guitar similar to the Es125, but not quite so expensive 
?
I was thinking of Godin 5th Ave.
Any suggestions??
Cheers,
Roy
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I recently bought a Goldin 5th Avenue HB Kingpin II - this one:
I’m really pleased with it. I tried this one and the one with P90s in the shop and preferred this one. The Humbuckers give me the kind of jazzy sound I want and the thicker hollow body has a dry gypsy jazz sound when you play it acoustically. I’ve put John Pearce Jazz Medium (12’s) on it. It’s a lot of guitar for around the 1000 euros. I like it so much that I followed it up with a Godin solid body - this one, which I found pre-owned:
What I like about both guitars apart from their sound is that they offer a bit more than a standard Gibson or Tele lookalike.
A minor word of warning: their resale value is not good. I got the Stadium '59 as good as new for 950 euros, new price 2,200. But the 5th Ave is amazing value for money at about 1000 so I’m not worried about the resale price at all.
I also think the godin is your best bet. I haven’t played them but heard only good things about them. I would definitely track one down second hand, I often see them for around 450 to 500€, a steal if you ask me. Or maybe a The Loar…that has a solid top.
But sorry, no hands on experience with any. I had a Guild T50 once, but that’s a thinline, it was pretty good though.
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Hey Roy, It’sa been a while. I just got one of these Godin’s this week. So far it’s pretty great. Did you end up picking one up? If so, your thoughts? I’ve only had it 3 days or so and I was looking moreso for an acoustic archtop but p90s are cool. OPtions nvere hurt.
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As I wrote above. I got one of thewse thisa week. So far, so good. I’m still keeping my eyes iopen foir something a little more vintage. My local shop has an L-4 from 1916. $3400us. Ouch. I figure this Godin is reasonaly priced. I also wanted something I might be able to travel with in LAtinAmerica and not worry too much about theft. Luckily in the US we have a ton of options for used and vintage gear. My understanding is even in Europe it can be hard to find a lot of good vintage gear. I could be wrong. I’ve got feelers out around the scene here. Let’s see if something else comes up.and my intial thoughts were I would keep the Godin andf sell it when something else shows up but I was thinking that resale might not be great on it.
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I just bought a Godin 5th Ave. Kingpin and am wondering about strings for this. Wonder what Alex is using on his Gibson es125? Anybody notice?
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I’m pretty sure that he said he had Thomastik flats, 13’s I think, but he was saying that they’re not really suited to that guitar and he means to change them for round wound, he may have mentioned D’ addario. But bear in mind that is an old guitar, your Godin may sound better with the flats.
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it has a 16" radius and tiny little frets…it is difficult for me to nail certain jazz chords… bought an Eastman 480 Pisano…what a difference in playability!
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Hey there, I just bought a Godin 5th Avenue but returned it after 3 weeks. It was a fine guitar, but for a little more I found a 1930s Cromwell (made by Gibson) with a case, so it was a no brainer. I am not sure what kind of strings the Godin had. I would assume .12s or .13s. I just put .12s on the Cromwell. I’m a wimp.
How do you like the Godin?
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Hey, nice find. Yeah, the Godin has 12 steel strings as it came. I’m really enjoying this guitar. I think it’s gonna work great and be a little more versatile and easier to play than my Eastman LOO that I’ve been using as for my band work. It’s lighter for sure, and it’s not an expensive guitar…less to worry about from that standpoint for traveling and shows.
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