The Chetboard

Doyle Dykes has officially announced that he will be traveling the world with Godin Guitars! A signature model steel string is in the works, should be on display at next January's NAMM show.

Chuck, I've never played a Godin. I see people playing their nylon string models right often but not the steel strings. Do you have any experience with them...either nylon or steel string? I think I'd like to check them out. Take care. Ray

Ray,
I've owned several of the nylon string electric models myself. In fact I have a Godin Multiac Nylon Duet Ambiance. They make great guitars & they are priced right too. Of course they aren't as nice as a Kirk Sand, but they play great & sound great in my opinion.
I don't have a lot of experience with their steel string acoustic guitars. Doyle currently has one of their "Seagull" brand guitars that he's working with. My brother-in-law has a lower end Seagull, it's a nice guitar. Go to Godin's website and check out all the different brands that Godin produces. I think they build really great factory produced guitars.

Doyle seems to have been all over the place with representing guitar companies. He was with Taylor when I met him, then Guild, then Gretsch. I'm not sure about the order. It doesn't seem that long ago that the Godin man was Buster B. Jones! I own a Godin Multiac but it's not like my Kirk Sand was.

Rande,
I never really heard the reason why Doyle & Taylor parted ways, maybe someone here knows the real reason. Guild went out of business again. Since Gretsch is under the same distribution company that Guild was (Fender), it probably made sense for him to gravitate to Gretsch. I'm glad to see that he was able to hook up with Godin. The Kirk Sand guitars are in fact the cream of the nylon string electrics, for those that can afford them. The Godin nylon string models can "get the job done" for a reasonable price. In fact, personally I like the Godin nylon string models better than the original solid body Gibson CE. Hopefully this deal with Godin will help give Doyle a steady income for years to come.
Don't forget, Chet even changed guitar brands.

Chuck, thanks for your info. I've been thinking that a nylon string would be a little easier for me to handle these days. I once had an Ovation electric Country Artist that I enjoyed and I can't quite remember why I sold it. I think I'll check out a Godin. Take care.
Ray

I found this interesting info about the Godin brands:

Godin Guitars makes instruments under several different labels. Norman makes entry- to mid-level acoustic guitars. Art & Lutherie makes entry-level budget guitars. The Simon and Patrick brand make mid- to high-range steel-string acoustics. La Patrie manufactures classical guitars. Seagull is known for manufacturing solid wood entry- to mid-range acoustic guitars. Guitars under the Godin brand are primarily mid-range to top-of the-line electrics that are made of high quality wood from the northeastern part of North America.

Bob Taylor has pretty much retired, so that means new management at Taylor Guitars. The new guys didn't really have an appreciation for what Doyle plays and who he was. It was a letdown for him, but life goes on. As Chuck mentioned, Guild got caught up in the Fender debt problems. The Guild acoustics they built for Doyle were wonderful guitars, but Fender is so overloaded with debt that they had to sell Guild, and the Guild factory was shut down. I don't think the Gretsch thing ever got off the ground. Doyle is an acoustic player and although Gretsch makes fine electric guitars, their acoustics are not that kind of quality.

I hope the Godin thing works for Doyle. He is one of the finest guys in the world and an unbelievable guitar player.

Richard

Good post Richard! I'm hoping that this works out good for him. Hopefully they will have a few nice signature models at reasonable prices and they will really promote them.

Guild seems to be up and running again, with some beautiful guitars. Although it appears they won't have the production #'s that they once had... it is good to see the brand viable again. Doyle can smoke any guitar. Godin is lucky he has warmed up to them.