Godin A12 12-String Acoustic-Electric Guitar - Natural Reviews

I patiently waited for this guitar to be available after purchasing the Taylor T5-Z 12 string and being disappointed. I was not pleased with Taylor and immediately returned it. After receiving the Godin I was immediately happy with the sound and the action. She's a beast and I look forward to jamming with this guitar. The action is flawless, allowing access to the last fret. The sound is absolutely superb as I strummed through a few favorites like "Stairway to Heaven" and "Hotel California." Definitely 5 Stars!

I have been a faithful Sweetwater customer for quite a while and they never cease to impress. Chris Lewis and the gang always hit it right on the nose. I had asked Chris to hook me up with one of the Godin A12 Acoustic-Electric and I love it. It looks great, feels and plays great plus sounds amazing -- acoustic or electric. This is my second Godin in my collection and I highly recommend these guitars. These are work horses that are my main go-to guitars for live gigs and recording. Thanks Chris, Sweetwater and Godin for being a winning combination! RD

I got this guitar before a big gig and was extremely disappointed in the playing action, especially since it was touted in the reviews as the easiest playing acoustic-electric 12 string guitar. Upon closer inspection I noticed the neck had a serious bow in it. I simply put the allen key into the neck slot, tightened it a half turn and, voila, perfect action. The sound was another matter entirely. A good sounding acoustic 12 string can sound like a grand piano and this one has that quality. Also some acoustic-electrics sound good going direct but terrible when plugged into an amp. This one sounded great in both scenarios. It was easier to keep it plugged into my clean amp so that's what aI did. I performed like a champ. The one thing I did notice was that the neck is quite wide, especially compared to my Rickenbacker 360, but I was able to get my thumb over the top and the fretting was actually much more accurate with the extra real estate.

As regards overall quality, this is a finely crafted, well put together instrument that comes ready to play. A PDF manual is easily available on-line at Godin's website.

It must be said that this is an "electro-acoustic," as opposed to "acoustic-electric," guitar. It handles like an electric guitar, about as heavy as a solid-body, with an action almost as easy -- no small feat for a 12-string. The tone is altogether unique, at least at the relatively low volumes at which I play. It doesn't have the kind of tone that one would expect from a full hollow-body acoustic 12--but that was not what I was looking for, and, as far as I'm concerned, anyway, that is not a bad thing. The active preamp is powerful. It does have a lush, full tone all its own, hard to describe, somewhat "resonatorish," at least at low volumes, but with the balance, fullness, and range across the frequencies you would expect from a 12-string. And, last but definitely not least, for my money, anyway: plugged in, the low end on this guitar is nothing short of fabulous, in and of itself worth the price of the instrument; it adds a dimension to walking bass lines and basic progressions that is hard to find in a more conventional instrument. I find that it serves me well as a singer-songwriter who can play well enough to accompany himself. As for the virtuoso guitarist--well, check out Doyle Dykes' enthusiastic review-demonstration of this same instrument, easily attainable on line.

Overall a versatile instrument with almost unlimited potential applications. It comes with a capacious gig-bag, with room for all accessories, which makes for easy transport to gigs. Sweetwater's customer service, especially as delivered by Phill Potts, far exceeds expectations.

First and foremost A Huge Huge Thank You to Tina and Paul Allen for there patience with me over the years,
(This is my 1st review comment} I know I know??
I have had about 15 12 strings over the years, still have 2 others, A Northwood and a 1980 Washburn,
This Godin is a keeper. The comfort level is top notch. I would prefer a slightly smaller nut width but you can't get everything.
My first thin body style acoustic 12 and it is more than I expected in playability.
Thank You Tina and Paul

Fit, finish, detail is all excellent. I now have 4 Godin guitars and their quality is consistent. This 12 string plays as well as any other guitar that I own (Gretsch Country Gentleman, Gibson Les Paul, Martin custom dreadnaught and others). The acoustic sound is just enough to practice without disturbing family members or neighbors. Plug this guitar ina and wow!! The sound is powerful and balanced. I played it through a Schertler David, Fender Blues Delux, and a Bose S1. It just plain sounds good. Made well, easy to play, intonation up and down the fingerboard is very good, it sounds beautiful. You get the idea. This is a great guitar.

blew away my martin GPCPA4 12 STRING ! the kneck on this plays like a strat- can't believe how slick - quick it is , sound of electronics also better ! extremely happy !

This REALLY is the best playing 12 string out there! Thanks to Ikes and the team at Sweetwater!

I was going back and forth between the A12 and the Taylor T12z. Price wasn"t a factor in my decision. The rich tone I was looking for was the deciding factor. The Taylor had a more tinty electric sound where the Godin had a rich acoustic sound with just the right amount of that 12 string sting.

This guitar is fabulous!!!! Claims of being the easiest 12 string guitar to play are not exaggerated. Great tone through my Fishman Artist. Unplugged the sound is a little thin, but with the thin body and no sound hole, it's what I expected. This guitar cries for an acoustic amp and delivers admirably. The 16" radius fretboard is comfortable with nicely dressed frets. I'm always impressed with guitars from Godin. Excellent quality at a more than reasonable price. As always, Sweetwater got my order to me quickly and the guitar required NO retuning after unboxing.

Didn't even have to tune it when I got it out of it's case. Good feel and beautiful looks. A little bit of action height increase as you play up the neck toward the bridge but nothing outlandish. Overall an excellent 12 string.

This is a terrific guitar! tons of rich tone but good separation typical of Godin's quality thin body acoustics. If I could change one thing is would be to narrow the neck at the body end, other than that this guitar is my new favorite, I love it. Also callouts to the great service and follow up from Sweetwater, thank you folks!

The Godin A12 is by far the easiest 12 string to play on the market. The tone is really full for a solid body. I tried a bunch of guitars before I tried the A12 and this blew everything else away.

The only thing I'd change about the guitar is the back cover of it. I broke a string and the end of the sting fell down inside of the guitar. On a typical dreadnought or electric it wouldn't be an issue. The end of the string would turn your guitar into a maraca or fall out completely. The end fell into the 1/4" jack and crackled through the end of my show until I could get home and take the screws out, remove the back cover and then I found the string end in the jack. I just ended up leaving the back cover off that sits right under the saddle and when I broke another string the end fell right out of the guitar. If the guitar had a back cover like the battery box has it would solve the problem all together.

Sweetwater gave me a GREAT Deal on the A12, got it in (FedX dropped it off at the wrong house and I had to go door to door to find it) it was almost in perfect tune when I got it out of the box! Felt really good. Worked in the studio the first night for about 3 hours, picked it up the next night, battery was DEAD. To make a long story short, repeated this 4X's. The 5th time I couldn't get anything our of the electronics. For such a nice guitar, I think Godin took a short cut on the battery box and connection configuration (and if you were wondering if I unplugged it when I put it up....YES I did!) Sweetwater was great in returning the guitar, sure would have liked this one to have been a little higher quality. Don't think it's such a good design electrically.