Godin Radium Electric Guitar - Carbon Black RN Reviews

Wow. Just wow. Fit and finish are superb with top of the line hardware. With 9 tonal options, this guitar is a keeper. From the first note, first chord, I knew this was a guitar worthy of the Godin line.
Many thanks to Alex Campos, Micaela Wilson and the entire Sweetwater team, absolutely the best in the business.

I own a lot of guitars and this was was one of my early purchases. I gravitate to it for its smoothness and playability. I get compliments on it here and there. I do now have some guitars that are physically nicer but this is the one I play the most and probably the last one I would ever sell.

In full disclosure, I am a research geek. I did a big deep dive into Godin as a company and watched as many reviews as possible that displayed the tonal range of this extraordinary axe. I had it on my Sweetwater board for months (when I am on a TEAMs call, I am consistently asked when I share my screen, "What are all those 'S' tabs at the top of your browser?" Currently 33 open Sweetwater tabs). BUT when this specific Radium Black Carbon came up, I purchased immediately. And I am beyond NOT disappointed in my choice to buy. The tonal range of this guitar exceeds any expectations AND any other axe I possess. And tonal range without drop-off in power or presence between any of the 5-way switch positions or split-coil option. The satin finish is gorgeous, the Canadian Laurentian Basswood is solid & strong due to growing in the frigid North (not like American Basswood): strong, solid, but very light weight. The back of the neck is like silk. So much so, I have demonstrated how difficult it is to hold the guitar one-handed by the neck without it sliding to the headstock. I string up with .10s, and one of the remarkable aspects that Godin has accomplished is how easily the strings bend individually as well as when chording. I still haven't figured out how they did that. This Godin axe on my wall and consistently in my hands, I am a firm believer in the workmanship and quality of the Godin product. So much so, I already have my next Godin on order. Vive Le Godin!

After hearing Philip McKnight on YouTube say that Godin guitars are among the best built of any in their price range, I stumbled on one in a store and immediately fell in love. There is no harshness in any of the many sounds that it gets. The range of tones is remarkable. Unlike a lot of guitars, the coil splitting on this guitar sounds great! The neck pickup in coil split mode has the clarity of a strat but the warmth and power of a humbucker. If you're strat seems too thin, check this guitar out. The build quality is top notch, with a very comfortable neck. It stays in tune beautifully, and intonation is perfect. Check it out!

Starting with the most important part, I LOVE the sound of this guitar. I don't think it fits neatly in the Tele/Strat/LP category of sound, but I will say its range of tones make it perfectly suitable for all the different alternative genres that I enjoy playing (e.g., Art-rock like Radiohead, Shoegaze like Slowdive, post-punk goth like Joy Divison/The Cure, post-rock like GYBE). It especially excels at clean tones and it's got a twang to it that's perfect for a lot of cinematic scoring that I do (e.g., David Lynch stuff, spaghetti westerns, '60s spy, surf, ambient). Both of its humbuckers can be coil-split and though that feature sometimes ends up being useless on some guitars, the pickups sound GREAT in single mode on this guitar. In total, you have 9 different pickups configurations that are distinctive and all very useable.

I should also add that though the Sweetwater specs say it comes with a GraphTech NuBone nut, my Radium actually came with a Graphtech TUSQ XL so that was a nice surprise. I get solid sustain on it and I haven't had problems with the tuning. In fact, when it comes to performance and playability overall, I can't say enough good things. The short-scale is perfect if you've got smaller hands like myself and the semi-gloss neck feels smooth and quick (almost like satin). I took a chance on this guitar based upon the number of people who have said Godin's quality, even in this range, surpasses MIM Fenders and is maybe even up there with American-made Fenders and now I can see why. Frets, intonation and action are perfect. I know you're supposed to take your guitar to be setup properly, but honestly, I'm fine with the way it came.

Cosmetically, the guitar had a little scratch near a screw on the t-style controller plate (first image) and the volume knob itself feels scratchy when you turn it, but everything else is perfect. I will say though that a lot of promo pics/videos from Godin make the finish look really dark and I've seen other videos and images that give it a sickly yellow color. In a way, these ARE accurate as the guitar isn't as saturated as it seems so it especially takes on the shade and intensity of the light upon it. I provided the image Sweetwater sent of my exact guitar next to one that I took that looks closer to real life (i.e., it's actually more of a gray-brown than a red-brown and it's saturated less than standard cardboard as I tried to show in the same image). It's not a big deal, but something to keep in mind and I love the way it looks regardless... almost medieval (though I wouldn't recommend it for viking metal or anything heavier than hard rock).

The bag it comes with is actually really nice, too

Overall, I'm REALLY impressed and would highly recommend anybody to check this guitar out. Not only is it one of the best bangs for your buck, but also just a great guitar in general. It seems to be pretty under the radar overall so there's also the cool factor of having something that's not only great, but original. At the very least, it's made a big enough impression on me that I'm already looking at some of their other stuff.

Lastly, I want to give a special shoutout and thanks to Sweetwater's Sarah Lambert and my regular sales engineer, Kent Sallaz, for helping me solve the problem of the guitar never arriving and quickly finding a solution during that stressful time. Excellent service as always.

I just picked up a new Godin Radium. I love this guitar! The tones are sweet and crisp, the feel of the neck in my hands make me want to play some more. The workmanship is obvious. The fit and finish are flawless. Higher ratio tuning machines on the high end are a plus too. Pickups are always a personal choice, but for me the twin Godin Humbuckers (with coil splitting) coupled with the Cajun single coil in the middle position provide lots of flexibility and really pump out some great sounds. Made in North America quality.