Godin xtSA Multi-Voice Electric Guitar - Light Burst Reviews

First I have to say that this is my 2nd one of these. I loved my 1st one deeply, but had to let it go. Just got the new one and I almost cried when I unboxed it. The finish was stunning and perfect. The wood is beautiful and has amazing tone. As always, the set up from Sweetwater's expert luthiers was spot on! The action is exactly in the sweet spot for speed playing, but without any hint of buzz. It stays in tune very well, under intense playing. The electric sounds are everything I remembered. Scorching high gain humbuckers and the middle single-coil pickups get a very wide array of tones, and nails every one of them. The ONLY tone I cannot get perfectly is the Strat quack, but it comes about 90% close. The acoustic tones are crystal clear, and with the right amp, are very hard to tell it is not a true acoustic guitar.

The true highlight that sets this beauty apart from all the rest is the synth access feature. When paired with the Roland GR-55, the XTSA becomes a symphony, a quartet, a grand piano, the only limits are with your own mind. I highly recommend getting the GR-55 with this, if you don't have one already. The tracking is flawless, and fast. I cannot play fast enough to make it miss. And I am from the 80's shred school of playing. I can't rant enough about this ultra-axe! This guitar, and maybe my variax as a backup, would be all I need to play any kind of gig that I can imagine. It sounds great with every one of my amps and headphone amps. Paired with my MK-II Katana 100-112, this is a force to be reckoned with!!! As always, Bob Mondok was the hero of the day and got everything handled quickly and professionally!

First I have to say that this is my 2nd one of these. I loved my 1st one deeply, but had to let it go. Just got the new one and I almost cried when I unboxed it. The finish was stunning and perfect. The wood is beautiful and has amazing tone. As always, the set up from Sweetwater's expert luthiers was spot on! The action is exactly in the sweet spot for speed playing, but without any hint of buzz. It stays in tune very well, under intense playing. The electric sounds are everything I remembered. Scorching high gain humbuckers and the middle single-coil pickups get a very wide array of tones, and nails every one of them. The ONLY tone I cannot get perfectly is the Strat quack, but it comes about 90% close. The acoustic tones are crystal clear, and with the right amp, are very hard to tell it is not a true acoustic guitar.

The true highlight that sets this beauty apart from all the rest is the synth access feature. When paired with the Roland GR-55, the XTSA becomes a symphony, a quartet, a grand piano, the only limits are with your own mind. I highly recommend getting the GR-55 with this, if you don't have one already. The tracking is flawless, and fast. I cannot play fast enough to make it miss. And I am from the 80's shred school of playing. I can't rant enough about this ultra-axe! This guitar, and maybe my variax as a backup, would be all I need to play any kind of gig that I can imagine. It sounds great with every one of my amps and headphone amps. Paired with my MK-II Katana 100-112, this is a force to be reckoned with!!!

I looked at this and other synth access guitars for a long time before I finally pulled the trigger. This instrument is supremely playable - comparable to US-made fender guitars. The electronics work quite well (after finding your favorite settings), and the synth tracking and control is just phenomenal. It looks great, too! If you're on the fence, just go for it. I believe you will be pleased.

This guitar just amazed me with the sound and tone quality it produced the first time I used it for our worship team.My fellow members immediately noticed the difference in performance between the former guitar I used and the Godin xtSA. I love the color and smooth finish of the body. I am now using this with my GR-55 synthesizer and the sound is just fantastic for me. This is the first time I encountered an electric, acoustic and synth in one guitar and this is a dream come true for me as a musician. Thanks

Wonderful, beautiful guitar. I bought this guitar because I play worship music and often need to fill different roles. I run this through a Pod 500x The ability to go from an electric guitar with tube amp breakup to a nice acoustic sound has been incredibly valuable! I just select a different patch, turn up the piezo volume, and I'm off to the races. I have found that the piezo by itself has a very hot and "tinny" sound. I pulled the volume back on that patch to match the level of the electric settings. Since you can use the combined output jack, I also leave the neck pickup turned up when using the piezo. This really mellows out the sound and makes a much fuller, rounder sound. I'm thinking of putting a piezo pre-amp or acoustic simulator in the signal chain just to see if it makes a difference. If I do, I'll update the review. But as is, it is a very passable acoustic tone. I have gotten compliments on how good the "new acoustic" sounds.

The electric pickups are pretty bright. Maybe it is just my ears due to coming from a semi hollow body to this. However, it fits in our mix nicely and really cuts through when I want it to. So I would say that it sounds great in a full band mix, but a little too bright for solo work (to me). Not a bad thing though, just more information if you're thinking about purchasing.

The quality of this guitar is amazing! I also love the Light Burst color. Beautiful wood grain look. I really like that the neck has a satin finish. Very smooth and comfortable. Fret height is nice as well for my style of playing (mostly rhythm, a little lead).

As usual, Sweetwater and Dustin Keesbury were amazing in the purchase process. Dustin was very knowledgable and helpful when I was deciding between this guitar and other choices. He kept me up to date between ordering the guitar, it arriving, and getting some accessories. The guitar was packaged very well for safe travel. Top quality packaging (and candy in the box). A quick string tune, and I was jamming! Love ordering from and working with Sweetwater!

I've been looking at this Godin xtsa guitar for some time, and I finally baught it last year 2015 to add to my collection. I must say, it is a guitar to reckon with, I am amazed at the versatility of tones. The Piezo Pickup is the closest you're going get to an acoustic sound on a solid body guitar. I had a few issues where the bridge pickup got loose, and some other minor problems. I sent it back and they replaced it. That day when I decided to join the Sweetwater team, I have no regrets. Just want to say "BIG UP" to Ed and his team, how amazing you are.

You can't find a more versatile guitar for this price. The RMC pickups are extremely sensitive, so if you're using the 13 pin cable with a VG-99 or GR-55 (or anythiing similar), make sure to turn down the sensitivity settings on the device to get the best sound. The magnetic pickups have great tone and a wide range of options and the piezo acoustic sound is amazing. This is a great guitar and a great value!

I have been playing for 40+ years and within the past 5 have started using the roland synth. I was using a Strat but got curious about other Roland ready guitars and found this jewel. Not only is the synth tracking faster and cleaner, the electric and acoustic picup systems are hot and sound fantastic. I would like to have another one of these as back-up. The Roland ready Strat just does not hold up to the Godin

I love the guitar and I'd buy any product from Godin. The only problem in the XT/SA model is the back cover that hides the battery. It is not adhered to the wood art is adhered to these medals poles that are incrinched to the circuit board and after two years of playing they finally came off. I couldn't find something to put it back and so I foolishly drilled the plastic cover and did a lousy I even scratched the guitar's finish. At least it's in the back. But what an awful design, and now I can't see how to order the cover, and much less, how to fix it. Oh well.

I have been playing guitar since 1977, currently I have 6 guitars, and this is the best one so far. Very Versatile, Acoustic, Electric and Synth combination. I use it in church with the Roland GR-55 (900+ sounds, which I also purchase @ Sweetwater with the assistance Mr. Mike Winebrenner)
and the sounds are powerful ! And of course, I also use the HSH Electric pick ups, and acoustic RMS pick up, and the frequencies are very complete and full as an acoustic, even better when I combine with the electric... So very adaptable and flexible with any kind of strings as well. Currently I am using this guitar with Nylon strings, thru the RMS system, and really gives me resourceful sound for any kind of genre. Tremenda guitarra, No me arrepiento de haberla comprado.
Very well build in Canada & NH with good wood and parts... Wish I could also someday buy the Godin ACS-SA Slim, which was the guitar I almost bought, but I needed to replace my Fender HSH Strat. Thats why I got this on for now, instead. By the way, I appreciate Mike W. assistance and advice when I buy instruments n accessories. Gracias Mike.

I bought this guitar to replace two guitars I sold. It is very easy to dial in the sound I want on this guitar, much easier than my daughter's Framus. The electric tones are everything I need, from thick, warm tones to sparkly single-coil sounds. The acoustic tones are not quite perfect, but close enough to play through a PA. However, it fooled many in the auditorium, and with a dedicated acoustic DI it could sound even closer. The MIDI is fast and tracks better than anything I've played before. Fit and finish are what you would expect, very good. The neck is satin finished and has a good feel to it. I would replace this guitar with another one with if I ever lost it. The honeyburst color is beautiful and looks very classy. Well done, Godin!

I play in a worship praise team and for the past three years every time I play this guitar, I fall in love a little deeper. I bought it originally for the synth access to play with my Roland GR 55 but have found the feel and sound to be exceptional without the added sounds.
I don't have long nimble fingers but with this beauty my hands come alive. Awesome action due to the satin finished mahogany neck with the ebony fingerboard.
All the hardware are of the highest quality. I know this because I was used to playing crap. The switches are smooth, the pots are silent and when you need to punch through the sound the Humbuckers push right through effortlessly. The acoustic settings are super clean and can be mixed with the other two modes also. With the synth engaged along with the acoustic and the electric, the clarity of the modes is outstanding; no muddy sounds here.
The only thing I would like to see improved about this guitar is the locking mechanism for the 13 pin cable. Though it has never been an issue, even with the cable wrapped around my strap, I feel there is too much pressure on the connection.
This guitar is amazing!

This is a really good guitar. It feels and plays great. I've heard of tuning issues but haven't experienced any.
The electric side, I've heard it isn't a strat or a les paul. Well it isn't. Nor is a les paul a stratocaster. It is a very good all around electric. Only thing I miss is being able to use the neck and bridge humbuckers together but again that wasn't the guitars design. It is still very versatile. The "acoustic" side is a very good mimic(?) of and acoustic guitar especially in a "band" mix. I play Martin acoustics. No it doesn't sound like a Martin. But again a very good alternative option than changing guitars back and forth so much. The synth side tracks flawlessly. It is so well placed I had to turn the sensitivity on my gr-20 to around 5 on each string. If your looking for a good all around guitar with synth access this is it. GREAT buy for the money.

The guitar itself feels fine and plays well enough, but if your hoping to use this as a synth controller, good luck. I bought a Roland GR-55 and proceeded to set up the piezo pickup EXACTLY as it's recommended for this guitar to get the optimum tracking response. Although a few patches work o.k., by and large, you get unwanted "ghost notes" all over the place no matter how cleanly you play. I've muted all but 1 string and played a trill and ghost notes still happen, plus the tracking clearly falls behind what I'm playing. Piano and horn patches are some of the worst. The sounds that work best seem to be guitar patches. I'm probably going to get a GK-3 pickup installed on another guitar, at this point. There is a component made called "RMC Opt-1" which is a subsonic filter that can be installed into the GR-55 that supposedly fixes the ghost note issues, but the manufacturer stopped making them years ago and can only rarely be found... My bad for not researching this better. I thought having an internally installed piezo/midi pickup was the way to go, but it just isn't so for this guitar. Not be a long shot.