NGD(kinda) and review of Godin Stadium '59 (Desert Green)

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here, but I've come to this forum many times in the past. I've found this forum to be a delightful resource, with many knowledgeable members as well as a place I can come to drool over some beautiful teles!

I have owned many, many guitars. Too many. I've had unquenchable periods of GAS in which I went through dozens and dozens of beautiful fenders, Gibsons, gretsch guitars and quite a few others looking for.... huh, after all that I know even know really what I was looking for. Maybe like a flawless perfect guitar or something like that. I don't know, eventually I found a partscaster strat I liked, and then I upgraded my amp and realized I had been focusing on only half of what makes up your sound. After that I stopped going through guitars like crazy, finally. I guess my financial situation changed as well so that definitely helps.


Anyways, I was reading up on these Godin Stadium guitars a couple months back, couple of people on here were talking about getting one, but I never really heard from anyone who actually owned this particular model, or saw any pictures of it that weren't stock photos. I eventually took the plunge and got one (it was during the start of covid lockdown here in Canada, and you could only pickup guitars without having played them) but I had previously owned one of the earlier versions, a Session Custom, black, with a Godin branded humbucker in the neck instead of the Duncan, and a stratocaster-like trem system, and remember liking it.

I took it home and I was shocked. The quality of and specs of this guitar were incredible! In fact, I didn't really have much to complain about, which for me is saying something. The usual buzzing that I've had with every single tele I've ever owned is not present here! Which is awesome, as that was always my least favorite thing about the teles I've had. (I'm not talking about the usual 60 cycle hum btw, that is something I've come to live with as I believe the crisp sound of single coils is beyond worth it. I'm talking about the buzz that happens when you let go of the strings. I know it's supposed to be there but I've had my strat and jazzmaster shielded and that eliminated the issue on both. Every fender tele I've had has kept that hum even after shielding them!) On top of that the variety of tones, and versatility is outstanding, I particularly love the combination positions that give you the single coil of the neck with the tele bridge pup in both series and parallel, the latter of which is probably my favorite sound in this guitar.
Here's some pictures:

Godin gig bag by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:51 PM

First of all the gig bag is top notch. Puts a lot of the ones I've received with guitars in the past to shame.

Godin stadium 59 by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM

Godin stadium 59 body by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM

I love the green with the dark neck, I think that's what initially caught my eye with this model. The body is Laurentian basswood which sounds good, and is also very light, which for me is a big plus. It's got a maple neck and a rosewood board, unfortunately the neck isn't like a roasted maple or rosewood anything, just maple dyed to this dark colour. Profile is maybe a little thinner than the standard fender c profile, but very comfy. 12" radius, also very comfortable for me. Very fast as it's also a satin finish.

Godin stadium 59 headstock by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:51 PM

Godin stadium 59 tuners by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:51 PM

I like the tuners a lot they're a Godin branded tuner that seems to do the job well enough, also the string trees are great. I normally take them off but these are perfectly circular, so the contact with the string is minimal, and they don't seem to negatively affect the tuning stability, so they stayed on.

Godin stadium 59 bridge by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM

Godin stadium 59 neck pup by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM

Godin stadium 59 controls by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:51 PM

Now, this is where I think this Godin really shines. The bridge is awesome, kinda similar to what the American professional teles come with now. The old ashtray style, but with the sides brought back a little. It still looks like a vintage tele bridge should, but feels a little nicer with it being a little more out of the way, it originally came with saddles that were adjustable for compensation via an allen wrench. You could just adjust the angle of the tilt. It worked good for intonation, but I find with any tele bridge that has angled saddles that the strings kinda slide around, throwing off my string spacing. So I replaced the saddles with Wilkinson compensated saddles, which are my fav for teles. That was really the only modification I made. Other than installing strap locks, which really wasn't a mod considering it comes with strap buttons that are compatible with strap locks already installed! The output jack is one of the electrosocket tele jack plates which is screwed into the body, and will never get loose. Which is a cool thing to have stock on a t-style guitar.

Godin stadium 59 jack by SpankTank posted Sep 20, 2020 at 2:46 PM

Now the pickups and electronics, it has a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck and one of Godins own Custom Cajun tele pickups in the bridge. Kinda reminds me of a quarter pounder at least visually. It's got the same oversized pole pieces as that pickup, but I've never heard one so I can't really compare the sonic similarities. It is bright. Very bright in fact. It's also quite hot. It sounded a little too bright when I played it through my practice amp, a solid state fender mustang 3, but man does this pickup like tubes! Once I plugged it into my tube amps, it really started to sound alive. It's hot enough that when you have it wide open, it drives my amps really nicely. Luckily the volume and tone controls are VERY responsive so little tweaks can go a long way. So more vintage tele tones are still obtainable. I did think about replacing it with something a little more traditional, but honestly I like the other tones so much that I don't want to mess with anything. The neck pickup is awesome, and mixes very well with the bridge single coil. I feel like the wiring/controls really get the most out of this neck pickup. It has a five way selector that gives you the neck pickup by itself full humbucker, split neck with bridge in series, full humbucker with bridge like a normal middle position would be, split neck with bridge in parallel and then finally bridge alone. Between all those settings there's not much you can't play. On top of all that you have the Godin HDR (high definition revoicer) that to my ears sounds like a little top boost. It turns the passive pickups into active ones, and sounds really good with the neck humbucker, getting a little single coil crispness in the mix.

All in all, i am very pleased with this guitar, I've had it for a couple months now which is a good sign. Usually if I don't immediately bond with a guitar it'll be fine within a month. But I can see myself keeping with me for a long time. Hopefully for the rest of my days. I know it's a little late for a NGD, but I just had to share this with y'all down on this forum!!

 

I totally agree, puts to shame a few mexi fenders (and American fenders tbh) that I've had over the years. And from what I've seen the quality control is fantastic. I always pick up this model when I'm in music stores testing amps and pedals, and every one has been equally as impressive.