About A&L, Simon Patrick, Norman

5406 Views 16 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Choirboy, Apr 23, 2006

Jaggery

Discussion Starter · Mar 22, 2006

I thought I would start a thread dedicated to these makers.

How many of you own or have owned an acoustic from one of these makers?
Do you still have it?

I am seriously considering the A&L folk (preferably the solid top model).
I played it the other day and it sounded just beautiful.
Pleasantly bright and pretty good for strumming.
If I remember correctly around 300 CDN, If I look around I could get for lesser.
I know each of the above and seagull have the folk model in various configurations, so I will try to check out those.

Or maybe a 12 string:food-smiley-004:

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

Mahogany Martin

· #2 · Mar 22, 2006

I believe that these brands are all under the Godin umbrella.

http://www.godinguitars.com/

My brother has an A&L (spruce top) and I really like it. Nice and bright, good dynamics. I think he paid under 400$. Great bang for his bucks.

G

· #3 · Mar 22, 2006

Aaah.. the wonderful Godin line... I've had a 'thing' with them for half my life...

Been playing Seagull for... gosh... years and years... still own 4 of the 5 that I've had... (2 A Series "Folk", my original S6 Cedar, and a 20th Anni that I adore!)

I've also helped newbies get into guitar over a few A&Ls, or S&Ps.... They are VERY fine starter guitars, provided you're careful not to get one of the few that come out misfretted....

In my book, you can't find a better guitar for the money.... or even twice the money

david henman

· #4 · Mar 22, 2006

ofender said:
I believe that these brands are all under the Godin umbrella.
QUOTE]

...they are. i've met robert godin several times. he is a class act.

i recently accompanied a novice player shopping for an acoustic. we walked out with an all black art & lutherie that was simply stunning. $239.

Mahogany Martin

· #5 · Mar 22, 2006

I said that my bro paid under 400$ for his A&L, but it might very well be under 300$ (perhaps even 250 or something). That was around 10 years ago.

james on bass

· #6 · Mar 23, 2006

I like all the names under the Godin brand. My Dad has a close to 30 year old Norman that is beautiful. It has aged so well - very mellow sounding guitar.
My brother has a newer Norman and I love it much better than the Tak I just sold to another brother. Also impressed with the A&L and Seagull's I've played.

You can take all this with a grain of salt though, as I am a bass player.

Rumble_b

· #7 · Mar 23, 2006

My parents bought me a A&L for xmas two years ago. I love the thing, it's a cutaway with the pickup built in. The guitar plays very nicely and sounds amazing. It's much nicer than many way more expensive guitars I've played.

hardcorelogo

· #8 · Mar 24, 2006

I have a Norman B-20 with the Fishman electronics. I love this guitar, I played tons of acoustics while looking to buy one for around 500 or less, and this one I found at L&M Edmonton was the best one I played that day. It was actually the best guitar under 1000 dollars that I played that day (I paid 450 for it new). Tight sounding with a rich tone and not too bright (I got the B-20 without the finish, much warmer). As soon as I got it home I set it up and put Martin SP's on it and it's absolutely great. Super guitar for the money!

HCL

YardApe

· #9 · Mar 27, 2006

I am luckey to own a Norman b-20-12 dated back pre 1988 before goodin took over the company.......

so i call it a true Norman taking nothing away from goodin..........

strung with d'addario light's, i picked it up used with the case for $300 and i've had no remorse and just good times.

Beautiful sound beautiful guitar.

Thank you Norman.

oldgirl

· #10 · Apr 5, 2006

I have an A&L Ami, their small parlor guitar.
I bought it a couple of years ago on a whim, looking for a small guitar, tired of dragging my big dreadnaught around.
It is a great guitar that is almost always the first one grabbed because of its size and accessibiltiy. It weighs nothing but shows no signs of age at all after 2 years of regular guitar life.
Reminds me of a Stella of my high school days, with much better craftsmanship.

Just my 2cents worth from this
Oldgirl

Wesley

· #11 · Apr 5, 2006

I have a Simon & Patrick pro mohogany... Picked it up used for $400 and I couldn't be happier. I have had it for a couple years and it just sounds and plays better with time... I don't plan on buying another acoustic for a while.

dandy505

· #12 · Apr 6, 2006

Hi All

I own a Norman B18 (cedar top) and I am loving it more every day. I replaced the nut with another TUSQ nut

Q-6116-00. It is still 1 11/16 width but has the string spacing slightly wider. The strings are better spaced now. Maybe the nut that was on there was not the factory nut, because the strings were were too far from the edges of the fretboard and spaced too tightly. Now it is perfect.

It is about 2 years young and it is really opening up. I am getting crisp defined highs and strong boomy lows. Projection is awesome. I love the matte finish, allows the guitar to really speak. I use light PB's 10-53. I love PB strings in general (I'll leave that for another post).

I also love the cedar tops. I looked at a S&P folk with a cedar top and almost bought it. I plan to pick up a folk (in the godin family) in the near future - something with a 1 3/4 inch neck width.

and yes, my guitar is personalized...
Norm

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Stratoclutter

· #13 · Apr 7, 2006

A&L Cedar Folk

Destroys My Fender Acoustic

just utterly destroys it period ...

Jaggery

Discussion Starter · #14 · Apr 8, 2006

Stratoclutter said:
A&L Cedar Folk

Destroys My Fender Acoustic

just utterly destroys it period ...

This is what I have in mind.
But I thought the A&L one was all cherry ply and the seagull version had cedar top?

Can you confirm?

dandy505

· #15 · Apr 10, 2006

Jaggery said:
...I thought the A&L one was all cherry ply and the seagull version had cedar top?
Can you confirm?

I am about 98% sure your are correct; the Art&Lutherie folk has a laminated top.

Max Powers

· #16 · Apr 10, 2006

I bought my GF a Simon and Patrick SP6 or something for christmas for about 300$.

I'm actually considering selling my Taylor 110 for one of them.

Choirboy

· #17 · Apr 23, 2006

Used to own an A & L Folk Cedar as a beater; swapping out the plastic pins for ebony does wonders for tone.

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

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